Least expensive way to purchase timeshare with II access

[BJRSanDiego]

Gardens at West Maui.
Annual maintenance fees have been about $2 day, or about the price of a cup of coffee at a restaurant.

So, you are trying to say that you pay $14 a year for maintenance fee? Could you recheck your math. I think that the MF is around $750 a year. So instead of $2 a day, did you really mean $100 a day?

 

[Saintsfanfl]

So, you are trying to say that you pay $14 a year for maintenance fee? Could you recheck your math. I think that the MF is around $750 a year. So instead of $2 a day, did you really mean $100 a day?

I think they mean actual days all year long, so a consistent budgeted amount. ~$2 x 365.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

When a Marriott unit under Marriott Priority gets released back to II inventory by a trader, the unit loses Marriott priority, and becomes visible to all with enough trading power. A programming loophole that II has not bothered to fix.

That is only supposed to happen if the 23 days has passed and not instantly. I believe other random early periods are due to Marriott bulk deposits and there also might be other factors like how many of the same units can be stacked before the excess is not under preference.

Sometimes we might be fooled into thinking the unit we saw yesterday under preference is the same unit today that is not under preference. We can only see one of a given unit type so what we saw yesterday might still be there and then someone throws a unit back in that is not under preference today so it can be seen with the non-Marriott.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

On the 90% I stated it is obviously a very rough estimate. You who disagree with it might not be thinking about all those mud weeks, cold weeks on HHI, and thousands more marriott deposits that are not fetched up by other Marriott deposits. Most of the Marriott weeks that go into II are not high demand. This is more true each year with the DC keeping many premium Marriott trades internally. Can you get a pretty good trade with a Marriott under preference? Of course but it's going to be a top 5-10% demand unit of all the Marriott deposits in II.

 

[Lanswitch]

So, you are trying to say that you pay $14 a year for maintenance fee? Could you recheck your math. I think that the MF is around $750 a year. So instead of $2 a day, did you really mean $100 a day?

$2 times 365 is $730. That's what I pay in MFs.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Oh, okay. $2 a day for each day of the year. Or about the price of 365 cups of coffee. .... My misunderstanding.

 

[Oscar923]

You implied that you don't need to own an affilliated resort to join RCI. I think that you are incorrect. On the RCI website, it says: "RCI’s core business is timeshare exchange – ...To enjoy the benefits of exchange holidays you must own timeshare."

In ii, Marriott owners have a preference period of 22 days. For some locations and lower demand times of the year, non-Marriott owners will see some Marriott inventory. But the inventory is more likely to be smaller units. For high demand locations like Hawaii, Phoenix or Palm Desert in February or March, etc. it would be unusual for inventory to sit out there so long that it still exists at the end of the preference period.

For Hyatt, I don't believe that there a preference period. You just need to have a good trader.

But, you have framed your objective in a manner that is challenging and contradictory - - you want to trade into a Marriott, you want to have high trading power and you want to pay the minimum cost (you didn't say whether you meant up-front or annually with MF). If you buy a platinum season Marriott it will cost you more but trades better. If you buy a Blue or Bronze (low) season Marriott it will be cheaper (purchase price) but won't trade as well. Many people recommend purchasing a platinum season unit. Even if you pay an extra couple of thousand, you will still pay the same maintenance fee annually and will have a stronger trader.

My suggestion is to buy a Marriott. Check out Dioxide's ROFR metric on the Marriott subforum. It'll show you how much people are paying for a Marriott. You can pick up a Grand Chateau (Vegas) 1 BR that will pass ROFR for perhaps $1K or less. If you buy an EOY, it will even cost less initially and annually. Personally, I wouldn't -- but it meets your criteria. One thing you have to ask yourself is whether you want to take one vacation EOY or once a year or twice a year, etc.

I periodically see Sheraton's for free on the Bargain forum. I suspect that they trade Okay. I suspect that you would still have the Marriott preference issue.

I own two 2-BR White/Gold season Marriotts in Palm Desert. I paid about $2K or less each (including closing). I may have been smarter buying a Red/platinum season and paying perhaps double. I split the units and get 4 weeks of vacation. So that lowers the cost per week. Also, having two units, I can reserve at the 13 month point - - so I reserve Thanksgiving week (TDI = 125), so it has reasonable trading power. I had traded into Hyatt's five or six times, Newport Coast, etc. So it trades okay.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread. But I am intrigued by the idea of owning two white palm desert weeks as suggested by BJRSanDiego. I currently own one white week and have had difficulty getting a thanksgiving week reservation. In other words, not waking up early enough to strike at 6 am.

