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MVC Points Satisfaction

ju5tcuriou5

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Hello. I have a few questions about the MVC Points program, and I know this forum has plenty of well informed travelers that can point me in the right direction!

I see that Marriott timeshares have a strong reputation. I have stayed in a Marriott resort and enjoyed it. But, I have also read many negative reviews about the MVC Points program. People complain that the desirable resorts have few openings, so unless you book many many months in advance, you will be stuck spending your points on an undesirable destination.

Who is right? Are people you know who bought into the points system (WITHOUT owning any weeks previously) generally happy with that purchase? Have they been able to reserve desirable vacations with their points?

What about people who DID own week and opted to enroll their week into the points system (and maybe buy some supplemental points)? Have they been happy with that investment? At this point, what % of weeks owners have enrolled in points?

What about people who did own weeks but have refused to enroll in points? Have they felt like the value of their timeshare has been impaired by the introduction of the points system? (I know there was a class action lawsuit filed on this but got dismissed.)

Thank you very much!!!
 

NYFLTRAVELER

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Are people you know who bought into the points system (WITHOUT owning any weeks previously) generally happy with that purchase? Have they been able to reserve desirable vacations with their points?

As a MVCI owner who bought into the points system (resale) without owning weeks previously, I am generally happy with the program. With enough planning you can get your trips, and we have even been able to book last minute trips (90 days or less out) for 3, 4, 5 and 7 days. So far no regrets except that I wish our schedule would allow for more travel.
 

vacationtime1

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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Resorts Owned
WKORV-OF (Maui)
WKV x2 (Scottsdale)
We own two weeks and did not enroll. No regrets. We can still make our reservations pretty much when we want (and never a problem at twelve months). Because both of our units are on Kauai, we are very happy to own to use, not to trade

The "value" of our timeshares to us is unchanged -- one vacation week per year each. The fair market value of our weeks is up a bit since the Destination Club started in 2010, but 2010 was near the bottom of the recession. I think the economy has more to do with changes in value on the secondary market than anything else.
 

JIMinNC

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Location
Marvin, NC (Charlotte) & Hilton Head Island, SC
Resorts Owned
Marriott:
Maui Ocean Club
Waiohai Beach Club
Barony Beach Club
Abound ClubPoints
HGVC:
HGVC at Sea World
We are new members, buying in about a year ago with pure points plus an enrolled week from Marriott.

I have done three bookings so far - 2 short stays in Hilton Head and a week-long visit for next summer in a 2BR OF at Maui Ocean Club. In all three cases, we got exactly what we wanted, when we wanted and one of the Hilton Head stays was during the Heritage PGA golf tournament next spring which is one of the higher demand spring weeks in Hilton Head. Summer in Maui is also high season.

In each case, we did book well in advance - 10 months out for the two short stays and 12 months out for Maui - but that is the case with all timeshares whether Marriott weeks or Marriott points - to get what you want, you need to book when the reservation windows open, especially if it is a high demand season.

But prior to making these bookings, I shopped the system extensively from fall of 2014 through June 2015. I was very, very pleased with the overall availability I saw in the points system. Lots of very high demand weeks were there for the taking at all times of the year.

This thread I started a couple months back is a more detailed discussion of our one year of experience as an owner:

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228773

So after one year, we are very happy points owners.
 

BobG7734

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Location
Boston area
Resorts Owned
Custom House; St. Kitts; Waiohai(Poipu); Maui
We are generally happy. Have enrolled our 4 weeks (2 of which are EOY) in points system. With enough upfront planing have been able to get what we want (eg next Feb 3 weeks in Waiohai..yea!). Last winter SKB and also Frenchmans Reef with 5 day TP, to escape our well documented winter.

Rental of CH has also worked. Due to scheduling problems once we were faced with excess points facing expiration but used them for FC tix (to SKB) and a cruise this Dec. Not the best value but at ~ .35/point better than losing them.

So it does take work, but I have the time and "enjoy" the challenge.
 

NTP66

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Resorts Owned
Marriott's Maui Ocean Club (x2)
I'm a very new owner, buying a week on the resale market, but can speak to week ownership in general. My parents initially bought a week at Monarch in Hilton Head and soon after sold it for a platinum week at Grande Ocean. This was 20+ years ago. While they also own at OceanWatch at Grand Dunes in Myrtle Beach, and recently enrolled this week in the points program, not once have they ever considered the DC program for Hilton Head. One of the reasons they enrolled that OceanWatch week was to be able to use the points at another location easily in the future. Enrolling the week was free, but Marriott also threw in a second platinum week at Grande Ocean next year for under $2k, which IMO is a terrific price.

We've stayed at Grande Ocean every single summer throughout my entire childhood, and if your plan is to purchase at a location that you plan on always visiting, my personal opinion is that spending the money on points makes zero sense. This is the same reasoning I used when purchasing [resale] at the Maui Ocean Club. I'll never trade it, and will always use my week at that location.
 

AlmostRetired

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Long Island, NY
Resorts Owned
Grande Ocean Platinum, 2 x Grand Chateau 3 Bedroom (annual, EOY Odd)
I own 2 weeks with 1 enrolled in the point program (I have never traded for points). Weeks or Points ownership, my advice would be the same. There are many variables to usage and the programs will continue to change so you need to figure out how to make it work for you. This takes time. Once you figure it out, you will not be sorry with the Marriott vacation experience.
 

