marriot points

I heard that if you buy a marroit property second hand you can't convert to points. Is that true.

I believe this to be true. I was told by a realtor in Florida when inquiring about a Marriott Resale in Orlando

It's true, the secondary market does not have the ability to convert to points.

I BELIEVE IT IS TRUE THAT YOU CANNOT TRADE FOR POINTS

Marriott is not in a points system. Nor is Interval International (yet), the major exchange company Marriott Management uses for most of its managed resorts.

The points you hear referred to with MVCI are travel REWARD points....similiar to all the reward systems the hotels & airlines use.

Interval has the ability to use points from other management companies and convert them to weeks.

Most Marriott owners don't find the reward points Marriott offers for the tun in of their week worth the exchange. Only weks bought through Marriott are eligible to be turned into these travel points, and some HOAs don't allow it at their Marriott resort...no matter who you bought your week from.

Just to make it clearer, only some RCI (Which uses points (their own point system) resorts have allowed RCI and their owners to convert their weeks to points.

Just remember, RCI charges the weeks owner $199 to $299 to convert. If you paid more, you were probably not a reader of the TS BBSs that are so helpful to owners.

Also, in the RCI program, you week is STILL OWNED BY YOU. You did not give up ownership right to some holiday company that is it goes kaput, so does your asset.

Marriott points are simply Marriott Travel Reward points....if you use the Marriott VISA, you get the same points. Marriott just ended a special where they were selling their points for one penny each to any Marriott Reward member.

Hope this helps.

johng490 wrote:

I believe this to be true. I was told by a realtor in Florida when inquiring about a Marriott Resale in Orlando

i agree , however i only partially agree with the comments below about marriott points. i agree that it is not good value to trade your week for points for hotel use or for trade for another week at a resort, however if you have 111,000 points (only good for people with multiple weeks or big spenders on the credit card) then good deals can be had ie 4 weeks at different locations and first class travel around the world in one direction (no more than 4 stopovers) for two people not bad methinks

mrs157 wrote:

johng490 wrote:

I believe this to be true. I was told by a realtor in Florida when inquiring about a Marriott Resale in Orlando

i agree , however i only partially agree with the comments below about marriott points. i agree that it is not good value to trade your week for points for hotel use or for trade for another week at a resort, however if you have 111,000 points (only good for people with multiple weeks or big spenders on the credit card) then good deals can be had ie 4 weeks at different locations and first class travel around the world in one direction (no more than 4 stopovers) for two people not bad methinks

I keep looking for this deal and can't find it:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-specials.mi?action=member-specials

Do you have to have more than 1,000,000 points to find it? Could you post the link!

Thanks.

kekouri wrote:

mrs157 wrote:

johng490 wrote:

I believe this to be true. I was told by a realtor in Florida when inquiring about a Marriott Resale in Orlando

i agree , however i only partially agree with the comments below about marriott points. i agree that it is not good value to trade your week for points for hotel use or for trade for another week at a resort, however if you have 111,000 points (only good for people with multiple weeks or big spenders on the credit card) then good deals can be had ie 4 weeks at different locations and first class travel around the world in one direction (no more than 4 stopovers) for two people not bad methinks

I keep looking for this deal and can't find it:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-specials.mi?action=member-specials

Do you have to have more than 1,000,000 points to find it? Could you post the link!

Thanks.

sorry missed out a zero yes it is over a million , which is why i said it is only good if you are a multiple owner, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credot card, but this is another good way to accumulate points

sorry for my error and to raise your hopes, marriott is not that generous !!

sorry yes more than a million, i forgot one zero, which is why i said it was good for multiple owners, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credit card, but i think that this is another good way to boost your points sincerely mary

Posted by Mrs 157: "...sorry missed out a zero yes it is over a million , which is why i said it is only good if you are a multiple owner, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credot card, but this is another good way to accumulate points

sorry for my error and to raise your hopes, marriott is not that generous !! mrs157

Aug 17, 2007 08:06 PM

sorry yes more than a million, i forgot one zero, which is why i said it was good for multiple owners, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credit card, but i think that this is another good way to boost your points sincerely mary ..."

Hi Mary: I'm not a whiz at math, but I don't know if that would be worth it to our family.

If we need 1,110,000 points obtained by trade backs, it seems to cost a bit....maybe others will have better ideas.

