Because we have family staying in the Palm Springs area the first week of November, we wanted to join them for the week.  We already had a week deposited with Interval International (Week 52 at the Welk Resorts, Escondido), so we called Interval to place a request for the Palm Springs area using this deposited week as our trade credit.  Interval did not have any inventory immediately available, so we placed a request and crossed our fingers.  A week later, we received an email confirming that an exchange had been made for a 2BR villa at the Marriott Shadow Ridge Enclaves in Palm Desert.  We were excited because not only is this a beautiful resort, but we also knew that we got great value for our exchange, as demonstrated below.

As I mentioned above, we used our ownership of a Lawrence Welk timeshare to reserve Week 52 at the Welk Resorts, Escondido.  The 2015 maintenance fee for this week was $902.  The maintenance fees and club dues for the week 44 at the Marriott would have cost us $1,469.  That's obviously a great deal, exchanging $902 for $1,469, but it gets even better when you consider that if we did not use timeshare, and just booked a week using Marriott's online reservation system, the cost would have been $2,150!  By using timeshare, we effectively cut our costs by 60%!  And the truth is that had we not owned timeshare, we never would have paid $2,150 in lodging expenses to make this trip happen.  So either we would not have gone at all (most likely), or we would have stayed somewhere more "affordable" (meaning, not nearly as nice as the Marriott).

We picked up a great new listing this week.  It's week 27 (Fourth of July Week), every odd year at the Grand Pacific Palisades resort in Carlsbad, CA.  This is a premium resort that is on of the resorts in the Hilton Grand Vacations Club.  

Love your timeshare, but ready to visit a different part of the country, or world?  Many resort operators partner with the exchange organizations on this page, and you can exchange your week/points at your "home" resort for a room at other resorts.  The exchange organizations also offer additional education resources and insight into the timeshare industry, as well as special offers, discounts and deals.

Exchange operators generally make their money by charging timeshare owners fees for exchange services.  These fees  typically include annual membership fees, exchange fees, and fees for guest certificates for those times when you want to allow friends or family members to use your timeshare.

When it comes to exchanges, there is no one exchange that is "better" than others.  Some exchange operators are affiliated with more resort locations, so they might have more inventory available for exchange, but remember that when it comes to exchanging, your ultimate goal is to travel where you want and when you want, and preferably to a resort of equal or better quality than your home resort.

We picked up some great summer weeks recently that are now listed here for sale.  We have weeks available for the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Years holidays!
CLICK HERE for our current inventory!

Now through October 7th, Marriott Vacation Club International is running a promotion that allows the buyer of a new MVC Points package of at least 3,500 points to receive a $6,790 discount on the purchase price, plus 300,000 Marriott Rewards points. Is this a “good” deal, and is it better than buying a points package on the resale market?  Perhaps, but only for certain individuals, and it turns on how good someone is at using the Marriott Rewards points.

First, there’s no question that on a pure cost consideration, buying resale wins hands down every time.  As of September 10, 2015, a new points package was priced from $13/point.  On the resale market, packages can be bought for as low as $3/point, and still pass Marriott’s right of first refusal.  For a 3,500 points package, that’s a savings of $35,000!  But let’s consider the 300k Marriott Rewards points and the price discount as well.  According to a leading rewards travel site, Marriott Rewards points are valued at $.07/mile, so 300k points could be worth $21,000 in travel credit.  Add on the $6,790 discount currently being offered, and the value of incentives being offered climbs to almost $28,000.  Assuming full price of a 3,500 points package is 13x3,500 = $45,500, the net price is $17,500 after the value of the incentives are subtracted.  That’s still considerably higher than a resale points package that could probably pass the right-of-first-refusal in the $11,000 - $15,000.
 
So the short answer is that even with the discount and the 300k Marriott Rewards points, it’s still a better deal to purchase a points package on the resales market.  And in case you’re curious what 300k Marriott Rewards points could get you, try 7 nights at a Category 9 property like the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel, or 40 nights at a Category 1 property like the Fairfield Inn in Modesto, CA.

Contact us today if you’re interested in purchasing a Marriott Vacation Club Points package on the resale market.