Monarch Premium versus resale ownership

[superphred Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close superphred]

well I ended up at a presentation yesterday for Monarch Grand Vacations, and I was trying to get some straight answers about why I should buy from them instead of ebay.

They told me that if you buy from them it is Premium Ownership meaning you get first priority when making reservations, and you get the Weekend Getaways through II, and you have it for life and can sell or will it.

They told me if you buy through resale market you will not be allowed to upgrade to more points, and you will have smaller and lower priority reservation window, and therefore will not get what you want. and you don't get the Getaways and additional benefits with II. they also implied that a resold timeshare was not for life and somehow expired after 20 years and could not be willed or resold later on.

sounded like a bunch of lies to us, so we ended up putting a downpayment on their "Trial Progam" called Monarch Discovery Club which allows us to still buy a Premium Ownership at the end of our first trial stay at one of their resorts.

so now I've got 7 days to convince myself to cancel that.

So I'm hoping you experts can help me with a few questions...

1) If a buy a resale timeshare, are they able to give me lower priority in the reservation system because of that? Will I have a smaller reservation window than original buyers?

2) Does MGV consider that a transfer of property? or do they take the property back and give the new person a membership that expires?

3) Does II care if I am an original or resale buyer? Does that affect my ability to be a gold member or do anything? does MGV pay my II yearly dues? they did not mention II yearly dues to me at all in the presentation, so I thought it was included.

4) MGV is the only chain I have looked at that does the point system. Are the others better deals? It looks to me like the good MGV resorts can be booked through their websites like ordinary hotels for pretty good rates, so why bother?

5) How on earth do they calculate Maintenance fees? they quoted us $471 yearly for 133 points. do they recalculate these annually or if you transfer title?

thanks for any replys

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Stop.....RESCIND NOW.

You need to take your time and do more research. Their trial program is not worth it. You will always be able to go back and buy from them at their 'developer' prices if you want to later...no matter what they say....but you will not want to do it.

Monarch is known for their lies and sleazy sales tactics.

You buy MGV points for pennies on the dollar....they have practically given them away on ebay over the years. No way will the developer be able to do better on price....not even close.

I used to own several weeks at Palm Canyon 133 points. I bought and sold them resale. I do not have all the details of their MGV program but believe me....buy resale and do not fall for the developers lies.

Take your time and do a lot of research. Thier resorts and program may not even be right for you.

[djyamyam Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djyamyam]

We are Premiere owners. We were owners before they introduced the Premiere program so were grandfathered. You definitely want to purchase resale. My answers are noted below in color.

well I ended up at a presentation yesterday for Monarch Grand Vacations, and I was trying to get some straight answers about why I should buy from them instead of ebay.

They told me that if you buy from them it is Premium Ownership meaning you get first priority when making reservations, and you get the Weekend Getaways through II, and you have it for life and can sell or will it.

They told me if you buy through resale market you will not be allowed to upgrade to more points, and you will have smaller and lower priority reservation window, and therefore will not get what you want. and you don't get the Getaways and additional benefits with II. they also implied that a resold timeshare was not for life and somehow expired after 20 years and could not be willed or resold later on.

sounded like a bunch of lies to us, so we ended up putting a downpayment on their "Trial Progam" called Monarch Discovery Club which allows us to still buy a Premium Ownership at the end of our first trial stay at one of their resorts.

so now I've got 7 days to convince myself to cancel that.

So I'm hoping you experts can help me with a few questions...

1) If a buy a resale timeshare, are they able to give me lower priority in the reservation system because of that? Will I have a smaller reservation window than original buyers?

Being resale has no impact in reservations. It's all based on when you get your reservation request in. First come, first serve.

2) Does MGV consider that a transfer of property? or do they take the property back and give the new person a membership that expires?

Ownerships are a right to use. There is no end date.

3) Does II care if I am an original or resale buyer? Does that affect my ability to be a gold member or do anything? does MGV pay my II yearly dues? they did not mention II yearly dues to me at all in the presentation, so I thought it was included.

Being original owner or resale has nothing to do with II. You can still join II any way you want. II membership is optional and an additional cost.

4) MGV is the only chain I have looked at that does the point system. Are the others better deals? It looks to me like the good MGV resorts can be booked through their websites like ordinary hotels for pretty good rates, so why bother?

Some of the resorts that are part of the Monarch family were resorts on their own prior to Monarch purchasing the remaining inventory. Inventory for cash rentals is somewhat limited depending on the resort and probably not less than points ownership. If you're an owner you also get access to discounted cash rates.

5) How on earth do they calculate Maintenance fees? they quoted us $471 yearly for 133 points. do they recalculate these annually or if you transfer title?

MFs are calculated on a per point basis and paid on a quarterly basis. The amount quoted is correct and is the annual amount payable. Budgets are set once a year and may change on an annual basis. Change of ownership does not impact the MFs.

thanks for any replys

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

I own both Monarch Grand (MGV) and also points at Monarch's resorts ( outside of Monarch Grand) 2 weeks/24 months in MGV and 1 week/year at Riviera Shores.

I like MGV and the resorts in their system. AND MGV is very resale friendly. the only thing you do not get buying points resell is credit toward "Premium Ownership". The lowest level of Premium Ownership kicks in when you own more than 500 pts (About 4 weeks of vacation every 24 months). As you own more pts you get higher levels of Premium Ownership.

Being a premium owner is a nice benefit, you can reserve your weeks earlier than non premium owners and get some same discounts. BUT to be a premium owner, you must buy a lot of points direct from Pacific Monarch ( the developer). This could cost you well over $25,000 for the lowest level of Premium Ownership. You could easily find the same number of points available resale for <$3000.

Since resale owners get everything that developer buyers get ( except Premium Ownership) and resale buyers will save about 90 cents/dollar. I would never consider buying a single more point direct from MGV.

There are very few premium owners, therefore almost all owners get the same regular reservations windows when reserving your timeshare. Personally, I've never have a problem reserving my TS whenever I want to travel.

IMHO, there is no Premium Ownership benefit which is worth the extra $22,000

PS Make sure that you buy at least 144 pts. If you buy anything less, you'll be very unhappy about when and how big of unit you'll be able to reserve. 144 pts will get you one week/24 months at almost all the resorts during peak travel in a 2 bd unit ( but not a the newest resort in Cabo) In most other TS systems, 144 pts is equal to a 2 bd EOY week.

[khun hunter Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close khun hunter]

Never buy from the developer

Timeshares ALWAYS depreciate in value. When you buy from the developer you pay top dollar for a depreciating asset. However, when you buy a timeshare from E-bay, you have some risks, timeshares are like real estate, you have to go through the procedures of transfering title, paying whatever fees are outstanding and making sure that you get "clear title".
It isn't that tough but if you haven't done it before it's best to get a RE agent to walk you through it.