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Top reasons NOT to Join Marriott Destination Club

FractionalTraveler

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1. You mostly travel alone
2. You like vacations that are off the beaten path or non-traditional (Exotic, Adventure, Eco, Volunteer, Remote locations, personalized, etc.)
3. You can't commit to taking vacations regularly or are not flexible in reservation timeframes
4. You like and have the time to plan your own escapes (i.e. Air, Land, Sea, and custom experiences). Don't need or care to have someone do it for you.
5. You like to go every year to the same location
6. You don't want to pre-pay for vacations and yearly MF
7. You are not interested in packaged vacations or tour options
8. Your happy with your current usage and timeshare options

What do you think?

FT
 

channimal

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hmmm.. so DW and I like to plan our vacations and have fixed weeks of availability. We don't usually go to the same place every year. We're not big on "off the beaten path" sort of vacations... and we are definitely a SAT-SAT vacationer.

and, with all of that .. we still don't see the value of DC. :shrug: Unless, of course, I can buy it through the regular auction/resale channels at roughly what I paid for my HL week :p
 
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Pens_Fan

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I think you forgot:

9) Giving Marriott even more money does not make financial sense.
 

jme

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Marriotts:
Grande Ocean x 6
Barony x 2
OceanWatch x 1
Manor Club x 1
.
Waterside by Spin x 2
Sheraton Bdw Pln x2
ChurchSt/Charleston x2
it's simpler than all that. you think too much.

it's the exorbitant cost. FAR worse than developer prices way back when.

around $26,000+/- for 2500 points???? please.

so, buy more???? insane.

and for what? 2500 points are not enough points to take a decent week (or nights in smaller increments), unless it's shoulder or off-season, and in less popular resorts. and people skewer daily those who purchased from developer. Memory is short.

So why is it better now? That's the question. WHY do it at all? We have 18,000 DC points to play with every year if we want, and I still can't see the value...it diminishes to use the points. 5 nights instead of 7? Weeknights instead of weekends? Seems they're telling US when and where to go, instead of the reverse. I'm not buying it, literally or figuratively.


Addendum: item # 6 suggested to me that buying trust points was the thrust of the argument.
"Enrolling" is different, and given the cost, might be worthwhile some day as the owners' lives change. Straight-out buying of points is not wise, however.
 
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jont

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Enrolled in Marriott DC/
MOW /MGC /MCV/MGO / Trust Points
1. You mostly travel alone
2. You like vacations that are off the beaten path or non-traditional (Exotic, Adventure, Eco, Volunteer, Remote locations, personalized, etc.)
3. You can't commit to taking vacations regularly or are not flexible in reservation timeframes
4. You like and have the time to plan your own escapes (i.e. Air, Land, Sea, and custom experiences). Don't need or care to have someone do it for you.
5. You like to go every year to the same location
6. You don't want to pre-pay for vacations and yearly MF
7. You are not interested in packaged vacations or tour options
8. Your happy with your current usage and timeshare options

What do you think?

FT

Are you talking about enrolling your existing weeks in the DC or buying Trust Points to get into the marriott system? 2 different animals altogether.
 
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Son Antem, Playa Andaluza, Harbour Lake
It makes absolutely no sense for us. Both our Harbour Lake and Andaluza weeks can be traded for less points than it costs to stay for a week. Why would we want to give up our guaranteed two weeks to be able to stay for less time?
 

shoeie

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It makes absolutely no sense for us. Both our Harbour Lake and Andaluza weeks can be traded for less points than it costs to stay for a week. Why would we want to give up our guaranteed two weeks to be able to stay for less time?

By enrolling in the DC program, you're not giving up your ability to stay in your guaranteed weeks. By enrolling in the program, you have the option to convert your weeks to points each year. If you know that you want to use your fixed week, at your home resort, then obviously, that year you wouldn't convert your week(s) to points for the reason you state above. However, we find that the DC points, for us, are great in their flexibility, as we love not being locked into staying somewhere for 7 day intervals, and not having to go through II to trade within the MVC system. Sometimes (about 60-70% of the time) we convert our weeks to DC points, other times, we do not and stay at our home resort or trade the week through II. For our family, we love having the options that come with the DC points as a legacy weeks owner.
 

