Advice on best option to secure a spot during spring break

dpico · Nov 18, 2015

I recently was given 2 2-bedroom timeshares at the Royal Palms in Orlando by my parents. One is a Red week while 1 is a white week. My first year of use is 2017. I have little desire to travel to Orlando. I do however have an interest in going to the Caribbean (Aruba Surf Club, Aruba Ocean Club or Frenchman's Cove in the VI). I have children so I am constrained by school schedules, etc. Ideally I would like to get a 2 bedroom unit at any of these locations for the week of March 18-25, 2017.

I expect that I will end up paying $2,395 to enroll the units and would potentially have 3,800 destination points. In looking at the point charts, I would need about 4,650. From what I understand, it is relatively easy to rent additional points to get me to this level.

The other option is first reserve a week at the home resort for a good week (early March?), deposit with II and then request any of those locations.

The 2nd route is cheaper and lets me use the other week for something else so is preferable.

From what I have been reading there are different portfolios of rooms to choose from in either scenario. In your experience, what would be the best option to reserve something?

Thank you for your insight.

jimf41 · Nov 18, 2015

This info is for Frenchmans Cove. The week you are looking for is a Platinum Plus week. The chances of you getting a trade through II with one of the weeks your folks gave is probably zero. If you try to use DC points it won't be 4650 it will be 5725 points for that week. I've never tried to get Presidents week at the Cove with points because I own it. DC points work well on other plat season weeks though and I have been very successful getting those weeks with DC points.

I'll let the folks more familiar with Aruba comment about your chances there but I don't think the situation will be much different.

dpico · Nov 18, 2015

I think you are getting the dates wrong. President's day is on February 20th not in March.

I just double checked the points calendar from Marriott and for the period of Feb 24-April 6th 2017 a 2 bedroom is 4,125 points. The Aruba ones were closer to 4,600.

jimf41 · Nov 18, 2015

Sorry, I did misread the date as February instead of March. Old age kicking in I guess. In that case your chances of getting the week are near 100% with DC points. The question now is, is it worth it. You'll have to pay the two MFs on the Palms units plus $2395 to join the DC exchange plus another $200 or so to rent the extra points. That should bring you up to about $5000. That's within the range of what that week rents for direct from Marriott before any discounts you might be eligible for. On any one of the rental sites I'm sure you could pick up that week for about $2500, probably less.

I haven't traded in II since the advent of the DC exchange so I'm not sure what your chances are with one of your Palms weeks. I would guess not great but certainly possible.

NboroGirl · Nov 18, 2015

jimf41 said:
Sorry, I did misread the date as February instead of March. Old age kicking in I guess. In that case your chances of getting the week are near 100% with DC points. The question now is, is it worth it. You'll have to pay the two MFs on the Palms units plus $2395 to join the DC exchange plus another $200 or so to rent the extra points. That should bring you up to about $5000. That's within the range of what that week rents for direct from Marriott before any discounts you might be eligible for. On any one of the rental sites I'm sure you could pick up that week for about $2500, probably less.

This is what I would do. Rent the week from an owner if you can get it for around $2500, then you can rent your weeks out to help offset the cost.

If you plan on doing this often, then you should probably bite the bullet and pay to enroll your weeks.

Big Matt · Nov 18, 2015

I would think that the white week is relatively worthless from both a points and trading power perspective. Try to get rid of it. You will get killed in maintenance fees for a property that is worth next to nothing, gets very few points, and won't trade well.

The red week should trade fine in II and even though you may not have as many points as you need, you can always borrow from the next year to get close to enough points for a nice Caribbean vacation every other year. Summer is much easier to get at Frenchman's Reef and Aruba and the points required are very low. Same with Ocean Point.

dpico · Nov 18, 2015

Thank you both for your comments! I looked in Redweek at a comparable week during this year and I saw plenty of units for rent. 1 bedrooms were generally in the $2,500 range while 2 bedrooms (which is what I would need) were in the $3,500 range. Not too many units available there for Royal Palms but it looks like I could get maybe $1,500 for the red week and another $1,000 or so for the White week. Certainly something to consider.