If I own two weeks (does it have to be the same resort?）and make a concurrent reservation of 2 x thanksgiving week, do you lock off to get 4 x thanksgiving week? Were you able to trade into Hyatt or Newport coast with just the studio or 1 bedroom or the whole 2bedroom unit?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread. But I am intrigued by the idea of owning two white palm desert weeks as suggested by BJRSanDiego. I currently own one white week and have had difficulty getting a thanksgiving week reservation. In other words, not waking up early enough to strike at 6 am.

If I own two weeks (does it have to be the same resort?）and make a concurrent reservation of 2 x thanksgiving week, do you lock off to get 4 x thanksgiving week? Were you able to trade into Hyatt or Newport coast with just the studio or 1 bedroom or the whole 2bedroom unit?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

In order to book at the 13 month point, all you need is two separate Marriott units that share the same availability period. For instance, you could book concurrent 13 month res's if you own a Desert Springs I and a II or a Desert Springs and a Shadow Ridge or a Desert Springs and a Grand Chateau (Las Vegas). But they all have to be reservable for Thanksgiving.

A white DSV Thanksgiving week has an ii TDI of 125. That is the highest that I can reserve. Not as good as a platinum TDI of 150, but still pretty good. I personally make four reservations (splitting both of my units) for Thanksgiving. But I also am on the phone at 6 am. The studio trades pretty well. I can usually see most of the shoulder season Newport Coast units. For instance, right now there is availability at NCV for the months of October 2018 to January. I see the same things (right now) that I see with a 2 BR unit. Sometimes I need to deposit a 1 BR though (like September) to make the exchange. I took a look at some of my efficiency exchanges and see that I booked a 2 BR Sedona Summit, a 1 BR SVC Vino Bello, a 1 BR Marriott Timberlodge and (surprisingly) a 2 BR Hyatt Pinon Point (but that was back a few years and things have since tightened).

My own approach is to use the high TDI 1 BR to request into harder-to-exchange places (typically places like Hyatt Highlands Inn, Pinion Point, Hawaii, Napa) and use the efficiency to book a 1 or 2 BR back in the Marriott system during their shoulder season. Maybe I could do that with an efficiency, but I put in requests and I am likely to get matched to another efficiency. I prefer a 1 BR minimum. I like going to the Palm Desert area in Oct, Nov, Dec and the efficiency can typically exchange into a 1 or 2 BR with a manual search/exchange.

 

[Oscar923]

In order to book at the 13 month point, all you need is two separate Marriott units that share the same availability period. For instance, you could book concurrent 13 month res's if you own a Desert Springs I and a II or a Desert Springs and a Shadow Ridge or a Desert Springs and a Grand Chateau (Las Vegas). But they all have to be reservable for Thanksgiving.

A white DSV Thanksgiving week has an ii TDI of 125. That is the highest that I can reserve. Not as good as a platinum TDI of 150, but still pretty good. I personally make four reservations (splitting both of my units) for Thanksgiving. But I also am on the phone at 6 am. The studio trades pretty well. I can usually see most of the shoulder season Newport Coast units. For instance, right now there is availability at NCV for the months of October 2018 to January. I see the same things (right now) that I see with a 2 BR unit. Sometimes I need to deposit a 1 BR though (like September) to make the exchange. I took a look at some of my efficiency exchanges and see that I booked a 2 BR Sedona Summit, a 1 BR SVC Vino Bello, a 1 BR Marriott Timberlodge and (surprisingly) a 2 BR Hyatt Pinon Point (but that was back a few years and things have since tightened).

My own approach is to use the high TDI 1 BR to request into harder-to-exchange places (typically places like Hyatt Highlands Inn, Pinion Point, Hawaii, Napa) and use the efficiency to book a 1 or 2 BR back in the Marriott system during their shoulder season. Maybe I could do that with an efficiency, but I put in requests and I am likely to get matched to another efficiency. I prefer a 1 BR minimum. I like going to the Palm Desert area in Oct, Nov, Dec and the efficiency can typically exchange into a 1 or 2 BR with a manual search/exchange.

Thanks for the great info.
It does sound like the Thanksgiving TDI in Palm Desert would really make a difference in terms of trading power. I have experimented with a June Shadow Ridge studio (still white/gold season) and I mostly see other studios and sometime 1 bedrooms. I am now seriously considering buying resale a cheap white/gold Shadow Ridge or maybe a Grand Chateau as you mentioned.
Oct - Dec is a very good time in Palm Desert. Spending Thanksgiving in Palm Desert is indeed very pleasant. Perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold so my kids still able to enjoy the pools.