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Help with a Difficult Decision

ml855

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I am so up and down with a difficult decision. My husband has left it up to me on what we should do. My son moved to Oahu about a year ago and we're hoping to go visit him about once a year till he leaves the island. Here's what we're been talking about, what's your ideas?

- purchase a resale 2 BR annual at KoOlina
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grande Vista and lock-off to exchange through II
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grand Chateau and lock-off to exchange through II
- don't purchase a new timeshare at all and keep doing what I'm doing at the moment.

At the moment I have an ongoing search through II for a 2 BR at KoOlina using my 1 BR Manor Club. We need a 2 BR in order to take our other 2 sons as well. Do you believe I'll get this exchange for anytime from mid-June through September, 2020.

My husband wanted to lock off our 2 BR Manor Club in order to get two weeks of vacations. I'm afraid we won't be able to pull a 2 BR with our 1 BR unit.
 

presley

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I wouldn't buy a timeshare in hopes that I could find an exchange for somewhere else in a particular timeframe on an ongoing basis. I would keep using my current timeshare to attempt to get an exchange. If that doesn't work out, you can always rent something.
 

klpca

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I don't know about the specifics of Ko Olina deposits in the summer so perhaps it's doable, but if you absolutely need a two bedroom, I'd deposit the whole two bedroom Manor Club to be able to put in an ongoing search. Between preference and the OGS, it will be your best shot. If you deposit the one bedroom, I suspect that you would get a one bedroom on the initial exchange, then you'd have to add eplus and do many manual searches to get the 2 bedroom unit - and there's no guarantee that you would get what you need. Or you could just rent. How long is your son planning on being on Oahu? I'm not sure that I would purchase anything if this is a short term issue.
 

MOXJO7282

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I would say if you weren't expecting a 2BDRM and were OK with Sept I think a 3BDRM PLAT would get you to Oahu for 2 weeks. There is a chance you could get a 2BDRM for the 2BDRM GV in Sept but much lower chances during the summer months you mention.
 

Dean

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I am so up and down with a difficult decision. My husband has left it up to me on what we should do. My son moved to Oahu about a year ago and we're hoping to go visit him about once a year till he leaves the island. Here's what we're been talking about, what's your ideas?

- purchase a resale 2 BR annual at KoOlina
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grande Vista and lock-off to exchange through II
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grand Chateau and lock-off to exchange through II
- don't purchase a new timeshare at all and keep doing what I'm doing at the moment.

At the moment I have an ongoing search through II for a 2 BR at KoOlina using my 1 BR Manor Club. We need a 2 BR in order to take our other 2 sons as well. Do you believe I'll get this exchange for anytime from mid-June through September, 2020.

My husband wanted to lock off our 2 BR Manor Club in order to get two weeks of vacations. I'm afraid we won't be able to pull a 2 BR with our 1 BR unit.
He's in the service? If so, where is he stationed and where does he live. Regardless I would not buy a timeshare now for a few years or trips. I do think it likely you'll get that exchange if it's a Platinum week. If you end up renting a condo, timeshare or even a hotel room (or 2), I think that's better than buying a timeshare for a limited usage, esp as expensive as the dues are in HI. Going forward you might want to improve your chances and use the full 2 BR given the level of importance to you.
 

echino

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September is an easy exchange if you deposit a 2br Marriott and do an ongoing search.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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I am so up and down with a difficult decision. My husband has left it up to me on what we should do. My son moved to Oahu about a year ago and we're hoping to go visit him about once a year till he leaves the island. Here's what we're been talking about, what's your ideas?

- purchase a resale 2 BR annual at KoOlina
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grande Vista and lock-off to exchange through II
- purchase a resale 3 BR at Grand Chateau and lock-off to exchange through II
- don't purchase a new timeshare at all and keep doing what I'm doing at the moment.

At the moment I have an ongoing search through II for a 2 BR at KoOlina using my 1 BR Manor Club. We need a 2 BR in order to take our other 2 sons as well. Do you believe I'll get this exchange for anytime from mid-June through September, 2020.

My husband wanted to lock off our 2 BR Manor Club in order to get two weeks of vacations. I'm afraid we won't be able to pull a 2 BR with our 1 BR unit.



If occupation in Hawaii is your goal why would you even consider buying something other than in Hawaii ??? Don't waste time "gambling" on an Interval International trade for something which may or may not materialize.

Buy the Ko Olina week, and make your reservations a year in advance whenever you wish to go to Oahu.

By the way, Marriott's Ko Olina is a fantastic trader, so at the point you son moves away from Hawaii you will be able to easily trade to wherever you want to go. Keep in mind that all Ko Olina weeks are always Platinum weeks.

These are easy to sell should you ever decide to sell your Ko Olina week in the future (brisk demand for them from folks in Japan and the USA).





.
 