Thank you

MULTIZ321 · Nov 18, 2015

Welcome to Tug, Dpico!

You're getting some great advice from Tuggers. I suggest you join Tug and become a Tug Member. It would be $15 well spent. In addition, as a member you would have access to the Tug Resort Reviews. Great information to have to help with exchange decisions.

Richard

dneveu · Nov 19, 2015

Welcome to Tug, we hope you will become a member. Occasionally some of the resorts have " rollbacks" where they allow you to enroll eligible weeks at the original MVC enrollment pricing of $595 for one week or $695 for multiple weeks.

We were in Palm Springs recently when this promotion was going on. They sent an email in advance about the promotion as enticement to attend an owner's session. Apparently they run this promotion every so often. Appears it is to entice owners (there) who love using their original weeks to enroll in the points program.

We own both a platinum week and Fall/early summer week at Cypress Harbor in Florida. Rarely do we go to Florida. With the lower tiered week we either reserve the 1st or 2nd week in June or Thanksgiving. With the platinum week we generally reserve Easter/spring break. Over the years these have traded well. considering the initial investment came from my parents (inherited as well) we have been happy.

radmoo · Nov 19, 2015

We own a platinum MRriott canyon villas week. The first few years I played the exchange game which was stressful. Then Imstwrted reserving a prime March spring break week which b then rented out. With that, I pay MFs and am able to rent an extra week at our royal Haciendas resort. I agree that renting out your weeks might be better option for you.

Quilter · Nov 19, 2015

dpico said:
Thank you both for your comments! I looked in Redweek at a comparable week during this year and I saw plenty of units for rent. 1 bedrooms were generally in the $2,500 range while 2 bedrooms (which is what I would need) were in the $3,500 range. Not too many units available there for Royal Palms but it looks like I could get maybe $1,500 for the red week and another $1,000 or so for the White week. Certainly something to consider.

Thank you

Is that clearing $1,500 and $1,000 after you pay your maintenance fees?

dpico · Nov 19, 2015

No the $1,500 and $1,000 were an estimate of what I could rent each week for. My maintenance fees are also about a$2,500 so it would be a wash.

Quilter · Nov 19, 2015

dpico said:
No the $1,500 and $1,000 were an estimate of what I could rent each week for. My maintenance fees are also about a$2,500 so it would be a wash.

This post is not meant to be a downer. It is merely trying to point out some realities of owning your timeshares.

I rent many weeks a year. It's time consuming but I get a decent income from my efforts to cover maintenance fees. Each year I have to time when I will reserve the week. Then I need to determine when and where to post ads here and/or redweek. http://www.redweek.com/rent-or-sell-my-timeshare Redweek memberships run for 1 year at $14.99. Ads are $24.99 for 6 months. On top of that, if your weeks are not enrolled in the DC program, you will have II membership and trading fees.

It will be time consuming to reserve your Royal Palms weeks simply to pay the maintenance fees. Please think about a plan that works for your family. Maybe when your parents bought Royal Palms it was a dream to them to return to Orlando with you and possibly the other MVCI resorts that were built at the time. Now that you own them Orlando isn't an immediate appeal but the Caribbean properties are looking glamourous. You will need to make the trip to see if they live up to your expectations. Add up the fees to see what makes the best sense, renting or trading, for you to try them.

Your i.d. does give a location for where you would be traveling from. There are many places right here in the States where you can trade your Orlando timeshares for a wonderful family vacation. Since you are confined to school vacations think about Hilton Head or southeast Florida right after school gets out as a way to celebrate the beginning of summer. Then for the winter or spring breaks rent a week. Let someone else who has the capabilities take care of securing the week you need without the gamble of whether you'll get the exchange.

