It's that time again for Marriott's (artificial?) deadline to join DC.
We have resisted so far for all the reasons we've discussed before. :ignore:
But our slate is now clean at Interval and before I start my next round of "request first" picks was wondering if I should pull the trigger and join to save exchange fees?
(I did not join earlier because I didn't want the clock to start ticking on the 900-DC points (for joining) and the Interval Bonus weeks (that I will get from Interval since my account will not expire for a couple of years.)
No hurry other than the Dec 31st deadline (but we've seen that be extended before haven't we?) other than the need to start my next round of requests. I reserved Christmas week at Lakeshore Reserve with a one-bedroom. Figure that should be good trading power for next Thanksgiving somewhere or the following summer.
IF you enroll you can still use your Weeks the exact same way you do now for II "request first" exchanges in your new/corporate II account, except you won't have to pay the II fees for Marriott-to-Marriott exchanges. Depending on how many II exchanges you typically make, how many Weeks you own and whether any of them are external resales, it may be cost-effective for you to enroll in the DC and use your Weeks as you always have in II - including access to Getaways, the various AC's and XYZ's. Earlier this week, in fact, a TUGger was told that there was no charge for an XYZ through the new/corp II account. Although XYZ's have an abysmal track record for being processed consistently so there's no guarantee of that happening. (I can't figure out from your post if you already know all this so it's being mentioned just in case.)
Other than that it appears you're asking why it would make sense to enroll now, before you start another round of deposits that you know you'll be making. I'd say the primary reason would be because after you enroll, any existing requests in your old/ind II account will be fully processed through that account and you'll have to pay the fees for them. No sense putting those requests in now to the old account and then enrolling a month from now.
I didn't realize that the incentive bonus for enrolling is now at 900 DC Points, thought it was still 800. During the first round of enrollments they extended the expiration date of the incentive points to the following Use Year, meaning those of us who enrolled in June '10 had until Dec '11 to use them. But I seem to remember something, too, about bonus points issued in '11 having a one-year expiration date? (I might be way off in neverland here.) I would double-check on that before you enroll.
Another thing to double-check is when your first annual Club Dues payment would be due. The due date for 2012 dues just passed on Dec 10th; I don't know if they would charge you immediately.
You'll get one bonus AC from II if you have between one year and 35 months remaining until your old account expires, two AC's if you have between three years and 59 months, three AC's if you have more than five years remaining. They'll be issued at separate times so you won't have more than one to work with at a time, and they expire one year from the date of issue. They have a very restricted grid and it's not relaxed in flexchange. They'll be processed through your old/ind II account and you'll have to pay the exchange fees to use them.
Like you say, the primary concern is whether or not enrollment fees will go up after 12/31. That's anyone's guess.
Good luck with your decision!
