[2019] Was a Good Deal---Year's Ago

[kermadec]

They are never a financial investment but really the value was all the family holidays you had and the memories you have. We were advised when buying by many not to expect any financial reward at the end. Look into red week and some FB pages where you could sell at market price or find a reputable agent. And see if you can get something for them, or failing that rent the DP points to cover the MF during the time it takes to sell.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kermadec]

I only have 1 week ownership and can't do destination points, I wish someone who has success story on selling can advice me.

 

[csalter2]

I’m not sure what you would like to know. I know people who own only one week and very much enjoy their timeshare. What is your challenge?

 

[csalter2]

I only have 1 week ownership and can't do destination points, I wish someone who has success story on selling can advice me.

read my post to you. On what’s your challenge.

 

[JT]

We spend 13k on ours and would have a hard time selling.. Would not change it for the world.

 

[Woj]

Even if you pare down to 2 weeks you still may want to consider enrolling. We've owned over 20 years and while I can't speak to the French property but I can for Aruba, HI and the US. We had 56 people at Grande Ocean in Hilton Head this past year and should surpass that this year and the year before 15 in HI for 3 weeks, etc.

For others reading now or in the future, enrolling in this situation could give a TON of additional options as well as access to additional inventory. In this exact situation one should end up with around 10-11K points depending on the specific seasons of each. Even using 2 weeks for Orlando one could do another 1 to 2 weeks about anywhere in the Marriott system. For me personally enrollment has been a godsend opening up choices and inventory that I never would have had otherwise on reward points or exchanging. We still exchange but one complements the other tremendously with planning. That gives free changes/cancelation, II account, M to M exchanges, M to M ePlus and free lockoff fee (where applicable). Small potatoes in a way but it really adds up.

It looks like you got lucky but read the current post stating Marriott Booking Nightmares as those folks are not so lucky. We don't opt into the DP as we know a few folks that have issues and are always buying more points. The Legacy program works for us but the MF are catching up to us. We liked the Aruba property but the only drawback that we had was there were wall to wall people there when we went a few years back. The beachs were over crowded and was not relaxing.

 

[Dean]

It looks like you got lucky but read the current post stating Marriott Booking Nightmares as those folks are not so lucky. We don't opt into the DP as we know a few folks that have issues and are always buying more points. The Legacy program works for us but the MF are catching up to us. We liked the Aruba property but the only drawback that we had was there were wall to wall people there when we went a few years back. The beachs were over crowded and was not relaxing.

I don't see any luck to this. I've been a Timeshare owner for 25 yrs, Marriot for over 20 and with the DP for 9.5 years as well as having a significant stake in Bluegreen and Marriott. Over the past 10 years I've been to HI 3 times, 2, 3 & 3 weeks all on exchange/DP combo's. While this last trip was increased volume, the last trip was almost a carbon copy with 6 people for 3 weeks/3 islands. We've had 4 trips to Aruba (exchange & DP 11-12 nights each) and quite a few trips to Grande Ocean with 7-10 weeks either week 25 or week 26 consistently and we didn't have any problems or concerns with the resort at all. Plus we've had large trips to Gatlinburg using Bluegreen and Nashville through RCI. I've always gotten what I expected to get in terms of DP, direct reservations and exchanges. It's about planning, being educated, reserving early and having realistic expectations. The DP has been a great enhancement to my ownership and I've never used any of the lower points options. Frankly, those over 20 years I've been with MVC, I always considered reward points to be a subpar usage for us even in the 1990's but I realize it depends on how they were used. I get the impression you've read too much at the wrong places and convinced yourself of things that are not actually true when you do the things I listed above (education, planning & positioning).

