Aruba Surf Presentation

[dansimms]

Went to Aruba Surf presentation yesterday. Was given a $300 room charge credit. I didn’t buy , as I am already Chairman and have no need for more time or a higher maintenance fee. They did show me a way to drive the effective cost of the points down well under $7. It involved a promo they have where you buy a Platinum Aruba week and it gives you the ability to bundle it with any number of MVCI weeks on a long list at an affordable add on price. In one scenario , adding Oceana Palms Platinum , resulting in the average maintenance fee being under .48 cents per year on this bundle if your intention is to use it as a DP annual point generator . Something like this might be of interest for someone looking to make a leap up of over 7000 Points per year. If there was a status above Chairman with ridiculously better perks I would have had a little more interest. Had no desire for a $641 a month 10 year payment and $10,000 a year as my new maintenance fee on a total of over 20,000 Points per year. It was presented professionally and no pressure. We declined an Encore presentation as we already have too many plans for the next 18 months. They were trying to make a case for us renting out the new week to subsidize our fees. We explained that is fine for others, but we didn’t want to make our love of travel a business

 

[Kel]

Were there other presentation incentives offered? We will be there for 2 weeks this summer. Thanks.

 

[csalter2]

Went to Aruba Surf presentation yesterday. Was given a $300 room charge credit. I didn’t buy , as I am already Chairman and have no need for more time or a higher maintenance fee. They did show me a way to drive the effective cost of the points down well under $7. It involved a promo they have where you buy a Platinum Aruba week and it gives you the ability to bundle it with any number of MVCI weeks on a long list at an affordable add on price. In one scenario , adding Oceana Palms Platinum , resulting in the average maintenance fee being under .48 cents per year on this bundle if your intention is to use it as a DP annual point generator . Something like this might be of interest for someone looking to make a leap up of over 7000 Points per year. If there was a status above Chairman with ridiculously better perks I would have had a little more interest. Had no desire for a $641 a month 10 year payment and $10,000 a year as my new maintenance fee on a total of over 20,000 Points per year. It was presented professionally and no pressure. We declined an Encore presentation as we already have too many plans for the next 18 months. They were trying to make a case for us renting out the new week to subsidize our fees. We explained that is fine for others, but we didn’t want to make our love of travel a business

Yes. They offered that last year and I took advantage of it with platinum 2 bedroom lock offs at Aruba Surf Club and Ocean Pointe. Maintenance fees for the two for the points is .38 and bought at under $6 per point.

 

[Dean]

I have a number of weeks some, enrolled done when the option was initially available in 2010 for the fee at the time, and some not. I have intentions of getting the others (all resale purchases) enrolled partly for current additional options and partly for legacy planning with the adult children (long story, another thread). So last summer we went to a couple of tours when in HI to gather information in addition to what was posted here. At the time the option to enroll for the 5500 points was on the table. Apparently there they did not have the purchase enroll option but I could have gotten it through internet sales or working with Aruba I'm sure but at the time I only wanted information as financially we weren't ready so I didn't put a lot of additional time or work into pursuing further. So in January we were in Aruba and I went over and talked to a sales supervisor (uncompensated, just me) and inquired about the possibilities in the future based on past promotions including doing the 7.5 weeks instead of 7, nothing was going on at that time. I expressed interest in a future option but again, finances were a consideration so 1-2 years would be our timeframe anyway.

So recently I was contacted by Aruba saying the promotion was back on. Apparently there is a minimum dollar amount to do this and enroll much along the lines of the purchase requirements doing so on points. The first offer was two Gold weeks at SC totaling 4625 destination points and a total costs of $49K. I let them know I had no interest in Gold weeks or 2 weeks (and dues on 2 weeks) but I would have interest in Platinum or possibly Platinum Plus. So they contacted me a week or so later saying they now had an OC Platinum week but given the dollars it didn't quite meet the minimum so I'd have to buy 250 trust points also to qualify. I did agree as I was planning to do so even with points at some time in the future when finances were more favorable and comparatively speaking, this was both better and cheaper for me as we go to Aruba every 2-3 years anyway. As we were in the process they came back with a 3 BR Platinum at SC which would be a little cheaper than the OC + points and it would remove the requirement for the trust points (and 2 closings). The 3 BR & SC are both better choices for us and the modestly lower price was also a plus so we made the change. They did have to get approval to do the 7.5 weeks over just the 7 but that went through quickly and would have been foolish on their end not to agree. Incentives varied slightly but in general were an extra set of DC points good for 2 years just above a years worth looking at the week purchase. There was also a finance incentive equaling a years worth of DC points after 18 months which I'm declining. I can look at the 3 offers if anyone wants specifics.

