I'll try first to address your questions about weeks versus points- until a year and a half ago Marriott was exclusively a weeks based system. Owners bought weeks in a season which enabled them to reserve one week 12 months out (13 months if booking consecutive or contiguous weeks) at the resort and during the season (time period) they bought into. A few resorts had some weeks that were fixed weeks, and at many resorts there are Platinum Plus weeks, which are holiday weeks and owners are guaranteed a holiday week reservation. Last year they introduced a point system, and now at most locations are exclusively selling points.
Past owners could buy into the point system (called the DC for destination club) and trade their weeks in for points on a yearly basis. The problem for many is that, while the point system offers flexibility (the ability to reserve location and view and in timeframes other than only 7 days), most owners of legacy weeks suffer a skim, in that fewer points are allotted than are required to make a reservation using points at their owned property. While they can still use their week to reserve at their home resort, it means that they don't have enough points to book the equivalent week elsewhere. There are many posts about the pluses and minuses of point ownership and conversion that you can search for if you are interested.
If you buy today from Marriott in the US you can only buy points. If you buy in Spain or France they are still selling weeks, and in Asia they have yet another point system. The Caribbean resorts have yet to be fully integrated into the point system, and while you can reserve weeks there in points, at least in Aruba you can buy either weeks or points. Aruba is one of the last hold-outs where Marriott is still selling weeks that are eligible for membership in the DC. IF you are interested in Aruba and IF you really want to buy direct from Marriott, buying a week there and joining the DC is considerably less costly than buying the equivalent number of points. While in general I've always advised people to take their time and that the same deal will be there tomorrow, this is one almost loophole that IF you are interested in it I'd recommend exploring sooner rather than later. While (in my opinion, of course) Aruba was allocated fewer points than the high rental market (both external and on Marriott.com) might otherwise suggest that it should be allocated, buying a developer week there now, with the discounts being offered by Marriott, is a relative bargain wrt the purchase price to point value ratio; what I mean that it is cheaper to buy a week there and convert it to points than to buy the equivalent number of points from Marriott, with savings in excess of 10K.
That said, while others will disagree, as a new buyer I'd have a very hard time buying points from Marriott today for several reasons:
-high cost per point and high MF per point
-no "home resort" ownership or advantage (unlike Starwood or DVC, you don't get a first crack at reserving a week in the resort you chose to go to most frequently. So if you have a preference for a particular area, you are competing with everyone else for those reservations)
-point values can change. Whether they will is anyone's guess.
-most inventory today was already sold as weeks. That means that week owners must deposit those weeks for them to be available for point reservations. So, even if you buy enough points for a New Year's week at a Caribbean resort, for example, it doesn't mean that there will be any such weeks available for you to reserve. Remember- everything is subject to availability, and as a points owner you are not guaranteed any specific availability.
-there is no way for resale points to join the DC, so that if you buy and need to sell, what you own is basically worthless.
If you tend to travel off season, however, points go a lot further and you might find the system works to your advantage, depending upon hen and where you like to travel. Others love the ability to reserve more- or less- than 7 days, like the ability to guarantee their view (which otherwise is subject to luck when trading in II), and like the ease of calling and making a reservation rather than looking for a trade.
In general, as posted above, trading using a lock-off gives the most bang for the buck, especially if you are taking advantage of depressed resale prices today. IF there is a place you'd like to visit at least half the time, then buying a week there may make sense for you. The other years you can trade or rent, especially if you buy in a popular location and reserve a high demand week. As posted above, Plat. weeks generally are the best traders and renters, but Gold weeks at some resorts fare better than Plat. weeks at other resorts, so it depends upon where you buy. For example, Aruba is really a year round destination, and Aruba Gold weeks trade as well as many and better than other Plat. weeks, and command a higher rent than many Plat. weeks elsewhere. If you want to go to Aruba during the summer, then you should buy a Gold week there, and not be pigeon-holed into only buying Platinum. Similarly, if you like to golf in Hilton Head, then maybe a Gold week would work better for you than a Plat. week. Depending on where and when you like to travel, one season or another may fill your needs better, and sometimes that offsets the possible decreased trading value.
While personally I would only buy resale weeks at this point, and if I really wanted the flexibility of the DC I would buy a developer week in Aruba that still gave me that option, so I am not trying to be negative about buying resale by any means, I just want to make sure you understand that as of today any week bought on the resale market cannot be enrolled in the DC (for that matter, resale points cannot be enrolled in the DC either, making them almost worthless). Many people feel that, at some point in the future, Marriott will again welcome resale weeks into the program, but that may be many years down the road, if it ever happens.
One more comment- you mention European trips- timeshares can be great for repeat visitors to European destinations, but there are few timeshares in world capitals, so first time visitors are usually best served by hotels and not in staying at locations that may be an hour or so commute from all the major sites. However, many have had amazing European vacations in timeshares in general, and of course Marriott's Costa del Sol properties, their Thailand properties and, perhaps to a lesser degree, their property in France have gotten rave reviews.
Good luck, and welcome to Tug!
btw- I see from your other posts that you are in your twenties. I can tell you that we wish that we had discovered timesharing before our "kids" were in their early twenties. It is wonderfully conducive to family vacations, and having the space- and the kitchen- really enhances your vacation. We travelled all over in hotel rooms with my parents while the kids were growing up; if only we had known what we were missing. This is a great time for you to buy and have many years of enjoyment. For now, it is a great way to consider traveling with friends and later with family and/or friends. Keep in mind, though, that needs change, and while you don't need school schedules now, in the future you may be saddled with them for decades. So keep that in mind when tailoring a purchase to your needs- think about now, 5 years and even 10 years down the road, as hard as that might seem.
I think the poster was just stating why owning a TS works for him instead of renting. His MF is less than or equal what a rental would be. He has more availabilty owning versus renting.