VacationForever

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I agree that if you want to have a guaranteed 2BR at MKO in summer season then buy one. After a few years you can resell it and you are likely to be able to sell for about what you buy for. Getting a 2BR summer exchange into MKO is a gamble. Even if it comes through, it may be fairly last minute which means expensive airfare. Owning at MKO you can book 12 or 13 months, if you can piggy back the reservation with Manor Club, ahead of time which gives you plenty of time to find decent airfare.
 

GrayFal

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The dates of Mid June to September make me think the OP has school age children. School vacation is going to be tough even with a 2BR for a 2BR exchange.
 

davidvel

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It will cost at least $3000 to rent a 2BR Ko Olina from an owner during the summer. You should factor that into your evaluation.
 

vacationtime1

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All children -- even adult children -- do things to confound us. How long will your son live on Oahu? Is that guaranteed (obviously not)? How will you feel if you buy a timeshare -- especially an expensive Hawaii timeshare -- and your son moves back to the mainland? Would you continue to use it or is this purchase specific to visiting your son (many east coast people find Hawaii too far away and prefer the Caribbean)?

Where does he live on Oahu? If Honolulu, the traffic can be terrible to Ko Olina. Is that acceptable? Are there timeshares closer to where he lives (think: Hilton)?

If it were me, I would rent. ymmv
 

taterhed

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I would NOT buy Hawaii unless you're planning on using it for 10 yrs. Not a bad idea.....but not what you stated.
Hawaii is a BIG commitment. Airfares are not really the worst part of it--they are pretty steady in price unless you have zero flexibility.
The COST of the airfares and the commitment are the problem. I'm an east coast flyer.......Hawaii for 7 days is nuts from the east coast.
At least they have some direct flights from EWR/IAD.


You can definitely get exchanges with Marriott Pref. in early, early summer or late, late summer. Middle of the summer....yikes.
I think you can definitely get exchanges in the <59 day window (I can attest to this personally). Not easy. Takes a lot of spare time and screen gazing.

It's a pickle. Probably gonna take 2br to pull it (or 3br Worldmark.)

Personally, I'd buy another Marriott that I would regularly use or felt comfortable trading.....(2br MGR?) The Florida club Grande Vista can get you some nice Florida beach locations, trades well and could get you MKO 2br Summer-shoulder if you worked it.
much cheaper, much lower MF's.

Again, I wouldn't buy unless I was going to keep it for a while.....I think the MGV/MGR units are climbing in price, so not a bad deal.

If you can get $3k rental for MKO 2br....that's not much vs the price of buying and owning. Especially for 2/3 years.
 

silentg

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We stayed at Ko Olina at a timeshare week we rented from a tug member.
PM me for info.
 

easyrider

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We rented a two bedroom Ko Olina ocean view in December for $2500. I think the mf is like $2200. There are plenty of Oahu rentals.

Bill
 

ml855

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Thanks all for your comments. We put a lot of thought into everything and talked this evening and decided not to purchase at this time since we have no idea how long our son will be on Oahu. He tells us that they would like to stay for about 5 - 10 years but that could change anytime. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I pick up an exchange through II using our Manor Club week. Otherwise we'll rent a villa for next summer.
 

taterhed

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Another thought:

You can probably get a nice place on Kauai--easier and quicker--than Oahu.
Plus, I love Kauai....Oahu; not so much.

You son can take the Island hopper over and be with you. Cheap. Also, normally considered 'local area' for leave requirements with pre-paid tickets.(if that's the gig)
If you REALLY need to see the traffic heat and crowds (everybody should at least once...) than you could plan a stop-over on Oahu, stay in a hotel or short term rental for a day or two (or 3) and then move on to Maui or Kauai for the week. Again, Island hopper tickets are cheap and you could maximize the visit.

Just a thought.
 

jpc763

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Thanks all for your comments. We put a lot of thought into everything and talked this evening and decided not to purchase at this time since we have no idea how long our son will be on Oahu. He tells us that they would like to stay for about 5 - 10 years but that could change anytime. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I pick up an exchange through II using our Manor Club week. Otherwise we'll rent a villa for next summer.
Is your Manor Club week enrolled in the Destinations Program? If so, look at the cost of renting Ko Olina with points and rent the difference.
 

ml855

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I'm so excited this morning. We changed our plans and was able to exchange into both KoOlina and Maui back to back using both sides of my Manor Club week for May. I love being able to retrade. There was a bulk deposit just before 7 am and I was up and on the computer as every morning looking for September. When I saw that I could do back to back weeks on Hawaii in May we decided to change our plans and go in May instead of September.

Love lock offs and being able to retrade.
 

davidvel

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I'm so excited this morning. We changed our plans and was able to exchange into both KoOlina and Maui back to back using both sides of my Manor Club week for May. I love being able to retrade. There was a bulk deposit just before 7 am and I was up and on the computer as every morning looking for September. When I saw that I could do back to back weeks on Hawaii in May we decided to change our plans and go in May instead of September.

Love lock offs and being able to retrade.
Great to hear! Yes, May is a great/easy month to trade into Hawaii.
 
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