So just looking at the 7.5 weeks I'm converting added to the SC 3 BR and including acquisition costs on all, I'll be under $3.5 pp cost and under 38¢ pp dues (for either platinum choice). But it's still a chunk of change and something I didn't have to do. And one might argue an unreasonable expense since I'm already chairman's club and that would be a fair position and one I've gone back and forth on over the past year or so.

It does bring up an interesting gamble scenario for one who's new or newer to the game and interested in getting into points. One could buy resale weeks that are lower cost, lower comparative dues and higher DC points getting to 7-8 total non qualified weeks (EOY weeks count as 1/2) then potentially do this type of conversion next year or the year after if available, or just buy points. For sake of discussion if one bought 7 Vegas 2BR Platinum and enrolled with a $50K week that brought them in the total acquisition cost would be around $80K (roughly) or about $2.85 pp and dues around 40¢ pp (using my purchase as a comparison). Obviously different up front costs, weeks, unit types and resorts would alter the formula. Higher point weeks would likely have a higher acquisition cost but often a lower pp dues cost. Lots of possible variables here depending on one's needs & goals. I've got to say knowing what I know if I suddenly didn't own Marriott and wanted to, I would be willing to take this gamble though I'd likely do so by building a portfolio of weeks/resorts I'd use rather than just looking at the upfront costs and fees. And in reality that's what I've done though without the knowledge at the time I purchase some of the weeks.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I have a number of weeks some, enrolled done when the option was initially available in 2010 for the fee at the time, and some not. I have intentions of getting the others (all resale purchases) enrolled partly for current additional options and partly for legacy planning with the adult children (long story, another thread). So last summer we went to a couple of tours when in HI to gather information in addition to what was posted here. At the time the option to enroll for the 5500 points was on the table. Apparently there they did not have the purchase enroll option but I could have gotten it through internet sales or working with Aruba I'm sure but at the time I only wanted information as financially we weren't ready so I didn't put a lot of additional time or work into pursuing further. So in January we were in Aruba and I went over and talked to a sales supervisor (uncompensated, just me) and inquired about the possibilities in the future based on past promotions including doing the 7.5 weeks instead of 7, nothing was going on at that time. I expressed interest in a future option but again, finances were a consideration so 1-2 years would be our timeframe anyway.

So recently I was contacted by Aruba saying the promotion was back on. Apparently there is a minimum dollar amount to do this and enroll much along the lines of the purchase requirements doing so on points. The first offer was two Gold weeks at SC totaling 4625 destination points and a total costs of $49K. I let them know I had no interest in Gold weeks or 2 weeks (and dues on 2 weeks) but I would have interest in Platinum or possibly Platinum Plus. So they contacted me a week or so later saying they now had an OC Platinum week but given the dollars it didn't quite meet the minimum so I'd have to buy 250 trust points also to qualify. I did agree as I was planning to do so even with points at some time in the future when finances were more favorable and comparatively speaking, this was both better and cheaper for me as we go to Aruba every 2-3 years anyway. As we were in the process they came back with a 3 BR Platinum at SC which would be a little cheaper than the OC + points and it would remove the requirement for the trust points (and 2 closings). The 3 BR & SC are both better choices for us and the modestly lower price was also a plus so we made the change. They did have to get approval to do the 7.5 weeks over just the 7 but that went through quickly and would have been foolish on their end not to agree. Incentives varied slightly but in general were an extra set of DC points good for 2 years just above a years worth looking at the week purchase. There was also a finance incentive equaling a years worth of DC points after 18 months which I'm declining. I can look at the 3 offers if anyone wants specifics.

So just looking at the 7.5 weeks I'm converting added to the SC 3 BR and including acquisition costs on all, I'll be under $3.5 pp cost and under 38¢ pp dues (for either platinum choice). But it's still a chunk of change and something I didn't have to do. And one might argue an unreasonable expense since I'm already chairman's club and that would be a fair position and one I've gone back and forth on over the past year or so.

