Don't use Vacation Club Points to purchase a Cruise

[PDS5225]

Hello fellow Marriott Vacation Club Owners and Prospective Owners!!
I learned the hard way that using your Marriott Vacation Club points to purchase travel like a cruise is a bad deal. Booked a great cruise last year which had to be canceled due to the virus impacts. I used 6000 points and paid about $3800 on top of that for three of us. When the trip was canceled, we received a credit for the amount of out of pocket paid, but it turned out the total value of those 6000 points was just over $1,000. That right, the 6000 points we all pay much more on maintenance each year are worth a faction of that when used for items like a cruise. Take my advise, and don't waste your high value points on a cruse and just purchase direct.

 

[Passepartout]

We've been saying that here on TUG for years. Use timeshare points )or weeks) for timeshare stays. Use a discounter/consolidator for cruises. If it's a 'use 'em, or lose 'em deal, you own too many points/weeks.

I see this is your first post. Welcome! Don't be a stranger. There is a lot you can learn here to enhance your TS ownership. The vast majority of TUGgers will tell you that TUG membership is the best $15 they ever spent timesharing.

Jim

 

[StevenTing]

Sorry for your loss. Pretty much any use besides booking a room will net you around 25 cents per point. I'd challenge the $1000 value if possible. Plus, who's paying out the $1000?

 

[Dean]

Sorry for your loss. Pretty much any use besides booking a room will net you around 25 cents per point. I'd challenge the $1000 value if possible. Plus, who's paying out the $1000?

It really should be around 34¢ per point, I too would challenge the amount.

 

[hcarman]

Hello fellow Marriott Vacation Club Owners and Prospective Owners!!
I learned the hard way that using your Marriott Vacation Club points to purchase travel like a cruise is a bad deal. Booked a great cruise last year which had to be canceled due to the virus impacts. I used 6000 points and paid about $3800 on top of that for three of us. When the trip was canceled, we received a credit for the amount of out of pocket paid, but it turned out the total value of those 6000 points was just over $1,000. That right, the 6000 points we all pay much more on maintenance each year are worth a faction of that when used for items like a cruise. Take my advise, and don't waste your high value points on a cruse and just purchase direct.

Just out of curiosity as we had been looking into the possibility knowing full well it was a bad deal, what was the additional $3800 for? Was this for your kids or was this for a cabin upgrade?
It does seem like they would have just returned the points to your account. We know people that had used Bluegreen points to partially pay for a tour - the points actually were returned to them separate from the money when the tour was cancelled. So good to know this is how MVCI handles. I honestly didn't like my dealings with that cruise booking agent they use.

 

[hcarman]

I know you always have to pay attention to value and buyer beware, but the sad part is every time you go to an owner's presentation at Marriott (and other clubs to a lesser extent) they talk about the wonderful cruises and tours you can do and that is their big selling point for buying into the program, buying more points, etc. - so you can take that bucket list or around the world cruise. It was only recently when I brought up the poor value for a cruise (especially living in Florida and getting resident rates) that one more honest sales person said it would probably be a better deal to rent out your points and use the cash to pay for a cruise or tour some year. Actually - I think that was Bluegreen- not sure MVCI sales staff ever admitted the poor value. We have only been considering it for 2021 because we are going to have a lot of extra points to use and renting has been more trouble than it is worth - especially this year. That being said, the cruise lines all have very flexible cancellation programs in place for the next few years, but sounds like MVCI (or their affiliate) does not.