bazzap

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Yes, I was dubious about enrolling in DC initially, but agree electing points is just an option and one which can work.
We elected this year our 2 weeks of 3 beds in Playa Andaluza and Club Son Antem.
We had enough points for 2 1/2 weeks in a 2 bed in St Kitts which we confirmed immediately without having to wait and hope with II and we still had some points left over to bank into 2014.
So whilst I still don't believe it is all good news, I certainly can see benefits.
 

suzannesimon

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Marriott Frenchman's Cove, Hyatt Sunset Harbor, Harborside at Atlantis, Marriott Aruba Surf Club, Marriott Grande Ocean, Westin Kierland Villas, Westin Lagunamar
How about not getting enough points for your owned weeks to make it worthwhile? I converted one week to points just once and probably never will again. I get more value out of renting the weeks and renting where I want to go than converting them to points - almost twice as much. I'd love to use the DC if I could get a fair trade. Someone wasn't thinking when they allocated points for some of the resorts and as more owners at those resorts realize it, there will be fewer of them available for others to get through the DC.

What was the criteria used for point allocation? Maintenance fees or demand? If it was maintenance fees, someone was being stupid.:shrug:
 

SueDonJ

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How about not getting enough points for your owned weeks to make it worthwhile? I converted one week to points just once and probably never will again. I get more value out of renting the weeks and renting where I want to go than converting them to points - almost twice as much. I'd love to use the DC if I could get a fair trade. Someone wasn't thinking when they allocated points for some of the resorts and as more owners at those resorts realize it, there will be fewer of them available for others to get through the DC.

What was the criteria used for point allocation? Maintenance fees or demand? If it was maintenance fees, someone was being stupid.:shrug:

I don't understand what's bolded above unless you're saying that all un-enrolled Weeks will be used by owners at their home resorts within season. Marriott is able to manipulate any weeks deposited to II, exchanged for MRP, converted to DC Points, etc. through the DC Exchange Company for Points users, whether those Weeks are enrolled or not.

I do understand that enrollment doesn't work for everyone and I agree that some of the allocations appear to be out of whack with both MF and demand metrics. But if what you're saying is that all un-enrolled Weeks are not available to DC Points users, I disagree with that.
 
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Mamianka

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By enrolling in the DC program, you're not giving up your ability to stay in your guaranteed weeks. By enrolling in the program, you have the option to convert your weeks to points each year. If you know that you want to use your fixed week, at your home resort, then obviously, that year you wouldn't convert your week(s) to points for the reason you state above. However, we find that the DC points, for us, are great in their flexibility, as we love not being locked into staying somewhere for 7 day intervals, and not having to go through II to trade within the MVC system. Sometimes (about 60-70% of the time) we convert our weeks to DC points, other times, we do not and stay at our home resort or trade the week through II. For our family, we love having the options that come with the DC points as a legacy weeks owner.


I hear you. From 2004, we are into Marriott for about 50 grand - that is EVERY single cost and fee that we ever spent. That comes to about 4500 a year for three or more vacations, using our weeks/days/points as smartly as we have learned how. We will not buy anything else, since we DO plan some things on our own; we feel that some packages/excursions/etc are just not as good a value as we can do on our own. We feel that we have gotten MORE out of this than we put in - I guess that is the definition of satisfied. It's just the 2 of us retired folks - no kids at home, no parents living (and we still have some professional commitments we want to be home for). We enrolled out properties, and work a mix of DC points and trades. NO trust points at all - never will be. There are places that attract us that Marriott does not have property, and places that Marriott is not a good deal - so Dead Presidents spent at their competition works just fine. We are also pretty smart about credit card usage, and again work our loyalty benefits. I am sure that sounds like a LOT of folks here - debt-free, empty nest, nice pensions/health insurance/SocSec, good investments, and a feeling that if we WANT to spend some on ourselves - now is good, before we enter The Drooling Academy.
No two of us here, however similar the demographic of a subset of us is, will have the same tastes and viewpoints. So - although Marriott stuff costs what it costs - and we will never recoup the $$ of the cost if we sold them - we still feel that this was a good thing for us. We can carp about fees, points, etc. - but nobody twisted our arms to buy any of this. Now - we play the cards we hold, smart as we can. Yes, knowing some details lets you work your plans smarter - but all this is voluntary - objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, and YOUR mileage may vary. We're STILL good with this - more than "just OK".

