newbie question - marriott exchanging

[bluka Member Find all posts View Profile Close bluka]

Hello, I am a recent Marriott resale buyer (horizons orlando plat. float)
and have recieved very little info on the reservation / exchanging policies
other than the postings here and in the II "wish book".
A recent post said Marriott will let you deposit with II 18 months out?
As a float owner how does that work ? , who can pick the week that I want
to deposit - Marriott or myself ? - so much to learn !
I'm sorry if these questions are pretty basic or have been answerd already in a different thread ( I've been looking.... I swear. )

[Dave M Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dave M]

The first thing you should do is go to www.VacationClub.com and set up your online "Owner's Account". Then you can access a lot of info about how the system works.

The FAQs at that site, some of which are available without logging in, are very helpful. The best and most detailed help for the various options (occupy your week, exchange, lock off your villa, rent through Marriott) is in the "Help Topics" near the bottom of one of the "Reservations" screens you will see if you log in and then go through the motions of pretending to make a reservation online for your week.

Generally, II will allow you to deposit your week only one year in advance of the check-in date. There are some exceptions that won't apply to you.

Because you can reserve your week only one year in advance, that's the earliest you could deposit your week anyway! That shouldn't be a problem. II says that you get the maximum exchange power for your week by depositing a year in advance; no more power by depositing any earlier.

To deposit your week with II, you must first reserve the week you want. Obviously, when your objective is to exchange, the objective should be to reserve the week that you believe will be the most popular week for others wanting to exchange into your resort. Thus, for example, Easter week or President's Day week would be excellent choices within your Platinum season.

You can reserve your week and deposit it with II in a single phone call. All of the Marriott phone numbers and other contact info are located on the linked site.

[bluka Member Find all posts View Profile Close bluka]

Dave thanks for the quick reply. Whenever I go to the vacation club web site it seems like Im always having a problem with the log-in.
As soon as i'm logged in my name shows up but when I go to a different option a "log-In" window pops up again!?

[Dave M Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dave M]

First, be sure that you are really logged in. If you are, your name will appear on the left side of the first screen you see after logging in. If not, you have a problem with either your user name or password. In such a case, click on the "I forgot my User Name or Password" link for help.

If you successfully log in and then get logged out almost immediately or as you move to another screen, you likely have problems with your cookies and I don't mean the chocolate-chip type! In this case, try the following:

• Make sure your browser is set to accept cookies from www.vacationclub.com
• After logging in, immediately click on the "Log Out" button on the top left of the next screen to try to delete the likely corrupted cookie. Then log back in.
• If those steps don't work, do the following (These specific steps will vary a bit if you have an IE version other than 6 on windows XP or if you have Firefox): Click the "Tools" menu. Then select "Internet Options". From the dialog box, select "Privacy" on the left. Find "Cookies" and click on "Clear".

If none of those steps solve your problem, I'll be a bit surprised. But only a "bit", because I'm below the novice level when it comes to tech issues!

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

If you were to reserve a week at your resort today, how far out could you do this? As an example, as a multi-week owner at Newport Coast, but in different seasons, I can reserve a week there 12 months in the future from right now. That will guide the deposit process. IMO, it is always best to manually reserve the best possible week and then decide what to do with it (occupy, deposit, rent, etc). Be aware you can also "request-first" with II, which keeps your reserved week under your control until they fulfill your request. It is less flexible than deposit-first, and fewer rewards obtain, but is an option.

Pat