Marriott Going to Point Syst

I have read most but not all of this message board, so I apologize if this question has already been answered.

I own a deeded week at the Maui Ocean club with Floating usage. Let's take the following scenario - I join the points program and in a given year decide that I want to trade my week for points so I can go to another Marriot resort, - My week in Maui for that year then becomes part of the inventory that is available for points users in the destinations program.

The question is "How does Marriott decide what week to move into the Destinations inventory". I have a floating week, Does Marriott get to choose, in which case whenever someone in Maui submits a week they no doubt choose to a week between June 15 and Aug 30. Or is there some other mechanism "such as I have to reserve a week first before I can submit it for points"

I have two concerns. The first is that if this happens and a significant number of floating week owners trade for points, summer week inventory for deeded week owners will drop significantly and we will be forced to go in the off season.

The second is that even though under the old system all Hawaii floating weeks were platinum, in the new points system summer weeks have a higher point total. Which gives Marriott an additional opportunity to game the system.

Discuss.....

I think once we opt to exchange one of our deeded weeks for points Marriott controls the date for usage. If a person is willing to use the requried points for summer, Marriott will make it available. I read all the information presented here and called Marriott sales people several times. I then made the decision to join the destination program. Once they had my $695 I was send a 22 page PDF document (the warning that this was not to be copied) After reading the program guidelines I then called II to validate information. When the II representative gave me conflicting information. I called Marriott and spoke with a supervisor. After listening to me to supervisor asked who I spoke with at Marriott. I gave the supervisor the name. I was put on hold then informed the sales person misunderstood that part of the program. I stated it was based on that information that I decided to join. I asked to opt out and get a full refund. It was within the 10 days period so I got a full refund. I think we need to wait prior to making a decision to join. There is alot of good information on this site and I thank everyone for contributing.

That is too simple of a view of the program. I noticed that also, but it protects me as an owner to not have someone get an advantage of taking a unit I may wish to use as that seasons owner. If you are an owner in an all platinum calander why not just make a reservation for what you want at your home resort. There is no reason to trade points unless you wish more or less days.... There are lots of differences in the program, and it is different, not meant to be the same. None of us "have" to use the points or convert to points every year, only when it may make sense to and go somewhere else. I believe that the new point system is an extention of our current program, and as owners for 13 years, we just got a great new benefit....

"I believe that the new point system is an extention of our current program, and as owners for 13 years, we just got a great new benefit...." You have got to be kidding!!!!! While you have owned for 13 years, we have owned at multiple Marriott resorts for over 16 years and we see NOOOO benefit in the new program at all, unless of course you work for Marriott and this means you have job security because they are making a ton of money off of this new "benefit!" So, do you work for Marriott?

No I do not work for Marriott, and no you do not have to enroll in the points programs if you do not wish to.

Hi Everyone, I am going to have to agree with kathyw84. So, far there has been no benefit to going to the points system.

We joined the point system because we have been owners for many years of multiple locations, all platinum. It put us in the "platinum plus" level for points. We have to see if that really is anything of merit. So far we are very skeptical.

We have always had very successful trades with Interval International or have been able to stay at our resorts. Interval has always been able to provide equal or upgrades to our trades. So far, the trades we are trying to do are completely unresolved (been over a month since we made the deposit and request). This has not happened in the past.

As rm5 has stated we can choose to use our weeks as we normally have done. But it does not seem to be working and I have a hard time putting a great deal of stock in rm5's comments because they will not identify their relationship with Marriott. I believe it is because they work there. Therefore they have a vested interest in saying it will all work out.

Also, every attempt to use the point system for us has had absolutely no fruitful results. In my humble opinion, Marriott's new point system has caused everyone to be so unsettled that they are not doing anything. The inequities of week values and the uncertainty of exchanging has caused a freeze to the system.

We are not sure if we will stay in the point system. There are a few advantages for us to stay in the program since the initial fee has been paid and it is past the 10 days. That fee is a sunk cost and gone. We have to accept that. The annual cost will cover what we were paying for lock offs and reward trade ins. However, if we can't get good upgrades from Interval International locking off may no longer work for us. So, that cost or savings will not be there. Also, the internal exchange to other Marriott properties is if-y, so that may not be a savings either.

