marriot points

Chuck, I understand that economics change, however, Marriott's point system is administered thru credit card purchases, vacation club previews, vacation club week deposits, etc. They could have not degraded the MVCI benefits and affected other aspects of the point system. We signed up under a certain plan and expectations. They charge more for the points now, charge more points now, and put restrictions on the point usage (i.e. certain rms not available, added rm charges, etc.) The least they could have done is not modify the MVCI deal or add points to the trade in week in order to keep things even for owners. Now, if you need to trade points for a package, in order to get airline points and hotel points, the cost in points is VERY high. don't forget that the airlines are playing the same game and charging many more points then the usual claiming that "anytime points are needed for most flights." Under the previous plan, it took about 2 yrs worth of trade in weeks to get a package and plane points (250,000 pts for cat 7), now it will have to go into a 3rd yr to reach the 290,000 pts. Also, Marriott is doing almost exclusive every other yr trades at this time for new buys. My point is that they - BY LAW - are not allowed to DEGRADE Vacation Club benefits. I think this new system definitely does that. By the way , I'm still trying to find the right person to get my message to at Marriott. Anybody out there know ??

Dear Peter,

You made some excellent points, no pun intended. I do believe, and please correct me if I am wrong, that Marriott always contended that the point system was always subject to change. The way I understand the "new" system is that there are no longer any black out dates. One point that you made, which I totally agree with is that in all fairness, Marriott should have increased the amount of points you get for trading in your week to soften the blow of having to use more points for the travel packages.