Marriott Going to Point Syst

"In other words, I would not have enough points to trade back to my home resort. "

You can always occupy your week at your home resort, they assured me of this and I believe it's in the blurb somewhere.

Yes, you can always reserve and occupy at your home resort. However, if you want to trade back into it in the future, the value of the points they give you for giving up the week will typically not be enough to trade back in. I talked to a Marriott representative about this today, and he said the system will definitely need tweeking over time because of various inequities that are becoming apparent. My question is, how do we know if they will ever get it right, if that is even possible given all the variables involved?

Mariott has now gone to a point system for their time share units. They are no longer selling weeks but selling points. Just talked with a Marriott representative regarding the weeks I own. Rep said week owners can still book their home resorts. Current weekly owners have to pay an initial fee plus annual fee to get into the point system for internal Marriott trades. Marriott Vacation Club Web site gives details.

You made excellent points. I talked to a representative about the program and like you stated it costs us money to be in the program and we could not get back to our resort with the points they give us. The Rep said there are separate inventories for point owners versus weekly owners. Confusing are they overbooking? Also do we we have first options to reserve our property? It also appears they will be taking inventory from I.I. So how does this affect our trading ability?

It seems to me from what I have read on the Marriott web site (marriottvacationclub.com/index.shtml) that the MVC point system will be verry similar to the Hyatt Vacation Club point system. That is, you can always use your deeded week or trade it for MVC points that are determined by the deeded week's location and season. This will give MVC owners the flexibility that HVC owners now have. I see it as a good change except for the fee Marriott charges to convert to the point system.

Thomas posted: "Yes, you can always reserve and occupy at your home resort. However, if you want to trade back into it in the future, the value of the points they give you for giving up the week will typically not be enough to trade back in" That possibility is not dramatically different from banking one's week with II and then trying to trade back into the home resort. Not always possible. For example, I own a Marriott deeded week at a beach front Marriott in a high demand season at Hilton Head and if I bank it with II there is little chance of later trading back into my deeded week. The key to success is good planning. Reserve your deeded week and go there or give it up for points and go somewhere else in the MVC.

I agree with ThomasN15...my initial impression is total dismay! We invested in Marriott because of their fine reputation and in the last 5 years, we have come to feel as though it has been a "bait and switch" program which kept us away from any type of time share until we encountered Marriott. Now, how do we stand up in the face of these continued changes? Certainly, Marriott's power right now lays in their ability to sell this to the public...how do we get our views out there? We are also members of the Kaua'i Beach Club and feel that the remodelling efforts have the touch of a Holiday Inn level rather than the old quality Marriott style. I have written a number of well thought out letters to each new manager and attended meetings but I get no feedback as an owner. It's all very unsettling and disappointing.

I, too, feel totally betrayed by Marriott. All current timeshare owners bought under one set of rules and now must pay MORE money to play by another set. They also charge 3 times more for people who own deeds who did not buy from Marriott. I thought in a free society that once someone owned a deed to a property that he/she was equal to everyone else in that category. Apparently Marriott likes to discriminate. That aside, I don't see why any current owner would want to pay more money to enroll in a points system when they have already paid once for the timeshare privilege. Marriott is scamming its current loyal owners.

Every Marriott timeshare owner should write a personal letter to Bill Marriott voicing his/her opposition to this plan. I have written him directly before and got good results. At least Marriott could have been courteous enough to send out an email or letter advising timeshare owners of this change. I am truly dismayed.

I have not yet spoken to my adviser as I am too upset to have a polite unemotional conversation with a woman who over the years has been a delight to work with. I am very confused about the new point system. We have two 2-bedrooms at Marriott Maui Ocean club (new villas) and go twice a year. Each trip we stay in the one bedroom and then move into the studio so we have four weeks a year at the property. We are older than most and never trade because we like the comfort of knowing what awaits us when we arrive and the easy flight to get there. Does anyone know if we will still be able to do this and if so will it cost us more money?

You definitely will still be able to use your home property as you have in the past. So, in your case, since you do not ever trade, there should not be any real change. However, depending on how Marriott handles the inventory of points, it remains to be seen whether on not you will have a problem reserving a specific week at your home development. In other words, Marriott could theoretically take all the good weeks.

Another unrelated issue with the new points system (that I just discovered) is that Marriott has obviously already taken the unsold units out of Interval International. In the past, Marriott would put unsold units up for trade in Interval International in order to get people into the development (for possible new sales). This is no longer the case, making for far fewer II trade possibilities at those properties that are still being actively sold by Marriott.

I don't see how Marriott could take all the good weeks for "point owners". It is my understanding that below a certain point threshold those owners could only book 12 months in advance. Above a certain point threshold they may book 13 months in advance, the same as deeded owners. So, if I were to book 13 months in advance as a deeded owner of two timeshares, that should level the playing field. Am I correct?