I guess 4 weeks of MVCI timeshare weeks that can obtain 125,000 points would intially cost approx $25,000? ( OK ...lets reduce it to $20,000)

So, there is an intial outlay of $80,000 dollars to buy 4 MVCI weeks. You return every week to Marriott for 125,000 points = 4X 125,000= 500,000 points.

Then you need to do it again to get to 1,000,000 points, and find an additional set of 1,000 points somewhere. (THey did tell you the points were on sale during the spring of 2007 for a penny each..you could have got them that way)

In any case, returning 8 MVCI weeks back to Marriott costs $8000 if we base the average maint & taxes at $1000. And each week has a turnback fee to Marriott ( Ya! Marriott isn't that gift crazy to its owners).

I don't know how to calculate the $80,000 into this deal, but I can say that the resale cost might be 1/2 the cost of a Marriott developer week. And the loss of dividend or interst payments on the other half, or the entire $80,000 might also need to be considered. ( 80,000 X .06 = $4800.00 CD interest lost per year not compounded)

$4800 lost interest $8000 cost of maint & taxes for turn in of 8 weeks

Totals $12,800 cost for 1,000,000 Marriott reward points not counting other fees, condo assessments*, and anything else that pops up.

Mary...it might be worth it for you. But I think you ought to get a Marriott Visa Signature Plat card. Includes a lot of bennies....including a free Marriott Room in a Cat 5 ( inflation proof its not) every year, free golf, and other stuff I forgot. And the points only cost the yearly fee...which isn't too low.

Some tuggers have even paid for their developer week on that VISA. You get extra points when charged to a Marriott Managed resort.

I use my weeks. I lock out to get 3 weeks for the one, and like that value. I also am flexible an we oftern use RCI and II bonus weeks including Marriotts for almost always under $500 a week, 2 bed 2 bath.

Others reading this....most T/Ss in the USA are condos used as interval weeks or quarter share units. When the HOA needs something & its not in the reserves, they WILL CHARGE YOU AN ASSESSMENT.

Last year a unit was charge $1000 a week in assessments to try to upgrade and make repairs. It happens all the time as the units get older.

kekouri wrote:

Posted by Mrs 157: "...sorry missed out a zero yes it is over a million , which is why i said it is only good if you are a multiple owner, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credot card, but this is another good way to accumulate points

sorry for my error and to raise your hopes, marriott is not that generous !! mrs157

Aug 17, 2007 08:06 PM

sorry yes more than a million, i forgot one zero, which is why i said it was good for multiple owners, we own 4 weeks and bank every other year, we do not have a marriott credit card, but i think that this is another good way to boost your points sincerely mary ..."

Hi Mary: I'm not a whiz at math, but I don't know if that would be worth it to our family.

If we need 1,110,000 points obtained by trade backs, it seems to cost a bit....maybe others will have better ideas.

I guess 4 weeks of MVCI timeshare weeks that can obtain 125,000 points would intially cost approx $25,000? ( OK ...lets reduce it to $20,000)

So, there is an intial outlay of $80,000 dollars to buy 4 MVCI weeks. You return every week to Marriott for 125,000 points = 4X 125,000= 500,000 points.

Then you need to do it again to get to 1,000,000 points, and find an additional set of 1,000 points somewhere. (THey did tell you the points were on sale during the spring of 2007 for a penny each..you could have got them that way)

In any case, returning 8 MVCI weeks back to Marriott costs $8000 if we base the average maint & taxes at $1000. And each week has a turnback fee to Marriott ( Ya! Marriott isn't that gift crazy to its owners).

I don't know how to calculate the $80,000 into this deal, but I can say that the resale cost might be 1/2 the cost of a Marriott developer week. And the loss of dividend or interst payments on the other half, or the entire $80,000 might also need to be considered. ( 80,000 X .06 = $4800.00 CD interest lost per year not compounded)

$4800 lost interest $8000 cost of maint & taxes for turn in of 8 weeks

Totals $12,800 cost for 1,000,000 Marriott reward points not counting other fees, condo assessments*, and anything else that pops up.

Mary...it might be worth it for you. But I think you ought to get a Marriott Visa Signature Plat card. Includes a lot of bennies....including a free Marriott Room in a Cat 5 ( inflation proof its not) every year, free golf, and other stuff I forgot. And the points only cost the yearly fee...which isn't too low.

Some tuggers have even paid for their developer week on that VISA. You get extra points when charged to a Marriott Managed resort.

