Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Exchange Program

Ok, this is a new program just being released and I would like to see other perspectives regarding it. I personally think it is a sleazy, greedy, double dealing way for Marriott to glean more dollars from owners they've already overcharged for ownership weeks and further weakens my faith in the TS industry. To join there is an initial one-time fee of $695 to enroll two or more weeks (purchased internally through Marriott) or $1995 (purchased through a third party). In addition to that there is a single, consolidated annual eligibility fee which covers exchange bookings, lock-offs, Interval International membership, reservations changes, and more. These are benefits that other, points based, timeshare companies offer at little or no charge. The idea of the program is to offer Marriott owners some of the same advantages points based timeshare companies include with the initial purchase. It allows points to be banked from the currant year for use in the next year and allows one to borrow from next years points balance if additional points are needed in the current year. The problem I see is that Marriott is offering this at a pretty hefty, additional cost to its owners. On top of the fees charged, the points an owner gets for the units he gives up is not as much as another owner is charged to exchange FOR that same unit. Thus the double dealing aspect of the program (and my yardstick as to any semblance of fairness to it). I wonder, too, if this program won't mean more difficulty in securing suitable accommodations at an owner's home resort because, I believe, units booked through this program can be done the same12 months in advance. I like the concept but I certainly don't like the cost structure. I need to do more research to see if there are any other drawbacks and I welcome any other input.

There's lots more info conerning the new Marriott program at www.tugbbs.com ......

Don't join! I did and regret it now. What they don't tell you during your presentation is that you also get only 6 nights value for each of your 7 night timeshares in Points. You also pay to join and keep paying a fee each year. I paid $695 to join and get to give them $199 per year. If I had known I would get only 6 nights value in Points for each of my Platinum timeshares from Marriott I wouldn't have joined. You are exactly right - just another way for Marriott to remove more cash from our wallets.

Well, I just listened to the Destination Club sales pitch at my home resort yesterday and I will not be doing it. Five years ago, we bought a premium week with the assurance from the sales people at that time (who of course no longer work there) that we would have priority on exchanges within the Marriott resort system. We bought because we know Marriott properties and like their amenities. Of course, it is impossible to get exchanges for other Marriott resorts and when I questioned my sales person about this his explanation is " only 10% of owners ever exchange their week into the system" which of course was NEVER mentioned when we bought so of course the chances of getting the prime resorts are very low. What is really aggrivating now is that what we thought we were getting by paying for the premium week is now being offered as a separate deal with another fee and price added on which I think is sleazy business. Now what we bought as premium is being trumped as the new premium and our power for exchange will be futher diluted. Over time, Interval International will get fewer Marriott weeks than they get now banked with them and only the poeple who pay fees to Marriott will have access. Further, the point system as I see it is another way for Marriott to keep putting the best resorts out of reach. All they have to do is increase the points for these and decrease what they offer you for your week and force you into buying more points from them. In addition, they can change the fees at will and they certainly will do that just like they do with the maintenance fees and there will be nothing you can do. I don't want any part of this program. I think it stinks that Marriott is offering the DC people access to the unsold TS units which they don't offer now. This is a way that they control inventory to their advantage and keep people from getting the exchanges when they have availability. It is poor customer service in my opinion. On the flip side, they keep building units at their resorts and expanding so it does not keep the values up for the current owners. By diluting the market with more units, there is no secondary market for the existing units which is why it is impossible to sell. I am frustrated with Marriott's efforts to continually shake down its customers for more money to have a perceived advantage to trade when they offer NO guarantees. What is the liklihood of getting a better trade by paying the fee and $595? If you can't trade under this plan, they will tell you that you need to upgrade to the destination club which costs 30% more than what my initial investment was. I will not let them reach into my pockets anymore.

I really get your frustration. I was suspicious when the sales guy would not allow me to have the book that explained the point values for each property. You can only get that when you sign up. Very shady business practice.

We have two mvci weeks and have been very happy with our trades, not sure what you bought but if you have top weeks you should have no trouble finding good trades. I have not tried to get hawaii, but we have traded to HHI, Wmsbrg, Orlando, Breckenridge, Vail, Palm Desert, Phoenix, all of them multiple times as we like those places and all of them in the peak or shoulder season for their areas. Since we have school age kids we are largely restricted to school breaks. We have also traded rewards points from our weeks to the Cayman Is, Cancun, London, Toronto, LA, NYC.