It does bring up an interesting gamble scenario for one who's new or newer to the game and interested in getting into points. One could buy resale weeks that are lower cost, lower comparative dues and higher DC points getting to 7-8 total non qualified weeks (EOY weeks count as 1/2) then potentially do this type of conversion next year or the year after if available, or just buy points. For sake of discussion if one bought 7 Vegas 2BR Platinum and enrolled with a $50K week that brought them in the total acquisition cost would be around $80K (roughly) or about $2.85 pp and dues around 40¢ pp (using my purchase as a comparison). Obviously different up front costs, weeks, unit types and resorts would alter the formula. Higher point weeks would likely have a higher acquisition cost but often a lower pp dues cost. Lots of possible variables here depending on one's needs & goals. I've got to say knowing what I know if I suddenly didn't own Marriott and wanted to, I would be willing to take this gamble though I'd likely do so by building a portfolio of weeks/resorts I'd use rather than just looking at the upfront costs and fees. And in reality that's what I've done though without the knowledge at the time I purchase some of the weeks.

So this is very interesting to me. So for ~$50k you have the 3BDRM Aruba Surf which converts to 4650 DC points and you were allowed to enroll 7.5 weeks of pre June 2010 weeks at no additional costs? Were the weeks of your choosing or did they have to be certain locations? I would seriously consider this if I could get the 3BDRM and I could choose the resorts i wanted to enroll.

Please let me know if I'm missing something and who i can call to look into it if my numbers are right.

 

[Fasttr]

So this is very interesting to me. So for ~$50k you have the 3BDRM Aruba Surf which converts to 4650 DC points and you were allowed to enroll 7.5 weeks of pre June 2010 weeks at no additional costs? Were the weeks of your choosing or did they have to be certain locations? I would seriously consider this if I could get the 3BDRM and I could choose the resorts i wanted to enroll.

Please let me know if I'm missing something and who i can call to look into it if my numbers are right.

This is simply the Caribbean/European twist to this promotion...
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/enrollment-special-is-back-on.287587/
which has been run every summer for the past few years. With this twist, they just require you to purchase Aruba/European week(s) approximately equal to what they would generate in sales by selling the 5500 DC points.

 

[Theiggy]

Dean- were these pre or post 2010 weeks that you enrolled?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dean]

So this is very interesting to me. So for ~$50k you have the 3BDRM Aruba Surf which converts to 4650 DC points and you were allowed to enroll 7.5 weeks of pre June 2010 weeks at no additional costs? Were the weeks of your choosing or did they have to be certain locations? I would seriously consider this if I could get the 3BDRM and I could choose the resorts i wanted to enroll.

Please let me know if I'm missing something and who i can call to look into it if my numbers are right.

5225 DC points and 7.5 post 2010 weeks. I enrolled all of my remaining weeks but I could have picked the ones had I needed to or to do less weeks. Why do you contact me privately and I can share more specific information which I'm happy to do as a help to others. I did not pin down the cutoffs for 1 or 3 weeks but it appeared the cutoff for 7 weeks was a $$$ amount likely $47K or somewhere there about. Since I had a specific goal, the other wasn't important to me.

This is simply the Caribbean/European twist to this promotion...
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/enrollment-special-is-back-on.287587/
which has been run every summer for the past few years. With this twist, they just require you to purchase Aruba/European week(s) approximately equal to what they would generate in sales by selling the 5500 DC points.

True except the cutoff is approximately 75-80% of the cost for points.

Dean- were these pre or post 2010 weeks that you enrolled?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All were post, my pre 2010 weeks are already enrolled.

 

[Fasttr]

True except the cutoff is approximately 75-80% of the cost for points.

Yeah. Since they can’t put the Aruba weeks in the Trust and sell the underlying points, I think they allow deals including those weeks to be a little sweeter. Has worked out great in enrollment deals like this for you, as well as for guys like csalter2 in his hybrid purchase deal.

 

[JIMinNC]

True except the cutoff is approximately 75-80% of the cost for points.

Any idea what the cutoff is in Aruba for just one post-2010 week (or two EOY)? The U.S. points requirement during those promos is 3000 points, but it would be interesting to see what week purchase Aruba requires to achieve the same thing.

