Marriott System

We bought 2 units in Orlando, Fl w/ Marriott - but bought them thinking we would use them for exchange only. But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

There is a Marriott forum at www.tug2.net

kathym344 wrote:

We bought 2 units in Orlando, Fl w/ Marriott - but bought them thinking we would use them for exchange only. But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

FYI. All Florida time is designated RED by Interval International; however there are various shades of RED. For example, school vacation weeks are more popular than mid-January weeks and owners who deposit these popular weeks will have more trading power with II. If you own two "off-season" weeks, the trade availabilities will be less, especially if you are trying to trade into a high demand resort in a peak season.

For kicks, I went to II to see what would be available in Cocoa Beach if I exchanged my New England unit. If I exchanged a summer week, I had no problem getting a 1 BR in Cocoa Beach during the summer months. If I try to exchange one of my off peak weeks, then all those summer weeks were no longer available.

If feel you made a mistake with your purchase and purchased within the last 5-7 days (might be 7 in FL) you still have a chance to cancel the contract, but you MUST follow the cancellation instructions exactly and quickly. Good Luck Mike

mike1536 wrote:

kathym344 wrote:

We bought 2 units in Orlando, Fl w/ Marriott - but bought them thinking we would use them for exchange only. But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

========== Which weeks do you have with your Orlando units? Did you have any specific dates in mind for the exchange? There are only 6 resorts listed in the II directory for the Cape Canaveral area (Cocoa Beach). So getting a unit in the summer might be tricky.

FYI. All Florida time is designated RED by Interval International; however there are various shades of RED. For example, school vacation weeks are more popular than mid-January weeks and owners who deposit these popular weeks will have more trading power with II. If you own two "off-season" weeks, the trade availabilities will be less, especially if you are trying to trade into a high demand resort in a peak season.

For kicks, I went to II to see what would be available in Cocoa Beach if I exchanged my New England unit. If I exchanged a summer week, I had no problem getting a 1 BR in Cocoa Beach during the summer months. If I try to exchange one of my off peak weeks, then all those summer weeks were no longer available.

If feel you made a mistake with your purchase and purchased within the last 5-7 days (might be 7 in FL) you still have a chance to cancel the contract, but you MUST follow the cancellation instructions exactly and quickly. Good Luck Mike

Thanks Mike - went through the Interval book and put in an exchange request for 15 different locations. Got my exchange w/in 2 days. Very excited. Going to Marriott's Ocean Pointe.

kathym344 wrote:

mike1536 wrote:

kathym344 wrote:

We bought 2 units in Orlando, Fl w/ Marriott - but bought them thinking we would use them for exchange only. But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

========== Which weeks do you have with your Orlando units? Did you have any specific dates in mind for the exchange? There are only 6 resorts listed in the II directory for the Cape Canaveral area (Cocoa Beach). So getting a unit in the summer might be tricky.

FYI. All Florida time is designated RED by Interval International; however there are various shades of RED. For example, school vacation weeks are more popular than mid-January weeks and owners who deposit these popular weeks will have more trading power with II. If you own two "off-season" weeks, the trade availabilities will be less, especially if you are trying to trade into a high demand resort in a peak season.

For kicks, I went to II to see what would be available in Cocoa Beach if I exchanged my New England unit. If I exchanged a summer week, I had no problem getting a 1 BR in Cocoa Beach during the summer months. If I try to exchange one of my off peak weeks, then all those summer weeks were no longer available.

If feel you made a mistake with your purchase and purchased within the last 5-7 days (might be 7 in FL) you still have a chance to cancel the contract, but you MUST follow the cancellation instructions exactly and quickly. Good Luck Mike

Thanks Mike - went through the Interval book and put in an exchange request for 15 different locations. Got my exchange w/in 2 days. Very excited. Going to Marriott's Ocean Pointe.

Mike

Actually, Captiva and Sanibel islands are in southwest Florida and they are VERY popular locations and not the easiest exchanges to get, but Marriott should pull resorts there. Performing an ongoing search with II, as I assume you did, is the way to go, but I see you ended up on the southeast coast at Palm Beach Shores. Did no resorts show up on Captiva or Sanibel?

jayjay wrote:

Actually, Captiva and Sanibel islands are in southwest Florida and they are VERY popular locations and not the easiest exchanges to get, but Marriott should pull resorts there. Performing an ongoing search with II, as I assume you did, is the way to go, but I see you ended up on the southeast coast at Palm Beach Shores. Did no resorts show up on Captiva or Sanibel?

