Making Lemonade from those Lemons we bought.....

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

Be willing to pay an additional exchange fee to get a 2BR[/B] many times I will see a resort online that I want to trade into but I want a 2BR for my 2BR deposit...and my GOLD but II RED week won't pull a 2BR.....or the resort....such as Desert Springs I & II - usually only shows studios and 1BRs deposited...eeven in the off season.
Call the II Marriott Desk and ask them to give you the 1BR for your $89 exchange fee and offer to pay an additional $89 to get the studio, too.
I have done this at Marriott Shadow Ridge with a non-Marriott 2BR ($121+121 exchange fee) - but it also works with Marriott weeks.

Wow what a great tip, thank you! I have been trying for a while now, to no avail, to get a 2br at a marriott property in exchange for my 2 br marriott for check in on a very specific date. I have seen a 1br and a studio online for that date, and 2 brs for other, close dates, but could not find exactly what I was looking for, and my request was not pulling it either. I stumbled upon this post today, called II and voila, done! I had no idea you could do that, and they certainly dont publicize it. The cost was 89 marriott to marriott exchange fee into the 1 br, and another 139 fee to get the studio (the rationale given was that the second exchange was for a "phantom" week into the marriott studio, so it doesnt qualify for the 89 fee - seems silly but hard to complain over the extra $50 given that I now have the trade i wanted).

One question - II and the marriott rep both took pains to point out that there is no "guarantee" that the two units will be connected - though they also both said that this should not be a problem. As a practical matter, is this something that I should be concerned about?

Anyway, thanks again for the great tip!

[m61376 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close m61376]

One question - II and the marriott rep both took pains to point out that there is no "guarantee" that the two units will be connected - though they also both said that this should not be a problem. As a practical matter, is this something that I should be concerned about?

Anyway, thanks again for the great tip!

From what others have posted, just call the resort a few weeks beforehand and ask for the two reservations to be connected for a 2 BR unit.
I have read many posts and everyone said they didn't have a problem having them combined.

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

From what others have posted, just call the resort a few weeks beforehand and ask for the two reservations to be connected for a 2 BR unit.
I have read many posts and everyone said they didn't have a problem having them combined.

Terrific, thanks very much.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Terrific, thanks very much.

A problem could arise if the resorts has views - in other words, you have one Aruba Surf Club unit that is Garden View and one that is Ocean View.
You can tell this by logging into your II acount and seeing what 4 letter code is next to your reservation on the confirmation page.

If they don't match, I would make a point of calling the resort and letting them know you would take the 'lesser' view in order to get your 2 units together. Document who you spoke to and write a letter to fax to inventory conrol outlining your conversation and request.

Chances are they will accomodate you.

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

A problem could arise if the resorts has views - in other words, you have one Aruba Surf Club unit that is Garden View and one that is Ocean View.
You can tell this by logging into your II acount and seeing what 4 letter code is next to your reservation on the confirmation page.

If they don't match, I would make a point of calling the resort and letting them know you would take the 'lesser' view in order to get your 2 units together. Document who you spoke to and write a letter to fax to inventory conrol outlining your conversation and request.

Chances are they will accomodate you.

Thanks again - I just checked and they DO have different codes - I wouldnt have known to check this and neither II nor Marriott mentioned this when they confirmed the trades, so its good to know. I will defintely call. Bottom line I'd live with just the 1 br (seems to be TOMV - maybe "mountain view? - studio is TOGV - garden view? its Canyon Villas) - so long as the resort wouldnt squawk to have all 5 of us (2 adults and three yound kids) in the 1 br - but if they couldnt join the units for us, I'm not sure they'd have cause to complain - or even know who is sleeping in what room, anyway. Though it would certainly be better to have a 2br.

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

Thanks again - I just checked and they DO have different codes - I wouldnt have known to check this and neither II nor Marriott mentioned this when they confirmed the trades, so its good to know. I will defintely call. Bottom line I'd live with just the 1 br (seems to be TOMV - maybe "mountain view? - studio is TOGV - garden view? its Canyon Villas) - so long as the resort wouldnt squawk to have all 5 of us (2 adults and three yound kids) in the 1 br - but if they couldnt join the units for us, I'm not sure they'd have cause to complain - or even know who is sleeping in what room, anyway. Though it would certainly be better to have a 2br.

