Upgrading Your Timeshare by Exchange

One of the advantages of membership with an exchange company (such as RCI or II), is the ability to trade for a location that is better than the week you own. 

For example, a timeshare located on a beach would cost more to buy than a timeshare in Orlando. However, you can exchange your week in Orlando for a villa on a beach.  I am calling this an upgrade.  I have also heard of people trading for upgraded villas (for example, a studio for a 2 bedroom). 

I think that one of the reasons Marriott has introduced their points (Marriott Destinations) program is to stop this from happening.  Owners of the more expensive properties probably don't like hearing about people being able to easily exchange their less expensive week to stay at their more expensive timeshare property.  With the points systems, this can't happen, because the points needed to get a beach property would be more than an owner of an Orlando property would have (unless they buy more point, and pay Marriott Vacation Club more money to vacation).

As of now, it is still pretty easy to use an exchange company like Interval International to trade weeks and obtain confirmations at awesome locations.  As long as you do a few things right (like deposit a high demand week from your home resort)...see my post on Timeshare Trading Tips.

Don't be discouraged if you have been told at a Marriott Destinations sales presentation that you can't get highly desired properties through Interval International.  It is possible, and has not changed, in my opinion.  With the exception of Marriott Crystal Shores (see my post about this), I have had a lot of success using exchanges through Interval International.

 

Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Points - demystified

I have read many blog posts and comments and have noticed there are many Marriott timeshare owners dissatisfied with the new Destinations program.

Many feel that Marriott has taken away privileges they had, like access to new properties, and have made them feel that they need to get more points (and a higher tier) just to enjoy the same benefits that they always had available. For example, if you don't convert your deeded week into Destination points and buy additional trust points, and Marriott builds a new property, since they are only selling points now, and not deeded weeks, you would not have access to this new property. This gives a feeling of being forced to buy into the Destinations program.

 

Two Pools of Inventory
In the Marriott Destinations program, there are 2 pools of  inventory (trust and exchange). Exchange inventory is deeded weeks and trust inventory is weeks that Marriott owns.  Marriott no longer sells deeded weeks, and they are trying to get deeded weeks owners to change to points and trust points. The price to do this seems to vary, and the buyer should definitely beware.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, as the saying goes. 

 

The Marriott owners with deeded weeks, can "elect" for Club Points in any given year. These points can be used to reserve Marriott Vacation Club stays for any number of days that they choose. These "enrolled" Club points can only access the available inventory of resorts and dates that are made available from owners turning their deeded weeks into Club Points. This is also known as the Exchange Inventory.  So, what happens with new properties that Marriott builds? All of this inventory will be in the Trust inventory and not in the Exchange Inventory.

 

At a sales presentation, they will try hard to get you to not only convert your deeded week into Club Points, but they will try to get you to buy more points (Trust Points). With these points you can access the Trust Inventory (unsold weeks, resale weeks and re-acquired weeks). This is the inventory that Marriott owns, not the owners. It will cost a lot more to own this inventory, and if you don't want to pay for this, they will try very very hard to dissuade you.

 

It is not what they are telling you, it is what they are not telling you

• The total amount of available vacation weeks is now split many different ways: Exchange Inventory, Trust Inventory, Interval International Inventory, Redweek inventory...

• Your annual fees will increase if you convert, and this is often not mentioned until you are signing the papers. For more fees, will you get more advantages? Probably not.  The biggest difference with the points program is the ability to stay less than 7 days, and if this greatly appeals to you, then  maybe you should look into converting.

• If you elect to use your week as points, and change your mind, and want to stay at your home resort, you can't. You won't have enough points.  The amount of points you are given, in exchange for your week, will not be enough.

Marriott can change the program again and again
Many timeshare owners bought their week or weeks under the assumption that the system in place would allow them to enjoy a certain type of vacation and have the flexibility to stay at new and exciting places (through exchange companies like Interval International). With the radical change to the points system, Marriott is potentially changing the inventory available to those that don't convert their weeks.  And for those that do convert and buy into the Destinations program, who is to say or promise them that the points needed for certain resorts won't change, or that the fees won't radically increase over the years?  This is a huge concern for many, because many don't trust Marriott anymore.

After putting a lot of research and thought into this situation, I believe staying within the Interval International exchange program is best.  Interval International is still better than Marriott Destinations.

Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Review

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My husband and I attended a Marriott Vacation Club Destinations sales presentation in 2013 while on vacation at Marriott’s Barony Beach Club on Hilton Head Island (obtained through and Interval International exchange). We were shocked to discover the significant changes Marriott had made to timeshare ownership and the creation of a new exchange system. We are deeded week owners (of a Marriott Vacation Club timeshare property in Orlando), and we learned about the Marriott Vacation Club points system Marriott rolled out in 2010.    
 

The MVC Destinations program is pretty complicated.  There are deadlines to be concerned about that have a big impact.  Basically, you have to decide by September 30^th what you want to do with your week for the next year.  Once you decide to either use as points, or stay at your home resort, or use Interval International, you are locked into that choice.  Personally, it is difficult to assess that early, without knowing availability, school vacations (calendars for the following year aren’t available usually), airfare options etc.

 

We were VERY close to buying into this new program, and at the closing found out a few BIG things they hadn’t told us yet (for example: the annual membership fee/dues to use the Destination points program).

 

I have listed some Pros and Cons:

Pros

•Potentially eliminate Interval International annual dues and exchange fees (if you decide not to use II)

 

•Potentially more successful trading to Marriott properties (this is not quantifiable and will decrease as inventory goes down, if more people buy into the Destinations program)

•You can book less than 7 nights to stay at a Marriott timeshare resort.

Cons

•Your ownership week may be worth less than 1 week at another property when booking with points. It may require 2+ weeks of your ownership to book 1 week at a different property.

•No advantage to enrolling if you plan to stay at your home property

•As more and more owners join the Destinations Club program, inventory will become harder to obtain.

 

•The cost of converting to points (and possibly trust points)

 

In Summary

The biggest “Con” would be the amount of money you have to pay, just to trade “internally”.  You can only trade your week for points to use at other Marriott Vacation Club resorts.  There are so many more resorts and locations available through Interval International. 
 

The biggest "Pro", in my opinion, would be that you can stay fewer than 7 days.  But this is not a very big “Pro”, because many resorts are far enough away, you would want to stay a week, and not less (not economically or logistically sensible to stay a few days, when either spending a lot of time or money on transportation to the resort).  A way around this would be to stay at hotels and not timeshare resorts for shorter stays (you can use Marriott Rewards points to stay for free).

Maybe Interval International is not so bad after all!

 

 

If you are thinking of buying a timeshare...

There are many different ways to buy a timeshare. I remember that day when my husband and I decided to buy our timeshare.  This post if for those of you who do not currently own, but are considering buying a timeshare.  I want to share some things to consider...

1. The Maintenance Fee

This can change every year. More than likely it will increase.  Our maintenance fee when we purchased our timeshare in Orlando was $675. It is now $1197. Nearly an 80% increase.

2. Staying at Home Resort vs. Trading

If you really want to stay at your home resort every year, you do not have to pay for membership in an exchange company like RCI or II.  However, if you plan to repeatedly trade your week, you should realize your success with this will vary from year to year.  There is a lot of uncertainty when you make a trade request, and if you are accustomed to making plans well in advance of your travel dates, this might not work. 

That being said, if we get confirmed on a trade with only a few months notice, we tend to use our Capital One miles for flights, because usually flights cost more, the closer to the date of travel you buy them.

3. Housekeeping

This will be different than when you stay at a hotel.  There will not be housekeeping service everyday.  There may be an option to have daily housekeeping service, but for a fee. This was a surprise to us, as we were not told at the time of purchase.

4. Changes

The timeshare company can change the way they do business, and affect your ability to trade and exchange weeks. Recently Marriott Vacation Club stopped selling deeded weeks, and has gone to a points system (called Destinations Ownership Program). This is a radically different way of doing things, and will change the inventory available to those who do not convert or buy into the Destinations program.  We had no idea the company we bought our timeshare property from could make such a change.  We have decided to continue as a deeded weeks owner, but have concerns of how this will change our ability to successfully exchange through Interval International.

In summary...

If someone were to ask me if we are happy we became timeshare owners, or if we regret it, I would probably say we are split 50/50.  There are advantages and disadvantages.  Once we became accustomed to reserving, depositing, and exchanging our week, we have been pretty happy with our vacations.