Trading within Marriott

[dmharris]

I believe Marriott Florida owners who are members of the Florida club can split their week within the Florida Club properties only. Best to check with Marriott or the resort you're looking to buy. You cannot deposit a partial week into IIR, is my understanding.

 

[turkel]

I know everyone on Tug says buy where you want to stay but that just isn't necessary for everyone. For instance my mother who owns at Desert springs 2 has never stayed there she has owned for 8+ yrs. Instead she has traded almost every year for hawaii, granted she has gone most often in Nov, Dec,and May not prime season according to most but seeing as she is retired she has flexibility with her vacations. I have kids in school so summer vacation is better for us I have only owned at Shadow Ridge for a yaer so I don't know yet how hard those trades will be. I am betting the priority with Marriott will get me where we want to go if I can plan early enough or late enough for flexchange. It remains to be seen,just want to point out that we are all individuals with different needs and you don't have to go to your home resort if you don't want to Pam

 

[potchak]

Thank you Turkel! Now I feel better about my purchase for Trading purposes!!! We bought Marriott Waiohai mainly for trading it, figuring the purchase to Hawaii would get us wherever we want to go due to the high exchange value. We are a couple in their 30's who have no plans for children so our flexibility on when to go stems around our jobs only.

 

[Dean]

I know everyone on Tug says buy where you want to stay but that just isn't necessary for everyone. For instance my mother who owns at Desert springs 2 has never stayed there she has owned for 8+ yrs. Instead she has traded almost every year for hawaii, granted she has gone most often in Nov, Dec,and May not prime season according to most but seeing as she is retired she has flexibility with her vacations. I have kids in school so summer vacation is better for us I have only owned at Shadow Ridge for a yaer so I don't know yet how hard those trades will be. I am betting the priority with Marriott will get me where we want to go if I can plan early enough or late enough for flexchange. It remains to be seen,just want to point out that we are all individuals with different needs and you don't have to go to your home resort if you don't want to Pam

No doubt. However, owning simply for trading purposes is much different than owning to use much of the time. It requires an additional level of knowledge, effort and timeshare sophistication compared to even the casual TUG member. It can be done successfully for the right person and situation but MOST people who pursue that route don't educated themselves sufficiently up front. I've done it and done so successfully but I also found the amount of effort and risk was not necessary. I've since sold my trader and moved more to a own to use approach with limited trading. I own cheaper non Marriott options to trade which will also consistently trade into Marriott's during those off times you quoted.

 

[mclowe]

What if you buy a Platinum Plus or Special Week (i.e. Xmas) at Marriott Grand Cypress? The resales look pretty good right now, but I am new to this whole thing and am concerned about trading power. I would think we would go to Orlando often (at least every other year) for 10 - 15 years, but trade the other years. I was thinking (or at least hoping) that a Xmas week in Orlando would give good trading power. Is it naive to think I could trade for President's week in Aruba or a non-Marriott property in the Caribbean?

 

[Dean]

What if you buy a Platinum Plus or Special Week (i.e. Xmas) at Marriott Grand Cypress? The resales look pretty good right now, but I am new to this whole thing and am concerned about trading power. I would think we would go to Orlando often (at least every other year) for 10 - 15 years, but trade the other years. I was thinking (or at least hoping) that a Xmas week in Orlando would give good trading power. Is it naive to think I could trade for President's week in Aruba or a non-Marriott property in the Caribbean?

I think you are over estimating the trade power of non DVC Orlando weeks. You might be better off buying elsewhere then trading back into Orlando which you can do easily.

 

[mclowe]

I can't tell if I am overestimating or underestimating. This whole TS thing is so confusing. Each program works so differently! I guess I am wondering exactly how a "Special" week at Marrott Cypress Harbour would work. Technically, you can book Xmas week, New Years, President's Week, Easter, etc. But it is a floating week in the special season which, if I understand correctly, just gives you priority to try to book those weeks along with thousands of other Marriott owners. So first of all, am I guaranteed my week of choice in the "Special" Season if I book at my home resort? If I decide to trade, how do I evaluate trading power? How do I trade? Do I try to book a popular week (i.e. Xmas) and then try to trade that or do I just deposit my floating week which may be a less desirable week in March? If I have a 2BR Special season, are my chances good at getting a 1 BR in a Platinum or Platinum Plus season at another resort?

Sorry for all the questions, but I have yet to find anything that helps me try evaluate my trading power to help me choose which property I want.

 

[cp73]

I can't tell if I am overestimating or underestimating. This whole TS thing is so confusing. Each program works so differently! I guess I am wondering exactly how a "Special" week at Marrott Cypress Harbour would work. So first of all, am I guaranteed my week of choice in the "Special" Season if I book at my home resort? .

To keep it simple buy at the resort that you want to go to the most time in the season you want to go. No you are not guaranteed your week of choice, only that you would get one of the weeks in the season that you purchased. The earlier you reserve the better your chance of getting the week you want. Reserve your week exactly 12 months before.