We enrolled our weeks for the points "option" - it doens't change anything about your weeks use if you don't want it to, it will just save you from the fees you currently pay to trade, trade for MR points, lock off, exchange, split week, etc. all for 1 fee that is lower than doing all of those things currently.

You also get 800 of the new points, which is basically worth the fee you pay to enroll your weeks. Finally, you have to choose to take the points option each year, if you don't you continue to have your full weeks use just as you always have. I plan to trade weeks most of the time, but will be taking some points just for flexibility.

Finally, points are not weeks and I would not look at them that way. There is a full listing of what it costs to visit the various resorts via points if you choose to 'elect' points in a given year and if you check it out the Sun - Thur stays are usually well less than what you receive in points. The points are very expensive for Fri & Sat. nights.

I think if you really look into it, overall it is a solid program and we are glad to have it as an additional option. I cannot offer a comparision in value to other points programs as I am not familiar with them, but I know I will be saving $200 - $300 annually in costs just using my weeks exactly as I do now. So I like it.

Carlin27 is either ignorant or a "plant" from Marriott. Marriott is just extracting more cash from Marriott owners pockets with the Destinations Club Points program. And diluting the value and usability of ALL owner's weeks at the resort that they paid big $'s for. The DC (Destinations Club Points) will now take precedence over the Marriott owner making a reservation at the resort they purchased. Remember when you purchased your week you helped Marriott pay to build that resort. Now people can just purchase points and they can get a room at your resort. The DC points people can make a reservation 13 months prior. Some Marriott Owners making a reservation the "old" way will only be able to make a reservation 12 months ahead. (It was already very hard for me to get a week at my very desirable resort before the DC points program. Now it will be even harder.) If lots of DC points users want to stay at your resort - Marriott can give DC points users up to 50% of the rooms each week. I joined the DC points program without seeing the points booklet - You are not given the Points Value Booklet until after the presentation. I then found out that I get 6 nights in points for my 7 nights Marriott week. Also those wonderful 800 points you are given when you join - I tried to use them to add a couple of night onto a reservation week I have. Well, of course, no rooms were available - because everyone makes a Week reservation and 800 points during a desirable time will give you two days. Also did you hear last week Marriott split off the Marriott timeshare properties from the Marriott hotels? Marriott is keeping the Marriott hotel division. That means Marriott no longer wants the two connected. Next thing you know -the timeshare division of Marriott will be sold. Not good news for us. Any new buyer will want more cash so all fees will rise. What does this mean for the timeshare owners - it means Marriott is going to take the BIG profit it made from selling the timeshare weeks to all us owners and run. Marriott will sell off the timeshare properties to a company who is just going manage them. That new company will want to make some money also - so fees will go UP. I know what I will do - stop staying at Marriott Hotels.

Carlin27 may very well be a plant from Marriott, but it is not right to say he/she is ignorant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Carlin27 may see the beauty in King Kong just as Fay Wray did.

A multiple point owner will benefit from the DC program by saving on fees. A one week owner can too if they lock off and exchange frequently. When Marriott rolled out the new program, although they did not do it very well, they did provide the points needed for each property at the beginning. I am not sure why you were not able to access it prior to your purchase, but it was on the Marriott website from the beginning.

You always had to compete for reservations with those owners who had multiple weeks and were able to make reservations 13 months out. That is not new. I would not worry too much about those who are points owners because it will take over $100,000 for new DC points owners to make at 13 month reservation. In addition, the inventory for points owners and the inventory for weeks owners are in different batches. I have a very desirable location in Hawaii and have never had a problem booking a reservation. I still don't have a problem booking a reservation as long as I use my 12 month booking window I should continue to be fine. We just can't wait too long.

Marriott has alway rented rooms at the timeshares properties through the Marriott hotel reservation system. That has aways been the case so people could always get a room at the properties so what is so different now.

I must share with you a benefit for me with the new DC program is that I don't need two bedrooms anymore. I don't have to trade it if I don't want to. I can just use the one bedroom and save points until the following year if I wish.

There are some very legitimate reasons to sign on with the DC program. It is not all bad.