 

[Woj]

I don't see any luck to this. I've been a Timeshare owner for 25 yrs, Marriot for over 20 and with the DP for 9.5 years as well as having a significant stake in Bluegreen and Marriott. Over the past 10 years I've been to HI 3 times, 2, 3 & 3 weeks all on exchange/DP combo's. While this last trip was increased volume, the last trip was almost a carbon copy with 6 people for 3 weeks/3 islands. We've had 4 trips to Aruba (exchange & DP 11-12 nights each) and quite a few trips to Grande Ocean with 7-10 weeks either week 25 or week 26 consistently and we didn't have any problems or concerns with the resort at all. Plus we've had large trips to Gatlinburg using Bluegreen and Nashville through RCI. I've always gotten what I expected to get in terms of DP, direct reservations and exchanges. It's about planning, being educated, reserving early and having realistic expectations. The DP has been a great enhancement to my ownership and I've never used any of the lower points options. Frankly, those over 20 years I've been with MVC, I always considered reward points to be a subpar usage for us even in the 1990's but I realize it depends on how they were used. I get the impression you've read too much at the wrong places and convinced yourself of things that are not actually true when you do the things I listed above (education, planning & positioning).

We have been owners over 25 years but we are much more adventurous as it looks like you prefer staying in the states which are very easy to obtain, which is perfectly fine. We prefer open jaw international airline bookings and also really prefer villas as I am a chef and look forward to preparing dishes using local ingredients. I am extremely successful using the point system as you need to do a bunch of researching with both the airlines a hotel catagory's. A few years back I wanted to fly around the world so I put together a trip from Pittsburgh to Detroit, then to Ho Chi Minh City, then to Hanoi, then to Paris, then to Detroit and back to Pittsburgh. We stayed at a Marriott Renaissance for a week and a JW Marriott for a week. Asian Marriott's have much lower catagory ratings which is also unusual, even the JW's! We also flew premium select.

 

[Dean]

We have been owners over 25 years but we are much more adventurous as it looks like you prefer staying in the states which are very easy to obtain, which is perfectly fine. We prefer open jaw international airline bookings and also really prefer villas as I am a chef and look forward to preparing dishes using local ingredients. I am extremely successful using the point system as you need to do a bunch of researching with both the airlines a hotel catagory's. A few years back I wanted to fly around the world so I put together a trip from Pittsburgh to Detroit, then to Ho Chi Minh City, then to Hanoi, then to Paris, then to Detroit and back to Pittsburgh. We stayed at a Marriott Renaissance for a week and a JW Marriott for a week. Asian Marriott's have much lower catagory ratings which is also unusual, even the JW's! We also flew premium select.

Your statement was I got lucky, I assume referring to the HI trip) but the reality is that is false. I was educated, had reasonable expectations and was proactive. And HI from the East Coast, and not even a hub, is no small task. I have no doubt I could replicate the timeshare results consistently at any MVC location. I would suggest that the points are a side benefit, one that we all knew or should have known, was hit or miss. If your main reliance is on reward points, I'd suggest that buying in the first place was not a great choice even if it has worked out to this point. And if that's your focus, IMO, you should have been out years ago or not bought in.

 

[Woj]

Your statement was I got lucky, I assume referring to the HI trip) but the reality is that is false. I was educated, had reasonable expectations and was proactive. And HI from the East Coast, and not even a hub, is no small task. I have no doubt I could replicate the timeshare results consistently at any MVC location. I would suggest that the points are a side benefit, one that we all knew or should have known, was hit or miss. If your main reliance is on reward points, I'd suggest that buying in the first place was not a great choice even if it has worked out to this point. And if that's your focus, IMO, you should have been out years ago or not bought in.

No problem as we both can agree to disagree which is ok. Many folks are not as crafty with the point system and how to maximize their benefits so they elect to join th DP. We attended a DP sales presentation a few years ago at Marriott's Grande Vista and our rep asked if I could explain how I put together the Viet Nam trip to a few other sales rep's. Hey, the best to you, enjoy your ventures and Happy New Year!

 

[Dean]

No problem as we both can agree to disagree which is ok. Many folks are not as crafty with the point system and how to maximize their benefits so they elect to join th DP. We attended a DP sales presentation a few years ago at Marriott's Grande Vista and our rep asked if I could explain how I put together the Viet Nam trip to a few other sales rep's. Hey, the best to you, enjoy your ventures and Happy New Year!