I use my weeks. I lock out to get 3 weeks for the one, and like that value. I also am flexible an we oftern use RCI and II bonus weeks including Marriotts for almost always under $500 a week, 2 bed 2 bath.

Others reading this....most T/Ss in the USA are condos used as interval weeks or quarter share units. When the HOA needs something & its not in the reserves, they WILL CHARGE YOU AN ASSESSMENT.

Last year a unit was charge $1000 a week in assessments to try to upgrade and make repairs. It happens all the time as the units get older.

Hi Kekouri;

I'm a multiple week Marriott owner, as apparently Mary is too. I have over two million accumulated Marriot points (for those just reading this forum, no these are not like RCI points - these are points gotten by staying at Marriotts and spending money there, or by using their Visa charge card, etc. They are travel points, like those gotten from airlines and other hotel companies). And instead of only being used for travel, Marriott points can also be traded in for a wide variety of very attractive items.

I'll skip all the math since you (Kekouri) did it above, but I just want to state that there are many people like me who got most of my Marriott points when buying my timeshare weeks directly from the developer (Marriott in this case). And I've certainly gotten some by staying in Marriott properties when I travel, and by using their charge card. I've also occasionally traded one of my weeks back to my resort for points when at the last minute I couldn't use or rent it, and I already had multiple weeks banked with Interval International.

Knowing what I know now, I certainly don't recommend buying timeshare weeks directly from Marriott (or from any other developer) to get the points (or other incentives), but if you were as naive about timeshares and their costs as I was when I bought these weeks, then the points Marriott throws in are certainly an added bonus.

I also have to say that I am a happy Marriott owner. There haven't been any nasty surprises (or assesments) at our resort (although the annual fees have increased). It is a lovely place, kept up beautifully, with lots to do, or just a great place to lay back and relax. We use it ourselves, take friends there, or now that I know about it, rent out (on Redweek) weeks we can't use.

I can honestly say that I don't believe anyone buying at a Marriott property will be disappointed, but for goodness sakes, be smarter than we were. Try to get your weeks from someone who already paid the premium when buying directly from Marriott. Their points are great, but get their credit card and accumulate them that way!

Kathi

Kathi:

Marriott, at one time had a great resale program. (Even price wise) You didn't get points for purchase ( yes, we recieved 250,000* points on a developer purchased week.....), but the resale cost was much lower than developer. They now simply recycle old units back into their inventory ( Actually, who ever stayed in a brand new first week of use unit? Almost impossible)

The resale program was based on HHI....and many of the Marriott T/Ss sold are no longer Marriott.

* Best point deal on a developer week I ever saw was when they sold out the Manor Club (old section) Tugger owners weree able to get up to 700,000 points combining all the programs.

Current best price deal on a Marriott sold week is probably the Bronze lock outs at Steamside= If any still left...$1500 includes closing & all fees....but probably a terrible trader.

I also think Marriott is one of the best systems to go with, even without points.

kekouri wrote:

Kathi:

Marriott, at one time had a great resale program. (Even price wise) You didn't get points for purchase ( yes, we recieved 250,000* points on a developer purchased week.....), but the resale cost was much lower than developer. They now simply recycle old units back into their inventory ( Actually, who ever stayed in a brand new first week of use unit? Almost impossible)

The resale program was based on HHI....and many of the Marriott T/Ss sold are no longer Marriott.

* Best point deal on a developer week I ever saw was when they sold out the Manor Club (old section) Tugger owners weree able to get up to 700,000 points combining all the programs.

Current best price deal on a Marriott sold week is probably the Bronze lock outs at Steamside= If any still left...$1500 includes closing & all fees....but probably a terrible trader.

I also think Marriott is one of the best systems to go with, even without points.

Kekouri;

As an fyi, I was surfing around on the Internet recently and happened to note some very, very cheap weeks at for sale Streamside. However, there was a caveat noted in the ad - the building is no longer a Marriott property! I don't know if that goes for the entire resort, but apparently for one building anyway. So, anyone looking into a cheap week at Streamside also interested buying into a Marriott property, make sure this one still is!

Kathi

Kekouri;

Kathy: Sorry....it was Summit Watch 2 bed 2 bath lock outs Marriott is (was) selling...Bronze Weeks for $1500. Thats not the good trader

No trade back for points was listed ( usually weaker weeks might get 75,000 points. Was noted through spring 07:

$835.24 for Maint & Taxes including everything except ARDA fee of $5.

$1500 is all in cost. $500 for the timeshare and $1000 for closing from Marriott.

