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It's that time again-- should I?

Swice

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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.
 

SueDonJ

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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. :D Good luck with your decision!
 

m61376

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Ugh...I wis I knew if they were extending the initial offering so I could continue to procrastinate making a decision as well :wall:
 

dioxide45

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I don't really see any reason why they would cut off enrollments. They also haven't been pushing enrollments lately. I would think if they were considering ending that option at the current pricing or incentives that they would be pushing it and those not enrolled yet would have been receiving e-mails and calls reminding them of the deadline.
 

dioxide45

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I just finished an online chat with a vacation advisor and they indicated that there is currently no deadline to enroll but they can't guaranty price at any time. You may want to call or chat as YMMV.
 
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csalter2

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I heard no deadline yet

I called and spoke with a vacation advisor in late November to ask when the deadline for joining was because I thought it was at the end of this year. I was told that there was no deadline at this time and that even the 800 bonus points would be extended into the new year.

I wanted to wait and was told not to worry. No, I did not get it in writing but the advisor shared that they had received no word of any change at that time.

I figured I would take the gamble and join next January.
 

dioxide45

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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.

The PlusPoints incentive to enroll is still 800 points, I think that was a typo on the OPs part. for those that enrolled after 12/31/2010 the expiration of those PlusPoints is one year from when they deposit them in to your account. This is usually several days after you enroll.
 

pwrshift

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There are some resorts in the II roster that are far better than the Marriott resorts, which you can see in the TUG ratings. If you join, don't you still have to maintain your old II account to trade to them, or has that changed while I was sleeping?

I would have enough points to be platinum with the DC plan but haven't joined because I use my resorts and don't trust Marriott any more as their rules are made to be changed. Oddly, I've never been called to join...other than getting that crappy 5 minute 'join the plan' message when you all.
 

dougp26364

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IMO, if you own more than one resort, if you make more two or more exchanges per year, if you own units that lock-off and, if you're prone to make reservation changes from time to time, then the DC isn't a bad deal and will give you additional options.

We joined because we own two lock-off units, history has us locking off each of those and we make two to three exchanges per year. With our Marriott units, we have always stayed within the Marriott family of resorts for those exchanges. Joining made economic sense and preserved our rights in the future as far as being DC members.

Every owners situation is different.
 

dioxide45

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There are some resorts in the II roster that are far better than the Marriott resorts, which you can see in the TUG ratings. If you join, don't you still have to maintain your old II account to trade to them, or has that changed while I was sleeping?

It never changed, you never needed to maintain your old II account to exchange in to non Marriott resorts. You only needed to maintain your old II account if you owned other non Marriott timeshares that you wanted to trade through II.

So you can still trade in to non Marriotts, the only difference is you have to pay for them where the Marriott to Marriott II exchange fee is included in the blended annual DC fee.

I would have enough points to be platinum with the DC plan but haven't joined because I use my resorts and don't trust Marriott any more as their rules are made to be changed. Oddly, I've never been called to join...other than getting that crappy 5 minute 'join the plan' message when you all.

Sometimes you have to look at it from a business perspective, personal feelings aside. If you lock off all six of your Marriott weeks every year, it is costing $480 each year, minus the $195 DC fee and you are saving $285 in the first year alone, no exchange fees involved. With that savings and with a DC enrollment fee of only $695, you would pay for the enrollment in a little over two years. Add a couple exchanges in there and you reach the break even point even earlier.

There are also some extra benefits of Premier and Premier Plus status (which with six weeks I would think you are Platinum Plus). Most notably is the extra % savings on villa rentals. If you rent on a per night basis at MVCI properties, this just adds to the savings.

It was a long process for us when we were deciding to enroll. The punitive resale enrollment fee was our biggest hangup and it was a lot of money to spend. However if we only had to pay the $695 fee, we would have signed up within a couple weeks of roll-out.

Everyone's situation is different and for many it is a personal decision that only you can make.

JMO.
 
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dioxide45

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IMO, if you own more than one resort, if you make more two or more exchanges per year, if you own units that lock-off and, if you're prone to make reservation changes from time to time, then the DC isn't a bad deal and will give you additional options.

We joined because we own two lock-off units, history has us locking off each of those and we make two to three exchanges per year. With our Marriott units, we have always stayed within the Marriott family of resorts for those exchanges. Joining made economic sense and preserved our rights in the future as far as being DC members.

Every owners situation is different.

I also think a lot also depends on your mix of ownership. If someone bought resale, the "penalty" for having such a week in your portfolio is pretty high.

It all depends on ROI and your desire for flexibility. If you want the flexibility to reserve shorter stays or not have to stick with the regular checkin days then you may want to consider enrolling.

When we enrolled our two lock off weeks we determined that the program would pay for itself at just a little over four years. That is a pretty long time when you are exchanging four lockoffs each year, but we bought resale and owned two weeks so our enrollment fee was almost $2000. If we only had to pay the direct purchase rate of $695, we would have enrolled right away. If you are using your owned weeks every year or renting them then it doesn't make a lot of sense to enroll since you may never make that back.
 

SueDonJ

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There are some resorts in the II roster that are far better than the Marriott resorts, which you can see in the TUG ratings. If you join, don't you still have to maintain your old II account to trade to them, or has that changed while I was sleeping?

I would have enough points to be platinum with the DC plan but haven't joined because I use my resorts and don't trust Marriott any more as their rules are made to be changed. Oddly, I've never been called to join...other than getting that crappy 5 minute 'join the plan' message when you all.

