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Re: marriot points (by Kathi L.):

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