Marriott new purchase - reserve strategies?

[jaym Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaym]

I was hoping to receive some guidance as a new (nearly) Marriott TS owner.
We're in the final stages of closing on our resale mkt. purchase MMC in VA. Don't have the deed yet, recording pending so possibly a few weeks away from completion.
We will own 2BD/2BR villa (MMC I), platinum, annual, floating wk., non-LO.

I contacted Owner Svcs. yesterday and it appears our desire to travel after our teens get out of high school, late June, early July 2007 will not be possible. All reserved. As I suspected, it is getting late to reserve peak season there for '07.
I don't want to go in Aug., would rather postpone summer travel (Hot/Humid - ugh!). Although getting closer, for now, it is more difficult for us to travel in fall/winter but we could do a school vacation or holiday week in 2007. FL maybe?
I am planning to open an II membership after recording is completed. I could very likely bank my 2007 week. We won't travel next year.
We were thinking maybe we could use 1 wk. (banked '07) in 2008 to MMC (home resort), banking '08 week. we'll reserve early to get July wk. Will we likely succeed this time, as we're early and this is our home resort?
Ideally, in 2009 we want a 1 wk. June or July reservation to St. Thomas (Frenchman's Cove), using previous yr. ('08) week. We will request as early as allowed by II - 18 months advance? Can I request further out?
What is the probability of getting what I want and exchanging an MMC July week for a summer in St. Thomas - USVI?
Thank you for any help.

JM

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

There is really no way to gauge the probability of getting what you seek. Successful exchanges result from a combination of (1) II's rules for what constitutes a comparable exchange, much of which is unpublished, and (2) supply and demand - how many weeks in (for example) St. Thomas in summer 2009 are made available to II compared with how many people want to trade into those weeks.

However, I would characterize your chances as “good”, especially if you have some flexibility as to what weeks you will accept in St. Thomas.

You are suggesting that you try for two exchanges - your home resort 2007 week for a similar week in 2008 and your 2008 home resort week for a 2009 St. Thomas week. Why not condense that into a single exchange request?

First, reserve a great 2007 week at MMC for after (in 2007) the weeks of the year (in 2009) you will accept in St. Thomas. For example, if you will only accept June or July weeks in 2009, reserve an August 2007 week at MMC to use for your exchange request. That will give you a full two years for the exchange you want. Deposit the 2007 week as soon as you reserve it and immediately request your 2009 exchange for St. Thomas, including in your request all of the weeks you are willing to accept. If you can accept weeks that are in the shoulder season (e.g., May or September) when most schools are in session, your chances will be enhanced significantly.

By doing your St. Thomas exchange that way, you can reserve your 2008 MMC stay simply by calling a year in advance to make your reservation. You won't have to worry about the uncertainties of whether an exchange will come through. Be sure to call at exactly 9:00 a.m. on the first day you can call for the week you want to reserve. For all summer 2008 weeks at MMC, the 2007 date you will call 12 months in advance will fall on a Wednesday. (If the reasons for that aren't clear, ask and I (or someone) will explain.) Don't be a day late!

Incidentally, you might have heard that owners get exchange preference when trading back into their home resort. That's true. However, that preference acts only as a tiebreaker, coming into play only in the unlikely event that all other exchange factors between your request and another request are relatively equal.

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

Adding....

If for some reason your 2009 exchange doesn't come through, you can pay a fee to extend the exchange period for your 2007 MMC week for up to an additional year. Thus, it's not an exchange-it-or-lose-it situation with respect to my suggestion for exchanging your 2007 MMC week for a summer 2009 week.

[jaym Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaym]

[QUOTE=Dave M;81837]

1) By doing your St. Thomas exchange that way, you can reserve your 2008 MMC stay simply by calling a year in advance to make your reservation. You won't have to worry about the uncertainties of whether an exchange will come through. 2) Be sure to call at exactly 9:00 a.m. on the first day you can call for the week you want to reserve. For all summer 2008 weeks at MMC, the 2007 date you will call 12 months in advance will fall on a Wednesday. (If the reasons for that aren't clear, ask and I (or someone) will explain.) Don't be a day late!