What the heck do those letters mean, anyway? I just checked the letter codes that appear after my own Mountainside units in my II account. For each unit, the 2br appears as ZZAA, the 1 br appears as TOMV and the studio appears as TOGV (just like the 1 br and studio at Canyon Villas, per above). So, I wonder whether those particular designations really mean anything at all, in this case? I suppose I can perhaps call the resort for illumination. Tricky stuff, indeed.

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

Pat, thank you for a great post!

When did you buy the Marriott Fairway? We went to a t/s presentation there in...well, the mid-90s. But it was really nice. It had just opened not too long before. Our salesman was so nice that I actually kept his card in my work Rolodex for a few years after, thinking about whether we should buy a t/s from him or not!

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

What the heck do those letters mean, anyway? I just checked the letter codes that appear after my own Mountainside units in my II account. For each unit, the 2br appears as ZZAA, the 1 br appears as TOMV and the studio appears as TOGV (just like the 1 br and studio at Canyon Villas, per above). So, I wonder whether those particular designations really mean anything at all, in this case? I suppose I can perhaps call the resort for illumination. Tricky stuff, indeed.

In the case of the 2 resorts you mention, there ARE no views, so just call inventory control the week before and fax them the letter with the II exchange numbers but more importantly the Marriott reservation # on the II confirmation - it is the 8 digit number starting with an 8.

Resorts that have 'views' are usually beach resorts.....Ocean view, ocean side, garden view - in hawaii, mountain view.

If you aren't sure, you can ask here or OY or go on Hotel, resort and vacation information from Marriott.com and do a search for room rentals and see if various views come up - use dates that are off season for that resort so u have a better chance of seeing all the codes. At Aruba Surf, in the 4 digit code - it contains the letters OF, OS, OV and GV for the 4 views they sell.

Pat, thank you for a great post!

When did you buy the Marriott Fairway? We went to a t/s presentation there in...well, the mid-90s. But it was really nice. It had just opened not too long before. Our salesman was so nice that I actually kept his card in my work Rolodex for a few years after, thinking about whether we should buy a t/s from him or not!

January 2001 - and since we believed what they told us....we bought 2 Gold weeks instead of one Platinum...anyway, that is water under the bridge.....and a lot of fun vacations!

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

I am new to this and need a bit of advice for potential trading. I am interested in the Grand Chateau in Vegas. If I were to purchase there, what would my trading power be for either other Marriotts in warm climates (ie Hawaii) or other timeshares and how likely would it be to get one on an exchange (understanding that the farther out I request, the more likely my chances).

thanks in advance

Murray

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

you could dump the thing if anyone would want it, take your loss early and put no more of your hard earned money into it something that will cost you for as long as you " own " it !

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

odds of getting Marriott Hawaii on a trade

I am new to this and need a bit of advice for potential trading. I am interested in the Grand Chateau in Vegas. If I were to purchase there, what would my trading power be for either other Marriotts in warm climates (ie Hawaii) or other timeshares and how likely would it be to get one on an exchange (understanding that the farther out I request, the more likely my chances).

thanks in advance

Murray

Hello,
This is my first post on this website. We own Platinum (ski season) Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge in Breckenridge among other resorts. September 2008 we visited one of our timeshares in Kauai, Hawaii and toured both Marriott properties. If the sales person was to be believed it would be difficult for us to trade our Marriott for the Hawaii properties.

On the other hand, we spent last Nov/Dec at Mayan Palace Maya Riviera near Cancun. I had a RCI week ready to expire and checked the exchanges and saw Grand Mayan listed.

I hear lots of stories about how RCI/II and other exchange companies determine "trading power" but my gut feeling is that they want the exchange fee. I deposited a studio reservationfor Christmas week in Mazatlan and find the exchange list includes larger units.

RE: buying a Vegas timeshare hoping to trade for Hawaii..... there are plenty of people like me listing excess weeks, my guess is that you can pick and choose from available timeshares in Hawaii to rent from people who already own there.

Hope this was helpful.

-GM