You too. One of the advantages I've found for the DP is the ability to reserve earlier and thus simply the rest of the planning process although I do enjoy the chase at times as well. To add one thing to our decision to do mostly US or fairly close trips is that we've made family a priority. Were we not doing our big family trips most years, we could & would have done a lot more abroad. We're very happy with those decisions and very content in our positions which I believe is a conscious decision.

 

[Woj]

You too. One of the advantages I've found for the DP is the ability to reserve earlier and thus simply the rest of the planning process although I do enjoy the chase at times as well. To add one things to our decision to do mostly US or fairly close trips is that we've made family a priority. Were we not doing our big family trips most years, we could & would have done a lot more abroad. We're very happy with those decisions and very content in our positions which I believe is a conscious decision.

You made extremely well choices as family DOES come first. Enjoy your family companionship as it will go away in the blink of an eye! Take advantage as much as you can. Our grand parents have passed away, our parents have passed away as well. Our kids are no longer kids and have their own family's of their own. Your family and health are the number "1" priority!

 

[Pamplemousse]

We are not disgruntled owners but the four weeks do not work for us anymore. We would never have been able to travel all over the world three times. stay in $500 a night villas, if it were not for Marriott. We never used our home resort as we always traded for points and used them for airfare etc. However over the years the trading power along with the rising maintenance fees does not work for us. We will let one of our Cypress and Custom House go and go back to just having our two weeks at Cypress. After almost 25 years we finally went to Cypress two years ago and what a surprise. We met the new general manager and he REALLY made Cypress a showcase property for Marriott. We usually stay at Marriott Village de France outside of Paris and 5 minutes away from Euro Disney. If you have not been there you are missing out.

No problem as we both can agree to disagree which is ok. Many folks are not as crafty with the point system and how to maximize their benefits so they elect to join th DP. We attended a DP sales presentation a few years ago at Marriott's Grande Vista and our rep asked if I could explain how I put together the Viet Nam trip to a few other sales rep's. Hey, the best to you, enjoy your ventures and Happy New Year!

Just curious- Did you reserve your legacy week with Marriott and deposit it into interval to exchange to Viet Nam or did you use Marriott Rewards (Bonvoy) points for the stay?

 

[jewls]

We currently own three Cypress Harbour weeks and one Custom House week. We have been owner's since 1995 and been around the world over three times and really enjoyed the vacationclub. But now the bad news! Times have changed and family needs have changed which is acceptable. Our current maintenance fee's are over $6500 plus other varied costs so we decided to sell our Custom House week and one Cypress weeks. I called Marriott asking what are our options and was told that they would take back the weeks once all maintenance fees were paid but we would not receive any monies for the weeks! I thought that that was absurd as we would be out over $38,000. I then searched as to how to sell them and found out that there are hundred's of postings regarding selling both Cypress and Custom House weeks and no one buying! We are at wits end as we may have to just let them go as we do not want to go through the aggravation of posting and hoping. What a mess and hard to believe we made such a costly decision year's ago! We used to brag about how the Marriott Timeshare Program was the best thing on earth and now we found out why timeshares have such a poor reputation!

We owned 2 weeks at the Custom House. One Gold and one Platinum. Marriott just sold my gold week for $6400, we received $3840. Definitely a pittance to what we paid but like you we have great memories. I know we would have never done if we hadn’t been paying for maintenance fees and feeling we needed to get our monies worth. Our life too has changed. Hubby is very sick and we just can’t do lime we used to. Not to say....it’s gotten expensive.

We did keep the platinum week but I’m thinking we might need to get rid of that too!

