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Re: Marriott Vacation Club point system (by Steve F.):

During our recent stays in Australia, I went online on Expedia and booking.com and looked at renting the places we were at. At Marriott Surfers Paradise, for the MVCI suites, the cheapest one could rent (and you couldn't get a week anytime that or the next month, so had to use a single day and multiply) was $1,000 more than my annual maintenance fee I pay for the points used, and that was just one use. So, while the math cannot possibly work out everywhere (as it clearly does not), it worked out there. At the next place we went, rentals were running $300 per night for the 2 bedroom we traded into. That's $2,100 for the week there, and, annual maint+fees+taxes for the lockoff (I'll call it 40% of the total including II) is ~$700, so, $1,400 ahead there. At the next place we went and traded into, it was $1,400 for a week online, and, again a lockoff, so, another $700 ahead. So, for those 3 weeks, $3,100 ahead, considering maint fees, taxes, and II only. i.e. everything but the purchase. The math definitely worked.

That of course still does not mean the purchase price paid was indeed worth it. The advice given above to buy resale is of course 100% true. We did not do that on our original purchase at Desert Springs, however, the deal back then was vastly better than any deal today (but still not ideal of course). And on the resale market, points can be inexpensive. We are adding to our points on the resale market, am in closing right now. That is not a trivial process as there are some tricks there. For the number of points used at Surfers Paradise, the one time cost for that number of points (including all purchase price paid and fees and closing and Marriott transfer fee) is just under 5K. So, given that it was $1,000 more than my maint fee, that comes off the purchase price, meaning, in one trip, I paid for 20% of the one time cost. If that held true the next 4 years, it's paid off.

The math can work out. There are still many reasons to not want to timeshare, no doubt about it. And the math can be very bad as well, but this was my example. If the math had been bad, we would not have used it there (and probably not have gone either).

I have a history of our trips in a spreadsheet where I track things including prices. In that history since before the year 2000, the trip that stands out that was not the best value, and in fact a casual review shows it's the worst value, was indeed Aruba Ocean Club. I would not do that one again by trade at least. Given our travel history that we have tracked over the year, it is a fact that we are way ahead over what we have paid. And that's not considering all the tricks of travel such a the hundreds of thousands of rewards points Marriott has given us that we would have never received had we had not owned. I like to subtract those from the cost of ownership, but for these examples here, did not do so.

I do understand the lifetime commitment, how travel via hotels can be better for some, cancellations, etc. But everyones needs and desires are different. What is a terrible deal for one can be a great deal for another. At age 57, we have (hopefully) many years of travel still ahead of us esp since I retire at year end. And given all of the countries and places we have visited over those years, it is almost certain that would have never happened otherwise.

Selling a timeshare is never a good deal for the seller, unless, their desire is to just end it. You (obviously) never get much if anything from the sale. You get out of the yearly fees. Anything you get above $0 is a win.