We have always felt good about our choice to purchase our Marriott properties. We have told our friends, family and anyone that has talked to us about timeshares about the beautiful properties and great system there was to use them.

Quite frankly this opinion is not the same at this time. We sincerely plan on NOT discussing the Marriott properties or system until the concerns are resolved in a way we are comfortable with. This makes us very sad.

At least we purchased where we like to go and when. But it is not the plan we were promised nor bought into. We had planned a lifetime of vacations at wonderful places all over the world by buying and trading a home location. That system seems to have started to fail. Very sad.

libby31 wrote:

As rm5 has stated we can choose to use our weeks as we normally have done. But it does not seem to be working and I have a hard time putting a great deal of stock in rm5's comments because they will not identify their relationship with Marriott. I believe it is because they work there. Therefore they have a vested interest in saying it will all work out.

libby31,

With all due respect, this is not a job interview. Just like you, I am a paid subscriber to redweek.com with an interest in contributing my thoughts that may help a confused or misinformed reader (like you) of this forum.

1. I do not have a relationship with Marriott. With about thirty years experience in the timeshare industry on a variety of different levels, I understand the multi-faceted relationship between developer, buyer/ owner, internal sales/ external sales and homeowner associations. I am a licensed real estate broker that has bought and sold Marriott timeshares - and understand their operations quite well.

2. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on these types of forums. It is difficult at times to decipher what is fact from fiction. Additionally, Marriott has done a great job (intentionally or unintentionally) of creating a great deal of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) with its Destinations program. My intention is to offer insight and expertise that may provide readers of this forum with some additional perspective when evaluating Marriott's Destinations program.

If one chooses to put this info into their their "arsenal" - great. If one chooses to discount this information - well that's ok too.

3. Additionally, you appear to be confused on my comments regarding using your week. In my post I am referring to using your week as a legacy owner within the floating (legacy) system. I have been clear that I believe owners electing to use Destinations points in any given year will find making reservations with their points problematic and difficult.

rm5 wrote:

libby31 wrote:

As rm5 has stated we can choose to use our weeks as we normally have done. But it does not seem to be working and I have a hard time putting a great deal of stock in rm5's comments because they will not identify their relationship with Marriott. I believe it is because they work there. Therefore they have a vested interest in saying it will all work out.

libby31,

With all due respect, this is not a job interview. Just like you, I am a paid subscriber to redweek.com with an interest in contributing my thoughts that may help a confused or misinformed reader (like you) of this forum.

1. I do not have a relationship with Marriott. With about thirty years experience in the timeshare industry on a variety of different levels, I understand the multi-faceted relationship between developer, buyer/ owner, internal sales/ external sales and homeowner associations better than most. I am a licensed real estate broker that has bought and sold Marriott timeshares - and understand their operations quite well.

2. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on these types of forums. It is difficult at times to decipher what is fact from fiction. Additionally, Marriott has done a great job (intentionally or unintentionally) of creating a great deal of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) with its Destinations program. My intention is to offer insight and expertise that may provide readers of this forum with some additional perspective when evaluating Marriott's Destinations program.

If one chooses to put this info into their their "arsenal" - great. If one chooses to discount this information - well that's ok too.

3. Additionally, you appear to be confused on my comments regarding using your week. In my post I am referring to using your week as a legacy owner within the floating (legacy) system. I have been clear that I believe owners electing to use Destinations points in any given year will find making reservations with their points problematic and difficult.

intentionally deleted

What differece does it make if someone is from Marriott or not?

I wish someone knowledgable from Marriott would review the comments on redweek and provide FACTUAL information -- which (as many have commented) is something they have not been doing well.

Factual information and rational comments based on those facts are really helpful. Someone just blasting away with little insignt isn't. (Anyone may say whatever they wish -- I am just commenting on what I think most of us find helpful.)

j227 wrote:

What differece does it make if someone is from Marriott or not?