I think the problem is that this system is equivalent to the bid-ask of the stock market. You receive a smaller amount of points (someone said one days worth) when you trade your week at your resort than what Marriott wants to reserve said week at the same resort.

Here's the rub, what if you trade in your week for points and something in you plans changes. Now you want to go back to your same resort....guess what??? You cannot afford it!!! Why don't you get the same points on the bid as Marriott does on the ask?????????

This really affects people at resorts who reserve 12 months in advance and may have a change to their plans. You would lose your ability to stay at your home resort since you traded it for those awful "bid" points. Why is the Marriott "ask" price so much more ?????

In the past I have been able to get fantastic trades through Interval for my Fairway Villa (NJ) timeshare. I once got a week in Aruba and an accomodation certificate which I used to stay a week at Marriott Canyon Villas in Phoenix. The value of my unit is only 2,075 points and will only pay for five days or less at most places. The first year they gave me a bonus 500 points that I was able to use to book a cruise which was nice, but now in order to do that I would have to borrow from next year's points.

Be aware! If you have not used your points by June of the year, you must contact Marriott and roll over your points to the following year. If you don't do this by June 30th, you will lose them.

Can any of you recommend a timeshare program that you feel is the best in the industry? Reading these forums indicates much criticism of timeshare programs. I am concerned by the level of this criticism and hope that, while loud, it is not reflective of the view of the experience of most timeshare owners. So, is there a timeshare program that can really meet the needs of its owners?

I suspect that most of you know that Marriott Corp spun off its timeshare business last year - stock symbol VAC. I look at the new Vacation Club (VAC stock symbol) financial statements and see losses despite the criticism in this forum that Marriott is overcharging for it's timeshare product. Could it be that no timeshare program is really sustainable on its own at a reasonable cost to it's participants?

I happen to agree with Carlin27. We've used the point system to great advantage. We happen to own at one of the highest valued resorts, so our trade value into other resorts is really good. For our 2 br ocean front in Maui, we got enough points for three units and a big family trip to Branson plus three additional weekend getaways to Marco Island, Singer Island, and Panama City. We were somewhat flexible but did not have too much problem getting the units we wanted at the times we wanted. I am not affiliated with Marriott in any way. Next year we are using our unit as purchased, but love that we have the flexibility when we want something different.

I looked at adding points, but decided the annual fee's on the DC points are too high. It would be a better deal in the long run to buy another week somewhere and exchange to points. Yes the DC points owners get access to unsold inventory and as a weeks owner we do not, but available inventory has not been a big problem for us and we have to work around school schedules.

If it doesn't work for you then you can always opt out and just use your unit as you purchased it. We find the point system much more flexible than Interval International (II) because we can use our points a few days at a time instead of a whole week at a time and spread our getaways out. Not possible with II.

If we owned at a lower valued resort, I probably wouldn't want to exchange for points because a whole week in a lower value resort will only trade for a couple days in a higher valued resort on the point system, where on II a week is a week so II makes more sense in that case.

To answer dennish144, we also own at Disney Vacation Club and my opinion is that without a doubt Disney is the best in the industry and the most flexible. The Marriott point system is trying to give some of the flexibility of the Disney system.

mm

we have attended 3 presentations on points. You can no longer purchase individual property -- only points. Marriott has put all unsold properties in a "trust" . These are available only with points. Overall appears there is a shrinking number of marriott timeshares available EXCEPT thru points. We feel marriott has devalued our original purchase and has reneged on "promises" concerning ease of trades, availability etc. There appears to be a shrinking number of Marriott properties which will be available for exchange (not using points) Also as others noted if you are in points system, the points you receive for your property are less than the number required to get that week back if you change your mind. Overall, it appears that marriott will give priority to point owners. Marriott seems to be pulling back on using II. Any comments..............the skeptic

rickk109 wrote:

I happen to agree with Carlin27. We've used the point system to great advantage. We happen to own at one of the highest valued resorts, so our trade value into other resorts is really good. For our 2 br ocean front in Maui, we got enough points for three units and a big family trip to Branson plus three additional weekend getaways to Marco Island, Singer Island, and Panama City. We were somewhat flexible but did not have too much problem getting the units we wanted at the times we wanted. I am not affiliated with Marriott in any way. Next year we are using our unit as purchased, but love that we have the flexibility when we want something different.