Seaport104 · Nov 19, 2015

jimf41 said:
The question now is, is it worth it. You'll have to pay the two MFs on the Palms units plus $2395 to join the DC exchange plus another $200 or so to rent the extra points. That should bring you up to about $5000.

The $2,395 DC fee is a one time enrollment fee

GreenTea · Nov 19, 2015

If you are not the original purchaser, how can you enroll it for the $23XX? If a deed is passed down, the name change can happen and you still maintain the original purchaser right to enroll?

SueDonJ · Nov 19, 2015

GreenTea said:
If you are not the original purchaser, how can you enroll it for the $23XX? If a deed is passed down, the name change can happen and you still maintain the original purchaser right to enroll?

This OP got his Weeks from his parents and Marriott allows rights to follow with transfers among "family members" of Weeks/Points. I believe TUGger BocaBoy has looked into this extensively and learned that "family members" are considered as those following blood lines.

GreenTea · Nov 19, 2015

Great information. Thank you.

jpc763 · Nov 19, 2015

Hello. I own at Imperial Palms with a “Special” season. I believe that it is the same as your Red week. It is also in the same location as your units although mine is a 3BR. I bought it in 1999 and use it almost exclusively as a trader. Here is my trading history including the week I reserved and the week I received from Interval International

Year Reserve Exchange Location
2000 12/23/2000 11/17/2000 Marriott Grande Vista 3BR
2001 4/7/2001 11/4/2001 Marriott Maui Ocean Club
2002 3/23/2002 6/1/2002 Royal Sands Resort Cancun
2003 Exchanged for 125,000 Marriott Reward Points
2004 3/13/2004 11/1/2003 Marriott Imperial Palms
2005 1/22/2005 Occupied Marriott Imperial Palms
2006 1/6/2006 2/18/06 Marriott Shadow Ridge
2007 3/03/07 12/09/06 Marriott Ko Olina
2008 3/22/08 11/7/08 Marriott Heritage Club @ Harbor Town
2009 3/14/09 3/14/09 Marriott Newport Coast Villas
2010 3/13/10 11/20/10 Marriott Ocean Pointe
2011 3/26/09 3/26/09 Marriott Ko Olina
2012 3/31/12 11/18/12 Marriott Imperial Palms
2013 3/30/13 3/29/13 Marriott Shadow Ridge
2014 3/29/14 11/23/14 Sands of Kahana Maui
2015 DC Points 4/3/15 Marriott Newport Coast Villas
2016 3/26/16 11/20/16 Marriott Shadow Ridge

As you can see, since the kids got older, my travel has been Thanksgiving and Spring Break. I have always been able to trade my 3BR (which I always book for Easter Week) for my desired location.

I am enrolled in points but have only converted to points once. The reason is that Orlando Weeks do not pull a lot of points and I have had better luck trading for a full week where I want to go.

I have been offered Aruba once but it was a Thursday check-in and I could not use it. I ended up returning it to Interval and got a Ko Olina week instead (Spring Break 2011).

John

Quilter · Nov 19, 2015

jpc763 said:
Hello. I own at Imperial Palms with a “Special” season. I believe that it is the same as your Red week. It is also in the same location as your units although mine is a 3BR. I bought it in 1999 and use it almost exclusively as a trader. Here is my trading history including the week I reserved and the week I received from Interval International

Year Reserve Exchange Location
2000 12/23/2000 11/17/2000 Marriott Grande Vista 3BR
2001 4/7/2001 11/4/2001 Marriott Maui Ocean Club
2002 3/23/2002 6/1/2002 Royal Sands Resort Cancun
2003 Exchanged for 125,000 Marriott Reward Points
2004 3/13/2004 11/1/2003 Marriott Imperial Palms
2005 1/22/2005 Occupied Marriott Imperial Palms
2006 1/6/2006 2/18/06 Marriott Shadow Ridge
2007 3/03/07 12/09/06 Marriott Ko Olina
2008 3/22/08 11/7/08 Marriott Heritage Club @ Harbor Town
2009 3/14/09 3/14/09 Marriott Newport Coast Villas
2010 3/13/10 11/20/10 Marriott Ocean Pointe
2011 3/26/09 3/26/09 Marriott Ko Olina
2012 3/31/12 11/18/12 Marriott Imperial Palms
2013 3/30/13 3/29/13 Marriott Shadow Ridge
2014 3/29/14 11/23/14 Sands of Kahana Maui
2015 DC Points 4/3/15 Marriott Newport Coast Villas
2016 3/26/16 11/20/16 Marriott Shadow Ridge