 

[MALC9990]

We currently own three Cypress Harbour weeks and one Custom House week. We have been owner's since 1995 and been around the world over three times and really enjoyed the vacationclub. But now the bad news! Times have changed and family needs have changed which is acceptable. Our current maintenance fee's are over $6500 plus other varied costs so we decided to sell our Custom House week and one Cypress weeks. I called Marriott asking what are our options and was told that they would take back the weeks once all maintenance fees were paid but we would not receive any monies for the weeks! I thought that that was absurd as we would be out over $38,000. I then searched as to how to sell them and found out that there are hundred's of postings regarding selling both Cypress and Custom House weeks and no one buying! We are at wits end as we may have to just let them go as we do not want to go through the aggravation of posting and hoping. What a mess and hard to believe we made such a costly decision year's ago! We used to brag about how the Marriott Timeshare Program was the best thing on earth and now we found out why timeshares have such a poor reputation!

You bought those weeks 25 years ago and have hopefully used them for the last 25 years. They were never a financial investment. Your 38,000 would have been long gone on vacation spending anyway so you should look at your selling options realistically and decide to earth sell or retain to use or rent.

 

[kermadec]

We owned 2 weeks at the Custom House. One Gold and one Platinum. Marriott just sold my gold week for $6400, we received $3840. Definitely a pittance to what we paid but like you we have great memories. I know we would have never done if we hadn’t been paying for maintenance fees and feeling we needed to get our monies worth. Our life too has changed. Hubby is very sick and we just can’t do lime we used to. Not to say....it’s gotten expensive.

We did keep the platinum week but I’m thinking we might need to get rid of that too!

I am sorry your husband not well. I can relate to you as we are in the same situation. Sometimes we just have to let it go when materials things i.e. timeshare an added expense not needed. Us members who have timeshares had memorable holiday time. Hope all well with your family now

 

[Woj]

Just curious- Did you reserve your legacy week with Marriott and deposit it into interval to exchange to Viet Nam or did you use Marriott Rewards (Bonvoy) points for the stay?

What happened in 2002 my Air Force Reserve unit was activated to the middle east and we did not vacation that year. So the next year we had over 900,000 points in our bank. I got two Marriott vacation certificates that included 110,000 air miles plus a week stay. Also, if you go the certificate way you can lrave any day of the week. The next year we spent a week in Paris the took the high speed train to London. We spent a week in the UK then flew to Orlando and spent a week there then back to Pittsburgh. People think Legacy owners are locked into Sunday to Sunday or Saturday to Saturday which is not true. We usually fly out Thursday or Friday as the Delta Skymiles are less and letting you to upgrade your seats. Hope that helps!

 

[Pamplemousse]

Ok I see- sounds like you are trading your MVC weeks for Marriott rewards (Bonvoy) points and then buying travel certificates for airline and hotel stays. Sounds like a great vacation.

 

[Woj]

Ok I see- sounds like you are trading your MVC weeks for Marriott rewards (Bonvoy) points and then buying travel certificates for airline and hotel stays. Sounds like a great vacation.

We almost always traded for points. There are three ways we basically use for vacations. We use Reward points, certificates or Interval. If we use interval and it is Sunday to Sunday we usually fly out on Thursday or Friday and use points for single nights. Certificates are now really pricy as well as the 3 to 1 frequent flyer miles. All the programs have changed significantly over the years.

 

[Pamplemousse]

We almost always traded for points. There are three ways we basically use for vacations. We use Reward points, certificates or Interval. If we use interval and it is Sunday to Sunday we usually fly out on Thursday or Friday and use points for single nights. Certificates are now really pricy as well as the 3 to 1 frequent flyer miles. All the programs have changed significantly over the years.

I have never traded in my week for bonvoy points and used them for certificates but I do know it is possible.
I’ve read that the certificates are not as good a value now.
I do build up a bonvoy points using my credit card and often add a night or 2 onto an II exchange.
I get airline miles from another credit card so it all works out.
It‘s interesting to hear the different ways people use their MVC ownership.