Brian, adding to what dioxide said, I've always thought you're one of the few people for whom enrolling your Weeks in the DC is a no-brainer. With the way you use them you'd make up the enrollment fee in no time at all.

Sure, the rollout was a mess and it's taking a long time for us to figure out all the ramifications of the DC, and Marriott certainly didn't earn any Wonderful Company awards by forcing us to acknowledge that they don't have our best interests as their Number One objective. But honestly, can you say that about any company which has to answer to shareholders? As far as them being able to change the rules arbitrarily, enrollment doesn't negate ANY of the usage rights to which you're entitled. For Weeks Owners it's simply an overlay exchange program that works better for some than others. By all appearances you seem to perfectly fit the mold of those who would be better served with it. (Purchasing DC Points is a whole 'nother ball game altogether, but I don't think you're considering that.) As far as the rules that Marriott is entitled to change, they've always had that entitlement. How are you any more protected from them acting on it by not enrolling?

I get the impression from various comments you've made that you might be under the wrong impression about several aspects of enrolling in the DC. That's not meant as a knock on you - but you've said yourself that you haven't paid much attention to DC-related stuff. I think you should voice ALL of your concerns in one post. We TUGgers who have spent a good amount of time and energy to figure this all out as much as possible will be very happy to answer your questions honestly. Then you can decide for yourself whether or not the DC really will work for you on both a cost-effective and usage basis.

Or, maybe I'm meddling too much in your business. If that's the case, I'm sorry, and wouldn't blame you if you ignored me. :)

If you decide to take us up on the offer, start by beginning the enrollment process at your my-vacationclub.com account. Go only as far as you need to get to where you learn how many DC Points each of your Weeks will be allotted. (You'll be able to back out at this point without enrolling.) 6,500-12,999 is Premier status, 13,000+ is Premier Plus. If we know your status we'll be able to tailor our answers to it.
 
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Swice

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Exactly

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.

Exactly my issue. We always lockoff Lakeshore Reserve. In addition, we almost always trade our Ocean Watch because we've gotten such good trades (request first). Most of our trades in the past have been Marriott to Marriott (with a few exceptions). Actually was thinking of a request first to non-marriotts in San Francisco or New York for next Thanksgiving week. So we would still have a non-marriott trade fee every now and then.

(I don't see us using "points" until our kids grow up and we can travel "cheaper" in the off-seasons.)
 

Gussie

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Regarding joining for the new year, has there been any re-valuation of the number of points for various resorts or seasons?
We are Sunset Pointe owners and until Marriott brings that point allotment in line it's another year of no-brainer (no joiner) for us.
 

dougp26364

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Exactly my issue. We always lockoff Lakeshore Reserve. In addition, we almost always trade our Ocean Watch because we've gotten such good trades (request first). Most of our trades in the past have been Marriott to Marriott (with a few exceptions). Actually was thinking of a request first to non-marriotts in San Francisco or New York for next Thanksgiving week. So we would still have a non-marriott trade fee every now and then.

(I don't see us using "points" until our kids grow up and we can travel "cheaper" in the off-seasons.)

This is similar to the usage we have for our units. So far it's worked well for us and the bonus points were used for a weekend trip to Branson (drive to destination for us).

As an aside, after I made our typical reservation for Nov. at Ocean Pointe, we decided we'd rather change things up and move our vacation times around. In the past I'd have had to weigh the cost of the reservation change. Being in the DC, that wasn't even a consideration since it's a yearly fee for all services vs the traditional ala carte fee's. It made making the decision to change easier. It also takes the pressure off when you're not 100% certain of what dates you want to travel. You know that you can change dates without incuring an additional fee. So take your best guess at the dates you want, make the reservation and, if you change your mind, you're not out additional $$.
 

abg1688

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Is it easy to reserve popular units at popular weeks using DC?

I wonder whether any tugger had luck to make reservation at popular places for a short stay i.e. HHI during summer for 5 days using DC points? Thanks!
 

puckmanfl

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good evening...

6 days at Grand Ocean 2 bedroom garden view 8/3-8/9 2012...!!!

just sayin'
 

m61376

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Any deadline updates?

Does anyone know if anything is changing come the 1st?
 

wvacations

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I wonder whether any tugger had luck to make reservation at popular places for a short stay i.e. HHI during summer for 5 days using DC points? Thanks!

I was able to make a 4 day and 5 day DC reservation at Newport Coast for summer 2012. Made 7 months in advance. I just booked the Sun-Thur nights and using Marriott reward points for the Fri-Sat dates. Also was able to book 2 nights at Aruba Surf Club in september 2012 to combine with our II trade at SC. This flexibility comes at a cost, but I am happy so far.
 

davidn247

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Exactly my issue. We always lockoff Lakeshore Reserve. In addition, we almost always trade our Ocean Watch because we've gotten such good trades (request first). Most of our trades in the past have been Marriott to Marriott (with a few exceptions). Actually was thinking of a request first to non-marriotts in San Francisco or New York for next Thanksgiving week. So we would still have a non-marriott trade fee every now and then.

(I don't see us using "points" until our kids grow up and we can travel "cheaper" in the off-seasons.)

Do not forget that it could take a couple of weeks to have your new II account set-up after you enroll in DC. Just plan in advance the move...
 

m61376

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Ughh...it's the 31st.
Anyone hear anything new about any changes?

Happy New Year to everyone!!
 
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