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help with points conversion?

dpete

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Thank you for your overview....it was very helpful to me! I just sat through a DC presentation yesterday so while my questions are fresh I will ask them here. Please redirect me if needed.
I bought a 4 weeks at Ritz Aspen and was told I could convert some or all my weeks to DC points so that is what I did with 3 of my 4 weeks since we bought in October and needed to make a fast decision. I think I made a bad choice as when I tried to use those VC points to reserve (13 months out) I could not get one spot in the entire Carribbean for Christmas week 2017! Not one! And I called at 8 a.m. MST when they open. (As a Ritz owner I am not allowed in the Marriott website to reserve-I HAVE to call my Ritz rep and they log in to Marriott). So I decided to look into buying some Trust points to see if it would benefit me in any way. Of course at the sales presentation they said that there is a bigger "pool" of points for what they termed a Hybrid owner...one who had legacy weeks AND trust points. I called Ritz yesterday and they said nope that is not true. Can anyone clarify that for me?
I also -as a Ritz owner-cannot do anything with Interval International nor can I trade my VC points into Marriott reward points as VC owners are able to do. I would love to gain those benefits for ALL my "Ritz converted to Marriott VC points".
Anyone have any insight?


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icydog

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Thank you for your overview....it was very helpful to me! I just sat through a DC presentation yesterday so while my questions are fresh I will ask them here. Please redirect me if needed.
I bought a 4 weeks at Ritz Aspen and was told I could convert some or all my weeks to DC points so that is what I did with 3 of my 4 weeks since we bought in October and needed to make a fast decision. I think I made a bad choice as when I tried to use those VC points to reserve (13 months out) I could not get one spot in the entire Carribbean for Christmas week 2017! Not one! And I called at 8 a.m. MST when they open. (As a Ritz owner I am not allowed in the Marriott website to reserve-I HAVE to call my Ritz rep and they log in to Marriott). So I decided to look into buying some Trust points to see if it would benefit me in any way. Of course at the sales presentation they said that there is a bigger "pool" of points for what they termed a Hybrid owner...one who had legacy weeks AND trust points. I called Ritz yesterday and they said nope that is not true. Can anyone clarify that for me?
I also -as a Ritz owner-cannot do anything with Interval International nor can I trade my VC points into Marriott reward points as VC owners are able to do. I would love to gain those benefits for ALL my "Ritz converted to Marriott VC points".
Anyone have any insight?


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You would have to buy a lot of points to get you the kind of clout needed to get into the Caribbean for Christmas. Those resorts are dominated by weeks owners who use them for their families or rent them out for big bucks.

If you buy points you will not be able to turn them into Marriott Reward points, well actually,-- you COULD do it-- but at a ridiculous ratio! I wouldn't consider it.

As far as II. It is not that great either. I have a lot of trouble getting good weeks. I am retired and can go off season, but can you?

I think what you should do is to rent out your Ritz weeks. Take the money you get and rent any week you want from a Marriott owner. I know I would love to stay at a Ritz sometime. The option is there for us but not frequently. And to use MRP to stay at a Ritz Carlton Hotel is astronomical.

You have lovely resorts. Don't second guess yourself. Enjoy what you have and don't lay out any more money. That would be throwing good money after bad. If you need help with renting your weeks send me an email or a send me a PM.
I have been renting out my Marriott and Disney properties for many years. It's not that difficult to accomplish.
 

Marathoner

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Thank you for your overview....it was very helpful to me! I just sat through a DC presentation yesterday so while my questions are fresh I will ask them here. Please redirect me if needed.
I bought a 4 weeks at Ritz Aspen and was told I could convert some or all my weeks to DC points so that is what I did with 3 of my 4 weeks since we bought in October and needed to make a fast decision. I think I made a bad choice as when I tried to use those VC points to reserve (13 months out) I could not get one spot in the entire Carribbean for Christmas week 2017! Not one! And I called at 8 a.m. MST when they open. (As a Ritz owner I am not allowed in the Marriott website to reserve-I HAVE to call my Ritz rep and they log in to Marriott). So I decided to look into buying some Trust points to see if it would benefit me in any way. Of course at the sales presentation they said that there is a bigger "pool" of points for what they termed a Hybrid owner...one who had legacy weeks AND trust points. I called Ritz yesterday and they said nope that is not true. Can anyone clarify that for me?
I also -as a Ritz owner-cannot do anything with Interval International nor can I trade my VC points into Marriott reward points as VC owners are able to do. I would love to gain those benefits for ALL my "Ritz converted to Marriott VC points".
Anyone have any insight?

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First, you should start a new thread with a descriptive title so that you can get more advice. Currently, your post is embedded in another person's thread.

With regards to timeshare exchanging, be it with weeks or DC points, it is all about supply and demand. Christmas weeks are the most sought after weeks in the whole year. As a result, there is a fixed supply and a large concentration of demand which makes the type of exchange that are seeking very difficult.

Most people who own Christmas weeks will use it for their family vacations. Majority of the others will rent it out, as they can get a healthy rental income for that week. A small percentage do exchange that week but the chances of getting one is pretty slim. I don't know if the DC Trust would any Christmas weeks in the Carribbean but if they do, it is likely a very small number. This is probably not the deterministic exchange scenerio that you were looking for, but it is the reality.

If you look to exchange into more available destinations and weeks, you will be much more successful - summer in Hawaii or the Carribbean, spring break at Disney, skiing in Park City in Feb and March, etc.

If you read through the last few years of posts on TUG regarding Marriott exchanges that people have done using DC points, it will give you the necessary knowledge to both use DC points effectively as well as to keep a realistic set of expectations on what is possible and what is not. It will take a few weeks or even months depending on your time availability.

fyi - I own a fixed Christmas week and a fixed New Years week, both of which are quite expensive so I have some experience with exchanging into those weeks and as an owner.

Good luck!
 

TUGBrian

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moved this to its own thread.
 

dpete

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A HUGE thank you to icy dog and Marathoner! I will PM you on renting my Ritz weeks, icy dog to find out who you use and how to do it. I have seen a couple different outlets and would love your successful input. And of course I have heard nothing back on the 'commitment in writing" that Marriott VC promised me on my questions. So very disappointed in that system, but I certainly am learning. My takeaway for what it's worth is-I should not turn my Ritz weeks into VC points but just rent the weeks I don't use. Due to my need for high use weeks I will just use cold hard cash! I sure have seen a lot of those weeks for rent on Red Week and other sites. I know we will love our Ritz Aspen, it just took a costly learning curve but if I had to do it over again I would not have purchased though...just continued renting where and when I wanted to go. Oh well.


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Pens_Fan

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Just a point of clarification.

In the original post, you talk about trying to get a week for Christmas 2017. I assume that you mean Christmas 2016. Christmas 2017 is nearly 2 years away.
 

dpete

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Yes Pens_Fan you are correct...2016....I like to plan ahead but even for me 2017 is pushing it! :)


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Marathoner

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In the other thread, I mentioned that you should calculate the monetary value of renting out all the DC points for the Ritz weeks that you do not intend to use. Most likely, you will net more by renting the physical weeks but renting DC points is another option that you should look into.
 
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