Purchasing a deed resale & then adding points via Marriot for a bonus

[mykl]

I've run into this dilemma:

1. Buy direct from Marriot for 4000 pts + 8000 for the first year Platinum for life status ~$50k...
2. Buy resale 4000 pts - no bonuses or anything else $13k transfer fee? + $9-12k for the package. + broker fees etc.
3. Buy direct from Marriot 2000-ish (try and get plat for life with their bonuses) and see what the cost comes to~$26k, then buy resale points?

The second option seems like a no-brainer (50% discount), but I was wondering if anyone has any insights on what I lose going resale and if it's truly affected their experience with MVC.

I've done my research and found I miss out on all the bonuses / Marriot rewards points and I probably won't be given any status, but does buying resale blacklist us from anything else?

Will we still get presented with sales presentation offers? And do the bonuses stay similar (I'm assuming not due to not being a first-time buyer)

Wondering if anyone else was in a similar boat.

 

[sponger76]

I've run into this dilemma:

1. Buy direct from Marriot for 4000 pts + 8000 for the first year Platinum for life status ~$50k...
2. Buy resale 4000 pts - no bonuses or anything else $13k transfer fee? + $9-12k for the package. + broker fees etc.
3. Buy direct from Marriot 2000-ish (try and get plat for life with their bonuses) and see what the cost comes to~$26k, then buy resale points?

The second option seems like a no-brainer (50% discount), but I was wondering if anyone has any insights on what I lose going resale and if it's truly affected their experience with MVC.

I've done my research and found I miss out on all the bonuses / Marriot rewards points and I probably won't be given any status, but does buying resale blacklist us from anything else?

Will we still get presented with sales presentation offers? And do the bonuses stay similar (I'm assuming not due to not being a first-time buyer)

Wondering if anyone else was in a similar boat.

If you buy Abound points resale and then pay the $3/point transfer fee, you DO get status commensurate with the points level and are treated just the same as someone who bought directly from MVC. You just don't get the bonus points. To me, one-time bonus points are not nearly enough to justify the much higher cost of buying direct.

 

[Sicnarf]

I don't understand the 8000 in option 1. 8000 what?

 

[sponger76]

I don't understand the 8000 in option 1. 8000 what?

If they buy 4,000 annual points directly from MVC, they get a bonus of 8,000 points (once, not annually).

 

[mykl]

If you buy Abound points resale and then pay the $3/point transfer fee, you DO get status commensurate with the points level and are treated just the same as someone who bought directly from MVC. You just don't get the bonus points. To me, one-time bonus points are not nearly enough to justify the much higher cost of buying direct.

Yeah isn't that status for MVC only? The sales rep told me "presidential" etc.
The status for Marriott bonvoy - Platinum / Titanium (2pm / 4pm checkout) was offered at the sales pitch.

I don't understand the 8000 in option 1. 8000 what?

They doubled whatever we bought right there. So if I bought 4000 today, they'd give us +8000 to start totaling our first year to 12000 pts (8000 need to be spent within the first 2 years)

 

[sponger76]

Yeah isn't that status for MVC only? The sales rep told me "presidential" etc.
The status for Marriott bonvoy - Platinum / Titanium (2pm / 4pm checkout) was offered at the sales pitch.

Nope. different status levels in MVC give you different status levels in Bonvoy, regardless of resale vs direct purchase. Also, caveat, it is technically not lifetime status. You retain that Bonvoy status only for as long as you have the MVC status. So if you later sell your MVC points, or at least enough to drop your MVC status level back to 'Owner,' you lose the Bonvoy status.

 

[Fasttr]

Nope. Presidential status in MVC gives you Platinum in Bonvoy, regardless of resale vs direct purchase. Also, caveat, it is technically not lifetime status. You retain that Bonvoy status only for as long as you have the MVC status. So if you later sell your MVC points, or at least enough to drop your MVC status level back to 'Owner,' you lose the Bonvoy status.

Presidential actually gets you Titanium.

Select & Executive gets you Platinum.

 

[sponger76]

Presidential actually gets you Titanium.

Select - Executive gets you Platinum.

Yeah, realized that so I went back and made my post more generic.

 

[jwalk03]

Buy resale points- not direct from Marriott. They work exactly the same once you pay Marriott the $3/pt junk fee.

Don't buy points just to get Marriott hotel status. You can get Marriott Platinum for $650/yr just for carrying the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex.

 

[mykl]

Nope. Presidential status in MVC gives you Platinum in Bonvoy, regardless of resale vs direct purchase.

Oh... The sales rep made it seem like that was a different bonus... Thank you!

So all we lose out on is that bonus point offer?