I wish someone knowledgable from Marriott would review the comments on redweek and provide FACTUAL information -- which (as many have commented) is something they have not been doing well.

Factual information and rational comments based on those facts are really helpful. Someone just blasting away with little insignt isn't. (Anyone may say whatever they wish -- I am just commenting on what I think most of us find helpful.)

This stinks! I own 3 weeks with Marriott, in some great locations. I am not associated with Marriott (other than being ripped off by them), and WILL NOT join the points program.

Is there a "betrayed owners group" forming?

barbaras186 wrote:

j227 wrote:

What differece does it make if someone is from Marriott or not?

I wish someone knowledgable from Marriott would review the comments on redweek and provide FACTUAL information -- which (as many have commented) is something they have not been doing well.

Factual information and rational comments based on those facts are really helpful. Someone just blasting away with little insignt isn't. (Anyone may say whatever they wish -- I am just commenting on what I think most of us find helpful.)

Marriott should host a webinar on the new program. The information they mailed to the owners in July was not enough to make an informed decision. Instead of sending the 5 pretty pictures on the brochure, they should have listed the various scenarios.

The problem with a Marriott webinar is that you get the Marriott "spin" and another chance for Marriott to sell you something - not a fair and balanced presentation of the pros and cons of which program (legacy or points) best suits the owner or a potential buyer.

.

I own 7 Marriott's weeks. My first was purchased from Marriott(Oceanwatch platinum) & all others were resale weeks/most found on redweek.

Last week my husband & I attended a sale presentation at the Marriott's Aruba Surfclub. ***We were told that Marriott's is no longer selling deeded property weeks in the USA ONLY (after June 20th) but they are still selling deeded property weeks overseas just has they always have. So for example if someone wanted to buy from Marriott's at the Aruba Surfclub, they still can! I asked him if Marriott would eventually stop selling deeded property weeks overseas like they did in the USA & he said that they never know ahead of time what Marriott's decides to do. Funny but I still remember an other sales person at Marriott's telling me over a year ago that bargain upgrades with II would be coming to an end in the near future. Did anyone else get the same info???

By the way that ingenious sales rep offered me a way to save tons on my maintenance fees. All I had to do was purchase extra Platinum Aruba weeks that (according to him) would easily rent for 7700$/week & more. And boy was he 100% confident that they would rent at that price. He said people often paid even 10000$/week for rental. This way my rental profit would easily off set my voluminous maintenance fees!! I told him that at that price (7700$/week) Marriott's should stop selling prime weeks & just simply rent them out! I also asked him why Marriott's barely covers my platinum maintenance fees if I elect to give it to them for rental? He said that it was because Marriott's took a risk in the sense that it might not rent..Not even at a decent 2000$? What happened to the 7700$ sure thing scenario ??? Anyway he made the used car sales dealers look like angels.

I honestly was thinking of joining the new program just for savings because I often lock-off & usually trade within Marriott's. What bugs me is buying into it & then finding out later that I can no longer trade my studio and my 1bdr for a bigger unit. Then I will be stuck paying 200$ of fees every year whether I use it or not. Since most of my lock-off weeks are platinum Oceanfront weeks (Ocean Pointe) I am better off renting my units on red week & then rent myself whatever it is that I want on redweek.

I am trying so hard to find something good about all this. If I book my owners week from Sunday to Sunday, I can then trade another one of my weeks for pts & stay from Sunday to Thursday (much discounted pts rate because it's midweek). But even if that would work out (availability) I'm concerned about what will happen to the remaining pts. I may not have enough for an other trade & then I will loose those pts because they will expire?

I to in the beginning have called Marriott's so many times because I kept getting different answers to the exact same question. I finally complained & was transferred to the supervisor from hell. I was stunned and even angered by the very impolite and rude person bearing the title of “Supervisor” at the owners customer service department.

I then proceeded to write my very first complaint letter to Marriott (they did answer back with an apology).

All that being said my intentions are to join the program in December at the very last minute but I wont be using the pts option.