I looked at adding points, but decided the annual fee's on the DC points are too high. It would be a better deal in the long run to buy another week somewhere and exchange to points. Yes the DC points owners get access to unsold inventory and as a weeks owner we do not, but available inventory has not been a big problem for us and we have to work around school schedules.

If it doesn't work for you then you can always opt out and just use your unit as you purchased it. We find the point system much more flexible than Interval International (II) because we can use our points a few days at a time instead of a whole week at a time and spread our getaways out. Not possible with II.

If we owned at a lower valued resort, I probably wouldn't want to exchange for points because a whole week in a lower value resort will only trade for a couple days in a higher valued resort on the point system, where on II a week is a week so II makes more sense in that case.

To answer dennish144, we also own at Disney Vacation Club and my opinion is that without a doubt Disney is the best in the industry and the most flexible. The Marriott point system is trying to give some of the flexibility of the Disney system.

I know that Disney is a great organization, but there are other timeshares that offer a lot of flexibility with their points system like Diamond Resorts International. What do you think that Disney offer as far as flexibility that others don't.

I suspect that most of us would like to make our decisions about timeshare ownership over again. While we have enjoyed our vacations, getting what you want is complicated, the ultimate vacation cost is overly expensive, and there is no acceptable exit strategy. When you can rent early August in Newport Villas (CA) for $1,900 or the 4th of July at Custom House (Boston) for $1,400, why would anyone subject themselves to the initial investment and to the ongoing maintenance fees. Further, the cost of sufficient vacation club points to acquire these great weeks is even more expensive than the old week ownership program.

I am an owner and we are experiencing some great vacations but let's not kid ourselves, we chose the most expensive approach to vacations, are tied to one approach for a lifetime, and have no reasonable exit strategy. Can another owner tell me where I am wrong? Sales people need not respond.

Dennis

PS - Buying great weeks at bargain prices in the aftermarket is not so bad. You can deposit/trade these thru Interval, use them, and rent them. You can't trade these weeks for Dest Pts or for Marriott Rewards Pts - not a big deal.

We enjoy Marriott Oceanwatch villas in Myrtle Beach, SC very much. My husband and I have vacationed there for 5 years. I am not an owner but have attended 3 separate sales. Our most recent was last year when the new points system went in effect. We have come so close to buying but have backed out at the last minute each time. I just couldn't see spending all that money on a vacation AND maintenance fees each year when it's so easy and affordable to rent off an owner. I spend anywhere between $2200 to $2600 for oceanfront usually the week of july 4th. We like to vacation in prime season because our kids are in school in the off season ( bronze, silver and gold). I have considered buying a week from an owner who actually owns a week and not points. My question is....If I do this would I be able to trade my week for another resort? What perks to you relinquish if you do buy from an owner rather than Marriott? How can I be sure I'm getting a week instead of points?

Robin, I think you are on the right track and if I had it to do over again, I would pursue your track of either (1) renting or (2) buying a week in the aftermarket to use frequently. You have undoubtedly determined that you would need 4,700 Destination Pts to get your favored week at Ocean Watch - a $50,000 plus initial purchase with annual maintenance fees of about $1,900.

Weeks purchased in the aftermarket can be traded thru Interval, rented, or used. The only difference between a week acquired in the aftermarket and one purchased from Marriott Vacation Club is that the purchased week cannot be enrolled in Destinations. Not being able to enroll the week in Destinations means that you cannot trade for Vacation Club Points and/or Marriott Rewards Points; and, you cannot participate in the one-fee arrangement for transactions thru Interval. You can, however, join Interval and you just pay a fee per transaction. You would also have access to other Interval benefits such as Getaways, etc. - which might be better deal than your current rentals for the off season.

If you are buying a "week" in the aftermarket, you are not buying points. Marriott Vacation Club stopped selling vacation "weeks" in late spring, 2010. If you buy from Marriott Vacation Club, you will be buying "points."

Dennis

I am an experienced timeshare owner, but not with Marriott VC. I bought a week from an owner in the late fall for a family reunion last month. Unfortunately, my son has just received "surprise" deployment orders for the Middle East, and a "reunion" without him goes flat. My question for the forum is: Can I re-sell this week either on Tug, Redweek or Ebay? I read the VAC rules and cannot find that answer. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks. Bill