Trade Between Two Marriott Resorts in Hawaii

[nzlp]

We just bought a one week timeshare in Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club at Oahu this past August (two bedroom units with oceanview). We'd like to trade to go to Marriott Waiohai Beach Club in Kauai next August. The person at Marriott Vacation Club initially recommended we use just the master unit (lock-off) to trade for two bedroom units in Waiohai, because he said it was considered a downgrade, Ko Olina supposed to have more trading power than Waiohai. But after talking with a person in II, both of them strongly suggested we give up our two bedroom units for two bedrooms in Waiohai.

So what would you think? use two units to trade or just master unit? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Bill4728]

If you had said you wanted to travel in Sept - Nov, your 1 bed master side would likely get you into Waiohai. BUT Hawaii in August is a more difficult trade and you should likely use you're whole unit unless you want to take a chance. You could get it with the master side alone but it isn't the sure thing it would be with your 2 bedroom unit.

 

[thinze3]

Not as easy as you think. See this thread about a Tugger who gave up trying for next summer. Waiohai is about sold out now, consequently Marriott no longer bulk deposits. It seems trades are more difficult now. IMO


Good Luck,
Terry


P.S. - Waiohai is Marriott's most highly rated resort here on Tug, so I do not agree with your salesperson's comment about it being a step down. As a matter of fact I never believe what a Marriott salesperson is saying when trying to sell me something and you probably shouldn't either.

.

 

[McFail]

When I was at Waiohai in Sept I ran a few owners said that they had trouble trying to reserve August in 2009. One was a multiple week owner. One had two children that each owned weeks and were shut out of August trying to call in. I would expect a very high owner occupancy and few weeks available so I would use the 2BR.

 

[nzlp]

Sounded like a hard trade for next August......Our girls' school starts usually in early September so we were thinking to avoid the summer crowd so wait till late August to go like this year.......Yes, Waiohai does have a higher rating. We will make the two-bedroom trade then and wait to see our luck.

Any sugguestions for the airline tickets and rental car?

 

[m61376]

You may want to do a request first instead of a deposit. The benefit to that is if II doesn't come up with the trade you want, you can still go to Ko'Olina. You can do that with either a portion or the whole unit (although, of course, the entire unit will have higher trading power).

There are only 2 disadvantages to doing a request first rather than a deposit first:
-you would likely get an AC for a 1 or 2BR Ko'Olina deposit, but not with a request first
-you would need to get the trade before your booked week, so if your Ko'Olina reservation is, let's say, July, you'd have to decide before then what to do.

If you would rather go back to Oahu than somewhere else in case Waiohai doesn't come through, then I would think that doing request first might be a better way to go.

 

[Former Cruiser]

Reading your recommendations about trading for Hawaii. We have a 2 br, platinum season at the Marriott in Myrtle Beach. Would we have a better chance for a trade if we traded for a 1 br?

 

[wa.mama]

I once made the mistake of trading my whole 2 bdrm Ko Olina for a Waiohai week 50, which is a low waiohai week. My sister locked hers off and got the same week with her 1 bdrm. I think it boils down to if you're trading a high demand week for a lower one.

 

[Former Cruiser]

Thanks. We're just getting started with the timeshare thing. We bought ours last month, and because construction isn't complete, we can't even make a reservation until May of 2009 for the platinum season in 2010. That was our first time ever at Myrtle Beach, and can't figure out what the draw is to that area. We probably won't go back, but bought there because of it's high ratings and hoping for good trades. Hawaii is definitely high on our first trade attempt.

 

[nzlp]

I did put in a request first, as we would not mind going back to Ko Olina again next year if Waiohai trade does not go through. However, I just thought if we could just use 1 bd room to trade for Waiohai, maybe we could go some where else with the other unit.....

Also yesterday I checked the "travel demand index" on II web for both Waiohai and Ko Olina resorts, week of 34 is actually not a high demand week, so now I am more optimistic, especially by giving up two units now :whoopie: .......I am new to the timeshare too, so just learning the in and out. Thanks a lot for everyone's inputs, really appreciate it.

One last question for this, what does "AC" stand for?

 

[gregloucks]

NZLP - coincidentally I am going to call today and change my existing 2009 Waiohai reservations, and I am going to deposit one of my weeks in a month or so. I was looking at depositing week 34, 35 or 36 since the strong trading weeks have all been taken and weeks 34-36 are available and currently qualify for an AC. I'll book and deposit week 34 since that is what you are requesting. Even if someone is ahead of you in line, at least that should bump you up one notch. Best of luck with your trade.

