[Ongoing] Has anyone received a premium Marriott trade 6-12 months out?

[thinze3]

We all have noticed the drop in available Marriott units in II's inventory since the inception of the DC. Has anyone received a premium trade at 6-13 months out?

By premium I am talking about a 2BR in Hawaii mid summer.
A 2BR at NCV mid summer or a 2BR at Grand Ocean mid summer.
A 2BR for mid Feb thru mid March at Mountainside.

These are all trades that were difficult before, but I'm wondering now if they are impossible.

 

[brigechols]

No. Have OGS for summer 2014 at HHI, NCV, and Spain. Also have an OGS for spring break 2015 at Park City. Using a 2 br platinum Ocean Pointe for the search.

 

[Quimby4]

I have had an on going search for NCV Mid July 2014 - Mid August 2014, since summer 2013.

Using 3 units, nothing.
Using 1 bedroom & Studio Gold DSV, wishing I hadn't locked them off to trade.

Just recently placed request for Ko'Olina for Easter 2015 so I don't expect that one to come through for a while since we are just 12 months out.

 

[thinze3]

I have a search ongoing for multiple properties in Hawaii (3) and Utah (2) for March '15 that has been in place for many months. I am using a Dec Waiohai that was deposited last May.

I also added Grand Ocean for summer '14 back in January. It's probably too late now for me to make that trip but I'm gonna wait a little longer.

Nothing has hit so far, but I have had some offers for lesser properties from II. Only recently did I call II and tell them that I would two exchange fees and accept a 1BR & a studio.

 

[Fayeoctober]

I am not sure if this meets your definition or not? We deposited our 2 bedroom 2 bathroom at Marriott Manor Club with Interval - last fall I think. I believe we may have gotten a July 4 week. I didn't put in an on-going search until a few months ago when my younger daughter finally set her wedding date.

I placed a search for Maui Ocean Club for late June of this year and received it not long after placing the search. I indicated we were willing to take a 1 bedroom sleeps 4 and that is what we received.

 

[dioxide45]

I am not sure if this meets your definition or not? We deposited our 2 bedroom 2 bathroom at Marriott Manor Club with Interval - last fall I think. I believe we may have gotten a July 4 week. I didn't put in an on-going search until a few months ago when my younger daughter finally set her wedding date.

I placed a search for Maui Ocean Club for late June of this year and received it not long after placing the search. I indicated we were willing to take a 1 bedroom sleeps 4 and that is what we received.

Terry's criteria was pretty steep. This doesn't look like it was 6-12 months out? And not a 2BR. Still a good trade though.

It does appear that prime trades are not there, though I thought I had seen a report of someone getting a Grande Ocean or Surfwatch summer trade. Though I can't find the posting now.

 

[hangloose]

I was able to get both a Hawaii Christmas (2 bdrm) and Hawaii NYE (1 bdrm) via an II exchange. My exchanges were both via GV 1brms. Both occurred 11 months out.

I hope Hawaii flights from the east coast during those times get cheaper. They are very pricey now ($1600-2000).

Anyone have a view into the potential for a Hawaii retrade within flexchange for a NYE week? I'd like to retrade into a 2 bedroom if possible.

 

[dioxide45]

Anyone have a view into the potential for a Hawaii retrade within flexchange for a NYE week? I'd like to retrade into a 2 bedroom if possible.

This is a craps shoot and if it does appear, it comes down to being at the right place at the right time. Chances of it showing up are low, chances of you snapping it up if it does appear are also low. So your chances are low, but not zero.

 

[BocaBoy]

This is splitting hairs, but I have always considered the toughest Hawaii reservations to be February, Christmas and New Year's. Mid-summer may be comparable for trades but it is easier to reserve two weeks at 13 months out because not as many people go for several weeks at a time in the summer. More family trips then for only a week or two. DC requires more points for Christmas, New Year's and President's week than for mid-summer. The rest of February is he same number of points as the summer weeks.

 

[Janette]

We have an early Feb week at Frenchman's Cove that we got through II. We were shocked to get it so early. Our trades into MFC for this time of year usually come in much later.

 

[hangloose]

This is a craps shoot and if it does appear, it comes down to being at the right place at the right time. Chances of it showing up are low, chances of you snapping it up if it does appear are also low. So your chances are low, but not zero.

Thanks. I figured the same. Worth a shot though once the time gets closer.