We've passed on the 2018 and 2019 post-2010 enrollment promotions since we only had one EOY post-2010 week, but now that we are in closing on an EOY Waiohai week, we'll soon have the two EOY weeks we would need to take full advantage of the 3000 point tier. It would be nice to know the Aruba alternative and compare the upfront cost and the MF/point to the 3000 Trust points option. Even though the current promotion goes through early July, I believe, I assume our Waiohai week won't qualify since it was purchased after the start of this year's promo. I'm sure we will have to wait for a future repeat promo (2020?) to consider this option.

 

[Dean]

Any idea what the cutoff is in Aruba for just one post-2010 week (or two EOY)? The U.S. points requirement during those promos is 3000 points, but it would be interesting to see what week purchase Aruba requires to achieve the same thing.

We've passed on the 2018 and 2019 post-2010 enrollment promotions since we only had one EOY post-2010 week, but now that we are in closing on an EOY Waiohai week, we'll soon have the two EOY weeks we would need to take full advantage of the 3000 point tier. It would be nice to know the Aruba alternative and compare the upfront cost and the MF/point to the 3000 Trust points option. Even though the current promotion goes through early July, I believe, I assume our Waiohai week won't qualify since it was purchased after the start of this year's promo. I'm sure we will have to wait for a future repeat promo (2020?) to consider this option.

I'm sorry Jim I don't, it had no meaning to my situation and it didn't come up. They did not give me an overview of the program like I've received when looking at doing this with points. For 1 week my GUESS is somewhere between $25 & $30K as I'm pretty sure for 7 weeks it was $47K or in that range. I do know it was $48K for 7 weeks as I found a reference in the emails stating that so you could do match and if the match flowed true it's be $26K & $35K for 1 & 3 weeks respectively. For Aruba you'd be looking at a 2 BR Garden View Surf Club Gold week up to a 1 BR Ocean Club Platinum week as minimum qualification would be my guess. Maybe even a 1 BR OS Gold week though I'm skeptical at that level as that's $23K (may have been a recent price increase though). I don't know if they'd make an exception for 1.5 weeks at the 1 wk level, I'd be skeptical on that. For 3 weeks if they won't do it for the "1 week level" I'd guess $35-40K, maybe a 2 BR SC Platinum Garden View. Or some combination to get to the level in question. The problem is going to be that the cheaper levels will come with a cheaper price tag per week but less points for comparable dues. If you don't want an Aruba week I might just go with the points. If you would like an Aruba week (the 3 BR Platinum is perfect for us) then I'd decide what I wanted then how best to fit it together. To me the variables for Aruba are similar to any other purchase and include price, DC points, fees, flexibility (season/lockoff) and how it fits to one's situation as a week to use. So first it's a season or event week issue, then what size villa do I need/want. Assuming a retail purchase makes sense at all in this context for a given person, view type and comparative price will flow from there.

I'd be happy to pass on my contacts I've worked with in Aruba privately. You can always ask and let them know what you're comfortable with, that's essentially what I did in Jan and heard from them 2.5 months later out of the blue. Were I in your situation and wanting to enroll 1.5 weeks (my 0.5 was an IV Waiohai EOY BTW) I'd get the specific requirements then push to do 1.5 for the 1 wk level by asking them to ask corporate for an exception. If the answer was no I'd likely add 1.5 more weeks that were advantageous for me planning for next year. If you weren't eligible now because of your closing purchase, you could still try to pin down the answers as it currently sits then be ready next time around if the option is there again as I suspect it will be. There is a considerate economy of scale here. Remember OS & OV at SC get the same points but come with a different price tag (and view location).

 

[csalter2]

Dean,

What were the total number points of points the 7 post 2010 resale weeks worth?

And you were able to pay just $54,000 for the 3 bedroom Aruba SC to bring them all in, correct? If so, I’m wondering if they did that because you were already Chairman level and there wasn’t any real incentive for you to have buy more. However, they could make more money from you as if you were a new owner, get access to your 7.5 weeks for the trust owners when you elect. Win-win for you and them.

 

[Dean]

Dean,

What were the total number points of points the 7 post 20100 resale weeks worth?

And you were able to pay just $54,000 for the 3 bedroom Aruba SC to bring them all in, correct? If so, I’m wondering if they did that because you were already Chairman level and there wasn’t any real incentive for you to have buy more. However, they could make more money from you as if you were a new owner, get access to your 7.5 weeks for the trust owners when you elect. Win-win for you and them.

