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About to become a MVC owner...need some advice on trading

SteelerGal

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The fees do add up. I recently exchanged into Hyatt(tried Desert but it’s Prime Season):
Exchange Fee: $209(MVC to MVC is free)
Upgrade fee: $79

I actually extended my II Membership and upgraded to Platinum since we normally upgrade to 2bdrm.

Also think about when you will be tied to school or extracurricular schedule. Our children are young as well but school demands keep us to their school schedule. We are going Big Island October 2020 because school starts in August and work conflicts.
 

HudsHut

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II now allows members to request larger units than that which they deposit. You just authorize the unit size you want and that you are aware of the upsize fee or $99/step.
If someone wants 2br units, and has a Marriott lock-off, the standard upsize fees would be:
1br to 2br = $99 (Platinum = $59)
Studio to 2br = $198 (Platinum = $118)

I recommend that you keep an eye out for the Platinum 2 for 1 membership sale. By upgrading to Platinum, the upsize fee is $59/step. I save $120 each year just in upsize fees -- which is just about break even on the (non-discounted) Platinum Membership. If I have any Guest Certificates, then I'm ahead.
 

Steve Fatula

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I am not sure how or when that may happen?
I have had dozens of Ongoing searches successfully fulfilled.

I have posted about an exchange I have gotten in these forums before, and, someone else posted they had an OGS and didn't get it. Seen it reported quite a few times too. I realize some believe OGS always trumps manual searches, but it does not. Definitely the best is to do both. I don't know why or how, is it a bug, etc., but it's gone on for many years. And not just last minute, not speaking of those within 60 days.

I am a daily manual searcher when I have a specific place in mind.
 

vacationtime1

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I really appreciate all the input...it is very helpful.

To answer some of the questions:
- I’m ok with 1 bedrooms, and we could make a studio work if we have to (our kids are still young)
- we are ok with off season and actually prefer it because it’s cheaper. We don’t mind pulling our kids out of school for vacation. So we are flexible on our travel.
- I’m not sure about all the trading fees, but I guess I’m ok with it since I got bought the resale for relatively cheap ($1250).

Maybe we can lock off the unit and do one week at GC one year, then try to trade the other unit for a week in Hawaii the other year and plan way ahead.

Kids? Why do you want to cram yourselves and kids into a one bedroom unit -- or worse, a studio? One of the major benefits of timesharing is sufficient space. A week in a studio with kids will not make for a restful vacation, even in Hawaii. As the kids get bigger, even a one bedroom unit will be too small.
 

bazzap

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I have posted about an exchange I have gotten in these forums before, and, someone else posted they had an OGS and didn't get it. Seen it reported quite a few times too. I realize some believe OGS always trumps manual searches, but it does not. Definitely the best is to do both. I don't know why or how, is it a bug, etc., but it's gone on for many years. And not just last minute, not speaking of those within 60 days.

I am a daily manual searcher when I have a specific place in mind.
It certainly can’t do any harm to manually search as well as running an OGS.
All it costs is time.
I have just had an OGS confirmed for December 2020 and as I am sure I have posted before I have only ever had one in almost 20 years not confirmed (and I am very specific with my requests)
I will certainly try manual searches if ever I am not successful.
The one time I did not get the OGS confirmed, I added another resort / date to my exchange request and got a 3 Bed unit in Marbella for my Studio in Grand Chateau.
Perhaps I am just very lucky?
 
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Dean

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I really appreciate all the input...it is very helpful.

To answer some of the questions:
- I’m ok with 1 bedrooms, and we could make a studio work if we have to (our kids are still young)
- we are ok with off season and actually prefer it because it’s cheaper. We don’t mind pulling our kids out of school for vacation. So we are flexible on our travel.
- I’m not sure about all the trading fees, but I guess I’m ok with it since I got bought the resale for relatively cheap ($1250).

