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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Erman C.):

peterp151 wrote:

Silvia called, Destination Points are the new term now, I'm an "external" owner since I bought resale. Buying into this program gives me all the direct sale benefits in addition to the points reservation system.

Enrolling would cost me $1,995 for 4,825 Destination Pts/yr or 120,000 Marriott Pts every other year based on my three units. I guess my two Palm Springs units are Silver rather than Gold. This would be bad for me since I can use a 1BR or even Studio to make last minute reservations thru II to get 2BR units. Sylvia said a Marriott Maui 2BR Lahaina Tower in August would be 4,500 Pts - my entire annual allotment when I managed to use a Studio to get mine last August.

Marriott has a points discount for last minute discounts but she wasn't certain how the details worked. She said to call reservations at 800-845-4226. But even if the discount was 50%, I could only get two reservations whereas I've gotten five in 2010 thru II.

She also said I could use my "week" rather than Destination Points to internally secure another "week". I'm not certain I'd pay $2k plus $199/yr to switch to an internal system but if I could be convinced it provided more unit availability then maybe it would be worth it. From what i've read from other owners though, the unit availability is fairly tight right now PLUS there is a stronger focus on "like for like" internal exchange. So this would affect me since I rarely stay in studios, and if "like for like" limited my Silver units to only securing Silver units I would be prevented from a number of reservations I have access to thru II.

Well from the description of your situation it appears there is an ideal course of action for many considering to become new Marriott timeshare owners (deeded and Destination Points (DP)). Instead of buying directly into the Destination Points system directly (I forget how much it is per 1000pts) and paying $0.40/pt MF and $199 membership, they/we should buy deeded platinum weeks on the resale market at places we enjoy then pay Marriott $1995 to join Destinations Points (DP). Entering the timeshare market this way would yield the normal resale deeded property benefits (annual usage, trade via II with or w/o LO, rent out, etc). Joining DP for $1995 would add all the flexibility of the DP plan and for the resale owner include the one missing option of trading for Marriott Rewards points (hotel points) and all the options/rewards that this offers.

Bottom-line example: is you could buy four Grande Vista lockoffs (2bd/2ba) on the resale market for roughly $8000 (4x$2K ea) and then enroll them in DP by 30 Jun 11 for $1995 plus $199. With this one example you would have the best of all worlds including up to 10000 annual DPs and ALL the benefits of four 2bd/2ba LO platinum deeded units previously only obtainable via buying directly from Marriott before 20 Jun 10). Note: this same portfolio would cost you roughly $60000 to purchase either under the old deeded system or now under the new DP system. Anyone have the current price for 1000 DPs?

You can scale this back to two platinum units and reduce your total cost to roughly $6000. This could be even lower if your resale purchases are lower than $2000/unit. I've seen platinum GV sell for less than $1000 as resales including all closing costs.

If I missed anything, please add an input. Depending on if you are a half full or half empty person, the new DP plan recently introduced could be the best of both worlds and a great deal if you enter via the resale deeded market and not direct sales.

BTW: As a comparison, Diamond Resorts Intl (DRI), another mega timeshare points company, (bought Sunterra and many other companies) charges over $8000 to enroll one deeded unit into their Points Club and your deed is converted into a points membership. You lose your deed and all the alternatives offered to deeded ownership.

Cheers!

Erman