Friend looking at Aruba Surf Club

[stasik]

A buddy called me over to today and mentioned that he was headed to Aruba and would be touring the Surf Club on his trip and was considering buying. I bought into Wyndham so I don't know anything about Marriott and its hard for me to offer any advice.

I asked if Aruba was a place he wanted to go on a semi regular basis and he rreplied that it wasn't. He was, very interested in the ability to trade for Marriott points every year, which I realize he wouldn't get by purchasing retail.

So I just had a couple of questions. One, does anyone know the differential between retail and resale at the Surf Club?

Does Marriott have an internal exchange or do you have to go through II? How much is the exchange fee?

If the Marriott points are that important and he was to buy from the developer, is it cheaper to buy at a different resort than Surf Club and still get the same amount of points?

[ArtsieAng]

stasik,

In my opinion, there is no Marriott worth purchasing from the developer for the points. You pay thousands more, when you can buy about half the number of points directly from Marriott, each year, without purchasing.

Aruba is an expensive timeshare to own for trading, whether purchased resale, or directly from Marriott. It is not one of the better choices for trading, IMO. Also, the MF's are pretty high.

If your friend wants to purchase a Marriott to exchange, there are better choices. What I would suggest, is purchasing resale, where they would like to visit, at least every other year.....Forget about the points. No way are they worth the thousands of dollars to purchase direct.

[rikkis_playpen]

If he want points, recommend he sign up for the Marriott credit card- and then simply buy 50,000 pts per year at $625. (at the current rate of $12.50 per thousand)... Buy your groceries and gas on the card- and keep your money!

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/crea...ccountPage1.mi



Still don't believe me? Even after all the "Buy Resale" threads you've seen?? The developer salesperson showed you on paper how much you are going to save?

OK- Let's get analytical for a moment and break down the numbers:


Aruba Surf- 2br OV Platinum annual usage- approx $39,000 from the developer (or monthly payments of about $550.)....

This ownership gives you 110,000 reward pts when you trade in your week (remember, this means you are giving up your week of vacation at the resort!)- plus you will probably get a purchase incentive of about 90,000 reward pts for buying "today"!

That's 200,000 reward pts for your first year.. You now trade in your week for the next 53 years (usage expires in 2061), and never even go to the resort you own... You've now accumulated just over 6 million reward pts (worth $75,000 if you bought direct)..

Now- let's see how much this cost you!

M. fees are currently just over $1,000.. Let's say they stay exactly the same for the rest of the ownership term (I know- that doesn't happen- but remember- we are still in "Analytical Land" so we need to make this easy!)...

We add your purchase price of $39,000 to the fees you've paid of $53,000..

You've now paid more than $92,000 for $75,000 worth of Marriott Reward Points.. Congrats!


THE ONLY REASON TO BUY A MARRIOTT TIMESHARE is if you plan on using it! And if you plan on using it, the reward points will never matter! Do yourself a favor and save about $15,000....... and buy resale!