Buying Marriott Destinations points

We are currently legacy owners enrolled in the program and are looking to add 1500 points to our ownership to give us access to the trust inventory. Does anyone have experience doing this? What are the pros/cons? Also, should we look to buy from an individual or should we stick with a resale company?

If you buy points from anyone other than Marriott, there are limitations on them in making reservations. I THINK you have a 60 day reservation period. Check this to be sure but that is the big down side if you don't pay the additional fees by Marriott after buying resale. Marriott charges new owners of resale points $300 per 250 points with a $2000 minimum, plus a $300 education fee. If you pay these fees, you will not have any limitations in the Marriott Vacation Program.

Many Marriott owners believe that buying a resale WEEK instead of POINTS is less expensive and a better deal. However, to get a good week is becoming more difficult as Marriott is using its Right of First Refusal (ROFR) on high demand weeks and putting them in the points program.

I enrolled my week into the points program and love its flexibility. However, I would not bought into the points program buying direct from the developer because the points are very expensive. For someone to have access to a week in points in Hawaii and needed a 2 bedroom would need to have a minimum of 4000 points. Well it costs about $11 per point. That's $44,000! Way too much money in my opinion and that's not including maintenance fees.

My suggestion would be that since you are already enrolled in the program to rent points when you need additional ones. This way you cut down on additional maintenance fees every year. That is what I suggest. Marriott allows this to be down between owners. It is a very simple process. There is a website that Marriott owners have set up that is working well and owners are very happy about it. If you would like to know about it you can look on TUG or PM me and I will provide you with the information.

amyh206 wrote:

We are currently legacy owners enrolled in the program and are looking to add 1500 points to our ownership to give us access to the trust inventory. Does anyone have experience doing this? What are the pros/cons? Also, should we look to buy from an individual or should we stick with a resale company?

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165912

Thanks for the info!!

I have confirmed that the 60 day booking restriction is not an issue. It was a restriction when the program first rolled out but it has been lifted!

what is the website for these marriott owners?

carols762 wrote:

what is the website for these marriott owners?

What do you mean? Is there a different website than marriottvacationclub.com

I am an owner who enrolled my week at the Maui Marriott Ocean Club into the points program. I like the flexibility in years when I'd rather do something different than going to my home resort. I went to the presentation on buying additional points and did the math and buying points is a much worse value than owning a week and converting to points. The maintenance fees are multiple times higher than it is converting to points from weeks. When I explained this to the person who was giving the sales presentation, he just said "You can't look at it that way" but there is no other way to look at it. They will emphasize that as a points owner you have access to the unsold inventory, but the most popular resorts sell out and the unsold inventory at the one you want will be ever diminishing. We've had no problem finding inventory through the weeks conversion process and we've stayed at four other resorts, never been denied due to lack of inventory. I would only buy resale weeks and convert them to points if you want points.

Just an FYI- you cannot convert a resale week (purchased through Marriott or on the open market) to Destinations points- that is how Marriott has forced owners to buy additional points...

Amy is right about not being able to deposit weeks purchased privately for points. However, you can do everything else as you could before the new Destinations points program. The question becomes: Are you willing to spend about 6 times as much for the points required for your vacations versus buying a week in the aftermarket?

Example, you can buy a Newport Plat week for $8 to $9,000 in the aftermarket. A $50,000 points purchase would be required to get the same week. Also, you will pay at least twice as much in annual maintenance fees. This is not speculation as it is being done. I suspect that Marriott will catch on eventually and buy up these weeks for resale as points.

Is it possible to buy points on the resale market? This process is very confusing. I would like to buy my first timeshare on the resale market but want to be able to travel to the different destinations. Could someone please advise me on the best way to proceed?

My recommendation is to buy a cheap lock off able week on the resale market. Many times you can find a week for under $1k. You can lock off, deposit with Interval, and have two vacation weeks every year. Keep in mind that you still have maint fees but for about a thousand dollars per year you get two 5 star vacations...DO NOT buy destination points as a first time owner!! Let me know if you need any more help.

lynn411 wrote:

Is it possible to buy points on the resale market? This process is very confusing. I would like to buy my first timeshare on the resale market but want to be able to travel to the different destinations. Could someone please advise me on the best way to proceed?