Just our two cents - or fifty grand - which has retained more intrinsic value than some other things in our portfolio did. Some of us have more $$ tied up in stamps, gold bars, golf clubs, boats, jewelry, or in our case ( and the HORN guy . . ) musical instruments. (Price a Steinway grand piano lately? The D - concert size - $168,000). To each their own. Nobody wins - or loses.
 

suzannesimon

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Marriott Frenchman's Cove, Hyatt Sunset Harbor, Harborside at Atlantis, Marriott Aruba Surf Club, Marriott Grande Ocean, Westin Kierland Villas, Westin Lagunamar
If an enrolled week is not converted to points and is either used by the owner or reserved by the owner and then rented to someone else, it would take it out of the availability pool for DC. Obviously, that wouldn't be the case, however, if you could get an II trade to a similar-valued property. However, the salesmen keep telling us that we'll soon never be able to get anything good in II anyway (which I don't believe).
 

SueDonJ

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If an enrolled week is not converted to points and is either used by the owner or reserved by the owner and then rented to someone else, it would take it out of the availability pool for DC. Obviously, that wouldn't be the case, however, if you could get an II trade to a similar-valued property. However, the salesmen keep telling us that we'll soon never be able to get anything good in II anyway (which I don't believe).

Ah, now I understand, and agree that Weeks booked by owners for their use or rental can't be available for DC users, but that's true of any Weeks whether they're enrolled or not. What I thought you were saying is that enrolled Weeks can only be in the DC pool and un-enrolled Weeks can only be in the Weeks pool, and neither of those are true.
 

suzannesimon

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Ah, now I understand, and agree that Weeks booked by owners for their use or rental can't be available for DC users, but that's true of any Weeks whether they're enrolled or not. What I thought you were saying is that enrolled Weeks can only be in the DC pool and un-enrolled Weeks can only be in the Weeks pool, and neither of those are true.

All I mean is that, for me, it doesn't work because the Caribbean resorts, though very popular, were given relatively few points, though they can rent for top dollar. Long before the DC the Marriott salesmen who sold them to me told me I would want to rent them, not trade them, as that was the highest and best use. I didn't really believe him at the time, but he was absolutely correct. I may convert them to points sometime so we can stay at the Ritz Carlton in St. Thomas, however.
 

Saintsfanfl

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{I am stictly talking a points purchase here and not enrolling}

Do you ever think that maybe it would be cheaper to just pay cash? I can get a 1BR suite at Timber Lodge for this New Years week for $519 per night on marriott.com. Or I could buy 5,225 points and use that instead. I can list examples all day long on the nonsensical nature of a points purchase. Marriott has fooled some 55,000 people so far but I am still beside myself on why it is cheaper to just book online.
 

l2trade

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It makes absolutely NO sense to enroll my existing weeks which I purchased resale after June 20, 2010.
 

bazzap

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I agree with you about the Caribbean resorts getting inexplicably and ridiculously low points allocation. We get less for our St Kitts weeks than any of the other Marriott resorts we own around the world
I guess though that is also why we got such a good return for electing our European weeks and using those points for St Kitts to supplement our home weeks there.
 

Bill4728

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it's simpler than all that. you think too much.

it's the exorbitant cost. FAR worse than developer prices way back when.

around $26,000+/- for 2500 points???? please.

so, buy more???? insane.

and for what? 2500 points are not enough points to take a decent week (or nights in smaller increments), unless it's shoulder or off-season, and in less popular resorts. and people skewer daily those who purchased from developer. Memory is short.

So why is it better now? That's the question. WHY do it at all? We have 18,000 DC points to play with every year if we want, and I still can't see the value...it diminishes to use the points. 5 nights instead of 7? Weeknights instead of weekends? Seems they're telling US when and where to go, instead of the reverse. I'm not buying it, literally or figuratively.


Addendum: item # 6 suggested to me that buying trust points was the thrust of the argument.
"Enrolling" is different, and given the cost, might be worthwhile some day as the owners' lives change. Straight-out buying of points is not wise, however.

Are you talking about enrolling your existing weeks in the DC or buying Trust Points to get into the marriott system? 2 different animals altogether.

{I am stictly talking a points purchase here and not enrolling}

Do you ever think that maybe it would be cheaper to just pay cash? I can get a 1BR suite at Timber Lodge for this New Years week for $519 per night on marriott.com. Or I could buy 5,225 points and use that instead. I can list examples all day long on the nonsensical nature of a points purchase. Marriott has fooled some 55,000 people so far but I am still beside myself on why it is cheaper to just book online.