Maybe we can lock off the unit and do one week at GC one year, then try to trade the other unit for a week in Hawaii the other year and plan way ahead.
I would encourage you to plan for 5-15 years down the road, not where you are now. When the kids are older are those plans still workable, my guess is they are not. If you have no more than 2 and they are both of the same gender, you can make a studio or 1 BR work for a while, likely until the oldest is around a teenager. If you have 3 or more or they are not the same gender, a studio or 1 BR won't work within just a few short years. Also as the kids age it's very likely your flexibility will go away when it comes to pulling them out of school and extracurriculars. We pulled our kids out of school most years but the last time we did was when the oldest was 8th grade and that didn't go well, 6th grade should have been the last time. So in your situation I'd view that you really are somewhat tied to a school calendar. It also sounds like you'd prefer a 2 BR, I would in your situation, thus I'm back to thinking this is not a great long term plan as the only or even main method of vacationing.
 

dan_hoog

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Our family, two parents and two kids, both in high school now, have really enjoyed timeshares. we bought about 18 years ago. Owning timeshares has driven us to always take many real vacations. Sometimes these are in our home resorts, sometimes in II exchanges, sometimes we've rented out our units and rented elsewhere. However, it has anchored the vacation planning cycle.

The only hitch in this long road was a 'trader' we purchased initially. It was a relatively inexpensive resale, from Marriott resales, at their salesman's recommendation (Harbour Point, HHI). It was a waste of time, energy, and money before we knew it. I recall we got a couple of decent trades that aligned with our usage needs. These were off-season or pre-school age. Then, deposits started building up in II. I gave away a couple of off-season usage / low-level resort weeks to family. Eventually, we disposed of that timeshare. We liked HHI by the way, but not that resort or its ability to trade.

Early on, we ignored the school schedules sometimes, for at least one vacation. We had a school tell us in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable - with the older one in about 3rd grade. Since then, we always align with the school calendar, though we missed a day once or twice due to the travel schedule.

Our other units, all Marriott, peak season, primish views, (aruba ocean view, myrtle ocean front x2) have traded quickly and successfully every time. My problem is the mostly downgraded unit types we got on trade. I like a solid view of the main attraction, usually a nearby body of water. I don't want to wonder until check-in whether I'm looking at a parking lot, playground, or the ocean.

The prime-season/prime-view units do trade easily though. If II solves the unit-view-type visibility problem, I might check it out again. More recently, we added/enrolled in the points program, which isn't as cost-effective but gives us the flexibility and choice we want.

I recommend buying stronger to trade and that you might actually use occasionally. I think the other advice here is valid too and they are very knowledgeable. However, I wanted to convey trade maximization is not for the faint of heart, picky, or schedule constrained. I also believe it is getting a little more difficult each year to make great trades happen. Persistence and flexibility are key. A clearly good enough trader will help enormously. I recommend not trying to squeeze every bit of trading power out.
 

Calba205

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I am a new owner also and just made my first exchange and I’m not sure if I made a poor exchange. I took my reservation for my 2bd at MGV for Easter week with a 145 TDI and I paid the lock off fee and deposited it for exchange. I have no idea where I’m going to go in 2020 so my intention was to try to trade both separate units up with ePlus into larger units and hopefully with time and effort exchange them into resorts with fairly high demand and larger units. I was searching yesterday morning early before work and saw, with my studio unit, an exchange available to Marriott Newport Coast 2bedrooms and because I know it’s a high demand resort and it was 2 bedrooms, I exchanged it. However, the week I exchanged for is a 105 TDI week - and I know TDI is not the end all be all - but still probably not in high demand because it’s September 27-October 4. I did purchase ePlus but I did I just make a poor decision as far as choosing a resort and week that will give me better trade power than a MGV studio Easter week? My excitement seeing Newport Coast in II got the best of me and I pulled the trigger without much thought.
 