 

[Dean]

I can't tell if I am overestimating or underestimating. This whole TS thing is so confusing. Each program works so differently! I guess I am wondering exactly how a "Special" week at Marrott Cypress Harbour would work. Technically, you can book Xmas week, New Years, President's Week, Easter, etc. But it is a floating week in the special season which, if I understand correctly, just gives you priority to try to book those weeks along with thousands of other Marriott owners. So first of all, am I guaranteed my week of choice in the "Special" Season if I book at my home resort? If I decide to trade, how do I evaluate trading power? How do I trade? Do I try to book a popular week (i.e. Xmas) and then try to trade that or do I just deposit my floating week which may be a less desirable week in March? If I have a 2BR Special season, are my chances good at getting a 1 BR in a Platinum or Platinum Plus season at another resort?

You probably are making this too complicated. Basically no one can truly tell how how a week is going to trade, at least not in absolute terms. The Marriott's in Orlando do fairly well due to resort quality and internal Marriott trading. Still, many other locations will trade equally well and many times, far better. You need to decide how YOU will use it and what's important to you. To buy Orlando strictly for trading would essentially never be a good choice but one could do worse.

As noted, no way to guarantee a specific week, but you can improve your chances by knowing the system and using it to your advantage. I feel CH and GV are great resorts and for many, great resorts to own. It appears you need to spend some time letting these issues and nuances sink in before deciding what to do.

 

[MikeM132]

I'm with Dean on this issue. I bought MGV from Marriott as my first t/s, before I really knew anything. I was told about Orlando being such a popular tourist destination that my week would be very valuable to others in trades. They "forgot" to mention there are about a zillion t/s units in Orlando. However, since this is a top-end resort from maybe the top t/s company, it still has traded pretty well for me. I have not pushed the envelope, and have taken off-season trades to nice places so far (but did trade the lockoff twice for 1br units, and did get 2 ACs this year for lockoff and 1br units). We like Orlando and like the resort. I think this is a very important factor in buying a week somewhere. Buying just to trade is sort of like speculating on demand/supply and available trades where you want to go. You could maximize your chances at trading by buying something on a beach somewhere (naturally limited supply), but you'll pay more for it upfront and probably also in annual fees. If you don't mind going to Orlando every few years if you get stuck without a good trade, then it might be a good place to buy. There are certainly enough resale deals there at good prices if you aren't dedicated to the Marriott points program.

 

[icydog]

I hate to resurect this thread for my own purposes but here I go:

I cannot figure out how to trade well with my Marriott weeks. I own four weeks. Two are silver and two platinum. The silver are the Park City Summit Watch and Mountainside and the Platinums are the Manor Club. I keep reading about Flexchange which I assume means at the last minute but I cannot even get a hint of finding anything decent on the II website with my weeks at the last minute.

For example there are sightings of Marriotts on HH in July and August on the Sightings and Distress Board. When I plug in my weeks and the dates I get a message that there is NO availability even though the poster was only using an AC when he saw them. What am I doing wrong??

I agree with Dean, DVC is much, much easier to understand.

 

[floyddl]

Timing is everything. To get the flexchange weeks you need to go online and search frequently. Obviously July Hilton Head weeks are available for only minutes before being snatched up. You can get good value with flexchange but not without investing the time to monitor online for new deposits or being very lucky.

 

[Dean]

Timing is everything. To get the flexchange weeks you need to go online and search frequently. Obviously July Hilton Head weeks are available for only minutes before being snatched up. You can get good value with flexchange but not without investing the time to monitor online for new deposits or being very lucky.

I've seen 3 weeks 9-16 July in the last week (Barony, GO & HC).

 

[Dean]

I hate to resurect this thread for my own purposes but here I go:

I cannot figure out how to trade well with my Marriott weeks. I own four weeks. Two are silver and two platinum. The silver are the Park City Summit Watch and Mountainside and the Platinums are the Manor Club. I keep reading about Flexchange which I assume means at the last minute but I cannot even get a hint of finding anything decent on the II website with my weeks at the last minute.

For example there are sightings of Marriotts on HH in July and August on the Sightings and Distress Board. When I plug in my weeks and the dates I get a message that there is NO availability even though the poster was only using an AC when he saw them. What am I doing wrong??

I agree with Dean, DVC is much, much easier to understand.

Flexchange is last minute and hit or miss unless your truly off season. None of us truly know the trading formula and availability so any info we gain is from our experiences with the system and what info we have been able to pick up along the way. The Silver weeks and even MC Platinum are not what I'd call truly top traders. I know some will disagree about MC, but IMO, even 4th of July MC is not going to trade in the class of a Summer HH or Platinum Ocean Pointe, or platinum ski week as examples. It may be a better trade VALUE when you compare price, fees and trading but not on absolute trade power terms.

One also has to realize how the system works including when units are deposited, the demand of a specific resort/season and the unit types at a given resort. In general for your situation, I'd reserve and deposit ASAP. I'd try to have an ongoing search in place at least 13 months out for what I wanted giving as many resorts/weeks as possible. Most of the good stuff never makes it online and is matched to ongoing searches. Be realistic, even giving all 9 resorts on HH for mid June to mid August is not being particularly flexible.

For Flexchange, I'd get up about 5-6 am eastern every day and look then look periodically during the day.

 

[dmharris]

I'm wondering why someone would use this Flexchange system rather than deposit with II and then request what they want and wait. Is it because they did the deposit and waited and they did not get what they wanted and now their vacation time is approaching?

Thanks,