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

michael3092 - "Who wants to cook when you are away? Yes, families do.but not retirees." - That would be us, perhaps we are not the norm, could well be! We really hate hotel rooms for numerous reasons, this being one of many. We simply require a kitchen. When your spouse has diabetes and other conditions that require specialized diets, it's simply too difficult to eat out. It's also a lot cheaper to do (as much as we travel, we're sort of cheapskates too!) Even if this was not a concern, we would likely still want a kitchen. Even the thought of eating out for 30 days is gross. Used to do that for business, hated it. BTW - You can cancel your points usage stay, you get the points back even if you cancel the day before. They go into a holding account, sure, but you can still use them. Didn't you say you could not cancel? The Marriott in downtown Melbourne is not a bad hotel, nice service there. I did see yesterday that I could trade my lockoff for 2018 into Aruba Ocean Club in May, which would be a good trade for a lockoff.

johnm3523 - As I recently went through this, I believe all of them are actually the same. I believe people go off of old data, what they remember, etc. As far as I know, the maintenance per point is a constant. Some people add in their club dues, which can vary based on what level owner they are. Others exclude it, which makes it look lower. See: http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/faq-mvc-destinations-points-program.197346/ which I use as a good source for information. For this years costs, see: http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/marriott-2017-maintenance-fees.246824/ which says it's .5272 per point. This calculates to exactly my maintenance fee.

Be aware there are some tricks. For example, my use year is Jan - Dec. If you buy resale points that are say Apr-Mar, then, you will find you cannot combine them into the same account. I was recently told by Marriott that they no longer will combine and convert use years. So, I had to find one with the same use year as my existing points, which I did. Also, please note Marriott has ROFR. If you structure the purchase in a traditional manner and say you are buying for $3 per point, you will lose as Marriott will buy it. There are some ways that can mitigate that though. There are substantial fees on any used points sales. Consider in your costs to pay those fees, including the biggest one which is the fee for transferring the points to you, currently is $2 per point with $3,000 minimum. it takes a little creativity and effort, but, you can make some very creative and cost effective deals if you work at it.