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THERE ARE FOUR THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR MARRIOTT PURCHASE OF A TIMESHARE 1) TRADE IT TO MARRIOTT FOR POINTS UNDER WHAT EVER SYSTEM YOU ARE UNDER 2) USE THE WEEK YOURSELF 3) RENT THE WEEK TO SOMEONE ELSE 4) TRADE THE WEEK THRU INTERVAL FOR ANOTHER WEEK SOMEWHERE ELSE. MARRIOTT TRIES TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM BUYING FROM A OWNER BECAUSE THEY WON'T HONOR YOUR REQUEST TO TRADE FOR POINTS WITH THEM. HOWEVER, I HAVE 6 TIMESHARES WITH THEM AND HAVEN'T TRADED WITH MARRIOTT FOR THE LAST 6 YEARS, EITHER USING THEM MYSELF, RENTING THEM, OR TRADING THEM. I FIND GETTING POINTS FROM MARRIOTT IS NOT EFFICIENT AS THE OWNER GETS THE SHORT END THE DEAL. OVER THE YEARS THEY HAVEN'T RAISED THE AMOUNT OF POINTS THEY GIVE YOU, BUT THEY RAISE THE AMOUNT OF POINTS YOU NEED TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, THAT'S WHAT I MEAN ABOUT SHORT END. THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO MAKE RESERVATIONS AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS THE CONTRACT ALLOWS YOU TO. IF IT'S 12 MOS OR 13MOS, DO IT THEN. MAKE THE RESERVATIONS FOR THE PEAK SEASON IN YOU RESORT, WHETHER YOU KNOW YOU CAN GO THAT WEEK OR NOT. IF YOU CAN GO, YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK. IF YOU CAN'T GO, YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK TO RENT OR TRADE.I KNOW SETTING VACATIONS FOR YOURSELF IS HARD TO THINK 12-13 MONTHS AHEAD, BUT THIS IS HOW YOU BEAT THE SYSTEM, OTHERWISE YOUR TOO LATE FOR EVERYTHING AND STUCK WITH AN EMPTY CONDO AND THE MAINTENCE FEES. HOPE THIS HELPS YOU AND ANSWERS YOU QUESTION. AND YES, I'M BUYING ANOTHER ARUBA CONDO FROM AN OWNER AT 50% LESS THAN I PAID FOR MY ORIGNAL 3 CONDOS. JIM