 

[Luvtoride]

Got an II trade for Grande Ocean

Hi Thinz and Dioxide,
I did post a few weeks back that I was successful getting a late August week at Grande Ocean in Hilton Head (2 bedroom) through II, using our Marriott Desert Spring Villas II week (it's a summer week which I had reserved for late summer going into Labor Day weekend). We had put in the request about 10 months out and got calls from II about once a month giving us a status and asking if we would want to expand our request of either dates or resorts. We did NOT change our specific request for that week at that Resort. We got a confirming email last month, in March, about 5 months before our reservation that the trade was confirmed. We were thrilled, but not shocked.
The best part is that we bought that DSV II week resale, through a classified here on TUG after having bought our previous 2 weeks at other resorts directly from Marriott over the last 15 years.
We like having both DC/trust points and a "legacy" week to use for for planning and trading purposes. It works well for us.
Good luck with your trade request.
Brian

 

[normab]

I was able to get both a Hawaii Christmas (2 bdrm) and Hawaii NYE (1 bdrm) via an II exchange. My exchanges were both via GV 1brms. Both occurred 11 months out.

We once exchanged for two weeks into HI with gold and silver units, and the exchanges came through within 2 weeks of placing them (KoOlina and Kauai Beach Club). I am wondering if these weeks are really as prime as one might think. Especially, I think it depends on the resorts you got. Maui Ocean Club, Kauai Beach Club and KoOlina seem to have lots of exchange availability, even at the holidays. If you got Waiohai, that's probably much tougher since it's a smaller resort.

 

[dioxide45]

We once exchanged for two weeks into HI with gold and silver units, and the exchanges came through within 2 weeks of placing them (KoOlina and Kauai Beach Club). I am wondering if these weeks are really as prime as one might think. Especially, I think it depends on the resorts you got. Maui Ocean Club, Kauai Beach Club and KoOlina seem to have lots of exchange availability, even at the holidays. If you got Waiohai, that's probably much tougher since it's a smaller resort.

When you say "once", was it before DC. I think Terry is looking for post DC prime exchanges as it seems that DC has affected II inventory for prime time.

I think that Kauai Beach Club and Ko'Olina are perhaps the two easiest resorts to exchange in to in Hawaii. Since I like to rank things, here is my ranking of easiest to most difficult Marriott Hawaii resorts to trade in to.

1. Kauai Beach Club
2. Ko'Olina
3. Maui Ocean Club (original)
4. Waiohai
5. Maui Ocean Club (Lahaina Napili Towers)
6. Kauai Lagoons

I think #1 and #2 are pretty close as are #3 and #4. #5 and #6 are considerably harder IMO.

 

[BocaBoy]

When you say "once", was it before DC. I think Terry is looking for post DC prime exchanges as it seems that DC has affected II inventory for prime time.

I think that Kauai Beach Club and Ko'Olina are perhaps the two easiest resorts to exchange in to in Hawaii. Since I like to rank things, here is my ranking of easiest to most difficult Marriott Hawaii resorts to trade in to.

1. Kauai Beach Club
2. Ko'Olina
3. Maui Ocean Club (original)
4. Waiohai
5. Maui Ocean Club (Lahaina Napili Towers)
6. Kauai Lagoons

I think #1 and #2 are pretty close as are #3 and #4. #5 and #6 are considerably harder IMO.

I agree with this whole list, but one thing still puzzles me about Ko Olina. My brother owns an EOY at Ko Olina (not in DC) and he tried last year to exchange a Ko Olina 1BR for another Ko Olina 1BR this January. The request was made at least 10 months ahead and he never got a hit. He finally broadened his search and quickly got a 1BR at Kauai Beach Club.

My theory was that maybe there are a lot of owners like me who used to trade their Ko Olina units through II (we often traded our studio) but now find it is better to exchange for DC points because you get 4950 DC points for a Ko Olina Ocean View week. Thus the supply of Ko Olina units in II is now much lower. Clearly it is rather easy to get Ko Olina reservations using DC points. I could not believe he could not trade a Ko Olina 1BR for another Ko Olina 1BR, especially with the home resort preference as a tiebreaker.

 

[taffy19]

We all have noticed the drop in available Marriott units in II's inventory since the inception of the DC. Has anyone received a premium trade at 6-13 months out?

By premium I am talking about a 2BR in Hawaii mid summer.
A 2BR at NCV mid summer or a 2BR at Grand Ocean mid summer.
A 2BR for mid Feb thru mid March at Mountainside.

These are all trades that were difficult before, but I'm wondering now if they are impossible.

No!

My last deposit with II wasn't a request first like I had tried the three years before without any success but we locked off the condo and we may have waited too long with doing this and depositing it in II.