I didn't get the sense it was related, this was working directly with Aruba which has no power to make exceptions, they had to ask and wait on approval to do the 7.5 weeks. The price was quite a bit less than $54K, none of my scenarios crossed over $50K. Total points for the 7.5 weeks plus the 3 BR was 36835. The majority of the weeks are Platinum Grande Ocean (2OF/4OS) which are not the cheapest options up front. But certainly it was the only way there were going to get money this year though I had intent on doing the points conversion option once finances were a little more advantageous likely next year. But at $14K less and cheaper dues I went ahead and bit the bullet given the other benefits, fact we go to Aruba during Jan about EOY & the 3 BR is advantageous. I'm sure someone else will get a better deal and as I said, one could make he argument the benefits to me are less than someone not already chairman's club but it does fit what I wanted and had planned to do

 

[csalter2]

I didn't get the sense it was related, this was working directly with Aruba which has no power to make exceptions, they had to ask and wait on approval to do the 7.5 weeks. The price was quite a bit less than $54K, none of my scenarios crossed over $50K. Total points for the 7.5 weeks plus the 3 BR was 36835. The majority of the weeks are Platinum Grande Ocean (2OF/4OS) which are not the cheapest options up front. But certainly it was the only way there were going to get money this year though I had intent on doing the points conversion option once finances were a little more advantageous likely next year. But at $14K less and cheaper dues I went ahead and bit the bullet given the other benefits, fact we go to Aruba during Jan about EOY & the 3 BR is advantageous. I'm sure someone else will get a better deal and as I said, one could make he argument the benefits to me are less than someone not already chairman's club but it does fit what I wanted and had planned to do

This was certainly a better deal than just buying the 5500 points. This was a great deal. Over 36,000 points! Geesh And you were already Chairman.
Your thought process was similar to mine when I bought Aruba/Ocean Pointe hybrid. Desirable location, cheaper purchase than a points equivalent, Week MF/point is cheaper than DP MF/pt, lock off benefit and high demand season.

It’s gotten to a point that even in buying resale weeks, you have to look at a week’s point value in case you are thinking of enrolling it in the future.

 

[Dean]

This was certainly a better deal than just buying the 5500 points. This was a great deal. Over 36,000 points! Geesh And you were already Chairman.
Your thought process was similar to mine when I bought Aruba/Ocean Pointe hybrid. Desirable location, cheaper purchase than a points equivalent, Week MF/point is cheaper than DP MF/pt, lock off benefit and high demand season.

It’s gotten to a point that even in buying resale weeks, you have to look at a week’s point value in case you are thinking of enrolling it in the future.

OTOH it reminds me of when my wife "saves" me money because something's on sale. My goal the past 12-15 years was to position myself for retirement but get something that I could use and survive financially in the interim. I agree with you that possible future enrollment should be one piece of info considered esp for "trading" weeks. It does offer a different perspective on the best trading week debate and I guess it moves Grand Chateau and ? Grande Vista to the head of the line and adds Ocean Point Gold and event weeks for some locations to the discussion that might not have been there if trading alone was the question. And as I write this I just responded to an email from Grande Ocean where they wanted to start preplanning our 10 concurrent weeks there this summer.

 

[JIMinNC]

Were I in your situation and wanting to enroll 1.5 weeks (my 0.5 was an IV Waiohai EOY BTW) I'd get the specific requirements then push to do 1.5 for the 1 wk level by asking them to ask corporate for an exception. If the answer was no I'd likely add 1.5 more weeks that were advantageous for me planning for next year. If you weren't eligible now because of your closing purchase, you could still try to pin down the answers as it currently sits then be ready next time around if the option is there again as I suspect it will be. There is a considerate economy of scale here. Remember OS & OV at SC get the same points but come with a different price tag (and view location).

We would not be trying to enroll 1.5 weeks, all we have unenrolled is our existing EOY OV Maui Ocean Club and our pending EOY IV Waiohai, so two EOY equal to just one EY. As you alluded to earlier, Gold Aruba probably wouldn't work that well since only Gold 2BR OF has a MF/point at $0.50 or less. All the other Gold MF/point are pretty high. The 1BR Platinum OF at Aruba Ocean Club, and the 2BR Platinum OF/OV/OS at both Aruba resorts have attractive MF/point as long as the upfront cost isn't out of line compared to the cost of the 3000 Trust points. The key would be finding that minimum qualification purchase with a decent MF/point cost.

