Marriott Vacation Club Timeshares … the Price is Going UP

Marriott Vacation Club is raising its prices on Marriott timeshare. Starting on June 13, 2013, the price of Marriott timeshare points-based vacation ownership will increase when you buy directly through Marriott.

How do increases in the price of Marriott Vacation Club points (purchased from Marriott) impact the price of Marriott timeshare resales? Only time will reveal that answer for sure, but it’s likely that the answer will be, “not a lot.”

While Marriott Vacation Club points purchased through Marriott are priced to absorb Marriott Vacation Club’s overhead, marketing, and other costs of sales, Marriott timeshare resales always sell at true market value. This means, when you buy a Marriott timeshare resale, you aren’t paying for corporate profits, but instead, are dealing directly with the current owner. And you are buying a Marriott timeshare at a price that  is market driven—meaning that it is the price other buyers of Marriott timeshare resales are willing to pay for their vacation ownership.

In many ways, buying a timeshare resale via an online advertising website (SellMyTimeshareNOW.com) is peer-to-peer commerce. For existing owners who sell Marriott timeshare online this way, they pay to advertise their timeshare, but then keep all of the proceeds of the resale for themselves.

How is a Marriott Timeshare Resale Different from Marriott Timeshare Purchased through Marriott Vacation Club?

In almost every way, the only difference in a market-priced Marriott timeshare resale and a corporate-priced timeshare purchased directly from Marriott is the savings you realize when you buy a Marriott resale. But before you make the commitment to buy a timeshare on the resale market, you should know that originally Marriott owners who had purchased their property as timeshare resale were eligible to be part of Marriott Vacation Club Destinations. This is no longer true. Since 2010, Marriott has divided its timeshare benefits into ownership weeks and ownership points.

If you wish to own a Marriott Vacation club week, buying it as a timeshare resale is almost the only way to purchase a week. Marriott timeshare offers existing owners (owners who purchased Marriott timeshare before the change in 2010) the opportunity to pay a fee and enroll their weeks in the Destinations Exchange Program. Through this program, an owner gains the additional option of trading their week for an allotment of Destinations Points each year.

Initially, owners of resale weeks could also enroll in this program, with this stipulation: If you owned a week in a US or Caribbean resort, you needed to have purchased your resale week prior to June 10, 2010. For owners of weeks in European resorts, the resale week would have to have been purchased prior to June 18, 2012.

BUT this doesn’t mean that you can’t be a resale owner and become part of the Destinations Exchange Program. If this benefit is of value to you, can simply purchase Marriott resale Destination Points.

More about Marriott Timeshare Resales

Destination points are different from Marriott’s Rewards points. Only buyers of Marriott resales purchased through Marriott (at prices set by Marriott Vacation Club) are eligible to trade their weeks for Marriott Rewards points. However, joining the Marriott Rewards program is free and you can do so on your own and at any time, enabling you to take advantage of Marriott’s loyalty rewards program—you just will not be able to trade your Marriott resale vacation ownership week for Marriott Rewards points.

While it sounds confusing, it’s actually harder to read about (or write about!) than it is for someone to explain to you. You can learn more about Marriott timeshare resale weeks ownership here: Marriott Vacation Club Weeks 101. Or visit Marriott Timeshare Resale Information for more details about Marriott Destination points. But your best bet is to call us at 877-815-4227 and speak to a Marriott timeshare resales specialist.