If we bought another resale deed of 6000 later on, that would combine our points to 10000 right? We just need to ensure the start/end dates of the points match up for the anniversary. Will that move our status up to Presidential? Or would it be 2 separate deeds still / and each deed will have the status of a 4000 level and a 6000 level?


We're looking to not get scammed by Marriott on this and don't want to get blacklisted. We have gold and when the 2 pm checkout works, it's really nice to have, and we don't think we need titanium so platinum looks to be the best option for us around the 7k mark.

 

[mykl]

Buy resale points- not direct from Marriott. They work exactly the same once you pay Marriott the $3/pt junk fee.

Don't buy points just to get Marriott hotel status. You can get Marriott Platinum for $650/yr just for carrying the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex.

Noted. Thank you for this! Yes, we would probably get that card too to double-dip as much as possible on vacation.
We did want to get as much points as we can for the best deal so we can travel and not be limited per year.
2000 points (at least from our sales rep) seem to be "ok" and gets you that one week each year but looks like we'd have to borrow for things like Japan/hawaii etc.

 

[sponger76]

So all we lose out on is that bonus point offer?

Yes, you just lose out on the bonus points.

If we bought another resale deed of 6000 later on, that would combine our points to 10000 right? We just need to ensure the start/end dates of the points match up for the anniversary. Will that move our status up to Presidential? Or would it be 2 separate deeds still / and each deed will have the status of a 4000 level and a 6000 level?

They would combine for one status level.

 

[jwalk03]

Noted. Thank you for this! Yes, we would probably get that card too to double-dip as much as possible on vacation.
We did want to get as much points as we can for the best deal so we can travel and not be limited per year.
2000 points (at least from our sales rep) seem to be "ok" and gets you that one week each year but looks like we'd have to borrow for things like Japan/hawaii etc.

There are no Marriott Vacation Clubs in Japan.

2000 points isn't going to get you many prime weeks anywhere- but it just depends on what you travel habits are and how big of villa you need. You may want to review the points charts for resorts that interest you to get a gauge of how many points you would truly need.

 

[mykl]

There are no Marriott Vacation Clubs in Japan.

2000 points isn't going to get you many prime weeks anywhere- but it just depends on what you travel habits are and how big of villa you need. You may want to review the points charts for resorts that interest you to get a gauge of how many points you would truly need.

Oh? The sales rep showed us Japan Ski in Ski out, and never showed anything about a points chart... Will search for this.

Right now we're 2 people that just enjoy the beach + some adventures... Want to be able to use this for Japan, Italy, etc. Spending a lot per year on vacation and this seemed to be a solid investment if we're already traveling.

We do prefer the 2-br suite to bring friends and just have the space, but a single hotel room works as long as we have a kitchen/washer/drier.

 

[sponger76]

Oh? The sales rep showed us Japan Ski in Ski out, and never showed anything about a points chart... Will search for this.

Right now we're 2 people that just enjoy the beach + some adventures... Want to be able to use this for Japan, Italy, etc. Spending a lot per year on vacation and this seemed to be a solid investment if we're already traveling.

We do prefer the 2-br suite to bring friends and just have the space, but a single hotel room works as long as we have a kitchen/washer/drier.

Nope, no MVC locations in Japan. Or Italy for that matter. Check at https://www.marriottvacationclub.com/destinations/club-resorts/ to see all the resorts in Abound, which is MVC's timeshare points system. What they probably showed you for Japan were resorts available through exchanges in Interval International (II). II allows you to exchange into other timeshares besides the one you own. You can check out https://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1500 to see what resorts participate in II. You can also use Abound points toward stays at some regular hotels, but generally that is not a good value financially when comparing cash stays to the annual Maintenance Fees for your points.

You can go to https://vacationpointexchange.com/mdc-point-charts/ to see the points charts over time for Abound (formerly Destination Club) resorts.

 

[jwalk03]

Oh? The sales rep showed us Japan Ski in Ski out, and never showed anything about a points chart... Will search for this.

Right now we're 2 people that just enjoy the beach + some adventures... Want to be able to use this for Japan, Italy, etc. Spending a lot per year on vacation and this seemed to be a solid investment if we're already traveling.

We do prefer the 2-br suite to bring friends and just have the space, but a single hotel room works as long as we have a kitchen/washer/drier.

There are no locations in Japan or Italy. Definitely spend some time doing your own research on this. The sales rep lied to you (likely about many many things!)”

The vast majority of MVCs are located in popular US vacation destinations. (Florida, South Carolina, Williamsburg, Las Vegas, Palm Desert, some Rocky Mountain Ski Areas, Hawaii, etc.)