As you can see, since the kids got older, my travel has been Thanksgiving and Spring Break. I have always been able to trade my 3BR (which I always book for Easter Week) for my desired location.

I am enrolled in points but have only converted to points once. The reason is that Orlando Weeks do not pull a lot of points and I have had better luck trading for a full week where I want to go.

I have been offered Aruba once but it was a Thursday check-in and I could not use it. I ended up returning it to Interval and got a Ko Olina week instead (Spring Break 2011).

John

Impressive but it is a 3 bedroom. They carry a very high trade value.

jpc763 · Nov 19, 2015

Quilter said:
Impressive but it is a 3 bedroom. They carry a very high trade value.

Yes it does have a higher trade value. I expect that a Royal Palms Red week would trade pretty well. Probably not pull everything on the list, but it would pull a lot of good resorts.

Superchief · Nov 20, 2015

I have owned a Royal Palms Red week for many years and have had several successful trades. Until recently, I would often convert to 110K MR points, but the value is no longer there. Although RP receives relatively low VC points, I converted this year to VC points because the 2 year banking option provides more flexibility than an II exchange.

For spring break, you may want to consider Newport Coast Villas. It shouldn't be a difficult exchange and weather is typically good in spring, although it is not a 'beach' destination.

Big Matt · Nov 21, 2015

OP,
now that you have seen all of these posts go back and re-read my original post about the white week. While the red week should trade fine and garner a good amount of destination points, the white week will not. Because the maintenance fees are the same, you are paying way too much in maintenance for the two units combined. You will be only marginally better off with the white week even though you are paying double the maintenance fees of the red week. If that's okay to you then I'll drop it, but I think you need to understand the portfolio in two parts and not just combined. You could get that white week for nothing on the open market. You may want to try to give it away

dpico · Nov 21, 2015

Thanks everyone. I think I am going to enroll both weeks and just use points to book Aruba. I may have to rent a few hundred points but that should be easy enough.

Big Matt - thanks for the notes. I get what you are saying about the white week not being worth anything. That appears to be the case for trading. As far as points though, I am getting 1,675 points. for the white and would get 2,125 for the red. I am not sure it makes sense to essentially give the white one away if generally speaking I am going to needing those points on a regular basis.

Fasttr · Nov 21, 2015

dpico said:
Big Matt - thanks for the notes. I get what you are saying about the white week not being worth anything. That appears to be the case for trading. As far as points though, I am getting 1,675 points. for the white and would get 2,125 for the red. I am not sure it makes sense to essentially give the white one away if generally speaking I am going to needing those points on a regular basis.

I think Big Matt's point regarding the White week is that you will be paying $1,300 or so in MF's to get you those 1,675 points. Alternatively, you can rent those 1,675 points for around $800-850...."costing" you close to $500 annually.

Having the Red week gets you in the game, once enrolled, gets you an account in the DC...and from there, you can transfer in (rent) as many points as you need at the current rental fee costs. So he is saying that having the White week would actually cost you more annually, than not having it...especially if you are using it for points.

MULTIZ321 · Nov 21, 2015

Hi Dpico,

Congrats on deciding to become a Tug Member! and once again, Welcome.

Richard

Advice on best option to secure a spot during spring break

dpico

jimf41

dpico

jimf41

NboroGirl

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Big Matt

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dneveu

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Quilter

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