Marriott Resale VS Points

I have spent some time reading through past posts regarding the Marriott point systems. I am hoping to get some feedback from you all. We are definitely loyal Marriott vacationers. We tend to travel at least 1-2 times per year, and always stay at the Marriott vacation club. 3 of the past 4 years we have gone to the Maui Ocean Club, which is one of our favorites. We are NOT owners, and almost always buy our weeks off of ebay. In the past it has worked for us, but we have to be very flexible about our dates, since we need to travel when the week is available to purchase. We have been thinking very seriously for a while about purchasing a week on the resale market for Maui, and then we discovered the new points system when we were in Maui early this year. My question for you is this: Are we better off purchasing a Maui week (we will only purchase the Villas, not the converted hotel suites), or are we better off purchasing points? I was thinking that the points were a positive thing, seeing that it would be easier to travel to other Marriott locations, and not being locked into a specific location. I know you can trade through a 3rd party (RCI/II), but that seems to be so much more difficult than using the points and dealing with the Marriott directly. Another thought is that it is very difficult to find a reasonably priced resale week in Maui for the villas. It seems that many of the resales are the suites, which we do not want.

Thank you in advance for any advice that you may have!

HI daniellec, In my humble opinion, I think one of the first things you need to do is decide what you will want from owning a timeshare.

The main thing to remember (again my opinion) is to own where you want to go, in the size you need, when you want to go there. Because the worst case is you use what you own.

If you think you want to trade, a resale still is a very good idea. I do not want to bore everyone, so briefly we own weeks and points and our experience with Marriott point system is that it makes us feel it leaves a lot to be desired (My opinion). The points are very expensive to buy and maintenance fees are high/value compared to purchasing a resale.

A resale can still be exchanged through Interval International (or RCI depending on the property you buy) and the system is actually very simple. As long as you remember you can only trade if someone has put what you are looking for up for trade.

There is a long discussion about the Marriott points system in RedWeek's forums that would be worth the time to read through. There is a lot of very good information and advice in there about them. This link should take you there. If not you can find it in the main area of the forums. http://www.redweek.com/forums/messages?thread_id=15987&page=last&utm_source=forum-alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=topic

Good luck, hope this helped.

Thank you so much for your response. You make some very good points. Any advice on the best places to purchase resale weeks?

I own both a legacy week and also bought a small points ownership with Marriott last year. I have been a legacy week owner for over 9 years in Orlando and have used it in various ways. Both I purchased from the developer, not on the resale market. Although I could have saved money on my week purchase by doing a resale, I wanted the option to be able to convert my legacy week into Marriott Reward Points every other year for use towards my airfare and staying at any of the Marriott hotels. And since they don't expire, I felt for myself, that it was worth spending a few thousand dollars more to have this benefit for life.

That being said, I have also used my points already and stayed a week at the Maui Ocean Club, and also for a 4 day cruise with a stay at a Resort for two days prior and also two days after the cruise.

So far my opinion is that points are the way to go. It was far easier for me to book through Marriott than dealing with I.I. and my reservation was instant. NO WAITING! I.I deals strictly with exchanging, so you are always hoping that the owner who has what you want will decide to not use it and make it available to I.I. And then you have to hope that you get it instead of one of the 2.5 million I.I. members you compete with.

Another thing I liked is that I could use my points for my cruise (2100 covered everything for me and my husband and we had an ocean view room. Did not even have to pay port charges or taxes!!!) I also liked the fact that I used my points for just a few days at a time. The flexibility is great. No limitations to size, season, location, nada!

The person that recommended that you find and own a place you like to go in a size you want so that worse case, you get that, is saying that because a lot of times, wanting to exchange didn't always work. But with points, you own all the resorts so you are not exchanging, you just make a reservation at whatever resort you choose to stay at. No more hoping that someone makes what you want available.

I know that right now you only want to go to Hawaii, but keep the door open for yourselves. Use the points in Hawaii, but have the option to use them differently in case you ever want to do something different. I'd rather you have the option and never use it, than want to do it, but not be able to.

Don't buy a week, it's too limiting and archaic. Take it from me. I hate dealing with exchanging (although it hasn't always been a failure, I just hate knowing that what I want to do with my vacation time is dependent on another person making it available and then the stress of hoping I get it over someone else. I'm tired of anyone else, I.I or Marriott telling when I can and can't go, what season I'm allowed to use, and what size unit I can get. It's my life and I want to vacation however I want. And after giving a company money just for them to give me restrictions, bothered me for a long time.

So far, with my experience of the points, I'm feeling more freedom like a hotel. I can book when I please, any season, any length of stay, and size, and location, and no exchanging!!! It's my timeshare dream come true.

So now I plan to always convert my legacy weeks into MRP and use them for airfare and/or hotels, while using my points for my accommodations. Now my whole vacations are taken care of, not just my room.

