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Can I reserve home resort in lower season?

Johnfi

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I tried the FAQ and a search for this but no luck.

If I have purchased a Platinum week, am I restricted to book only within that season at my home resort? Can I reserve a gold or silver week? I thought I saw a thread that the online reservation only shows your purchased season. If this is the case, I’m assuming I would then do an Exchange via Marriott or with II directly? If I do the Exchange am I lower on a booking priority than a gold/silver owner? Have people had issues buying Platinum and booking in gold?

Thanks, trying to learn the ropes.

-John
 

MALC9990

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I tried the FAQ and a search for this but no luck.

If I have purchased a Platinum week, am I restricted to book only within that season at my home resort? Can I reserve a gold or silver week? I thought I saw a thread that the online reservation only shows your purchased season. If this is the case, I’m assuming I would then do an Exchange via Marriott or with II directly? If I do the Exchange am I lower on a booking priority than a gold/silver owner? Have people had issues buying Platinum and booking in gold?

Thanks, trying to learn the ropes.

-John

Normally you can only reserve in your season. In the online reservation system for Marriott Vacation Club, weeks outside your season will be greyed out. At some resorts there may be seasons like Gold Holiday which can also book in Gold Season but these are rare.

Typically you would have to exchange either by enrolling in the Destination Club if you are eligible or thru Interval. Either way you will be dependent upon another owner or Marriott providing the week for you to exchange into.

As far as booking priority is concerned it is not really applicable for an II exchange since you are not booking but exchanging for a previously booked and deposited week. As for the DC - as an owner in europe I cannot comment since we are excluded from the club.
 

chalee94

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if you're a II member, i'd keep an eye out for cheap getaways during the lower seasons. might be better to do it that way...
 

m61376

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If you have joined the DC, this may be a case where it pays to book in points, because your week may be worth more points than the lower season week costs to book.

Other options, besides Getaways, may be to reserve a high demand week and rent it and then rent the week you want. You should come out ahead.
 

Johnfi

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Using points makes sense for the lower season if enrolled in the DC as you mentioned. I actually am in the DC as I purchased a deeded week in Dec from the developer (ouch – I know, I should have found TUG 2 weeks earlier) and was automatically enrolled. I’m now considering purchasing re-sale to add to my developer week but as I understand the resale weeks wouldn’t be able to be added the DC. I’m hoping that over time they change that or do some offer like they did for legacy owners as I do see a benefit in the points especially if trying to book lower seasons.
 

kjd

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I've seen this on occasion. 1. lock off, 2. deposit with II, 3. trade back into your home resort for a different season using only one of the lock off weeks. Usually starting with platinum and ending up with a lower season.
 

slum808

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Using points makes sense for the lower season if enrolled in the DC as you mentioned. I actually am in the DC as I purchased a deeded week in Dec from the developer (ouch – I know, I should have found TUG 2 weeks earlier) and was automatically enrolled. I’m now considering purchasing re-sale to add to my developer week but as I understand the resale weeks wouldn’t be able to be added the DC. I’m hoping that over time they change that or do some offer like they did for legacy owners as I do see a benefit in the points especially if trying to book lower seasons.


If I may ask, what resort was this deeded week at? Did you have to buy additional points to be eligible for enrolment in the DC? The last time I spoke to Marriott resales the only weeks that didn't require a point purchase to be eligible was Aruba and off season weeks at Streamside. Has this changed?
 

Johnfi

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We purchased at Frenchman’s Cove in late November and closed in Dec and it was a purchased from Marriott not re-sale. I understood it was one of the last resorts still selling deeded weeks and they would no longer be available and new owners would need to purchase points. The cutoff or so we were told was December 1st. So the developer purchase got us a deeded week and automatically enrolled in the DC. My question on booking down is if I were to purchase a deeded week elsewhere as it wouldn’t be eligible for the DC
 

kjd

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I don't think so about the newly purchased resale week. As I recall we were told that to enroll the resale weeks they had to be purchased before a certain date. There was an extra charge for enrolling those weeks. The total cost for the enrollment was around $2,000 but then there was an incentive given in the form of one time only 800 DC points. I haven't heard of Marriott re-opening the initial DC club offer of accepting resales. Then again, I haven't paid attention to it because I don't intend on purchasing any more weeks.

No one knows what Marriott will do in the future to raise money. They are a greedy bunch. It is possible that they may once again offer "amnesty" at a price to all of the resale buyers.
 

m61376

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As of now, newly purchased resale weeks cannot be enrolled in the DC unless they are resale weeks purchased through Marriott and you also purchase points from them.
 

slum808

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As of now, newly purchased resale weeks cannot be enrolled in the DC unless they are resale weeks purchased through Marriott and you also purchase points from them.

I guess my post wan't very clear. I was refering to resale weeks purchased through Marriott. You can currently buy Streamside or Aruba through marriott and enroll in the DC without a point purchase. As far as I know the Aruba proporties are not really resale, but Marriott list them on the resale site because the official line is "we only sell points".
 
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