Before the DC was introduced, I had an exchange within 24 hours but that was developer inventory and that is going to the trust inventory now and not to II anymore.

I deposited the whole 2 BR condo week 12 fourteen months out and requested week 13 for last year but ended up renting a condo that I had booked for a back-up, just in case. I even added a 2 BR condo in the original section in the last few months but nothing showed up.

My deposit expired at the end of March this year but I renewed it for another year but all I can see so far is a studio here and there.

We used 2015 points this year and that worked out very well for us and was confirmed on the spot but the skim is over 1,100 points so we will not do this again either unless we go to another location or sell or exchange our points through Greg's and Steven's website as it is easier than a direct exchange and less hassle than renting it out. Another option is to use and enjoy the 2 BR condo which we did this year.

That means that another week II will never get again so a week less for other Marriott owners to exchange into through II. The writing is on the wall and certainly at the resorts where owners are receiving a high point value for their week.

 

[dioxide45]

That means that another week II will never get again so a week less for other Marriott owners to exchange into through II. The writing is on the wall and certainly at the resorts where owners are receiving a high point value for their week.

I think this is the big issue with II trades for prime resorts in prime time. Those weeks that got a huge allotment of points simply don't show up in II anymore. People that didn't enroll them did so because they use the week most every year. Those that did enroll them won't deposit in II because Marriott gave them a better offer with gobs of points. The only II deposits we see are the few owners that didn't enroll and perhaps trade out every now and then or last minute Marriott banks. Of course post 6/20/2010 owners are forced to use II, but we generally don't encourage people to buy Hawaii to trade. There is little inventive for enrolled owners to deposit their week in to II when they can get so much more out of a DC deposit.

I think the opposite is true for low valued weeks in DC. We still see a lot of owner deposits getting in to II and Marriott seems to bulk bank weeks fairly well in advance (perhaps 4 to 7 months). Trading in to Orlando (anytime), West Palm Beach and Palm Desert (shoulder/off season) is pretty easy through II and a huge value over DC. I simply couldn't use the DC program to get the same trades I did for our 2013 deposits. I would have been over 7,000 points short. So II still seems to be the best value for trading off/shoulder season while DC seems to be best for prime season.

 

[dioxide45]

I agree with this whole list, but one thing still puzzles me about Ko Olina. My brother owns an EOY at Ko Olina (not in DC) and he tried last year to exchange a Ko Olina 1BR for another Ko Olina 1BR this January. The request was made at least 10 months ahead and he never got a hit. He finally broadened his search and quickly got a 1BR at Kauai Beach Club.

My theory was that maybe there are a lot of owners like me who used to trade their Ko Olina units through II (we often traded our studio) but now find it is better to exchange for DC points because you get 4950 DC points for a Ko Olina Ocean View week. Thus the supply of Ko Olina units in II is now much lower. Clearly it is rather easy to get Ko Olina reservations using DC points. I could not believe he could not trade a Ko Olina 1BR for another Ko Olina 1BR, especially with the home resort preference as a tiebreaker.

My list was more general given that it is pretty easy to exchange in to Ko'Olina and KBC because of the lock off units and the large number of 1BR and Studio deposits. Perhaps the list would be ordered slightly differently when trying to trade in to a 2BR. In that case, I may actually move Waiohai way up to number one from number four. The face that owners can't lock off forces them to deposit a full 2BR when they want to exchange and any Marriott deposits will be the same.

 

[BocaBoy]

My list was more general given that it is pretty easy to exchange in to Ko'Olina and KBC because of the lock off units and the large number of 1BR and Studio deposits. Perhaps the list would be ordered slightly differently when trying to trade in to a 2BR. In that case, I may actually move Waiohai way up to number one from number four. The face that owners can't lock off forces them to deposit a full 2BR when they want to exchange and any Marriott deposits will be the same.

I agree totally, but I am still puzzled by the difficulty I discussed with a 1 BR Ko Olina to Ko Olina trade. It is only one instance but still hard to figure.

 

[dioxide45]

I agree totally, but I am still puzzled by the difficulty I discussed with a 1 BR Ko Olina to Ko Olina trade. It is only one instance but still hard to figure.

Yes, that does seem puzzling. Though looking at the Sightings forum, I don't see any Ko'Olina reports for January 2013 except for some last minute deposits. Of course, Sightings are only leftovers seen online. I would have expected deposits the get caught by ongoing searches. Though do we know the week your brother actually deposited? Could it have been a low TDI/demand week? How far out was his deposit? It is possible that others were using a 2BR week at a lesser resort and were still trumping his request?

