Platinum vs. Gold

[av8tor]

Hi everyone. I'm new here. I have an opportunity to buy both Gold and Platinum timeshare from owners at a relatively good price. But I could use some sage advice from the members on this board.

The primary reason for my initial attraction to Gold season TS is because I would like to take my kids to the island when they are out of school. Their school ends the first week of June. Obviously, the price is much lower than that of Platinum.

However, I'm very much interested in the Platinum TS (for $20K) because I think that it gives me a better trading leverage with other Marriott venues. The cost difference between Platinum and Gold is about $5K for me, so if I'm looking at this as a long term ownership, the cost is somewhat academic.

So, I'm seeking some sage or any advice regarding Gold vs. Platinum as well as about trading as a Gold TS owner vs Platinum TS owner? We like to go to Orlando (for Disney World), Hawaii, or even Europe.

Thanks!
Steve

 

[Dave M]

Generally, Platinum weeks will exchange better than Gold weeks, but not always. To see relative exchange strength for the resort you are considering, find the resort's page in the Resort Directory at www.IntervalWorld.com and then click on the "Travel Demand Index" link on the right side of the page. You might well see some weeks in Gold season that have as much exchange strength as those in Platinum season.

For the most part, you should buy in a season you will use. If that's Gold season, go for it. Marriott Gold season weeks, if you use the II Travel Demand Index to decide which week to reserve, will get you great trades.

 

[lll1929]

I own a Gold week at the Aruba Ocean Club and I think it has pretty good trading power. I can trade into places such as Hawaii, Orlando, etc with my week. I many cases, I can trade up in size (eff to 1bdrm, etc) except in Hawaii.

I would say purchase the season you would use. The key to trade power is to reserve the most demanded week within your season (in my case, its the 3 wks before Christmas) and deposit it in II.

 

[av8tor]

Thanks, Dave. Exactly what I was looking for. So it looks like the demand for the Platinum weeks are very high at St Thomas. Would that equate to very busy and crowded as well?

 

[Dave M]

Not necessarily.

The resort is likely to be full or nearly full most of the time. The island will be loaded with tourists, especially cruise ship visitors, from November through March. Expect a lighter volume of tourists during the rest of the year.

 

[Clark]

Your question caused me to look at my database to see how many Marriott owners seeking direct exchanges are Platinum owners versus Gold owners.

From data of about a 1000 owners, the large majority of them own either gold or platinum (versus silver or bronze), and of those there are about 2.5 times as many platinum owners versus gold.

This data simply reinforces what everybody says: Platinum is the best place to be for exchanging.

 

[Zac495]

20K sounds like a lot in this market. Are you buying from friends?
I own gold - 2bed in Aruba. I couldn't sell it for the 15K I bought it for (resale) right now. I would think you could get a gold for 12K. Not sure about platinum. I get great trading power - of course platinum would be better. If you want July 4th in Hawaii, you might need platinum.

 

[av8tor]

Thank you all for your great advice. After much debate and discussion with my commander-in-chief with the information you have provided, she decided that Gold is what we want. I'll be making an offer for a Gold week timeshare today.

Will let you know when we finalize the transfer.

As a bonus, she did authorized me to look into buying a timeshare in Hawaii since it looks like a buyer's market. So I'll be on the hunt for a great deal in Hawaii.

Thanks again!
Steve

 

[dougp26364]

IMO, own the resort you're most likely to be happy staying at if all else fails and during the season the suites your needs the most. Exchange power/ability tends to change over time. For instance, Marriott has been rumored to be discussing some sort of points based exchange program for some time. Whether or not it ever see's the light of day has had much discussion here but, if it does happen, the exchange landscape will change once again. In another 10 years whats true today probably won't be true at that time. So, own the resort your happiest with and the season the fits you best.

Now having said that we own 2 Marriott's. One week is a Platinum week in Vegas and the other is a Silver week at Ocean Pointe on Singer Island. When I do online searches with I.I. both do exceptionally well. Truth be told I think my Ocean Pointe week trades about as well as my Platinum Grand Chateau in Vegas week.

I'm certain the Platinum weeks at Ocean Pointe have more exchange power but, ultimate exchange power is only good if you're hunting that very difficult and elusive resort week somewhere else. Even then having the ultimate trade power might not do you any good. Those that tend to own those ulitimate resort weeks don't often trade them. They sometimes see any exchange as trading down and not worth the exchange. Thus, they buy those prized weeks for personal usage and then use them.

Putting my opinion into perspective, while I've recieved the exchanges we've wanted, I'm not certain we've every really wanted something that was all that difficult to get. The most difficult exchange I've made was going from a March week in Vegas to the same March week at Newport Coast Villa's. It took longer to complete that exchange on a request first than any other request we've ever requested. So perhaps my lack of experience with hard to get trades makes my opinion somewhat less valid.