BTW...another food for thought...my husband and I are thinking about taking the Tuscany epic tour in 2013 for our 15th anniversary. It costs 6000 points which we will have if we bank some of our points in 2012. I'm willing to do this because this trip is going to be so big and for a special occasion. It's 10 days, 6 cities (Rome, Florence, Venice......) with meals, activities, museum tickets, and accommodations included for two people. The only thing it doesn't cover is airfare, which we will have covered by our MRP by that time. Just another option you'll have with points that you won't get with a week.

Remember as life changes so might your vacation desires....don't lock yourself in a box. LOL I like to call my legacy week my VCR and my points my Blue Ray...haha. But either case, I LOVE MARRIOTT!

hope this helps.

@g333s....

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to tell me about your experience. We have been researching this for what seems like forever, and recently had thought that the points would make more sense for us. The idea of trading and "hoping" that I can get the week I want at the place I want was always a worry to me. From what I understand, Marriott makes it very convenient to use the points, and the gentleman that we have been speaking with said he has never seen someone not get the reservation that they want (with enough notice). I really appreciate your response! :)

BTW, those Epic Tours sound amazing!!!!!!! :)

After reading your post about your preference with using the Marriott's point system, I just thought I would share a couple of things of points. (No pun intended.)

First, even with buying points there is not always going to be instant availability. It will depend on when you book, what is available. Marriott still has a waiting list for those using points. This is the same with II. Right now because of the economy and the fact that many people are defaulting on their timeshares and not as many being sold as weeks, there probably is more inventory right now. However, not going through II you are really limiting yourself. II has other good resorts like Starwood, Hilton and Four Seasons. Also, as of now not all Marriotts are a part of the points system.

The other point I wanted to bring out is that unless you are using Marriott Rewards Points (MRP) for one of Marriott's vacation packages that includes both air and hotel, you are losing great value for your MRP. If you are using them for airfare only and you have exchanged your timeshare for MRP, you have greatly devalued your timeshare value. The airfare you can get for much cheaper than your timeshare price and maintenace fees in most cases.

The points are extremely expensive. 6000 points is about $60,000. Which is what it will probably take to go to any of the properties during any season including Hawaii.

I have nothing against points. I have them with another company and love them. However, remember that regardles of what points system you use the most value you will get per point is through accommodations not cruises, airfare, and other goodies that are offered. Remember you will have paid thousands of dollars for those points so you will want to get the most for your dollars. I would suggest that anytime you are about to use your points for something other than accommodations that you go online or call the companies sponsoring the cruise or airfare or whatever and compare their costs for two to your maintenance fees for those points. That should give you some idea. Make sure you are comparing the same time of year prices too. For example, don't compare winter cruise prices with summer because summer prices will be much greater. Look at when you want to go and then compare the price during that time with the number of points you will need from Marriott.

daniellec111 wrote:

Thank you so much for your response. You make some very good points. Any advice on the best places to purchase resale weeks?

I have used Redweek and have good results.

There is also TUG, that is a long time users group. http://www.tug1.com/ You will need to be a member to use the site, like Redweek. It is inexpensive and like Redweek there is wealth of knowledge to be shared there.

I have also worked with Seth Nock. He is easy to work with and very knowledgeable. http://www.sellingtimeshares.net

Many people use ebay but you would need to pay attention to the seller's reputation.

With due respect to g333s, they are the first that I have read about that feel the new system is worth the money it costs.

I do see what they are saying but as a Legacy owner and a points owner (with Marriott and Starwood) the Marriott point system leaves a great deal to be desired. Frankly we have tried to get reservations with the Marriott point system, both long plan reservations and short notice, and had not very pleasant experiences.

There is a lot of discussions about this topic in the Marriott Points Forum; it is worth the read through the many pages.

I am a legacy owner at Ocean Point and Crystal Shores. Prior to the point system, Marriott gave priority to multiple week owners - regardless of how they acquired their weeks. Now, legacy owners get priority. At OP, more than 45% of owners own more than 10 weeks. With my 2 weeks I rarely got a decent room and had to fight for one on every visit - no way to start your vacation. Apparently many of the OP owners bought a week or two from Marriott. The rest they bought elsewhere but still, they got priority. Now Legacy owners get priority. The difference was immediately evident on my last visit. Legacy owners will always have priority in this system. The only group that trumps them is direct points purchasers. Those that buy on the outside should buy where they want to go as they will not have the same access as legacy or point owners. I also own in Disney Vac Club. As soon as Marriott announced this plan Disney sent out letters to all owners telling them that if they bought from anyone other than Disney, their points would only be good in Disneyworld and Disneyland resorts. They won't have access to Explorer or even the Cruise lines. I think you should really think about what you want from this. Now, it is actually worth the extra cost to buy direct from Marriott.

This post makes no sense. In fact, there is no way to verify any of this information. There was no examples of what occurred to make you state there is preference for any owner.

What does DVC have to do with Marriott?

?????????????????????????????/

Regarding purchasing Marrott Vacation Points. If you currently own the actual weeks, then joining the Vacation Club Point program can made a lot of sense -- especially if you own several weeks. BUT let's look at the implications of purchasing additional points vs buying another week on the resale maket.

