Not sure I agree with that method of valuation. In order to use the 3850 points my GO week is worth inside the DC system, I would have to elect to give it up for the year to get at the points. So the way I see it, in order to be comparing apples to apples due to having to elect to give up the week to get at those points, I would also have to include the upfront costs that I paid to purchase that week in order to truly calculate my cost per point for those 6350 points in total. Alternatively, if I never really plan to convert the week to points, all I have is done is paid $10.76 per point for 2500 Trust points and a bump up in status, so my true cost per point is really $10.76.
I agree that if you are trying to calculate a valuation/fully-loaded cost, then yes, you should include the upfront cost that has already been paid. But taking that one step further then, if a pre-2010 GO Gold OF owner was trying to decide whether to pay $2395 to enroll their week, then they should add their original cost of the week they incurred many years ago of (guessing) $20,000, making their total cost $22,395 for 3850 points or $5.82. While that would truly reflect their cost per point, it would NOT reflect their
cost of enrollment, which is, in fact, just $2395.
So, if I were an owner of a post-2010 resale week, my main concern would be - "What will it cost me to enroll that week and get the benefits of that enrollment?" So in that case, my
cost of enrollment would be $26,900. And for that cost, I would get 1.) Executive status and the 13-month 1+ day privilege, and 2.) the
option to elect points and use them. While if I already owned a Gold GO, it would be primarily for use, I could conceive of any number of scenarios where I might opt in a given year to elect for Points. So, I would be paying $26,900 for those
added benefits.
While I would certainly prefer a future offer to enroll a post-2010 week for $2395, I'm realistic enough to know that will never happen. They will always try to use enrollment as a way to get you to buy Trust points, since that is how they make their money. I understand that. But as offers go, this seems very attractive. I was expecting they would require a matching point purchase, which for a Gold GO week would mean 4000 points. Now THAT would be a complete non starter. By comparison, this deal is really a decent compromise, I think. I only wish I already had a Gold GO week to take advantage of it
As you pointed out, the only real benefit of the bump in status (to me anyhow) is in getting at the 1+ day rentals earlier....and I am not so sure that is worth the $27K investment....at least from what I have experienced in using the DC so far.
And that said, if the bump in status is not worth it to me....why pay the upfront $$ as with a few clicks of my mouse, I can rent the 6350 points any time I want.
Unless somebody can show me the light....I'm still yawning at this deal!!!
While I agree with this basic logic in theory, if at some point in the future we buy a resale week of some type, and if a few years later Marriott made us an offer substantially similar to this, I would be very inclined to do it for several reasons:
1.) It opens up the 13-month 1+ option which would allow us to book shorter stays during prime weeks that will likely not be available at 10 months.
2.) It gives us a larger batch of points that we fully control and can bank and borrow at will. That is the one disadvantage of rented points - no banking or borrowing.
3.) For big point requirement trips, point rentals would still be available to me. Owning a few more just gives more flexibility - and flexibility is why we bought into DC in the first place.
4.) As GregT mentioned above, it would be sort of an insurance policy against any future Marriott devaluation of the point rental privilege.