Dave-
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'm new at this so i appreciate your patience. Can you clarify points 1 and 2? How are uncertainties removed? How do I determine the exact period (Wed.) for summer 2008 reservations? Not clear on these. thanks.

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

What Dave is saying is instead of using a 2007 week to go to MMC in 2008 and the 2008 week to exchange for the St Thomas.

Just, reserve an August 2007 week at MMC to exchange for St Thomas in 2009, (you have 2 years after the check in date to use the week for an exchange) That way you'll have 3 years (now till 2009) to match for an exchange which will raise your odds of getting you request.


Use the 2008 week you own, to go to your home resort by calling Marriott in 2007 and reservering the week you want.

Hope that helps

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

As for removing uncertainties, I assume you are referring to my suggestion of reserving your 2008 week instead of trying to exchange for it.

If you call and reserve the week of your choice, you get it. Period. The only possible downside is if too many other people call at the same time wanting the same week, thus shutting you out of your week of choice. That could happen, especially with the most popular weeks, such as July 4th week. Still it's better than taking a chance on exchanging through II for the week you want, which, as discussed elsewhere in that post, depends on supply and demand for that week.

As for the date to call Marriott Owner Services for a reservation, you can call 12 months in advance of the first possible check-in date for the week of your choice. MMC allows Friday, Saturday and Sunday check-in dates. Thus, the first possible check-in date for the week you will choose is Friday, even though you might decide you want a Saturday or Sunday check-in.

Assume you want to reserve a week with a check-in date of Saturday, July 26, 2008. The Friday date for that week is July 25, 2008. You can call one year in advance of that Friday date, which is Wednesday, July 25, 2007. You would call on that date for a reservation starting on July 25, 26 or 27, 2008.

Most of us are used to Thursday being the first date – one year in advance – that we can call. However, with 2008 being a leap year, the call-in date changes to Wednesday for reservations falling in March and later in 2008. (For some resorts - e.g., those that have Thursday check-in dates or the one with only a Friday check-in date - the call-in date would be different from your Wednesday call-in date.)

My suggestions in the previous post aren't the only possibilities for success. I hope others will suggest alternatives, based on their own experiences.

[jaym Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaym]

Thus, the first possible check-in date for the week you will choose is Friday, even though you might decide you want a Saturday or Sunday check-in.
You can call one year in advance of that Friday date, which is Wednesday, July 25, 2007. You would call on that date for a reservation starting on July 25, 26 or 27, 2008.

My suggestions in the previous post aren't the only possibilities for success. I hope others will suggest alternatives, based on their own experiences.[/QUOTE]


Appreciate it. Reminders will be made for the July '07 reservation request date.
And as a previous post indicated, my 2007 banked week will maximize my timeframe and, hopefully, chances for '09 exchange. Didn't realize it could be placed so far in advance.

[jaym Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaym]

What Dave is saying is instead of using a 2007 week to go to MMC in 2008 and the 2008 week to exchange for the St Thomas.

Just, reserve an August 2007 week at MMC to exchange for St Thomas in 2009, (you have 2 years after the check in date to use the week for an exchange) That way you'll have 3 years (now till 2009) to match for an exchange which will raise your odds of getting you request.


Use the 2008 week you own, to go to your home resort by calling Marriott in 2007 and reservering the week you want.

Hope that helps

My initial concern is the choice of an August week in VA for St. Thomas. Trading power of Aug. there? Would I want to try for a holiday week in 2007, Thansgiving or Christmas? Would that require that I request ST for same season or does my travel time have to be similar to what is exchanged?

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

Unless MMC has a special rule, you can reserve weeks only in your own season - Platinum. That season doesn't include Thanksgiving. You'll have to decide whether Christmas is a better week than early August. My personal choice would be August.

You can request an exchange for any time you want at another resort. There are no restrictions on what you request based on the season in which you own.