I feel that Marriott's as come up with a way of making lots of money by selling "blank" points.

Did you all know that Marriott's can change at any time the number of pts needed to obtain a week? Of course you did...

They have a fixed total amount of points for a week all year round. For example if Ocean Pointe has a total of 1 000 000 pts for 52 weeks;(just an example)

They can go ahead & simply increase the pts needed for those platinum weeks as often & as high as they want as long as the total of pts don't go aver 1 000 000 for those 52 weeks.

Of course the other low seasons will decrease if they higher the pts for platinum weeks. But why trade for pts in the low season even for a 5 or a 6 day vacation when you can rent that same week for peanuts on various web sites?

So basically if you are studying the pts grid in order determine how many pts you will need today or how many pts you should purchase today, keep in mind that it is reasonable to speculate that the platinum weeks will go up in pts!

So whatever pts you have today may not be enough for those same weeks in the future.

I guess you can then go ahead & just keep buying more pts!!!!!!!! That most likely is part of Marriott's money making plan.

For me, deeded property weeks are the only sure thing. Buy where you want to go the most.

tonyd124 wrote:

. .. Once they had my $695 I was send a 22 page PDF document (the warning that this was not to be copied) . .

Hmm, what are they hiding ?

I'm seeing a lot of comments on new Marriott Points Owners not being deeded. I own points with two other companies and those points ARE ATTACHED to specific resorts. Is this really true that Marriott points are not deeded or attached to a specific resort? If this is the case then how are maintenance fees distributed to various resorts? If points are not attached somewhere (which I think would be preferable) then I think it would be fair to attach maintenance fees to the resort where the points were used to book reservations. The question would still be where maintenance fees attributable to unused points would go. Also, if one chooses to get into this points program, how long can points be left to accumulate? From what I've read, "points can be banked for use in the following year"...... It doesn't state anything about accumulating points beyond that but does allow "borrowing points from next year for use in the current year". If they indeed expire then Marriott is taking advantage of their owners even more than I already think they are. Is anyone able (know for SURE) to clarify this for me?

Carvana wrote: "..... I have read several esoteric explanations for this disparity and I still don't understand it but more puzzling to me is why that is an issue." The issue, in my personal opinion, is why there has to be ANY disparity at all. As another writer put it, "Marriott is just skimming" and I agree with that assessment. THE ISSUE is, it is either worth the points we are given for that particular week or it is worth what Marriott is charging others for that particular week. There is no value added in the transaction. The unit one gives up is no different than the unit someone else occupies. To me it is just another example of corporate greed, just like a hidden fee.

J227 called this program "user unfriendly". I think it might be more appropriatly called "Loser friendly". Anyone who would put good money into this program and allow themselves to be charged MORE points for another equally valued unit as the one they gave up has sawdust for brains in my opinion. What happens if, for example, they get 2400 points for their banked unit and have to pay 2300 points for the unit they exchange for. Not only are they receiving less value in exchange for what they gave up, they are quite possibly losing the other 100 points left in their account. What can one get for 100 points? Of course, Marriott will be quite happy to see them expire because this whole scheme is aimed at boosting revenues. If people are willing to give - Marriott is more than willing to take. I DO like the concept of this program but as I read through this forum there are so many misconceptions and confusing comments, conjecture and misinformation I'm not sure any one person has all the right answers or understands its complexities to any large extent. How in the world could anyone trust what they're told in a sales presentation? The one thing that IS clear to me is that it's a no-lose proposition for Marriott and for anyone to expect them to put owners' interests ahead of their own would be folly. Hey out there, if ya'll have money to just throw away like this I'll give you my address.

"THE ISSUE is, it is either worth the points we are given for that particular week or it is worth what Marriott is charging others for that particular week.

If only your statement were true. Unfortunately it is not. You were informed up front of the disparity and it is what it is fair or not. You are not required to buy into the point system and if you think the disparity is unfair just stay with the week program. You have choices!

I always go to my home resort and intend to continue to do so therefore the disparity in points is a non-issue to me.