 

[csalter2]

I believe you may be able to get a 2 bedroom OV platinum week for the cost or less of 3000 trust points.

We would not be trying to enroll 1.5 weeks, all we have unenrolled is our existing EOY OV Maui Ocean Club and our pending EOY IV Waiohai, so two EOY equal to just one EY. As you alluded to earlier, Gold Aruba probably wouldn't work that well since only Gold 2BR OF has a MF/point at $0.50 or less. All the other Gold MF/point are pretty high. The 1BR Platinum OF at Aruba Ocean Club, and the 2BR Platinum OF/OV/OS at both Aruba resorts have attractive MF/point as long as the upfront cost isn't out of line compared to the cost of the 3000 Trust points. The key would be finding that minimum qualification purchase with a decent MF/point cost.

 

[Dean]

We would not be trying to enroll 1.5 weeks, all we have unenrolled is our existing EOY OV Maui Ocean Club and our pending EOY IV Waiohai, so two EOY equal to just one EY. As you alluded to earlier, Gold Aruba probably wouldn't work that well since only Gold 2BR OF has a MF/point at $0.50 or less. All the other Gold MF/point are pretty high. The 1BR Platinum OF at Aruba Ocean Club, and the 2BR Platinum OF/OV/OS at both Aruba resorts have attractive MF/point as long as the upfront cost isn't out of line compared to the cost of the 3000 Trust points. The key would be finding that minimum qualification purchase with a decent MF/point cost.

That's my understanding that two EOY counts as one but I haven't inquired specifically. If the main goal is to get points then obviously it's a long term overall cost issue. They did not have OF units at the time and it did not appear they had ANY platinum when I first started working on this. They got 8 OC Platinum 2 BR after we started (by report) then the 3 BR SC came in later. But you never know and if you hold out for X they may come up with it. Our situation was a little different. While I wanted to be smart about the actual purchase, my main goal was to get the other weeks enrolled. So had they been willing to do so for just one Gold week at the appropriate price ($23-26K) I would have even though the cost/pt on fees would have been more yearly. But I was not going to do 2 gold weeks to do so which was the initial offer. The price quoted for the 2 BR OV at OC was $45,600 but I got the impression they had a price increase since.

I assume you're planning to use your HI weeks every 4 years and have to decide what to do with the off years? Do you need more points. Would this give you other savings like dumping a personal II account, lockoff fees (? MOC a 2 BR), exchange fees? It will me on all counts though obviously those are peanuts for those savings alone. If price per point is a major part of your decision making I wonder if a Platinum Plus/event week might be worth pushing for. Also, the level you're looking at you could enroll at least 3 weeks if not 7.

I'm wondering our loud here. We know they'll do a conversion of unenrolled weeks for such a purchase or with a trust points purchase subject to cost limitations. We know they'll do a 2 for 1 enrolled say Aruba/St. Kitts with another US week. What I haven't seen addressed is whether they'll do a combination. Say could csalter2 have enrolled weeks with his purchase for no additional costs?

 

[JIMinNC]

That's my understanding that two EOY counts as one but I haven't inquired specifically.

That's certainly the case with the 3000 Trust points purchase option, so I assume the Aruba variation has the same option.

If the main goal is to get points then obviously it's a long term overall cost issue. They did not have OF units at the time and it did not appear they had ANY platinum when I first started working on this. They got 8 OC Platinum 2 BR after we started (by report) then the 3 BR SC came in later. But you never know and if you hold out for X they may come up with it. Our situation was a little different. While I wanted to be smart about the actual purchase, my main goal was to get the other weeks enrolled. So had they been willing to do so for just one Gold week at the appropriate price ($23-26K) I would have even though the cost/pt on fees would have been more yearly. But I was not going to do 2 gold weeks to do so which was the initial offer. The price quoted for the 2 BR OV at OC was $45,600 but I got the impression they had a price increase since.