 

[Luvtoride]

There definitely have been changes

Good analysis, Dioxide.
That is exactly how we use our weeks/ DC points and as I said, having a combination of both allows us to usually get what we want to book. Depending on how intent we are to get a certain high season (1st week in Jan) at a high demand resort (Frenchman's Cove, STT) we will use our points. For other trips, like going to DSV in Palm Desert, where we own, I would never use points and would trade me week there thru II for the time I want to go.
We haven't tried trading to Hawaii as the trip is a long one from the East Coast. I'm sure we will eventually get there and will no doubt use our DC points, partly to be able to book days, not full weeks at various resorts on different islands.

When visiting the more "in demand" resorts now (Grande Ocean, Surf Club, Frenchman's Cove) and talking to other guests, I now find that most are owners at THAT resort and am finding fewer non-Marriott TS owners than I used to find prior to DC. And I have no doubt that that was part of Marriott's intent in implementing the DC program (in addition to higher income for Marriott).

 

[nokaoi9]

I believe the DC has weakened what gets deposited into II, but the bigger offender is the II membership for those of us who enrolled our week into the DC.

My wife and I own EOY at Ko Olina and were happy to visit Ko Olina on even years in a 1BR, and trade into Maui on odd years with our studio (Marriott and non-Marriott properties). With our week enrolled in the DC, we now primarily target Marriott weeks for odd years, including Ko Olina, to avoid paying an additional transfer fee on top of our $165 membership fee. For even years, if we see a 2BR available, we will trade our 1BR for a 2BR, and invite family or friends to join us. Again, this is something we would likely not have done previously because it didn't make sense to pay the exchange fee.

 

[reedps]

In summer of 2012, we made a request for summer 2013 with a 2 bdrm Grande Vista (late March week). We requested Hawaii resorts and then later added Grande Ocean and Barony. I can't remember exactly when the request was placed, but I know it was summer 2012. On August 26, 2012, we received confirmation for Grande Ocean July 7, 2013. Wonderful trade, but we had to throw it back because our daughter had tickets to see One Direction that week! I was sick about it, but we reinstated the search minus that week. In late September we received a match to Barony for the week of August 11. Again, we had to throw it back because we found out school started earlier than we expected. 3 days later we received Barony August 4 check in. I was pleased we did get several matches for HHI 10+ months out. It sounds like that's a rarity these days.

This year we started too late in requesting again for Hawaii. Rather than wait for a 2bd we took a 1 bd at Kauai Beach Club to ensure we'd have a place. It was an instant exchange. Would love to re trade for something larger on Kauai, but I'm happy with this if nothing else comes up. It's sad to see the decline in availability. We bought one week resale, so joining the DC isn't really something we were interested in when it was offered. It's my understanding we wouldn't be able to join now anyway (unless we made a big points purchase?). Hopefully we can still make good use of the week we have.

 

[BocaBoy]

Yes, that does seem puzzling. Though looking at the Sightings forum, I don't see any Ko'Olina reports for January 2013 except for some last minute deposits. Of course, Sightings are only leftovers seen online. I would have expected deposits the get caught by ongoing searches. Though do we know the week your brother actually deposited? Could it have been a low TDI/demand week? How far out was his deposit? It is possible that others were using a 2BR week at a lesser resort and were still trumping his request?

I don't know what week he deposited, but there are really no bad weeks at Ko Olina, only gradations of high demand. I actually think it may have been a summer week, but I could be wrong about that. I do know that their deposit and trade request were made over 10 months ahead. And they were asking for almost any week that had a January 2014 check-in date, so they were flexible. It is possible that some others were trumping him with 2BR units, but I don't think that can be all of the problem.

The irony is that I would have privately traded him my Ko Olina EOY even week for his EOY odd week before DC, but this time I did not have it because I had already exchanged mine for DC points. And I later rented my DC points because we are using MR points for a 1BR ocean view at Ko Olina this coming December. I never thought that would happen, but I had a travel package sitting there and the timing was perfect. Ko Olina is a good place for an owner to use MR points because they waive the parking charges for owners on MR points. We may get a lower floor but maybe not because it is a lower demand week. Even if we do, the trade off is still worth it.

 

[dioxide45]

We bought one week resale, so joining the DC isn't really something we were interested in when it was offered. It's my understanding we wouldn't be able to join now anyway (unless we made a big points purchase?). Hopefully we can still make good use of the week we have.

As long as you bought your resale week before 6/20/2010, you can still enroll it. Though the fee now is $2395. No need to purchase trust points.