 

[nzlp]

Thanks a lot, Greg, can't wait to go to beautiful Kauai!

 

[thinze3]

Wouldn't be cool if NZLP landed your unit? Note, it will take a few days before your deposit actually hits the system and becomes available.

Gregloucks, maybe next year you should book a better week(s), and then change your reservation later if needed. I did exactly that with my Legends Edge. First I booked Easter and then later changed it to week 26 when that time came. I had a "request first" with II and got a 2BR July 2009 at KoOlina within a week or two after changing my reservation.


Terry

 

[gregloucks]

It would be very cool if he got our week - yet another example of the power of TUG.

NZLP- please note that I am not going to deposit for about six weeks so that my AC will be good next November.

Good advice Thinze. In our case we identified three specific late April/early May weeks when we wanted to go the islands in 2009, so we booked the Waiohai weeks that we wanted and traded into one Ko Olina week. But we just did a promo deal at Ko Olina (two 1 BR villas - $650 each for five nights), so we are staying at MKO longer and going to MAW for only one week this year. We never planned on trading the MAW week until the promo deal came up.

 

[nzlp]

No problem, gregloucks, whatever that happens happens, I appreicate it.

BTW, what AC really stand for?......also which airlines tend to have better deals to fly to Kauai? I am kind of forward thinking though my request is still pending.....

 

[Former Cruiser]

AC

AC is an accommodation certificate. If your resort is highly rated, and the week your trading is in high demand, II will give you an accommodation certificate when you deposit your week. This certificate is good for a week in a list of resorts that II doesn't think they will get rid of easily. They do this to get you to deposit your high demand week and resort. That is the explanation our sales person gave us. I found it on this site, but right now I can't remember where.

 

[Former Cruiser]

AC

Hey NZLP - I just found the information on ACs:

Accommodation Certificate
Interval International (II) offers an incentive bonus to owners of high-demand weeks who deposit them with II. That bonus is an Accommodation Certificate ("AC"), which can be exchanged for a week through II. Your exchange choices will be limited and generally won’t be prime season weeks. Thus, there are effectively blackout dates and blackout resorts. The restrictions for your AC will differ from the restrictions on some other ACs.

In addition, you can use your deposited week to exchange for another week.

During the last 59 days (“Flexchange”) before a week for which you would like to redeem your AC, you can see almost any week available in the II exchange system, other than those weeks restricted for various resort system (such as Marriott) internal trading preferences.

The cost to redeem an AC ranges from $199 to $299: $199 for a studio, $249 for a 1BR and $299 for a 2BR.

The AC is valid for one year from the date it is issued, which is usually soon after you make your deposit. Thus, to use your AC, you must reserve and take your additional vacation during that one-year period. That suggests some strategy, since the longer you wait before depositing, the longer you will have to use that AC once it is issued. The challenge is to balance that additional time against possible reduced trading power for your week due to delaying your deposit.

There is no guarantee that you'll receive an AC every year you deposit your week. The demand for your week could change, possibly leading II to stop offering an AC for your week. Also, you won't get an AC if you use the request-first method for requesting an exchange, under which you hold onto your week until you get an exchange that's acceptable to you.

Because most available weeks that can be confirmed with an AC are off-season (except during Flexchange), ACs don’t work well for everyone. Many, many ACs go unused. However, if you don’t mind traveling in the off-season or scheduling your trip on short notice (during Flexchange), you might well be thrilled with the results.

To determine if your week currently qualifies for an AC, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your II account.

2. Select "Exchange".

3. Select "Deposit/Extend a Week".

4. Select "Deposit" for an eligible (1BR or larger) 2008 week.

5. Enter (or make up) your 8-digit Marriott "Reservation No." starting with "8". Also select your actual or a hypothetical "Check-in Date". Then click on "Continue". (If you are a Florida Club member and you use a week from a Florida Club resort, you will have some addtional info - a unit # - you need to insert.)

6. If you are lucky, the next screen ("Deposit Details") will have two paragraphs. The first paragraph will explain how long you will have to complete an exchange if you deposit the week. The second paragraph, the one you hope to see, will read something like the following:

 

[nzlp]

Thanks a million, former cruiser!