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[Q=conmag] 2 questions:(1) Marriott and resales agents claim that ko olina has excellent trading potential for exchanges to other resorts with II,including other Hawaiin resorts and the carribean. How true is that. (2) If you buy resale do you get the same priority to exchange to other Marriott resorts as do owners who purchase directly from Marriott.Also, what if you bought from Marriott at another location(eg:orlando) and buy resale at ko olina.[/Q] I am not a Marriott owner but I do work in the industry and I own with Diamond Resorts and Westin. Regardless of rather you purchase a Marriott from the developer or on the resale, they DO NOT HAVE AN INTERNAL EXCHANGE SYSTEM. So you can either go to your home resort or deposit with II and hope for the best although Hawaii does have good trading power. I own with Diamond Resorts which has been know in the past as Sunterra. I have a deed in trust which have points attached to it so I can either exchange within their internal system which consists of about 100 resorts but I also have access to thousand of weeks (without paying an exchange fee) which come from Diamond owners who own some place else such as I do and they can deposit their traditonal week on any given year for a nominal fee and receive points which is what I do with my Westin, as they only have about a dozen properties internally. There are generally a lot of Marriott weeks on this list and also Westin, Hyatt etc. they will only accept gold crown, five star or ID, prime time or mid season weeks. I can also exchange through II but unlike any other company, Diamond owners exchange through II using points and I have exchanged into several Marriotts. Diamond points do are not on the same scale as Marriott and all point based companies have their own point values. When I exchange through II to a Marriott, a studio for a week, prime time is 3500 pts, one bdrm 5500, and 2 bdrm 6500 but if I exchange 59 days out or less, the points are half of what they normally are. I have found it quite easy to go where I want when I want booking 59 days out or less. This past June, I booked three weeks out and I was able to stay 25 days which a week of that was at the Marriott in a studio for 1750 pts. which was great because it was just myself and my daughter. You pay a lot to own because of the name and my suggestions would be buy at the resort that you want to stay at because Marrott's cost a lot even on the resale. Last week, I actually had cients who at the Ko Olina and also a Marriott in Vegas. When I shared the way Diamond's system worked and pulled up availability for them at the ko olina for 2625 points for a one bdrm for a week, they decided to purchase with Diamond. I like staying at Marriott Resorts just as you probably do but again, I would suggest that if you are going to purchase with them, then buy where you want to go every year but if you are buying it to go there and exchange, the I would suggest you check out other comapnies before you do,