If you want to buy Marriott Destination Club points, you will have to find a seller who will have to pay Marriott a fee that is based upon the number of points he or she is selling to you and then you will have to pay Marriott $200 per beneficia interest which means you have to pay them $200 for every 250 points you are buying. You have to buy a minimum of $2000. In addition, the new owner must pay a $300 "education" fee. Thus, you will pay Marriott a minimum of $2300 for resale Marriott DC points. That is if the owner just wants out and is willing to charge you nothing for the points. That would be for 2500 points. That many points will get you a week in no more than studios in all of the Hawaii resorts except one in Kauai where you would be able to get a 1 bedroom. You would only be able to go to the Caribbean resorts during hurricane season. According to Marriott you would have full usage of points after paying their fees.

I sure would like to talk to you about buying a week vs destination pt. Can you provide me a phone number or email......My email is pmack49@msn.com ph (cell) 440 590 0484.

Regards

Patrick Mack

We have converted our yearly points to the destinations points. We are now ready to sell our Marriott Desert SpringsII altogether. Originally purchased as a 2 bedroom in Red season. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

christinem469 wrote:

We have converted our yearly points to the destinations points. We are now ready to sell our Marriott Desert SpringsII altogether. Originally purchased as a 2 bedroom in Red season. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

The #1 suggestion would be to post your ad in the 'Sell or Rent Your Timeshare' section above.

I'm new to the timeshare terminology and operation so can you advise me how this works. Are you saying by purchasing a lock off able week I can market as 2 separate units with Interval and as a consequence exchange for 2 vacation weeks. Please explain

The answer is yes. For example, you buy a week at Marriott Grand Chateau, Las Vegas, request the lock-off, and trade as two separate units. This week would be purchased privately, not thru Marriott. Make sure you buy a "Platinum" week as you want a desirable week to offer for trade thru Interval. You then make your reservation for a great week in terms of season. Interval will take your week in trade and depending on your week's trading value and availability, will grant you a week at another timeshare. Please keep in mind that you will pay a fee and will not get a week of greater value than the week you offer. Requested weeks can include weeks other than Marriott.

Note, there is no free lunch, expect a week in trade that is of equal or lesser value to the week you deposit - in time, season, and desirability. I have been very happy with my trades through Interval.

Don't buy squat! They raise the maintenance fees drastically, at least they did to us. We bought 1,500 points last year and the fees were $600. This year they're over $800, and we haven't even used any points yet!!! It sure feels like a scam, but now we're stuck with it unless we want to take a huge loss and sell it back!

amyh206 wrote:

We are currently legacy owners enrolled in the program and are looking to add 1500 points to our ownership to give us access to the trust inventory. Does anyone have experience doing this? What are the pros/cons? Also, should we look to buy from an individual or should we stick with a resale company?

Amy,

My recommendation is to -RUN; DON'T WALK AWAY- FROM THE POINTS! I, like you am a Legacy Owner. The last presentation I attended this past October lasted just over 20 min. Everything the sales person tried to feed me was countered with facts. He actually left the table for about 5 minutes 10 minutes into the presentation. I think he needed to confer with his bosses about the facts I presented. They didn't even let me complete a satisfaction survey! Just wanted me out!

Dennish144,

Did your points maintenance fees go up that much?

cm277 wrote:

Don't buy squat! They raise the maintenance fees drastically, at least they did to us. We bought 1,500 points last year and the fees were $600. This year they're over $800, and we haven't even used any points yet!!! It sure feels like a scam, but now we're stuck with it unless we want to take a huge loss and sell it back!

amyh206 wrote:

We are currently legacy owners enrolled in the program and are looking to add 1500 points to our ownership to give us access to the trust inventory. Does anyone have experience doing this? What are the pros/cons? Also, should we look to buy from an individual or should we stick with a resale company?