My 2018 Worldmark for Marriott exchanges

[sparty]

I thought as 2018 comes to an end I would post on what I was able to trade Worldmark Points for Marriott's for via Interval.

1. Two bedroom at Marriott Newport Coast Villa's - March
2. Two bedroom at Ocean Point in West Palm - September
3. Two bedroom at Oceana Palms in West Palm - September

Not sure I would say it was a great success - I burnt through my annual 2018 worldmark points allocation and ended up renting worldmark points @ ~6 cents a point to cover my "pure" worldmark stays and any shortages for interval exchanges to Marriott.

I could have traded my two Marriott weeks or used Marriott destination points for all my Marriott stays but thought it was cheaper to use Worldmark points.. I will have to think about this some more, as I felt it was more a hassle acquiring the extra rental points I was short on and then going through the whole worldmark - interval - to marriott exchange process. Also important to note on *renting* points, either Marriott or Worldmark, I think it's more risky than before as fraud has went way up in 2018.

 

[Marathoner]

Also important to note on *renting* points, either Marriott or Worldmark, I think it's more risky than before as fraud has went way up in 2018.

Can you please point to the article or posts that have led you to conclude there is more fraud today than in the past?

 

[lisa3635]

I love trading worldmark for Marriott. In 2018 we received the following exchanges:

2 bedroom- Crystal shores July
2 bedroom- Willow Ridge June
2 bedroom- Cypress Harbour starting tomorrow
2 bedroom- Ko Olina January 2019

My maintenance fees are a fraction of what it would cost to rent or own these weeks.

 

[dougp26364]

I believe part of what Marriott has done with their destination club is to clamp down on outside exchanges, keeping inventory for Marriott to Marriott exchanges and, particularly, giving points reservations for those with large enough accounts the opportunity to cherry pick the best of the best weeks by allowing reservations further out than traditional weeks exchanges. It's a good plan if you've been a Marriott owner and frustrated because either non-Marriott owners were getting some of the good weeks or, owners in cheaper MF systems/resorts were bragging about staying at Marriott but paying lessor MF's.

It's not just Marriott doing this. I use to see online instant exchanges easily into Welk Resorts and DRI resorts, even during prime season. Now, not so much. I suspect most systems have clamped down on outside exchanges to eliminate the objection at the sales table of, "Why buy in when I can easily trade in?". Of course, the problem for Interval becomes, "Why pay membership fee's plus ever increasing exchange fee's, resort fee's, upgrade fee's et...…" when I can't get the good exchanges like I use to 5 or 10 years ago?". I know we haven't kept a personal RCI account and plan on dropping our I.I. account for that very reason. As things have evolved, we either own at the resorts we want to stay in or, own in systems we're relatively happy for internal exchanges. Otherwise we simply rent what we want as buying/owning is becoming to expensive.

 

[alwysonvac]

I believe part of what Marriott has done with their destination club is to clamp down on outside exchanges, keeping inventory for Marriott to Marriott exchanges and, particularly, giving points reservations for those with large enough accounts the opportunity to cherry pick the best of the best weeks by allowing reservations further out than traditional weeks exchanges. It's a good plan if you've been a Marriott owner and frustrated because either non-Marriott owners were getting some of the good weeks or, owners in cheaper MF systems/resorts were bragging about staying at Marriott but paying lessor MF's.

It's not just Marriott doing this. I use to see online instant exchanges easily into Welk Resorts and DRI resorts, even during prime season. Now, not so much. I suspect most systems have clamped down on outside exchanges to eliminate the objection at the sales table of, "Why buy in when I can easily trade in?". Of course, the problem for Interval becomes, "Why pay membership fee's plus ever increasing exchange fee's, resort fee's, upgrade fee's et...…" when I can't get the good exchanges like I use to 5 or 10 years ago?". I know we haven't kept a personal RCI account and plan on dropping our I.I. account for that very reason. As things have evolved, we either own at the resorts we want to stay in or, own in systems we're relatively happy for internal exchanges. Otherwise we simply rent what we want as buying/owning is becoming to expensive.

I agree.

Continued bragging on owner forums will only lead to further clamp down on outside exchanges.

JMHO...This is probably one of the reasons we see fewer Disney deposits. Some folks felt compelled to brag to Disney owners on the Disboards .
Well, we don’t see much bragging anymore .

 

[bizaro86]

It's not just Marriott doing this. I use to see online instant exchanges easily into Welk Resorts and DRI resorts, even during prime season. Now, not so much. I suspect most systems have clamped down on outside exchanges to eliminate the objection at the sales table of, "Why buy in when I can easily trade in?.

Welk switched to RCI for their corporate deposits and included account. Owners can choose to pay an II fee and deposit themselves, but most deposits are RCI now.

 

[dougp26364]

Welk switched to RCI for their corporate deposits and included account. Owners can choose to pay an II fee and deposit themselves, but most deposits are RCI now.

Well that explains that. I feel sorry for the Welk owners.

 

[Beachspace]

I thought as 2018 comes to an end I would post on what I was able to trade Worldmark Points for Marriott's for via Interval.

1. Two bedroom at Marriott Newport Coast Villa's - March
2. Two bedroom at Ocean Point in West Palm - September
3. Two bedroom at Oceana Palms in West Palm - September

How many worldmark points did it take to get these? Sept is lowest season for W Palm but still, Oceana Palms is a pricey resort so I'd love to see the # of points it cost you and what those MF were.

 

[alwysonvac]

How many worldmark points did it take to get these? Sept is lowest season for W Palm but still, Oceana Palms is a pricey resort so I'd love to see the # of points it cost you and what those MF were.

TUG WM Overview (includes MF info)
https://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/worldmark-the-club-timeshare-information-overview.html

Recent thread on the TUG WM Forum regarding # of points for exchanges into RCI and II
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/worldmark-ii-rci.269361/

 

[Dean]

Well that explains that. I feel sorry for the Welk owners.

Disney changes a number of years ago. For DVC RCI is a better fit as it is for systems that are completely or primarily points based. RCI and II each have their advantages but if you take Marriott out of II, the plus of II is likely gone in general terms. For a given area RCI or II might do better. I do feel II is a little more customer centric than RCI.

 

[bizaro86]

How many worldmark points did it take to get these? Sept is lowest season for W Palm but still, Oceana Palms is a pricey resort so I'd love to see the # of points it cost you and what those MF were.

Generally speaking (there are some exceptions, most notably anything booked last minute is only 4000 credits) a 2 bedroom is 10000 WM credits.

WM MF vary based on how many points are owned. The dues for a 10k credit account were $986 in 2018, and they went up 5% in 2019. They go up 5% per year, capped, so they basically always do the max increase.