 

[Woj]

I have never traded in my week for bonvoy points and used them for certificates but I do know it is possible.
I’ve read that the certificates are not as good a value now.
I do build up a bonvoy points using my credit card and often add a night or 2 onto an II exchange.
I get airline miles from another credit card so it all works out.
It‘s interesting to hear the different ways people use their MVC ownership.

The certificates used to be a great way to travel but the really got pricy. When we first joined in 1995 a certificate for 1 week stay and 150,000 airmiles was 235,000 points. That same cert today is 750,000 for a 1 week stay in a cat 8 hotel and 100 000 miles. Not a good deal! However they are a good deal in the Asian market since the hotels are cat 2/4.

 

[JIMinNC]

The certificates used to be a great way to travel but the really got pricy. When we first joined in 1995 a certificate for 1 week stay and 150,000 airmiles was 235,000 points. That same cert today is 750,000 for a 1 week stay in a cat 8 hotel and 100 000 miles. Not a good deal! However they are a good deal in the Asian market since the hotels are cat 2/4.

If converting to BonVoy points has been your primary usage model, I can see how the devaluation of hotel points over time has caused you to be less happy with your ownership. I’ve always seen using MVC ownership at MVC resorts as the best value, and feel that, at least for us as mainly resale owners, that value proposition is still intact.

 

[Woj]

If converting to BonVoy points has been your primary usage model, I can see how the devaluation of hotel points over time has caused you to be less happy with your ownership. I’ve always seen using MVC ownership at MVC resorts as the best value, and feel that, at least for us as mainly resale owners, that value proposition is still intact.

On the contrary as we are extremely happy with our Marriott vacation club. We have traveled all over the world three times and have tons of memory's. The points system has been godsent to us as I really maximize our travels plans. Devaluation will continue to go on and buyers must be aware of the future transitions. Just look at the DP program! It does not work for us. We travel when we want, where we want without buying extra points, having points expire and sitting on the phone for hours only to be told you are too late, nothing available.

 

[JIMinNC]

On the contrary as we are extremely happy with our Marriott vacation club. We have traveled all over the world three times and have tons of memory's. The points system has been godsent to us as I really maximize our travels plans. Devaluation will continue to go on and buyers must be aware of the future transitions. Just look at the DP program! It does not work for us. We travel when we want, where we want without buying extra points, having points expire and sitting on the phone for hours only to be told you are too late, nothing available.

My comment about you being less happy with your ownership was in reference to the comments you made in your original post in this thread where you expressed some dissatisfaction with the changes over time that have impacted the utility of your ownership.

FWIW, the DP program works as well for us as you say the Rewards/BonVoy conversions have worked for you over the years. We haven't been forced to buy more points, never had points expire (we're always borrowing from future years), and have never sat on the phone for hours and failed to get what we want. In fact, we've never had an issue booking, but then we're not trying to reserve New Years week, Presidents Day, July 4, etc. DPs work very well for us, and fortunately the MVC system has enough options that can fit many vacation styles.

 

[Woj]

My comment about you being less happy with your ownership was in reference to the comments you made in your original post in this thread where you expressed some dissatisfaction with the changes over time that have impacted the utility of your ownership.

FWIW, the DP program works as well for us as you say the Rewards/BonVoy conversions have worked for you over the years. We haven't been forced to buy more points, never had points expire (we're always borrowing from future years), and have never sat on the phone for hours and failed to get what we want. In fact, we've never had an issue booking, but then we're not trying to reserve New Years week, Presidents Day, July 4, etc. DPs work very well for us, and fortunately the MVC system has enough options that can fit many vacation styles.

I totally agree as that is why they make Ford's and Chevy's! My dissatisfaction with program changes will everyone's issue as time goes on but hey, timeshares are a poor investment but well worth the memories. In 1995 we bought defunct loans from Marriott at $12,900 (2) apiece. We then added another Cypress at $13,900. My BIG mistake was buying a Custom House, while we were in Marbella Spain for $22,900. I say big mistake because it was totally my fault because I was only going to use it for reward point buying power but neglected the season of the week! Now with $2000 MF it is not that appealing.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!