13 month advantage

[SteelerGal]

New DS1 owner. My question is:
Is having at least 2 Platinum Seasons worthwhile since it will allow you to reserve at 13mo instead of 12mo?

Since we own at the other affiliates, we only decided to buy into MVC this year. Being that we are tied to school schedule, we would actually like to stay during Spring Break however I’m concerned that since we only own 1 wk, we will be disadvantaged.

Thoughts?

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Yes, it helps a bit.

I own two gold seasons at DSV1/2. So it lets me reserve Thanksgiving with a TDI of 125 at the 13 month point. That is the highest TDI that I can achieve and it helps a bit. I set the alarm and am on the phone/internet 1 or 2 minutes before Marriott opens. So far I have a 100% success rate. If I fail, I can always try again at the 12 month point

But with Platinum, the high "season" is quite a bit longer so it is easier to reserve a TDI 150 week. But... if you are considering renting out your week, your ability of being able to book "spring break" or Easter will be higher/better.

So, if you want to stay a single week, it would still help. Half of the inventory is made available at the 13 month point and the other half at the 12 month point. You can always use one week and exchange the 2nd week.

 

[SteelerGal]

Thanx. I think that’s the way I will go. Now to get rid of my Westin Desert.

 

[VacationForever]

Thanx. I think that’s the way I will go. Now to get rid of my Westin Desert.

Curious as to why do you prefer DSV I to WDW?

 

[SteelerGal]

WDW isn’t a mandatory property in the Vistana family when purchased via resale. So w/ the high MF and having to use II for all exchanges, it’s costly.

 

[VacationForever]

WDW isn’t a mandatory property in the Vistana family when purchased via resale. So w/ the high MF and having to use II for all exchanges, it’s costly.

... and a resale DSV I does not get to play in MVC sandbox either... just saying... unless you buy points to bring it into their program.

 

[Dean]

IMO it can give you lots of benefit for the highest demand weeks. This was the reason I bought my second Grande Ocean week years ago and it has worked out well for me. Granted I have added additional options which fit together perfectly to do this on a larger scale but it has allowed me to book the week I want for HHI ever since every year. I always book weeks 25, 26 or 27.

 

[tschwa2]

I would wait until you see if you have problems booking what you want at 12 months before you buy a second week.

 

[10spro]

Yes, it helps a bit.

I own two gold seasons at DSV1/2. So it lets me reserve Thanksgiving with a TDI of 125 at the 13 month point. That is the highest TDI that I can achieve and it helps a bit. I set the alarm and am on the phone/internet 1 or 2 minutes before Marriott opens. So far I have a 100% success rate. If I fail, I can always try again at the 12 month point

But with Platinum, the high "season" is quite a bit longer so it is easier to reserve a TDI 150 week. But... if you are considering renting out your week, your ability of being able to book "spring break" or Easter will be higher/better.

So, if you want to stay a single week, it would still help. Half of the inventory is made available at the 13 month point and the other half at the 12 month point. You can always use one week and exchange the 2nd week.

I have one DSV1 gold/white week which is a very good II trader. I finally got smart enough to set my alarm clock and log in to get Thanksgiving week, but alas, I set it for the wrong day, and 1 day late I could get only Week 44. Is there any noticeable difference in trading power between Thanksgiving Week 47 vs. Week 44/45/46? I'm thinking of getting a second DSV1 week to get the 13 month advantage, still debating if white will do or if I should invest a little more for red.

 

[turkel]

I own an EY and an EOY Shadow Ridge when I use the 13 month rule I don’t have to pay attention to the exact day I just call before the 12 month mark and get Thanksgiving every time. Easy peasy

 

[SteelerGal]

I am not in a rush. Just noted that if something comes available in our range, don’t hesitate.

 

[Dean]

I am not in a rush. Just noted that if something comes available in our range, don’t hesitate.

I agree somewhat with seeing how it goes though ultimately it depends on which week and how you'd use the second week. If the only reason to buy the second week is to get the first week reservation and you have some flexibility in which week you'd go, I'd wait. If it's Easter and you have to have that week and you would use the second week part of the time in some way, I'd likely go ahead and look now for a good deal. Remember the second week doesn't have to be at the same resort and you don't have to occupy it. You could buy another week somewhere else but that matches up with the season you need for DSV.