Theiggy

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I am a new owner also and just made my first exchange and I’m not sure if I made a poor exchange. I took my reservation for my 2bd at MGV for Easter week with a 145 TDI and I paid the lock off fee and deposited it for exchange. I have no idea where I’m going to go in 2020 so my intention was to try to trade both separate units up with ePlus into larger units and hopefully with time and effort exchange them into resorts with fairly high demand and larger units. I was searching yesterday morning early before work and saw, with my studio unit, an exchange available to Marriott Newport Coast 2bedrooms and because I know it’s a high demand resort and it was 2 bedrooms, I exchanged it. However, the week I exchanged for is a 105 TDI week - and I know TDI is not the end all be all - but still probably not in high demand because it’s September 27-October 4. I did purchase ePlus but I did I just make a poor decision as far as choosing a resort and week that will give me better trade power than a MGV studio Easter week? My excitement seeing Newport Coast in II got the best of me and I pulled the trigger without much thought.

You made the right decision if it’s somewhere you want to go, when you want to go! Certainly it’s worth an Orlando studio! Besides that, your trading power is the power of the original deposit. If you retrade, you are using the original deposit’s trading power. Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Calba205

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I’d love to go there but probably not that week and not in 2020. I’m donating one of my split weeks to a family member who lost her 45 year old husband last week to a very suddenly to an aggressive colon cancer. I want to give it to her and her 4 young daughters to go wherever they want so I really need to be able to trade it well. I also have my deposited 1bedroom still available to exchange. I had no idea that the trade power stays with that of the original reservation!! I guess I’d better start thinking about when I should be making a 2021 reservation and marking my calendar so I can get the best week/location possible!
 

Dean

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I am a new owner also and just made my first exchange and I’m not sure if I made a poor exchange. I took my reservation for my 2bd at MGV for Easter week with a 145 TDI and I paid the lock off fee and deposited it for exchange. I have no idea where I’m going to go in 2020 so my intention was to try to trade both separate units up with ePlus into larger units and hopefully with time and effort exchange them into resorts with fairly high demand and larger units. I was searching yesterday morning early before work and saw, with my studio unit, an exchange available to Marriott Newport Coast 2bedrooms and because I know it’s a high demand resort and it was 2 bedrooms, I exchanged it. However, the week I exchanged for is a 105 TDI week - and I know TDI is not the end all be all - but still probably not in high demand because it’s September 27-October 4. I did purchase ePlus but I did I just make a poor decision as far as choosing a resort and week that will give me better trade power than a MGV studio Easter week? My excitement seeing Newport Coast in II got the best of me and I pulled the trigger without much thought.
First, understand that TDI is not standardized other than to the region included in THAT list. So a TDI of 145 in Orlando is not anywhere near the same as a TDI of 145 would be for Newport Coast. If it works for you I'd say that's a great trade even with the upgrade fees. Depending on the specific weeks involved (I looked at week 39 for the area in RCI & week 24 for CH as comparisons), I'd say a TDI of 105 is quite a bit higher for NC than a 145 for GV.
 

Calba205

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That’s what I was hoping but I guess it doesn’t really matter if the trade power comes from the original reservation. Thankfully, the sellers I just purchased from made me a reservation for Easter week at the home resort. :)
 

LAX Mom

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Newport Coast Villas is incredible in the fall. September is my favorite month to visit. It would be a very nice week for your family member with 4 young daughters. They would love it!
 

Quadmaniac

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From my experience using traders, I've been in way more 2 br and 3 br units than 1 br and studio over the past 8 years using 1 br and studios deposits to trade by a ratio of at least 6 to 1. I don't even remember the last time I even had a trade into a studio or 1 br. Trading takes time, patience and persistence. At the end of the day, it all depends upon what you're willing to put into it. Nothing is ever guaranteed but thus far, it has worked out pretty good. I would say though getting 2 br in Marriott Maui Ocean club is a lot more difficult than other Marriotts in Hawaii, but otherwise it has been 2br or better.
 
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