Nothing showed up there as available. And when I initially spoke with them on the phone - there was nothing in all of Sanibel or Captiva. I ended up entering 15 different locations (all of which looked great) as I wanted to be sure that we got to go on vacation somewhere in June. If I can find a nice hotel on a nice beach, with decent restaurants and some kid acitivites - I'm psyched.

kathym344 wrote:

Nothing showed up there as available. And when I initially spoke with them on the phone - there was nothing in all of Sanibel or Captiva. I ended up entering 15 different locations (all of which looked great) as I wanted to be sure that we got to go on vacation somewhere in June. If I can find a nice hotel on a nice beach, with decent restaurants and some kid acitivites - I'm psyched.

Well, Palm Beach Shores should certainly fit the bill. BTW, while you're at PBS you can drive south down to Ft. Lauderdale and take the water taxi to many places, inlcluding South Beach in Miami. We definitely plan on doing that next year.

As far as the east coast of Florida versus the west coast, many people prefer the west coast due to less traffic than the very crowded east coast, however in June the traffic shouldn't be that bad as the snowbirds (people from the north that winter in Florida) will be back north.

I am trying to figure out if it is better to actually exchange our resort through I.I. or to rent it back to Marriott and use our points for airfare and hotel. I did a spread sheet out and cost wise it looks to be about the same. I know there are black out dates, but I can work around that as our schedules are pretty flexible. Wondering how hard it is to trade in points for the vacation package deal. Anyone with experience on this?

kathym344 wrote:

I am trying to figure out if it is better to actually exchange our resort through I.I. or to rent it back to Marriott and use our points for airfare and hotel. I did a spread sheet out and cost wise it looks to be about the same. I know there are black out dates, but I can work around that as our schedules are pretty flexible. Wondering how hard it is to trade in points for the vacation package deal. Anyone with experience on this?

+++++++

How many points do you get from giving back the unit to Marriott?

Since you are flexible, do you realize that if you have a lock out unit and do the lock out, give the week to an exchange company, some will give you a bonus week? That could be three weeks for your one maint fee payment.

Also, you realize that you will pay all maintance, taxes, assessments, and fees even if you give your unit to Marriott for points?

In most cases, the points it costs to rent a 2 bed 2 bath unit in another MVCI T/S is 150,000. Of course it costs a bit less in points to rent a one bedroom or studio for less time.

We are easily able to give II out lock outs, get a AC ( Accomodation week) and that gives us three weeks for our one. By next year, with the possible changes, that might not work as well...but we are also flexible, and don't mind not using Marriott for an exchange company if it comes to that. IMO...the internal trade experiment via Marrirotts Florida Club hasn't worked that well, and who can get much when you have to wait to a six month window?

I have yet to learn how to get max point value with those Marriott Reward Points...and it appears on many sites. only a few do get a good value.... I didn't buy a T/S for $20,000+ from MVCI to give the unit back to them.

Of course, Brian & Dave have written tons on working the system to get the best value....but they have tons of travel points from so many different systems, and they combine a lot.

kekouri wrote:

kathym344 wrote:

I am trying to figure out if it is better to actually exchange our resort through I.I. or to rent it back to Marriott and use our points for airfare and hotel. I did a spread sheet out and cost wise it looks to be about the same. I know there are black out dates, but I can work around that as our schedules are pretty flexible. Wondering how hard it is to trade in points for the vacation package deal. Anyone with experience on this?

+++++++

How many points do you get from giving back the unit to Marriott?

Since you are flexible, do you realize that if you have a lock out unit and do the lock out, give the week to an exchange company, some will give you a bonus week? That could be three weeks for your one maint fee payment.

Also, you realize that you will pay all maintance, taxes, assessments, and fees even if you give your unit to Marriott for points?

In most cases, the points it costs to rent a 2 bed 2 bath unit in another MVCI T/S is 150,000. Of course it costs a bit less in points to rent a one bedroom or studio for less time.

We are easily able to give II out lock outs, get a AC ( Accomodation week) and that gives us three weeks for our one. By next year, with the possible changes, that might not work as well...but we are also flexible, and don't mind not using Marriott for an exchange company if it comes to that. IMO...the internal trade experiment via Marrirotts Florida Club hasn't worked that well, and who can get much when you have to wait to a six month window?