$75 split fee. $89 Marriott to marriott exchange fee. (The lock out cost and the exchange fee.

Boca on tug reported he revieved 2 back to back weeks for this unit in a Marriott Hawaii T/S during flextime exchange on II

Sorry...it wasn't Steamside.

kathi32 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Kathi:

Marriott, at one time had a great resale program. (Even price wise) You didn't get points for purchase ( yes, we recieved 250,000* points on a developer purchased week.....), but the resale cost was much lower than developer. They now simply recycle old units back into their inventory ( Actually, who ever stayed in a brand new first week of use unit? Almost impossible)

The resale program was based on HHI....and many of the Marriott T/Ss sold are no longer Marriott.

* Best point deal on a developer week I ever saw was when they sold out the Manor Club (old section) Tugger owners weree able to get up to 700,000 points combining all the programs.

Current best price deal on a Marriott sold week is probably the Bronze lock outs at Steamside= If any still left...$1500 includes closing & all fees....but probably a terrible trader.

I also think Marriott is one of the best systems to go with, even without points.

As an fyi, I was surfing around on the Internet recently and happened to note some very, very cheap weeks at for sale Streamside. However, there was a caveat noted in the ad - the building is no longer a Marriott property! I don't know if that goes for the entire resort, but apparently for one building anyway. So, anyone looking into a cheap week at Streamside also interested buying into a Marriott property, make sure this one still is!

Kathi

Bearing in mind the huge inventory that Marriotts deposits with Interval International, I'd really hesitate to buy at any of their resorts . It seems to me to be much better to buy at a cheaper place and exchange into Marriotts. I've just checked and I can get two bedroom silver weeks in Europe simply for exchanging an Interval International Accommodation Certificate (a bit like an entitlement to a bonus week for those who aren't II members). My two-bedroom September week at Loch Rannoch which cost me $700 to buy and about the same in annual maintenance fees (750 Redweeks points for anyone stupid enough to deposit it for that price) will get me a three bedroom Christmas or New Year exchange into Marriott's Club Marbella on Spain's Costa del Sol. Last Easter my family enjoyed a fabulous week at their Son Antem resort on the island of Mallorca in a two-bedroom townhouse in exchange for my one-bedroom week at a Canary Islands resort (MF $500 per year). Why pay Marriott's prices when you can enjoy their resorts much more economically? Whatever you do, always buy resale - check-out eBay first.

Interval opens the flexchange 60 (or is it 90) days out from when the weeks they are offering will expire. They also put loads of good weeks on their getaway lists as the weeks get closer to expire dates.

Intervals flex period opens up almost all units going to expire to almost all units given to them.

Currently, Marriott is selling bronze weeks in a resort called Summit Watchfor $1500 total (includes closing & all fees). These ARE NOT RED WEEKS. If you buy one, and pick the week in the float time, you will probably not do so good if you exchange it into II. It isn't on the top of their lists ( or probably Redweeks either)

But, the entire availability of Interval will open up to these owners during flextime. Tugger bought this unit, locked it out, and went to Hawaii in a Marriott for 2 weeks back to back (I think his third week was from his regular super Marriott.

He feels he is flexible enough to be able to get these weeks.....in case anyone is interested, the cost breakdown is above.

If I had a Shawnee SUMMIT Ridge Top or other village unit in that old Fred Waring resort (Some are pretty old....RCI #001 get the idea) that sell for sometimes $1.00 via PCC on E Bay....ok...even $500 for the 2 bed 3 bath week, I could find practically anything on II for it in this flextime period.....but you really need to be flexible with your vacations (or retired) to take advantage of this.

I agree with trying to find the best value, too. With that Marriott $1500 unit via Marriott above...the weekly maint costs are still pretty high for a generally weak trader.

But flexibility counts.

Using a 2 bed 2 bath or larger AC Bonus Week from II does cost about $299. Smaller units will cost less. Some ACs were once completely free...haven't seen them in awhile.

If you can, log onto the www.intervalworld.com site right now, and see the Marriotts in Orlando (under getaways even all during fall). Last time I checked, some Grand Vistas were in the $200 range for the week per unit

kekouri wrote:

Interval opens the flexchange 60 (or is it 90) days out from when the weeks they are offering will expire. They also put loads of good weeks on their getaway lists as the weeks get closer to expire dates.

Intervals flex period opens up almost all units going to expire to almost all units given to them.

