- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 4,879
- Reaction score
- 4,429
- Points
- 599
- Resorts Owned
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Marriott:
Maui Ocean Club
Waiohai Beach Club
Barony Beach Club
Abound ClubPoints
HGVC:
HGVC at Sea World
My thoughts.
First, 7 days on Hawaii is generally not long enough....unless you are flying from U.S. West coast. Since you are in/out of LAX, the 5-6 hr flight makes a week long vacation doable. If flying from anywhere else, plan to stay at least 10 days.
I agree. We've never traveled to Hawaii for less than 10-12 days. Most trips over the last 25 years have been two or sometimes three weeks. The EOY MOC week we are contemplating would be for the week on Maui. We would need to use points or something else for the second week. My wife loves the Big Island, so we've talked about picking up an inexpensive HGVC week in Orlando or Vegas to use the HGVC system for the Big Island. IF we do that, it becomes more difficult to add a second EOY Marriott Hawaii week to be able to take advantage of the 13 month window. Except for that complication, an EOY MOC coupled with a EOY Kauai would be a perfect solution.
Second, we struggled with this same question. If you buy a single MOC week, can you consistently get a high demand week during peak season at 12 months out. While it sounds like it can happen if you are a little flexible on dates and/or day of the week, there is more concern expressed on TUG around the inability to do so rather than ability to. This made me too nervous to purchase a single MOC float week. As a result, we are in process of picking up 1 MOC EY week and 1 MKO EY week. We will plan to book both consecutive at 13 months, increasing our odds of success...while not guaranteeing our odds. We may also lock-off these weeks if needed, allowing us to book beyond 13 months out...which further increases on chances. In the end, it's a crap shoot. While I'd love to have a fixed week, that just doesn't work for our schedules now. It is also less financially palatable.
Third, if you only plan to go to MVC MOC EOY for 2 weeks, I agree that perhaps purchasing two EOY MOC weeks may be better than one annual. This allows you in the even or odd years to attempt to reserve 13 months in advance of your travel dates. It may cost slightly more in upfront purchase price for two EOY weeks vs one EY week, but being able to book at 13 months might be worth it. The other option..is purchase 2 EY weeks...and just rent the years you don't use. You can likely make over your maintenance fees at MOC.
Lastly, think about whether you want MOC old suites or new villas. Based on what I read on TUG, the old suites have a higher chance for a reservation at 13 months out than the newer villas. Some of this may depend on view, but something to consider.
It's certainly a conundrum for us. Having the MOC EOY week coupled with enough points to allow us to choose between Kauai, Big Island, and KoOlina on different trips is the ideal solution. But that means being a single week MOC owner and having to have enough points to book the second/third island, PLUS have enough points to use for other MVC destinations in the years we don't go to Hawaii. That's where the hybrid works really, really well, but at a significant cost.
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