I have yet to learn how to get max point value with those Marriott Reward Points...and it appears on many sites. only a few do get a good value.... I didn't buy a T/S for $20,000+ from MVCI to give the unit back to them.

Of course, Brian & Dave have written tons on working the system to get the best value....but they have tons of travel points from so many different systems, and they combine a lot.

Marriott doesn't give you points for renting it back to them, but they cut you a check. Not sure how much that is as we haven't done it yet. But we have 2 units and are planning on trading 1 each year for points. We also have a business credit card that we get Marroitt points, and got a bunch when we first bought the 2 units. We can then get a full week hotel and airfare for 230,000 pts.

As far as the lock off, we have kids and don't plan on using that feature until they are out of the house.

What are the possible changes that are coming up with II? Where can I find out about that? And what's the deal with the Florida Club? We got an exhchange from Orlando to Oceans Point in 2 days. And where can I read Brian and Dave's post about working the system? I am new at this but want to get as much info as possible. Thanks.

Go to http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/ and read all about the Marriott system. Brian (pwshift) is the Marriott Rewards point expert. Maybe do a search including his name.

I owned a resale Marriott TS and bought a TS from Marriott this past summer so that I could use the points for travel flexibilty.

A couple of notes:

The real value comes from buying hotel + air packages from Marriott. You can buy a Catagory 7 hotel package and receive 120K frequent flyer miles for 270K MR points. If you buy TWO of these packages for 540K MR points, you should have enough FF miles fro two people to travel to Europe "business class" and have two weeks stay at very nice hotels in Europe. You can also get one intermediate flight in Europe while you are there. There are many options on the various hotels as well. Rmember 540K MR points - most people say that this is the best value.

As for as a 2BR stay at TS resorts for 150K MR points, don't count on it. Unless you are going to Orlando, you will probably never find a resort available! Also, you CANNOT use the points you received from turning in your TS week to Marriott for points to do this. In other words, if you deposit this years week to Marriott for 100K MR points and do it again next year, you cannot use those any of those 200K MR points to book a 2BR TS resort for the 150K as mentioned above. You can use them for hotels, flights etc..

I have close to half million points and we use them for hotel stays all the time. I look for bargains vs paying cash. We are accumulating to get to that magical 540K as described above.

Good Luck

kathym344 wrote:

And where can I read Brian and Dave's post about working the system? I am new at this but want to get as much info as possible. Thanks.

There's an entire forum dedicated to Marriott at www.tug2.net

OR try www.tugbbs.com

We have ALWAYS received a Marriott 2 bedroom for our one bedroom lock out. For the Studio, if we picked orlando, we still get a two bedroom...because we look for the Marriotts that do not have lock outs to trade into ie- some Marriotts are regular 2 bed 2 bath units. The best units in the Marriott Orlando bank are considered Cypress Harbor...also only two bedroom units.

We will be staying in a two bedroom Marriott Palms ( I forgot which one) for our Marriott studio the beginning of Feb.

Except for the Florida Club, which includes a few Marriotts, there is no internal exchange program at Marriott at this time.

But, according to Salesmen rumor ( and I don't mean Eric )....that might change.

Thanks for all of the info. This Forum - and TUBS too - are a wealth of info. Kathy

kekouri wrote:

OR try www.tugbbs.com

Except for the Florida Club, which includes a few Marriotts, there is no internal exchange program at Marriott at this time.

But, according to Salesmen rumor ( and I don't mean Eric )....that might change.

================================================ That is good advice about requesting an exchange from a either Marriott lock-off unit to a resort that only has larger villas. Many owners have shared that strategy with me. You get confirmed earlier than waiting to "fish" the flexchange availability less than 60 days out.

Thanks for noting that I am not one of the Marriott Sales Executives predicting the future re: internal exchange priorities. I only have a historical and factual crystal ball on my tables.

Regards,

Eric F.

terry314 wrote:

imanm3 wrote:

..............How do I get the free promotion to Aruba so I can visit and buy on the resale.

Here is a link to see what promotions Marriott is offering for your state. http://www.marriottvillas.com/getawaynow/media/

I think a Marriott in Hawaii is your number one bet for trading. Some resorts like Waiohai are beautiful and landlocked and nearly sold out. I don't know if that will have any impact on future value appreciation, but it may.