Enrolling a legacy week I think is a no brainer. The cost is low and the flexibility that it added to your ownership is well worth the cost.


Buying a trust point ownership is ( as jme said) "it's the exorbitant cost"
Just way too much money!
 

suzannesimon

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Ah, now I understand, and agree that Weeks booked by owners for their use or rental can't be available for DC users, but that's true of any Weeks whether they're enrolled or not. What I thought you were saying is that enrolled Weeks can only be in the DC pool and un-enrolled Weeks can only be in the Weeks pool, and neither of those are true.

{I am stictly talking a points purchase here and not enrolling}

Do you ever think that maybe it would be cheaper to just pay cash? I can get a 1BR suite at Timber Lodge for this New Years week for $519 per night on marriott.com. Or I could buy 5,225 points and use that instead. I can list examples all day long on the nonsensical nature of a points purchase. Marriott has fooled some 55,000 people so far but I am still beside myself on why it is cheaper to just book online.

I think about it all the time. Cheaper than marriott.com may be TUG Marketplace or Redweek for rentals, especially if you are looking at a full week during the holidays. We rented Aruba Surf Club 3 bedroom for spring break next year. We would have been sitting around forever waiting for that trade to come through.
 

Pens_Fan

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Enrolling a legacy week I think is a no brainer. The cost is low and the flexibility that it added to your ownership is well worth the cost.

I own one week, rarely trade (or lockoff, or split).

Why would I want to give Marriott more up front money and pay them an additional yearly fee?

It was a no brainer for me not to join.
 

Saintsfanfl

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I think about it all the time. Cheaper than marriott.com may be TUG Marketplace or Redweek for rentals, especially if you are looking at a full week during the holidays. We rented Aruba Surf Club 3 bedroom for spring break next year. We would have been sitting around forever waiting for that trade to come through.

Agreed. I use the marriott.com example because it is so extreme and hard to dispute. Buying DC points from Marriott VC rather than booking on marriott.com is just like paying $20 cash for a $15 coupon. Who would pay $20 for a $15 coupon? Apparently 55,000 people if you print it on nice paper and put it in a fancy box.
 

Ralph Sir Edward

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From a legacy perspective, it can still work, for some people.

I inhereted a Royal Palm week in hurricane season (Sept). For some reason that points out higher than May. I prefer May, so I point out and reserve May. There are enough point left over to swap Orlando resorts every other year.

In this particular case, it works for me. Just another viewpoint.
 
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Saintsfanfl

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From a legacy perspective, it can still work, for some people.

I inhereted a Royal Palm week in hurricane season (Sept). For some reason that points out higher than May. I prefer May, so I point out and reserve May. There are enough point left over to swap Orlando resorts every other year.

In this particular case, it works for me. Just another viewpoint.

I would enroll if I could, just for the added flexibility. The corporate II account would also save me some exchange fees.
 

SueDonJ

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I think we sometimes forget that the great majority of Marriott owners and prospective customers simply aren't aware of a timeshare resale market and/or can't be bothered with searching out alternatives to non-Marriott/II home resort usage or exchanges.

It's not surprising at all to me that Marriott's Points product is appealing to existing owners or new prospects. The cost savings for owners who routinely exchange through II can be (currently) significant so enrollment for some is a no-brainer even if they never elect to convert their Weeks to DC Points. The creative Explorer options are very appealing to folks who have been with Marriott for years and are looking for different ways to vacation. The flexibility with banking and borrowing of Points allows prospects who might have been shut out of the Weeks product pricing a few years ago (when Weeks were upwards of $50K) to spend less and get into the gorgeous new resorts on a less-frequent basis. There's a lot that's good about the DC!

Of course, that "spend less" I mentioned is relative to Marriott's Weeks pricing prior to the DC rollout, and it makes very little (or no?) sense to TUGgers. But again, the vast majority of Marriott owners/prospects aren't TUGgers and may never look at anything online that's related to timeshares. For them the choice is buy from Marriott or don't buy at all, and Marriott's good product isn't IMO a waste of money if you're working with a budget that supports the expense. I haven't ever thought that Marriott has an obligation to let folks know that any of their products might be available elsewhere for less, and the DC doesn't change my opinion there.
 
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