posted 05-24-2005 11:26               

One easy way to find out about most of the rules and benefits is to go to Marriott's timeshare website, www.vacationclub.com . Click on "Help" and study everything you can.

For starters,

• Purchasing from other than Marriott, you will be entitled to all of the benefits and be subject to all of the rules as those who purchased from Marriott, except that you won't have the opportunity to trade the use of your week in selected years for Marriott Rewards points.
• You can make a reservation for your floating week as early as one year prior to the weekend of your planned check-in. If you buy a second Marriott timeshare, you can make reservations up to 13 months in advance if you reserve both timeshares for the same week or concurrent weeks.
• You can see what weeks your Gold "season" includes by going to the page (at the same link) for Summit Watch and scrolling down to "Calendars".
• You can reserve a week only in your season. If you want to reserve a week in a different season, you must request an exchange through II.
• Because you own a floating week, there will be a fair amount of competition for the best Gold season weeks. Many owners will want just a few weeks. Thus, the July weeks are likely to be more difficult to reserve than the September weeks. Don't buy if you must have a specific week each year.
• If you request an exchange to another Marriott (handled by a special Marriott desk at II), you and other Marriott owners will be able to confirm an exchange for up to 24 days prior to any non-Marriott owner having a chance at confirming the available week that you want
• If you decide to rent your week, you can rent it yourself or list your week through Marriott - which takes a hefty commission (35%-50%, depending on the resort) and a daily tidy fee. To go through Marriott, you must list your entire week; you can't lock it off and list only a portion with Marriott.
• If you need extra days at a Marriott timeshare, you can rent them from Marriott, getting a 25% discount as an owner and an additional 10% discount with the Marriott Visa credit card. The discounts are subject to capacity controls, but can usually be confirmed online at the Marriott.com site. .
• Once you become an owner, you can get answers to any questions from Marriott Owner Services. You don't have to be an owner to get answers here.

posted 05-24-2005 14:04            

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Originally posted by Dave M:

Purchasing from other than Marriott, you will be entitled to all of the benefits and be subject to all of the rules as those who purchased from Marriott, except that you won't have the opportunity to trade the use of your week in selected years for Marriott Rewards points.

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So you are saying if you by a resale you lose the ability to trade the week in for points? What about the trading the week in for certificates to stay at the hotels?

I just bought a 2br lock-out at the Horizions in Orlando but I'm still in the 10 grace period to cancel the contract. I just saw that I can get the same unit at Grande Vista for 8K less so I was going to cancel my current contract and buy the GV unit. But one of the main reasons I bought a Marriott timeshare was for the abbility to trade the week in for points.

I was also told I could switch between the 2 seasons, (gold and platnium), by paying a fee. Does this go away too with a resale?

One last thing, can you buy a resale from Marriott? If so, How?
Thanks!

posted 05-24-2005 19:07               

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Originally posted by dhorlo:
So you are saying if you by a resale you lose the ability to trade the week in for points?

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What about trading the week in for certificates to stay at the hotels?

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But one of the main reasons I bought a Marriott timeshare was for the ability to trade the week in for points.

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Only you can decide whether the value of the points you would get for all of that is worth it. For more on the value of points, read through this old thread.

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I was also told I could switch between the 2 seasons, (gold and platinum) by paying a fee. Does this go away too with a resale?

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That's a new one on me. You had better have that promise in writing. Unless your resort has a specific program that differs from that of other resorts (not counting certain Platinum Plus weeks), if you want to stay in a different season, you must pay a fee and request an exchange into the other season.

Whether you will get that requested exchange depends on a number of factors, including how strong a trader your week is compared to the strength of weeks throughout the Marriott system that other owners are using to try to get the same week you want. Also, you can't get an exchange unless an owner with the week you want decides to deposit it for exchange!

Repeating from above: The only owners’ benefit not available to resale purchasers is the ability to trade the use of your week for Marriott Rewards points.

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One last thing, can you buy a resale from Marriott? If so, How?

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Thanks!

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posted 05-24-2005 19:11               

If you buy a resale from other than Marriott, you don't get to trade for points. However,....

posted 05-24-2005 19:12               

I would buy the Grande Vista. It is a nicer resort, and it should trade better.

posted 05-24-2005 20:12            

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Originally posted by ann824:
I would buy the Grande Vista. It is a nicer resort, and it should trade better.

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posted 05-24-2005 21:53            

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Originally posted by Dave M:
That's what I said. And that's what Marriott says at its timeshare website: You are eligible to trade the use of your week for Marriott rewards points only if you purchased your "timeshare interest from or through Marriott Vacation Club International or Marriott Vacation Club International of Aruba (MVCIA)."

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Originally posted by dhorlo:
What about trading the week in for certificates to stay at the hotels?

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That's not an option and, as far as I know, never has been.

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I get 6 Flex Anytime Award Certificates in exchange for my week. But this doesn't matter because, in my contract, it has the same restrictions that the points do. So can't get that back with a resale either.

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But one of the main reasons I bought a Marriott timeshare was for the ability to trade the week in for points.

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That's not necessarily a great idea.

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I was also told I could switch between the 2 seasons, (gold and platinum) by paying a fee. Does this go away too with a resale?

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That's a new one on me. You had better have that promise in writing.

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I'm not trying to nit pick. It just seems I was told different things at the Horizon's sales pitch than what I've read here on TUG for the other Marriott resorts. Just trying to make an informed decision on whether to give back or keep my week.
Thanks again!

posted 05-25-2005 06:34               

If you purchase from Marriott, you can trade the use of your week for points (1) every year ("EY") or (2) every other year ("EOY"), depending on the resort. Further, for some resorts (e.g., Custom House), owners were at one time offered the chance to pay a fee for the privilege of converting an EOY option to an EY option.

As to the priority in exchanging, the system works as follows, as I understand it:

(1) When a Marriott week is deposited in II, only other Marriott weeks can exchange for that week for (generally) the first 24 days after that week is deposited. Thus, if you were seeking a week 26 at Newport Coast, only you and other Marriott owners (Horizons and non-Horizons) would have a chance at getting the week during that period.

(2) During that priority period, exchanges will be confirmed to Marriott owners based on II's "comparable exchange" methodology. Thus, if your Gold week is not as close a match to the Platinum week you want as a week that another Marriott owner is trading, that owner will get the exchange and you won't.

(3) If you are the only owner seeking a particular available Marriott week, you might not get it confirmed if the exchange is deemed not comparable. However, in practice, owners have reported here of some occasional great trade-ups.

(4) When trying to exchange back into your home resort, you have priority over other Marriott owners, but only as a tiebreaker if your exchange would be comparable to another exchange. Thus, a Marriott Platinum week at a strong-trading resort seeking that Platinum week at your resort will likely get it before your Gold week has a chance at it.

(5) If there is no comparable match during the priority period, any II member – Marriott or non-Marriott owner - has a shot at getting that week thereafter.

All of the priority/exchange info in the five points above can be found on the MVCI website and/or in old threads on the TUG Ask II forum. The Ask II threads have credibility because the person who provided answers to questions, Craig Urbine, was at that time a high-ranking official II representative to TUG.