Maui Beach Club has always been the number one requested resort. It is fantastic and a super trader, but a bit expensive. Consider the lockout feature as well. Waiohai does not offer this. That is something that could come in handy.

Any Hawaii unit will get you a trade to any other Marriott unit fairly easily, as you will be at the top of the trading list. The Hawaii units will also get you free bonus weeks. These bonus weeks will also have stronger trading power than others. Understand that with all trading you must be a little bit flexible (a couple of weeks or a couple of resorts).

If you want to go for Marriott Rewards points only, Marriotts Legends Edge (LE) platinum is very inexpensive and offers 100K points every year. You would have to buy directly from Marriott, however. $11,600 EOY or $19,400 annual.

LE probably will not get you to Hawaii on a specific date but will get you around to most other Marriotts. - GOOD LUCK! :)

Proclamation: I own a Marriott Waiohai and a Legends Edge along with another independent resort.

I am thinking of buying Marriott Waiohai thru resale. It is the Hale 1 building with a garden view. I have not been able to see the layout of the buildings and I understand there are 8 buildings there. I am interested in ocean views and wonder if I would be disappointed. I am trying to avoid having to make a trip over to Kauai from the west coast. Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

angeliquel2 wrote:

Hi Terry314,

I am thinking of buying Marriott Waiohai thru resale. It is the Hale 1 building with a garden view. I have not been able to see the layout of the buildings and I understand there are 8 buildings there. I am interested in ocean views and wonder if I would be disappointed. I am trying to avoid having to make a trip over to Kauai from the west coast. Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

Just because you buy a unit in Hale 1 doesn't mean that is where you will stay. When you buy at timeshare, you are buying a deed to a certain week in a certain buidling for legal reasons only. Marriott may assign you a gardenview room anywhere on the resort. You can request certain buidlings and even certain rooms, but there is no guarantee you will get your request.

The gardenview rooms, sometimes called isalnd view or even mountain view, are fantastic if you face the interior of the resort. The interior gardens are to die for! There are many not-so-good oceanview rooms at Waiohai. If you go to Google Earth and look at the resort, you will see what I am talking about.

I would buy a gardenview and save the money. Good Luck.

kathym344 wrote:

We bought 2 units in Orlando, Fl w/ Marriott - but bought them thinking we would use them for exchange only. But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

I have a TS in orlando @ imperial Palms. I work closely with my vacation advisor and my original salesperson to figure out how to schedule an exchange. Sometimes they come thru quickly. Usually they don't. BUT, we have always gotten our choice. It does get close sometimes, but if you are trying to exchange for Hawaii or other high demand places, that happens. Another trick to use is to send your request, but check Int International site frequently. This yr, Int Inter. was unable to get us to Hawaii, but I signed up via their site. Don't know how that works! If they had a room it should have been assigned to me- but it wasn't. Marriott has been an EXCELLENT company to work with. They really do go above and beyond as far as I am concerned. My contacts don't let up until they succeed -- at least so far. 3 yrs ago we exchanged for Paris and London. Again, it was only because of the efforts of my adviser. Good luck. Hopefully you will do well with that TS.

kathym344 wrote:

.... But I was disappointed when I saw the very small availability at Interval International. We put in a request for a place in Captival, FL. But how often are people granted what they want? I'm hoping we didn't just make a big mistake buying a time share. My question is - if you are exchanging, what kind of chances are there that you get what you want - and how many locations should you request? And at what point do you realize you are not going to get your request and look for something else?

First of all, you must understand that anything you see on the II website are "leftovers". Nobody had a request in for those weeks, which is the reason why they are left over.

Your best trading will be within the Marriott system itself, as all Marriott inventory can only be had by other Marriott owners during the first 24 days (this changes during flexchange).

If you put in a request for a single non-Marriott resort during a prime time of the year, your chances may not be that great. You must be flexible in the weeks and the resorts. In Captiva and Sanibel, you should probably accept any resort that is offered, as there is very seldom inventory there.

At about 90 days before your desired check-in you should start making alternate plans. Maybe book a hotel that can always be cancelled. During the last 59 days (flexchange), you need to get up early and check the II website often to see what gets deposited. Anybody can book almost any week during this time. Marriott's interanl priority begins to diminish during Flexchange.

Good Luck. :)