GregT

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Resorts Owned
Marriott: Maui Ocean Club Lahaina Villas (3BRx5), Ko Olina, Shadow Ridge II, Willow Ridge, Aruba Ocean Club, DC Points HGVC: Flamingo, Sea World, I-Drive, Starwood Bella (x4), SDO, TradeWinds, Worldmark
Who is right? Are people you know who bought into the points system (WITHOUT owning any weeks previously) generally happy with that purchase? Have they been able to reserve desirable vacations with their points? My friend is a pure Trust Point owner and is happy, but has had mixed experience getting this target reservation. I've spent alot of time with him on the system and he better understands it now. I think it takes a TUG zealot to really understand the system.


What about people who DID own week and opted to enroll their week into the points system (and maybe buy some supplemental points)? Have they been happy with that investment? At this point, what % of weeks owners have enrolled in points?
I am very happy with my decision to enroll in the DC program, because I have the ability to benefit from the program without paying a high price for that access. As a legacy owner, my enrollment fee was low, and there are certain features of the system (primarily renting points and short stay reservations 13 months out) that make it very useful for me. So the enrollment decision was an easy one.

I purchased Trust Points (resale) and it turned out to not be additive to the benefits that I was already experiencing under the program, so I am now selling the Trust Points for a modest loss. As long as we can rent points in abundance, it reduces my need to either buy more Marriott weeks that are not unique in their own right (like fixed weeks that aren't reproducible through a points reservation) and it reduces my need to own more points


What about people who did own weeks but have refused to enroll in points? Have they felt like the value of their timeshare has been impaired by the introduction of the points system? (I know there was a class action lawsuit filed on this but got dismissed.)Marriott has been very careful to avoid actions that would create a valid legal dispute. I am impressed b the lengths they have gone to not disenfranchise any individual owner. People may feel that their timeshare has been impaired by the points system, but this is because they were accustomed to maximizing their ownership in ways no longer possible (ie, routine uptrades from a Studio to a 1BR or 2BR, etc) The II trading experience is different and many owners do not like that impact and rightly blame the impact of the DC. But DClub gave Marriott the opportunity to close this loophole of being to uptrade easily, often to the best properties. Other timeshare systems (Starwood and HGVC) still have a loophole, where you can buy resale inexpensively and then use the structure of the system to routinely uptrade



For me, the point system is one facet of my overall timeshare collection. Each of my timeshares plays a different role for me and I really like what each one brings. I encourage Marriott TUGgers to investigate other systems, most specifically HGVC, because it has the flexibility available to all owners (not just the upper tiers of ownership) and the properties are very well located and in good condition.

When the DClub was introduced, it was highly controversial, primarily because of skimming (which still stinks). With one hand, Marriott gave us this terrific opportunity to enroll (which they didn't have to do) and with the other hand, negatively impacted our ability to use the system (which they also didn't have to do).

At the time, I was curious to see if this would predict a pattern of Marriott beginning to abuse its captive ownership. Other timeshares (Wyndham) are notorious for fee-gouging and negatively impacting the usage rights of their owners.

Over the last five years, we've seen many positive changes to the system (Ritz Carlton access, legacy point owners are treated equally with trust point owners, and new tiers that extend desirable benefits to other owners) but we have also seen owner-negative trends (increasing junk fees on resale as well as higher DClub fees -- much higher than at introduction). We also see high pressure sales tactics not typically associated with pre-DClub days.

Five years in we can definitely say that DClub is a success, and brings a benefit to the owners, especially the legacy week owners. It is too early to judge if pure Trust Point owners will get squeezed because they own a fiat currency, valuable only because Marriott says it has value -- and the rules around which can change. I shook my head when Marriott ~2X'd the junk fees for resale -- that's brutal to your customer.

Interesting stuff. Apologies for the long rambling answer!

Best,

Greg
 
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dansimms

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Very pleased

We are very pleased and generally can get what we request. We are also realistic. We know if teachers are off for let's say Presidents' week, not to get our hopes up too high. There are some extreme values out there for those that are retired and can take advantage of 'off peak' times! I suggest continuing to read TUG to get pointers and to stay aware of future modifications to the program. If and when they add something in Manhattan, we will kick in to an even higher level of appreciation for the program. Love the 5 discounted days in the week, the discount for a booking at 59 days or less and of course the ability to book something as brief as a 1 night stay! The points needed for "Explorer" Hotel stays are disappointing, to the point of not even considering them, but I realize that the given Hotel has the final say on how many points it takes, but I am not one to drop 1250 Points or more for just a hotel room.
 

Cmore

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I enrolled our weeks right away, just for the added flexibility it offered. Wasn't sure I would ever use points, but as it turned out I have never not taken our weeks as points. Then this year added some trust points to obtain the exec level as we were short not all that much, so the investment to get that level was not all that much - stupid perhaps, but did it anyway.

As for our points use, I love the shorter stay options and even one night use. We have purchased a vacation home in Palm Desert so our "need" for week long stays has diminished, but the added flexibility has greatly enhanced our ownership. We use the local Marriott's as extra bedrooms when we have larger groups coming to visit. This works great when some are coming and going and you there is a little overlap. I have them arrange the overlap on Sun - Thurs and the cost to put them up is minimal in points. I have also sold excess points many times on VPE at our maintenance cost or a little bit above - have never had an issue, for me its easier than renting out a week I'm not going to use.

In summary, the DC has added greatly to our satisfaction with our MVC properties. I'm not so sure that I wouldn't have sold them off by now if it hadn't been for the change.
 
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