How do points and night credits work for timeshare owners? Do you receive a bundle of points when you buy a time share? Being an "owner" does it translate to golf/platinum for Marriott?

They do typically offer points as a bonus to buy weeks at marriotts. Most I've ever gotten was about 250K points for a purchase. I was also able to use my credit card for the whole thing and got 3 points per dollar (before the 5 points per dollar card) too.

Used to be using the week did not count as a stay. But now if you stay at your "home resort" and do not transfer, those nights count toward your yearly credit. Wish it was like that for the last 20 years ...

No, it doesn't automatically generate "golf(sic)/platinum)". You can get silver by owning a credit card, and with enough weeks, and staying at your home resorts you could hit gold or plat.

Take a tour next time you're near one. They usually offer between 10-20K points for the tour, lasts a max of 90 min, and they take a "no" for an answer. Very polite and low pressure at the 30+ one's I've attended. You can learn a lot with the right agent. I keep going back for the info (what's new) and the points!

Billy

Not sure if I lucked out or a change in policy, but recently got nights credit for an exchange to another Marriott property.

I've also had success in receiving points and nights for exchanges.

Good Afternoon,


You will receive elite night credit when staying on your owners week-as long as it is a Marriott timeshare that you are staying at. You could get your nights when staying at your home resort, or if you had exchanged to go to another Marriott resort.

Kate

Yes, you would receive a points bonus for timeshare purchase. A timeshare salesman will discuss that - it's one of the incentives for purchase.

Also (and not sure if this is still the case), you can consider financing your purchase and possibly receive more points. If you have the funds, you should be able to pay off your loan without prepayment penalty. If you are interested in this, be sure to clarify the terms of the loan.

Being a timeshare owner will automatically bring you Marriott silver status. Silver really doesn't have a lot of power in terms of getting room upgrades at Marriott hotels, however. But it does get you started towards higher levels if that interests you.

There are no golf benefits that come with timeshare ownership that I am aware of. One of the incentives to sign up for a Marriott Rewards Premier VISA card (anyone can do this, not just timeshare owners) is that you may be given a 2 for 1 bonus round of golf coupon (buy one, get one free for your partner during the same round of golf) as a one time benefit. You should see that if you look on the Web at the signup page for the Premier VISA card.

If you elect to buy direct from Marriott, and if you plan to start playing the points game, you will probably want to sign up for a Premier VISA card. There is usually a Marriott Rewards points bonus for signing up for the credit card.

Is this new? I went to Aruba (Ocean Club) last year, however, I did not get the stay credit.

MC says "nights" credit, but gsb reports "points and nights." Is it really both or just nights? How would points be calculated?

What about exchanges for hotel nights instead of a week at another resort? Salesman at an MVC presentation in late Decmeber answered that specific question with "no points" (because the stays are "free"�hardly!).

All owner week stays made after 6/30/08 are eligible for night credit for all nights stayed during designated ownership week. It is important to keep in mind that the nights earned during your ownership week do not count toward promotions.

You can earn point credit for all incidental charges, which has always been the case. All incidental credit earns 10 pts per dollar.

Also, if you are staying at these MVCI timeshares, Sabal Palms & Royal Palms, Desert Springs Villas I & Desert Springs Villas II, and Kauai Beach Club you can earn incidental credit for charges incurred at the adjacent Marriott Hotel.

Kate

I don't think this is correct.

Kate is, of course, correct. You do receive points, but only for incidental purchases. I guess since we're not technically paying a nightly room rate, we don't get any points for that. Our payments come in the original purchase and in maintainance fees. However, if you stay at a resort that offers golf, spa, and good restaurants, you can earn a number of points.

Thanks, Kate making this more clear.

I believe you can earn incidental at any timeshare where there is a FS marriott hotel/resort next door. You can open an account or link to your timeshare charge account. I did this in St. Thomas and earned points for incidental charges through a seperate account at the hotel because the computer system couldn't link to the timeshare property yet.

Typo in original post...meant to write "gold/platinum"...not golf.

Thanks for the info.

Also, MVCI has ended the promotion that gave you MR points (25K per quarter?) if you financed with them and then paid via automatic deduction. However, if it's within your credit limit, you can put the purchase price on your Marriott credit card, and then pay it off immediately via some other source that charges less interest. This gets you the points of a Marriott transaction from your credit card, lowers the interest rate below what MVCI or your credit card would charge, and may allow you to prepay as you wish, depending on the terms you have with your ultimate lender. They will even split the purchase price over several credit cards - my husband and I did this, moving the debt to a 4% line of credit we would otherwise not be using. Mucho MR points but not towards status.

You do get elite points for stays at your home resort IIRC. That counts toward status.

My stay in Aruba was just prior to that date (6/20-6/27). I can confirm that the incidental charges at the adjacent FS Marriott in Kauai does earn points for incidentals.