Example: Let's take Newport Coast. If you purchase vacation points: Number of points one would have to purchase to go there for one week in the period June 1 to June 21 or Aug 10 to Sept 13 is 4225. You would have to purchase 4300 point since they only sell in units of 100. The cost to purchase 4300 points from Mariott at 9.20 per point is 39,560. In addition, your maintenance fee (annual) is 4300 points x .40 per point or 1720. If you purchased a week from an existing owner. Can find annual Platinum units advertised at 8500 on redweek.com. Mtce fee is around 900.

So why would you pay 39,560 for a week you can purchase for 8500 and an annual mtce fee of 1720 when you can pay 900.

Yes you have more flexibility with the points. But you can still trade thru Interval International. The price for this additional flexibility is redicilious. (Or perhaps nonsensical.) I chose Newport Coast for the example. While the numbers change with each location, the logic for purchasing vacation points does not.

My goal was to provide you actual numbes -- not just nice sounding words. Conclusion: Buy a week resale. There are plenty for sale.

What happens when you wish to sell your club points? Are you restricted to selling back to Marriott at a hugely discounted rate? nw

Hello g333s, You have been very helpful to me as I drive home from my vacation on Hilton Head Island. My husband and I, after much thought and years of considering buying timeshare finally did, and now I am hopeful that we made the right decision! We did not own a week before 6/10, so therefore could not buy a week on the retail market in hopes of switching to points. We had the option of paying $19,000 for a 3 bedroom garden view platinum week at Surfwatch, HH on the resale market (but was told we could not exchange that for club points ever). Or we could buy 2500 points through Marriott for about the same price (we were on an encore presentation and they gave us last summer's pricing of $9.22 and the $2000 we spent on vacation this year towards the price of our club points). So we ended up buying the 2500 points with the hopes that it will be more flexible for us in the future. My worries are that since I only own 2500 points will I have access to a decent amount of inventory? I won't be able to book 13 months in advance and apparently will only have access to Trust inventory. I did not get the book you are talking about that tells you which ones have a T or an E. Did that come to you in the mail? We just bought this two days ago and can still cancel. We also have the option to buy 500 more points in the next couple of days for $9.22 each which would give us a total of 3000 and we would love to do the Italy trip some year for 6000 points. Should we buy the 500 now? Next year the price will be higher and we can only buy in increments of 1500. Thank you!

Give back all the points while you still can still get your money back.

Not only are the points over priced, but you have to pay 40 cents per point for the mtce fee. At a place like Grande Ocean (Hilton Head) this is about 50% more then if you owned the property.

There are a lot of timeshares for sale and a lot of people who wish to sell them at a low price. Buy where you wish to go and then trade thru Inverval International for the other places.

Points are flexible -- but you have no guarantee you can get the location you wish when you wish it. Even better - just go to redweek.com and rent where you wish to go.

We are checking out the resales. They are a great idea and priced well. We are not going to buy any more club points. Too expensive and not an equal value for your timeshare.

We are checking out the resales. They are a great idea and priced well. We are not going to buy any more club points. Too expensive and not an equal value for your timeshare.

lichael wrote:

HI daniellec, In my humble opinion, I think one of the first things you need to do is decide what you will want from owning a timeshare.

The main thing to remember (again my opinion) is to own where you want to go, in the size you need, when you want to go there. Because the worst case is you use what you own.

If you think you want to trade, a resale still is a very good idea. I do not want to bore everyone, so briefly we own weeks and points and our experience with Marriott point system is that it makes us feel it leaves a lot to be desired (My opinion). The points are very expensive to buy and maintenance fees are high/value compared to purchasing a resale.

A resale can still be exchanged through Interval International (or RCI depending on the property you buy) and the system is actually very simple. As long as you remember you can only trade if someone has put what you are looking for up for trade.

There is a long discussion about the Marriott points system in RedWeek's forums that would be worth the time to read through. There is a lot of very good information and advice in there about them. This link should take you there. If not you can find it in the main area of the forums. http://www.redweek.com/forums/messages?thread_id=15987&page=last&utm_source=forum-alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=topic

Good luck, hope this helped.

I suggest that if you want all the info you need and more about the Marriott Destination Club points go the the forum on Red Week named: "Ripoff- Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Program - New Point System." It is long but, before you buy into the Marriott Vacation Club points I suggest you read all 32 pages. Lots of great info that you won't get elsewhere.

Hi, You posted about the point system some time ago and I am wondering if you still feel the same way. We own about an hour and half from our home and don't mind going there, though when we bought it we didn't think we would go. We've traded for a villa (Marriott always) in France, Spain, and a few other places in the states. We thought our kids would be able to join us, but they are still unable to afford airfare to exotic places, thus the Jersey Shore each year. People are telling me is going to get harder to get the weeks I want, but I thought since I had bought at this location, I could always vacation here. No? I appreciate feedback from anyone. Really don't want to put out more $$$.

I like your analysis. In fact, I wish all of this had been available when I bought 10 years ago. For me I don't even want to buy resale. I just want to go on II, or Redweek and buy without a yearly committment. Tired of maintenance fees and such.