I learned about Third Home at a timeshare presentation I went on in Mexico a few years back. It looked intriguing, but I wasn't about to buy a timeshare from the resort. I just read this week from Eric B that he was able to join Third Home using a Vistana week. I got in touch with Third Home, and they accepted my 3 bedroom Marriott Grand Chateau (Las Vegas) week.
If you haven't heard of Third Home, you might want to check it out. They are much more expensive for exchanges than II, but there are some amazing places to stay. We are likely going to stay in a 5 bedroom unit in Lake Tahoe this summer. They just signed an agreement with a yacht company, so they will start to have yacht exchanges. Pretty crazy. (You can hire a chef and captain for the week on the yacht, and you get 5 cabins.) They probably will have very limited availability, but still intriguing.
Most availability is within 6 months. Some places allow you to request a particular week. Within 30 days the key cost goes to 0, but you still have to pay the exchange fee (fees range from $495 for a 1 key home up to $1195 for a home that is 6 keys or higher. Sticker shock when compared to RCI or II, but again, the places available are unique.
Most timeshares in popular destinations seem to earn 1 key per bedroom, and then there is a multiplier of 2 or 3 for peak or super peak weeks. The owner sets up the guest information when someone chooses to stay in your unit. You have to deposit 90 days out to get your keys. You can deposit late, but you only get the keys if someone chooses to reserve the unit.
ThirdHome has a relationship with some of the Marriott Residence Clubs, but doesn't have anything yet with Marriott overall. Thus far, if a "home" owner had a relationship with ThirdHome before a timeshare became an affiliate, ThirdHome honored the prior agreement with the owner. (ThirdHome has a bunch of affiliates that are timeshares - mostly in Mexico.) They have a lot of Grand Luxxe availability.
My Marriott Grand Chateau earns 3 base keys; the unit I deposited was Super Peak, so it earned me 9 keys. They also take Sheraton Broadway Plantation 2 bedroom units that have a base key value of 2, so I imagine they would accept Marriott East Coast beach weeks.
I noticed a Maui Ocean Club week that was deposited - but it didn't say Marriott Maui Ocean Club. The owner had set their own key value for the unit. (That is allowed - you only get the keys if someone accepts the offer.)
Anyway, I thought it would be nice for Marriott owners not familiar with ThirdHome to know there is yet another option for exchanging your weeks.
Here is a link for info: https://exchange.thirdhome.com/
Happy to answer any questions about my experiences so far. I just joined last week and have deposited 2 units with them. Now I'm just having fun dreaming about where I might travel. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of availability. They have thousands of properties, but most have no availability; there were definitely some weeks that I was ready to grab for this summer's travel. and in the near future I'll try out the "request a week" option. I just usually plan vacations a year (or sometimes 2 years) in advance, so I'll have to think differently with ThirdHome exchanges.
If you haven't heard of Third Home, you might want to check it out. They are much more expensive for exchanges than II, but there are some amazing places to stay. We are likely going to stay in a 5 bedroom unit in Lake Tahoe this summer. They just signed an agreement with a yacht company, so they will start to have yacht exchanges. Pretty crazy. (You can hire a chef and captain for the week on the yacht, and you get 5 cabins.) They probably will have very limited availability, but still intriguing.
Most availability is within 6 months. Some places allow you to request a particular week. Within 30 days the key cost goes to 0, but you still have to pay the exchange fee (fees range from $495 for a 1 key home up to $1195 for a home that is 6 keys or higher. Sticker shock when compared to RCI or II, but again, the places available are unique.
Most timeshares in popular destinations seem to earn 1 key per bedroom, and then there is a multiplier of 2 or 3 for peak or super peak weeks. The owner sets up the guest information when someone chooses to stay in your unit. You have to deposit 90 days out to get your keys. You can deposit late, but you only get the keys if someone chooses to reserve the unit.
ThirdHome has a relationship with some of the Marriott Residence Clubs, but doesn't have anything yet with Marriott overall. Thus far, if a "home" owner had a relationship with ThirdHome before a timeshare became an affiliate, ThirdHome honored the prior agreement with the owner. (ThirdHome has a bunch of affiliates that are timeshares - mostly in Mexico.) They have a lot of Grand Luxxe availability.
My Marriott Grand Chateau earns 3 base keys; the unit I deposited was Super Peak, so it earned me 9 keys. They also take Sheraton Broadway Plantation 2 bedroom units that have a base key value of 2, so I imagine they would accept Marriott East Coast beach weeks.
I noticed a Maui Ocean Club week that was deposited - but it didn't say Marriott Maui Ocean Club. The owner had set their own key value for the unit. (That is allowed - you only get the keys if someone accepts the offer.)
Anyway, I thought it would be nice for Marriott owners not familiar with ThirdHome to know there is yet another option for exchanging your weeks.
Here is a link for info: https://exchange.thirdhome.com/
Happy to answer any questions about my experiences so far. I just joined last week and have deposited 2 units with them. Now I'm just having fun dreaming about where I might travel. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of availability. They have thousands of properties, but most have no availability; there were definitely some weeks that I was ready to grab for this summer's travel. and in the near future I'll try out the "request a week" option. I just usually plan vacations a year (or sometimes 2 years) in advance, so I'll have to think differently with ThirdHome exchanges.