Based on this info, the 2BR Aruba Platinums would certainly not be an option as an alternative to the 3000 Trust Points as a way to enroll just two EOY or one EY. I suspect with their typical 15% discount off list for Trust purchases, given the current $14+ per point list, the 3000 Trust points would be somewhere around $36K. So that cost and the $0.58/pt Trust MF would be the yardstick any Aruba options would have to be measured against. Most of the Gold units have higher MF costs than Trust points would. I have no idea what a 1BR Platinum OF at Ocean Club would cost, but if that could be had for less than the Trust points cost, the MF/point is pretty attractive at $0.40/point. It looks like the Aruba option may be a better choice for someone like you with lots of weeks to enroll versus someone who just needs an alternative to the 3000 point tier.

I assume you're planning to use your HI weeks every 4 years and have to decide what to do with the off years? Do you need more points. Would this give you other savings like dumping a personal II account, lockoff fees (? MOC a 2 BR), exchange fees? It will me on all counts though obviously those are peanuts for those savings alone. If price per point is a major part of your decision making I wonder if a Platinum Plus/event week might be worth pushing for. Also, the level you're looking at you could enroll at least 3 weeks if not 7.

Our plan is to use our 2BR Maui Ocean Club and 2BR Waiohai weeks in Hawaii every odd year. We do not have an II account for these unenrolled weeks since we've sworn-off II trading, so those fee savings aren't a consideration. Right now we only have access to 3375 points for other uses, so we could certainly use more for use in the even years and for other trips in the odd years (or to add-on more time in Hawaii). We would also like to get to at least Executive for the 13 month 1+ night booking option. We could achieve all that by buying about 4000 resale points, but if you assume a $7/pt all in cost with junk fees, that's still $28K, so that's why these annual post 2010 offers have intrigued me. Having said that, I'm still not sure I'm willing to go in that deep cost-wise for either resale points or an enrollment offer. I would love the additional flexibility and options that would give us to flex how we use our ownership, but it's a lot of money to tie up in timeshares. Spending $8K for an EOY week on Maui or $4K for an EOY week on Kauai is as close to a no-brainer as there is, but spending $28K to $35K just to get a few more points and enroll our weeks is a whole different ballgame.

 

[csalter2]

Say could csalter2 have enrolled weeks with his purchase for no additional costs?

Yes, I was offered that option because I was already in the process of buying a resale week but I stopped as I started talking with the salesman at the corporate office with whom I was working. If I had some resale weeks they were on the table. I thought about squashing the deal and buying some resale weeks first but I had a budget I wanted to stay within and I did not want to be spending too much more in maintenance fees.

 

[Fasttr]

Yes, I was offered that option because I was already in the process of buying a resale week but I stopped as I started talking with the salesman at the corporate office with whom I was working. If I had some resale weeks they were on the table. I thought about squashing the deal and buying some resale weeks first but I had a budget I wanted to stay within and I did not want to be spending too much more in maintenance fees.

It should be noted, if I am recalling correctly, that you struck your deal approximately a year ago (in April - July window), when a typical spring/summer "buy points and enroll previously unenrollable weeks" promotion was concurrently running. I don't believe that add'l enrollment of previously owned and unenrollable weeks deal would have been on the table outside of such a promotional window.

 

[GregT]

I have a number of weeks some, enrolled done when the option was initially available in 2010 for the fee at the time, and some not. I have intentions of getting the others (all resale purchases) enrolled partly for current additional options and partly for legacy planning with the adult children (long story, another thread). So last summer we went to a couple of tours when in HI to gather information in addition to what was posted here. At the time the option to enroll for the 5500 points was on the table. Apparently there they did not have the purchase enroll option but I could have gotten it through internet sales or working with Aruba I'm sure but at the time I only wanted information as financially we weren't ready so I didn't put a lot of additional time or work into pursuing further. So in January we were in Aruba and I went over and talked to a sales supervisor (uncompensated, just me) and inquired about the possibilities in the future based on past promotions including doing the 7.5 weeks instead of 7, nothing was going on at that time. I expressed interest in a future option but again, finances were a consideration so 1-2 years would be our timeframe anyway.

