Buying resale advice

[mintee]

I am curious- do you think it makes a difference between buying Vistana or Marriottt with the merger? I am trying to decide on which to buy on the resale market
I am a planner- love to travel-have 2 high school kids and will proabably be going to Orlando (for cheerleading), Myrtle and Hilton head for now- BUT also will want to do Caribbean and Hawaii and any other places I have not been.
I am slightly leaning to Marriott just because of the possible hotel points- Is it worth it to buy Resales with Marriott just to get the hotel points to exchange(my daughter does several travel cheer comps throughout the year)? I have also looked at the Mandatory resorts with Vistana just to get trading
Or should I forget both and just do something cheap and go to Wyndham
I do not want to go to the same resort every year and I can commit to planning at least a year in advance - I have read and researched but I am just starting to confuse myself and everytime I think I decided I am back to square one! Thanks for your guidance!

 

[TUGBrian]

in these situations most folks tend to suggest renting until you are comfortable knowing what will work best for you!

 

[Steve Fatula]

It is generally considered not worth it to trade for MR points. MR points are valued at about .9 cents each. If a resort gives 100,000 points, that's $900 in maintenance fees (MF), and you will not find a Marriott with that cheap MF (for a full year).

If you do Marriott, you should consider a lockoff unit, from someone other than Marriott. The reason for the lockoff is you can get 2 weeks out of it, you sound like you will be trading.

My suggestion is to start with reading the FAQs for whatever brand(s) you are considering.

 

[TravelTime]

If you buy Marriott resale, you can't convert to Marriott Rewards points. With the merger coming up, I suspect a mandatory Vistana resort will be better because MVC will probably allow Vistana mandatory resort owners to enroll into MVC DP Club program. I think this might happen because mandatory owners get StarOptions and MVC will need to compensate mandatory owners for this if they change their program. On the other hand, I suspect they will still require a 3000+ purchase of DC Points to enroll a resale Marriott week.

 

[mintee]

Thanks for your feedback all- I have actually already rented- We have stayed at Wyndham Bonnett Creek, Wyndham National Harbor, Hilton Parc Soliel and Vistana Resort in Orlando- my family has owned SPG for years- The reason I was intrigued by the hotel points is my friends from that also own SPG stated that with the combined use of the American EX with the points, they are able to also get more free stays every year- since we already have an SPG american ex and we know we like the timeshare units- we were trying to navigate what would have the best value for us. On Marriotts direct resale website- they make it sound like if you purchase for them you can still get Marriottt reward points-BUT it sounds like from above maybe we should just do the mandatory resort with SPG- last question- in your personal opinion- is it better to snag a unit with a higher maintenance cost that might be in more demand like Harborside at Atlantis or Westin Kaanapali OR do you think if I go for the c/heaper option at Vistana Villages Key West it would still allow trading options equally between Marriottt and SPG? The bigggest problem we have with my in laws time share is that is has such low desirablity we can never exchange it
By the way— thanks for the advice on the lockout!
I know you cant tell- but I have literally been researching this decision since 2015 and think I am finally ready to jump (I have actually even attended presentations from Hilton, DVC, Wyndham, SPG to try to compare)

 

[littlestar]

I know you cant tell- but I have literally been researching this decision since 2015 and think I am finally ready to jump (I have actually even attended presentations from Hilton, DVC, Wyndham, SPG to try to compare)

Be warned, they are like Lays potato chips, you end up wanting more than just one. We started out with DVC points (which is still my favorite) and then an independent prime season 2 bedroom lock off, then resale Wyndham points, and last but not least - a Marriott every other year platinum 2 bedroom lock off at Grande Vista. And I like all our ownerships for different reasons.

 

[Steve Fatula]

On Marriotts direct resale website- they make it sound like if you purchase for them you can still get Marriottt reward points

This is true, you can get MR points. If you do not buy from Marriott, you cannot.