Please help me convince my brother-in-law not to buy from Marriott Ocean Watch Villas

[ljlong15]

Here at MOW. So, he is telling me that for $29,000 he will get 2000 points annually and other perks---another 4000 points one time to use in 2 years and 175,000 Bonvoy points. Also, they would pay his RedWeek rental fee of $3000 he paid for this week. Why is this not a good idea--please respond asap he wants to do it. Thank you.

 

[dioxide45]

2,000 annual points is not very much and not really enough to get full value from the ownership. Small point amounts aren't of good utility unless you bank/borrow. They give you the 4,000 PluPoints as a bonus as when those run out you come back looking to buy more. Resale is also much cheaper and there are even better options (bundle) to buy into the program.

I published a video that goes over all the costs, all in, and also includes a calculator tool to help determine the full cost of ownership. It isn't as cheap as they make it sound.

 

[davidvel]

Here at MOW. So, he is telling me that for $29,000 he will get 2000 points annually and other perks---another 4000 points one time to use in 2 years and 175,000 Bonvoy points. Also, they would pay his RedWeek rental fee of $3000 he paid for this week. Why is this not a good idea--please respond asap he wants to do it. Thank you.

If you cannot convince him, not sure randoms on the internet will.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Here at MOW. So, he is telling me that for $29,000 he will get 2000 points annually and other perks---another 4000 points one time to use in 2 years and 175,000 Bonvoy points. Also, they would pay his RedWeek rental fee of $3000 he paid for this week. Why is this not a good idea--please respond asap he wants to do it. Thank you.

Tell him to buy a resale week and he'll save a whole ton of cash!







.

 

[dioxide45]

Tell him to buy a resale week and he'll save a whole ton of cash!

This is something that is getting to be harder and harder the longer we get away from the 6/2010 points rollout.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

This is something that is getting to be harder and harder the longer we get away from the 6/2010 points rollout.

Right now there is an Oceanfront week available for $199 on Redweek......

Not sure if it would pass ROFR.










.

 

[dioxide45]

Right now there is an Oceanfront week available for $199 on Redweek......

Not sure if it would pass ROFR.

Problem is, that week is in the middle of winter.

 

[ljlong15]

So just to update---he DID NOT BUY! He really wants points. Likes to take a few days here and there. Not so much a whole week. I have the re-sale weeks. So, really not familiar with the points system as I should be. Are points linked to a resort or just the MVC? If so, how is maintenance fee determined? You guys are the best on here. Always such helpful info.

 

[Hindsite]

He can buy 2000 annual club points resale for around $15,000 which includes the fee to enroll them so they work just like the ones he was planning spending $29,000 on.
4000 one time use points is worth about $3,200, sometime can be less
175,000 Bonvoy points is worth about $1,400
I've not heard of the Redweek refund before, so assuming that is true (I'm not convinced)
Total incentive value is around $7,600, leaving the balance between resale and direct purchase as a nice fat commission for the sales team.
His call on whether he liked them enough to donate +$6,000 to them or not.

Club points have no home resort, just the ability to book whatever is available in the Abound exchange. Maint fees are based on the pool of resorts in the US land Trust and then shared across all of the points in the Trust. This makes them a bit more expensive than some resorts and less than others, but not immune to increases as they ae based on the underlying resort weeks.

 

[dioxide45]

I've not heard of the Redweek refund before, so assuming that is true (I'm not convinced)

This is something they will offer. Just like if you are there on an Encore Package stay where they provide a credit in the amount of the package. They will do the same for a stay rented through Marriott.com or even from another owner. Even a single night stay paid in cash or Bonvoy points is eligible for up to $1500 credit.

 

[davidvel]

So just to update---he DID NOT BUY! He really wants points. Likes to take a few days here and there. Not so much a whole week. I have the re-sale weeks. So, really not familiar with the points system as I should be. Are points linked to a resort or just the MVC? If so, how is maintenance fee determined? You guys are the best on here. Always such helpful info.

Given you are asking these basic questions, he clearly lacks any knowledge of the system beyond the B.S. the salesperson told him. Tell him to do this:
1. Give 3 scenarios of a likely trip/use for the points (place/dates/view/size).
2. Go here and calculate how many points that will take=X.
3. Determine how much upfront cost that will be: retail=X*($9to14); resale X*7.
4. Calculate the annual MF= (X*.61)+$215 dues.

Look at how much per day this will cost by dividing upfront by 20 years and adding the annual MF for those points. It will be eye-opening.

 

[moonstone]

Likes to take a few days here and there. Not so much a whole week.

That was initially a big draw for us getting (RCI) Points until we found out that in addition to the exchange fee , when booking less than a 7 night stay, there is a housekeeping fee which can be quite costly. Add that to the resort fee that many resorts are now charging and that is an expensive few days!

A few years ago when we needed 5 days in Kissimmee I found it much cheaper to book a Last Call than to use some of our points and pay all the associated fees to book 5 nights. It happened that we were able to get that Last Call at the same resort that we were booked into for the next week with our adult children and the resort arranged the units so we stayed in the same unit for both weeks. We checked into the Last Call unit, 2 days late, in the morning, in a 1 bedroom, for the first week, but then got the keys to the other half to have a 2 bedroom like our kids did for the next week. The best thing we like about having points is that we can book a 13 night stay for the same exchange fee as a 7 night stay and if I play around with the check in day, it often doesn't cost a whole lot more points to stay 13 instead of 7 nights.


~Diane

 

[rickandcindy23]

2,000 points is not much.

We have Abound points and may never use them. We were "grandfathered" when Marriott took over Westin. We are supposedly Chairman's level. I have no idea where we would go, but our daughter-in-law really wants to go to Costa Rica.

 

[silentg]

Point him to TUG, to learn about timeshares.

 

[jp10558]

Yea, given some of the prices here, I'd suggest he come to TUG and consider more than just Marriott. Like HGVC resale and Wyndham and Worldmark resale just come with points with no additional enrollment fees, so the buy in is likely to be sub $6,000 for just about anything for a single week. MFs might be less too.