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[2015] Experience with Vacation Point Exchange

californiagirl

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I wanted to post about my great experience using Vacation Point Exchange. (VPE) The website was recommended to me by another tugger. We needed two other units besides our own next year at Maui Ocean Club. I was reluctant because of the unknown...would they be honest and actually fulfill my points transaction etc. I rented some from a friend and then needed more than the friend had to complete all the reservations. VPE was easier and quicker than my friend. Neither my friend or I had ever done a points transfer so there was a learning curve involved. The person I rented from at VPE was professional and the points were transferred and the reservation secured within 24 hours of payment. We now have three units reserved at MOC!!:whoopie:

I am thrilled!! We are all set to take our grown children and their families to Maui next year. This has opened our options for future trips. We have divested ourselves of all but one Marriott property. (We also still own two DVC points contracts.) Our travel habits have changed over the years and we began to feel locked-in to timeshare vacationing. We didn't want the hassle of renting our properties to others. Another big factor are the rising maintenance fees. Anyway, we can rent the points when we want to take a timeshare vacation or use II getaways during the off-season.

Once again thank you Tug members for the help!
 

GregT

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Lisa,

I'm very happy that VPE was helpful. It's developed nicely as a location for people to do points transactions, and it makes me happy to see it referenced on the Marriott DClub facebook pages as a place to do point trades.

General access to the site appears to be stable -- we had 1.5M page views in 2013 and in 2014, but only 1.2M page views (to date) in 2015. I have no way to measure true transaction activity, and that is my best surrogate.

Again, I'm glad it worked out, and I continue to believe the ability to rent points is a very powerful feature of the Marriott DClub.

Best,

Greg
 

TRAVELING FOOL

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I have had 2 transactions with different people on VPE this past year. Both went very well and were processed quickly. This is a great site and the points come as you need them and WITHOUT maintenance fees!
 

winger

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We needed a small amount of extra points to make a ressie work for next summer and VPE came through like a champ. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I enrolled my week into the DC when it opened for the flexibility to do this and glad we did.
 

NJDave

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I have used VPE to buy and to sell points and highly recommend the site as well.

The feature of buying points when you are short or selling points when you have excess is my favorite feature of the Destination Points. It adds so much flexibility to our ownership.
 

gblotter

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VPE has served me well whenever I've needed some additional DC points to complete a desired reservation. VPE is such a valuable service. I'm glad (and surprised) that Marriott facilitates private transactions like this.
 

GregT

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I'm glad (and surprised) that Marriott facilitates private transactions like this.

I think Marriott will eventually restrict transfers, similar to what Disney has done. DVC owners are limited to a single transfer (in or out, not both) in a Use Year. I am aware of huge point transfers to parties specifically for the purpose of making reservations and renting those reservations. This is exactly what Marriott wanted to limit with its commercial use provisions, and I think someday they will take an action.

So....let's enjoy it while we can. And even restricted transfers (once per year) would be better than no transfers (like HGVC and Starwood).

Best,

Greg
 

SueDonJ

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I think Marriott will eventually restrict transfers, similar to what Disney has done. DVC owners are limited to a single transfer (in or out, not both) in a Use Year. I am aware of huge point transfers to parties specifically for the purpose of making reservations and renting those reservations. This is exactly what Marriott wanted to limit with its commercial use provisions, and I think someday they will take an action.

So....let's enjoy it while we can. And even restricted transfers (once per year) would be better than no transfers (like HGVC and Starwood).

Best,

Greg

Nothing they do would be a surprise but it's important to understand why Disney started limiting transfers among members, because although their gov docs had always contained a "commercial activity" restriction similar to MVCI's it wasn't enforced. The change happened shortly after the Points Chart for a new resort, Bay Lake Tower, was released and home resort Points were sold for it prior to occupancy. Later that year there was a major reallocation of the Points Charts for all resorts that affected BLT owners uniquely, in that prior to the resort being opened for occupancy many who had purchased a specific amount of Points based on the released Points Chart and an intended usage pattern found that the amount they purchased would not be enough for that usage. In response to the understandable outcry due to that impact Disney offered all DVC owners a new usage option, the availability to rent a limited amount of one-time Points for every stay thereafter. But at the same time they severely restricted previously-unlimited owner transfers.