So recently I was contacted by Aruba saying the promotion was back on. Apparently there is a minimum dollar amount to do this and enroll much along the lines of the purchase requirements doing so on points. The first offer was two Gold weeks at SC totaling 4625 destination points and a total costs of $49K. I let them know I had no interest in Gold weeks or 2 weeks (and dues on 2 weeks) but I would have interest in Platinum or possibly Platinum Plus. So they contacted me a week or so later saying they now had an OC Platinum week but given the dollars it didn't quite meet the minimum so I'd have to buy 250 trust points also to qualify. I did agree as I was planning to do so even with points at some time in the future when finances were more favorable and comparatively speaking, this was both better and cheaper for me as we go to Aruba every 2-3 years anyway. As we were in the process they came back with a 3 BR Platinum at SC which would be a little cheaper than the OC + points and it would remove the requirement for the trust points (and 2 closings). The 3 BR & SC are both better choices for us and the modestly lower price was also a plus so we made the change. They did have to get approval to do the 7.5 weeks over just the 7 but that went through quickly and would have been foolish on their end not to agree. Incentives varied slightly but in general were an extra set of DC points good for 2 years just above a years worth looking at the week purchase. There was also a finance incentive equaling a years worth of DC points after 18 months which I'm declining. I can look at the 3 offers if anyone wants specifics.

So just looking at the 7.5 weeks I'm converting added to the SC 3 BR and including acquisition costs on all, I'll be under $3.5 pp cost and under 38¢ pp dues (for either platinum choice). But it's still a chunk of change and something I didn't have to do. And one might argue an unreasonable expense since I'm already chairman's club and that would be a fair position and one I've gone back and forth on over the past year or so.

It does bring up an interesting gamble scenario for one who's new or newer to the game and interested in getting into points. One could buy resale weeks that are lower cost, lower comparative dues and higher DC points getting to 7-8 total non qualified weeks (EOY weeks count as 1/2) then potentially do this type of conversion next year or the year after if available, or just buy points. For sake of discussion if one bought 7 Vegas 2BR Platinum and enrolled with a $50K week that brought them in the total acquisition cost would be around $80K (roughly) or about $2.85 pp and dues around 40¢ pp (using my purchase as a comparison). Obviously different up front costs, weeks, unit types and resorts would alter the formula. Higher point weeks would likely have a higher acquisition cost but often a lower pp dues cost. Lots of possible variables here depending on one's needs & goals. I've got to say knowing what I know if I suddenly didn't own Marriott and wanted to, I would be willing to take this gamble though I'd likely do so by building a portfolio of weeks/resorts I'd use rather than just looking at the upfront costs and fees. And in reality that's what I've done though without the knowledge at the time I purchase some of the weeks.

Dean, that is fantastic -- congratulations to you on this deal -- that's a great week and property, and enrolling 7.5 weeks with the purchase is remarkable. Enjoy all of them and thanks for posting this!

Best,

Greg

 

[csalter2]

It should be noted, if I am recalling correctly, that you struck your deal approximately a year ago (in April - July window), when a typical spring/summer "buy points and enroll previously unenrollable weeks" promotion was concurrently running. I don't believe that add'l enrollment of previously owned and unenrollable weeks deal would have been on the table outside of such a promotion window.

The timeframe went from the end of April through August. They did not have any OF Ocean Pointe units so I was able to explore other units. However, during that time, I did in fact inquire about enrolling a resale and was told I could. You can’t help but consider it. I was looking at all scenarios because during that time period the sales offers kept changing. They knew from the beginning that I was considering resales. From where we started to where we ended was very different.

 

[Dean]

It should be noted, if I am recalling correctly, that you struck your deal approximately a year ago (in April - July window), when a typical spring/summer "buy points and enroll previously unenrollable weeks" promotion was concurrently running. I don't believe that add'l enrollment of previously owned and unenrollable weeks deal would have been on the table outside of such a promotional window.

I am certain that would be the case as Aruba had to wait and see if the option came around again. I strongly suspect the time frame is the same for all enrollment options.

 

[csalter2]

I’m only going by what occurred and I know what I was told. I don’t know about tiimetables and such but I do know that from my first conversation it went from points to hybrid in which there was a cap on number of points the accompanying week could have to a hybrid where there was no cap and I could select any property they had available.

I did not deal with Aruba. I dealt with the corporate office. Perhaps they could offer more than the sites, I don’t know, but I did ask about the resale weeks because the weeks they were offering me were throughout the Marriott resale system. The salesman would let me know what was availbable before they hit the Marriott resales internet site they used to have. They made offers on properties that they did not even have.