There are a few Caribbean choices (St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba); a few European ones (Spain, & France); and a couple Asian ones (Phuket, Bali, Bangkok) plus one Australia (Surfers Paradise) and one in Costa Rica.

It’s also definitely not a solid investment monetarily at least. Marriott sells points for ~$16/pt and the resale value is $3-$4/pt so as soon as your recession period ends you have lost 75% of what you paid.

 

[mykl]

Nope, no MVC locations in Japan. Or Italy for that matter. Check at to see all the resorts in Abound, which is MVC's timeshare points system. What they probably showed you for Japan were resorts available through exchanges in Interval International (II). II allows you to exchange into other timeshares besides the one you own. You can check out o see what resorts participate in II. You can also use Abound points toward stays at some regular hotels, but generally that is not a good value financially when comparing cash stays to the annual Maintenance Fees for your points.

Wow. I knew it felt too good to be true lol. The rep did mention II and showed us that as an "alternative" option if we ran out of points during the year we could just buy via that. Never mentioned anything about having to use points or transfer to II. On the board, he showed "total pts" for destinations. One was the Ritz in Turks and was like 10k points for the week in a 3-br suite.

There are no locations in Japan or Italy. Definitely spend some time doing your own research on this. The sales rep lied to you (likely about many many things!)”

The vast majority of MVCs are located in popular US vacation destinations. (Florida, South Carolina, Williamsburg, Las Vegas, Palm Desert, some Rocky Mountain Ski Areas, Hawaii, etc.)

There are a few Caribbean choices (St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba); a few European ones (Spain, & France); and a couple Asian ones (Phuket, Bali, Bangkok) plus one Australia (Surfers Paradise) and one in Costa Rica.

It’s also definitely not a solid investment monetarily at least. Marriott sells points for ~$16/pt and the resale value is $3-$4/pt so as soon as your recession period ends you have lost 75% of what you paid.

Will do more research for sure. Looks like we'd be missing out on a lot. The way they showed it looked like the world was your oyster haha.

Thank you, everyone, for all the insightful information. Sales reps are so good at hiding the truth about this stuff. Glad we didn't pull the trigger.

 

[sponger76]

The rep did mention II and showed us that as an "alternative" option if we ran out of points during the year we could just buy via that. Never mentioned anything about having to use points or transfer to II.

You can exchange points (or weeks if you own weeks) in II. That is the primary function of exchange companies like that. But II also sells Getaways for cash without using weeks/points, which is what he was referring to. The issue with Getaways is, they are excess inventory, primarily the leftover stays that nobody wanted to exchange their own weeks/points for. So it's usually either at undesirable resorts, during not-as-desirable times, or both. You will see Getaways at some of the better resorts, but usually only during off/shoulder seasons, not when most people are trying to go there. They can be good, even great deals, but the more desirable it is, the more it will cost.

 

[Pamplemousse]

You seem very interested in bonvoy status.
Go to Marriott.com to see what those levels get you and if you really care about those.
You also want to explore what the abound levels get you in addition to really looking at what you can do with the points and how many you need.
Impulse buys are never a good idea.
You will never regret taking your time and thinking things through.

 

[DRH90277]

You are being distracted by the bonus Bonvoy or Abound points and prospective status for these programs. Forget the status stuff for now - Bonvoy has been so diluted in value as to discourage many of us from messing with it much anymore.

Do yourself a favor and look at the basic deals for buying points retail versus the secondary market (at less than 50%). Look at buying some great weeks in the resale market that you will use, rent out, or exchange through Interval as an alternative to points.

Slow this thing down and know that the MVC deals will be there later. No rush.......

 

[Dean]

I've run into this dilemma:

1. Buy direct from Marriot for 4000 pts + 8000 for the first year Platinum for life status ~$50k...
2. Buy resale 4000 pts - no bonuses or anything else $13k transfer fee? + $9-12k for the package. + broker fees etc.
3. Buy direct from Marriot 2000-ish (try and get plat for life with their bonuses) and see what the cost comes to~$26k, then buy resale points?

The second option seems like a no-brainer (50% discount), but I was wondering if anyone has any insights on what I lose going resale and if it's truly affected their experience with MVC.

I've done my research and found I miss out on all the bonuses / Marriot rewards points and I probably won't be given any status, but does buying resale blacklist us from anything else?

Will we still get presented with sales presentation offers? And do the bonuses stay similar (I'm assuming not due to not being a first-time buyer)

Wondering if anyone else was in a similar boat.

Step back and take a few months to get to know and understand the system. Then you can figure out if timeshares will work for you and whether MVC is the best timeshare for you.