Those DVC Points reallocations were allowed by the gov docs and that wasn't the first major reallocation in DVC history, but it was the first that directly affected pre-sales prior to a resort opening for occupancy. Hopefully MVW won't catch itself in a similar public relations nightmare, won't have to start offering direct Points rentals to cover a similar blunder, won't have to restrict our usage options because of our activity impacting an option made newly-available direct from them. :)
 
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TheTimeTraveler

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I have found the Vacation Point Exchange website to be very useful.

My only comment is that today (compared to two years ago) there seems to be a "glut" of points available for renting. I am not sure why this is other than there are a lot more available points out there as time progresses.





.
 

SueDonJ

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I have found the Vacation Point Exchange website to be very useful.

My only comment is that today (compared to two years ago) there seems to be a "glut" of points available for renting. I am not sure why this is other than there are a lot more available points out there as time progresses.





.

Is it that more of the Residence Clubs owners have enrolled and found VPE? They have access to boatloads of DC Points, much more than the average Weeks owners.
 

StevenTing

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VPE will only be as good as the people that use it. So far, everyone has been great.

As far as the glut of points, I would attribute that to the Grand Residence owners. Those that own a fractional at Tahoe have anywhere from 25,000 - 50,000 points available to them each year.
 

Fasttr

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As far as the glut of points, I would attribute that to the Grand Residence owners. Those that own a fractional at Tahoe have anywhere from 25,000 - 50,000 points available to them each year.

And one such guy on VPE is listing his 50,000 points (via the underlying fractional ownership, plus enrollment) for permanent sale, via a creatively interesting pitch....if you've got a LOT of discretionary income sitting around, that is!!!

HERE's the link.

.
 
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Very valuable service for sure. I've used it three times in the past month and have had a very positive experience each time. Although I'm not a huge fan of the Points program, I do like being able to add on a couple of days to my vacation.
 

NboroGirl

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Count me as another satisfied customer of VPE. I needed to rent some points so we could book a balcony cabin on an upcoming cruise. I put in a request, got several responses, and rented the points in a smooth, easy transaction with a very nice owner.
 

GaryDouglas

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Over the last three years we have bought (rented) points for the current year and used them for 2-3 day stays at Timber Lodge, usually during the January-March time frame. For this year we will be staying for 5 days and for each day we are saving ~$85/day over Marriott rates using "2VC" (this is during non-weekend days, your mileage may vary). So that's a saving of $425, which helps offset our annual dues for being a legacy DC member. If we buy and use more points, that's helps put us further ahead in savings.

I'm putting my comments here because it appears to be the dominate thread on the subject.

I have a friend that bought into the points system over a year ago. Since it was past the rescission point for him, I advised him of VPE and how he can get points as needed with no long term commitment or the initial outlay required for purchasing. He quickly saw the wisdom of this strategy and determined that buying more points was not in his best interest.

I hope Marriott continues this part of the DC program. I hesitate broadcasting it for Marriott to see...

P.S., thanks to Greg and Steven!
 

Jerrygomi

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As one who has used VPE, a few times over the years I agree that it was a wonderful invention for MVC points owners. So I second the thanks to Greg and Steve. Has Marriott done something recently to deter the use of "renting" out points? After the glut of available points a few years ago, I was shocked to see how few people are offering to rent out points in 2017-2018. Any explanations?



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StevenTing

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As one who has used VPE, a few times over the years I agree that it was a wonderful invention for MVC points owners. So I second the thanks to Greg and Steve. Has Marriott done something recently to deter the use of "renting" out points? After the glut of available points a few years ago, I was shocked to see how few people are offering to rent out points in 2017-2018. Any explanations?



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I think part of it is that some people have established relationships so they go back to the same people they have rented before. I have had people approach me over the past 3 years to see if I had points available, unsolicited.

Personally, I don't think the current rental price is enough to compensate me for my points. Even those MF's are around 0.53 a point, I want about 0.75-0.85 a point in order to make it worth my while and to also help offset part of the initial cost of my purchase. It's possible other owners are realizing this as well. The ones that can continue to rent in the 0.50 range are the Grand Residence owners as their average costs are significantly lower.

I'm sure there are other reasons but the two above are the ones that apply to me.
 

BocaBoy

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Has Marriott done something recently to deter the use of "renting" out points? After the glut of available points a few years ago, I was shocked to see how few people are offering to rent out points in 2017-2018. Any explanations?
There has certainly been a big decline in the number of owners listing their points for rent, but it also looks like a number of such owners have been incorrectly listing their points in the "for sale" section of VPE rather than in the "for rent" section.
 