 

[10spro]

Can someone confirm if the 13 month advantage is only if you own 2 weeks at the *same* MVC resort, or can I, for example, own 1 week at DSV-I and 1 week at DSV-II (assuming they are both red or both white so that I can reserve consecutive or concurrent). I read through the FAQ here, seems like it goes back and forth, but last update was 2005. The MVC website is not specific.

 

[ljmiii]

Can someone confirm if the 13 month advantage is only if you own 2 weeks at the *same* MVC resort, or can I, for example, own 1 week at DSV-I and 1 week at DSV-II (assuming they are both red or both white so that I can reserve consecutive or concurrent). I read through the FAQ here, seems like it goes back and forth, but last update was 2005. The MVC website is not specific.

Current MVC practice is that you can book any two MVC weeks consecutively at 13 months...I don't know if this is also true for concurrent reservations but assume so as well.

That said, many (most? all?) of the MVC resorts have docs that say the two weeks have to be at the one resort. But MVC chooses to ignore this restriction and allows any two weeks to qualify for the 13 month consecutive booking. If you want to be gobsmackingly bored you can look through older threads on the topic...but the net/net is that MVC gets to make the rules and we all live by them.

 

[Fasttr]

Does not need to be at same resort. Just need to be able to book consecutive or concurrent.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Can someone confirm if the 13 month advantage is only if you own 2 weeks at the *same* MVC resort, or can I, for example, own 1 week at DSV-I and 1 week at DSV-II (assuming they are both red or both white so that I can reserve consecutive or concurrent). I read through the FAQ here, seems like it goes back and forth, but last update was 2005. The MVC website is not specific.

I own a white DSV1 and a white DSV2 and there is no problem booking concurrent or consecutive weeks at the 13 month point. I have been told by reps that I could pair any two resorts in the Marriott system as long as the weeks could be paired either consecutively or concurrently.

 

[Dean]

I own a white DSV1 and a white DSV2 and there is no problem booking concurrent or consecutive weeks at the 13 month point. I have been told by reps that I could pair any two resorts in the Marriott system as long as the weeks could be paired either consecutively or concurrently.

This is true. It's not just owning multiple weeks but actually booking them concurrently and/or consecutively (I combine both elements). I own quite a number of weeks. About half are at one resort and the rest are spread out over a number of others. I made my 4th of July reservations for this year starting April of last year. 5 weeks are lockout's and 4 were split to extend this string. I can routinely book all weeks together (except for my new Aruba Surf Club) given my usage but I occasionally change some later and I routinely cancel later and take DC points on some of them. We've had some lively discussions over the years about this issue with some holding it was supposed to be only weeks at their resort but I've never seen any compelling evidence that was true even though the paperwork at a couple of resorts could be loosely interpreted that way from what was posted. But even if it did MVC could easily change it if they wanted.

 

[m61376]

Just make sure that if you do this that the weeks you want are in the season you buy- in other words, it doesn't matter that both ownerships are Platinum season, but that Easter/Spring break week is included in the season you purchase. It may be Platinum for one resort and Gold for another, or may have been sold as a Platinum Plus holiday week, like at the Aruba Surf Club, for example. But remember, at least half of the weeks are saved for 12 month reservations, so you may be fine without the 13 month advantage.

 

[SteelerGal]

Because Spring Break could be end of March through end of April, we need Platinum season. I prefer another Desert property because I grew up and live in SoCal. I love the Desert.

 

[Dean]

Because Spring Break could be end of March through end of April, we need Platinum season. I prefer another Desert property because I grew up and live in SoCal. I love the Desert.

If you'd use it more for trading, LV might be a consideration as well.

 

[turkel]

If you'd use it more for trading, LV might be a consideration as well.

That would be my suggestion. MF are $ 300 a year less at GC than my SR and the initial cost is less too.

 

[SteelerGal]

I don’t need to trade since I own other TS. Since we always need 2bdrm and tied to school schedule, I own where we like to vacation. Hopefully in 10yrs, I can switch my portfolio to cheaper TS options.

 

[VacationForever]

I don’t need to trade since I own other TS. Since we always need 2bdrm and tied to school schedule, I own where we like to vacation. Hopefully in 10yrs, I can switch my portfolio to cheaper TS options.

We own 2 red weeks at DSV I.