Currently, Marriott is selling bronze weeks in a resort called Summit Watchfor $1500 total (includes closing & all fees). These ARE NOT RED WEEKS. If you buy one, and pick the week in the float time, you will probably not do so good if you exchange it into II. It isn't on the top of their lists ( or probably Redweeks either)

But, the entire availability of Interval will open up to these owners during flextime. Tugger bought this unit, locked it out, and went to Hawaii in a Marriott for 2 weeks back to back (I think his third week was from his regular super Marriott.

He feels he is flexible enough to be able to get these weeks.....in case anyone is interested, the cost breakdown is above.

If I had a Shawnee SUMMIT Ridge Top or other village unit in that old Fred Waring resort (Some are pretty old....RCI #001 get the idea) that sell for sometimes $1.00 via PCC on E Bay....ok...even $500 for the 2 bed 3 bath week, I could find practically anything on II for it in this flextime period.....but you really need to be flexible with your vacations (or retired) to take advantage of this.

I agree with trying to find the best value, too. With that Marriott $1500 unit via Marriott above...the weekly maint costs are still pretty high for a generally weak trader.

But flexibility counts.

Using a 2 bed 2 bath or larger AC Bonus Week from II does cost about $299. Smaller units will cost less. Some ACs were once completely free...haven't seen them in awhile.

If you can, log onto the www.intervalworld.com site right now, and see the Marriotts in Orlando (under getaways even all during fall). Last time I checked, some Grand Vistas were in the $200 range for the week per unit

II Flexchange is from 59 days to 24 hours before the travel date. For Interval International it's Desperation Alley... the weeks they haven't been able to exchange and which look like they're going to be burned. A good place to look if you've got a really bad week to exchange from, but you really do have to be flexible - no Platinum weeks at Marriott's there,

Personally, I wouldn't ever buy a week that wasn't extremely red - not so much because of its exchange power but because it would be damn nearly impossible to sell/give away when I wanted/needed to dispose of it. As you hinted above, once you've acquired a week, its the maintenance fees that count and they don't vary much from season to season.

There's no Platinum Marriott's weeks available at low cost but you can get a good quality peak red week for very little money buying resale at another II affiliated resort. That way, you can not only use Flexchange but also go hunting through the II internet availability list for the whole of the year/s that haven't yet been exchanged/reserved - something I understand you can't do with RCI Weeks without first depositing a week into the system. If you're prepared for a little flexibility you can go to the game with a one bedroom unit and come out with a two or three bedroom one, even in Peak time.

I want to ask if anyone in the Marriott Vacation Club is upset with the new point system? They invented a new category and Some Category 7 hotels are now a category 8 ( i.e. The Marquis, in New York City). Trading in your vacation club wk for points now gets less (i.e. you will still only get whatever points you got in your original purchase deal, maybe 110,000, etc) , but it now costs more points (from 250,000 for a cat 7 package to 290,000 pts now for same air + hotel cat 7 package. Individual Hotel stay nights cost more points too.) I thought that they can't down grade the benefits. Isn't this downgrading the benefits?? It costs us more for the points. Each yr the maintenance fees go up!! Is there someone to contact in the Marriott system? I've tried and can't get past the first tier guy on the phone. They refuse to transfer me to a supervisor. Love the Marriott, but this new point system is a real show stopper.

Dear Pete,

Sadly enough to say its more a statement about the economic condition of the times rather then Marriott. The point system is just adjusting and correcting like every thing else. The point system afterall is a sort of currency. Marriott also has manipulated the point categories in its hotel system to adjust to demand and supply. Apparently, the point system has currently lost some of its buying power going to the five and seven day formats, based on the point exchange. However, given the times we are in, I am not surprised, and its to be expected.

yes I agree with what you say, I understand that marriott vacation clubs bought privately cannot trade 4 points (alternate years). Which does not really matter if you and your family want to spend time at the resort which you buy. Our daughter has recently gone to UNI and we are multiple owner weeks and I think for business flights/first class flights the deal is not bad , also the round the world deal (4 x 7 hotel nights etc ) is good. Call it a sort of saving club if you do not want/need to use your weeks certain times. I agree it is a waste of time to use points for a week in a hotel, however if you do, make sure to upgrade and pay about £50 per night , for that you can have breakfast if you have kids even better, you can have snacks , drinks throughout the day between jaunts and in the evening drinks (alcoholic) and snacks 5-8pm.A great saver if you are on a budget.