JIMinNC

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The decline in rental ads is certainly a concern. So far, I've only needed to rent a small number of points on one occasion because our current leftover banked RCI weeks/TPUs (from a previous ownership), plus our modest Marriott week + DC points, have been adequate for our needs. That will likely be the case through 2018, but after that, in most years we'll probably need more points than what we now own. If the dearth of VPE listings continues, it makes me less willing to rely on point rentals and more inclined to find a way to increase my point ownership to a level that will fully meet our needs. We were already considering bumping up our point total anyway, but this may make it more of a certainty. We'll need to make that call sometime this year, so we can have 2019 points available when 2019 booking windows start opening in early 2018.

Right now as I type this, there is only one real listing on VPE with points available. The other three listings that are posted have already rented their points. That one listing is one of the active mega-renters, but having only one source is not my idea of a robust market. Concerning.
 

BocaBoy

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Right now as I type this, there is only one real listing on VPE with points available. The other three listings that are posted have already rented their points. That one listing is one of the active mega-renters, but having only one source is not my idea of a robust market. Concerning.
Also check the "Points for Sale" section, although even there the number of unexpired rental ads is relatively small.
 

Fasttr

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I also think there are a few poachers who just wait for somebody to post in the points wanted section seeking points, and then they reach out directly to those people when they see such posts. Not sure if they use that approach because they feel they can rent their points for a higher price per point or what....but I do often see posts from folks who look to fulfill rental needs and do not currently have any points listed for rent.
 

dioxide45

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I was checking out VPE for some points to rent as we may be looking to add a day using points in Maui. I was surprised when I logged in and only saw a small handful of listings. One was for points wanted, one was for 60 day restricted points, one was for 2016:shrug: points (typo?) and only three were for rental points but for 2018. There were no 2017 points for rent.

Am I missing something.?We are only needing [Ad-like specifics deleted.] points for the night. I suppose I could ask one of the current 2018 renters if they would borrow the points and make a reservation for me, but I would prefer to have the points transferred to my account. Though, I guess it really doesn't matter.

Just curious why there is so little available listings. I know I have checked in the past and seen dozens of them. Is it perhaps cyclical and this time of year is just slow for listings?

[Threads merged because similar comments were made a week or so ago in this ongoing related thread .]
 
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jeff76543

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I was checking out VPE for some points to rent as we may be looking to add a day using points in Maui. I was surprised when I logged in and only saw a small handful of listings. One was for points wanted, one was for 60 day restricted points, one was for 2016:shrug: points (typo?) and only three were for rental points but for 2018. There were no 2017 points for rent.

Am I missing something.?We are only needing [Ad-like specifics deleted.] points for the night. I suppose I could ask one of the current 2018 renters if they would borrow the points and make a reservation for me, but I would prefer to have the points transferred to my account. Though, I guess it really doesn't matter.

Just curious why there is so little available listings. I know I have checked in the past and seen dozens of them. Is it perhaps cyclical and this time of year is just slow for listings?
I rented a considerable amount of my 2017 points on VPE last week and I literally was inundated with requests. I easily could have rented 30,000 points if I had them and wanted to rent. This is a totally different situation than when I rented points last year - and I might add that the going rate for renting points is about 5 cents higher a point this year.
 
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dioxide45

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It seems that there is a lot of demand. Looking at the Points Wanted board on VPE, it seems that there are a ton of ads for 2017 points wanted. Not surprised that the price is up over last year, but surprised it isn't up even more. It seems current year points always fetch a higher price than future use years?
 

BocaBoy

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It seems that there is a lot of demand. Looking at the Points Wanted board on VPE, it seems that there are a ton of ads for 2017 points wanted. Not surprised that the price is up over last year, but surprised it isn't up even more. It seems current year points always fetch a higher price than future use years?
Actually, in more "normal" times in the past I have found it easier to rent out my own future years points (probably because of fewer listings than for current year) and I never found the price to be too much different. The main difference in price I have seen is that current year points often drop in price later in the year as people need to dump them before year-end or forfeit them. I have never rented points for my own use. In general, I think prices were dropping a year or so ago and now with the lack of listings they are generally higher than I have ever seen them.
 
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