Mariott says they are keeping deeded weeks separate from point weeks. I think when people go to a sale presentation and buy points at a certain property they will think they have the same right to the weeks they bought as the weekly owner. If the resort is still being developed will the point owners be given preference over weekly owners for the newer part of the resort? Marriott advertises that there are nearly 400,000 members in the vacation club. We (deeded weekly owners) must make up at leat 99% of that total. If none of us join at the price they are requesting their inventory for new point buyers will be only unsold units. Thus I hope we have the advantage over point owners at our resorts. What we do not know is how Marriott will take requests from new point owners who have bought points on site from a property we currently own. Will they give them the same privilege as us on a first come first serve? If they request the same week ahead of us will they get the week instead of us?

I have not read the details of the new Marriott points program but have a thought from what I have read here. When we bought our week in Newport Coast (exclusively for trading since we live here) we bought 1/52 of a specific deeded piece of property. Marriott could sell our unit 51 more times and the same goes for the rest of the units as well. We were sold on the idea that it was a limited amount of units and thus would have a higher value as they sold out. Now it is as if Marriott has left the "Gold Standard" and is able to print money. What is to stop them from selling points over and over until the availability is frustratingly low?

We have been very happy with our Marriott timeshare experience. When my wife took me to the presentation 9 years ago I told her I would go, as long as she agreed that we would definitely not buy anything. I had been to other timeshare presentations from other companies in the past and was dreading the high pressure sale that I was sure was coming. To my surprise, I was interested in the program they were offering, and it seemed like a good fit for our family at the time. Because of the Marriott name we decided to trust them and buy our first timeshare. Our first trade was to Maui, and our expectations were exceeded. Because of that, we had no reservations about recommending the program to our friends, and family. Over the years we have referred, and sold at least 8 other weeks for Marriott. We have been able to trade our week for Hawaii at least 7 times and have been able to visit all of the Hawaiian locations, as well as St Thomas. We have always had flexible dates and booked early to better our chances of getting the location we wanted. Like I said, our expectations were always exceeded. Now however, it appears that the only way we will be able to trade our week for Hawaii is to pony up more money to Marriott and buy additional points. It also looks like we cannot trade our ocean front Newport Coast Villa for any other Marriott Timeshare near an ocean without buying new points or saving up our points for more than 1 year.

I understand we can stay with the current program, but the way we have been able to use the current program will no doubt change with the competition from the new program. I think this is probably a great source of revenue for Marriott during these difficult financial times, I am just not sure it is in the best interest of their loyal current customers.

Marriott has been successful with their entry into the timeshare market because of the goodwill they spent years building. I am concerned that with this new program they will no longer exceed our expectations, lets just hope their not trying to lower them.

Some of the chatter does not match how the program actually works. Current owners don't give up anything. If they pay the fee to buy in they have increased options. Those who benefit most are multiple week owners -- and those who purched from third parties (other then Marriott) really gain benefits.

I see no reason for a current owner to be hacked at Marriott for introducing this program. You maintain all your current benefits and have another option. New buyers have some trade-off. By current owners make out.

Marriott can't sell more points then they have property to back it up.

Frankly I don't think you will see much change if you wish to use your unit the way you always have.

Current owner are being provided more flexiblity. It is new owers who have les options.

There is a wealth of information here as well on the new Marriott points system. Good resource to educate yourself and others.

see http://tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29

j227 said: > Current owners don't give up anything. > I see no reason for a current owner to be hacked at Marriott for introducing this program. > You maintain all your current benefits and have another option. > Frankly I don't think you will see much change if you wish to use your unit the way you always have.

When reading the comments of j227, I am reminded that Marriott employees also have access to post on this forum.

Whenever a weeks owner decides to convert to points, Marriott will claim a prime week - and that week will no longer be available for me to reserve. Do you really believe that Marriott will claim the crappy weeks and leave the prime weeks alone? So this program will definitely impact current owners by removing prime weeks from reservable inventory. In addition, Marriott puts voting restrictions on any owner who converts to points. You lose the ability to vote against Marriott on any decision. If enough owners convert to points, Marriott will take control of the board of directors. Existing owners will then be powerless to oppose Marriott through an independent board of directors. Nothing to be hacked about huh j227?

Have you asked Marriott how they plan to handle this or just assume worst case?

j227 said: > Have you asked Marriott how they plan to > handle this or just assume worst case?

Since you are the Marriott plant here, why don't you explain it for us, j227?

MVCI representatives can't even give a consistent answer about whether there are separate inventories for weeks owners and points owners. Frankly, Marriott has lost so much credibility over this scheme that I'm not sure folks can trust what they say anyway. Confusion and contradictions seem to reign within the Marriott ranks at present. Nice way to rollout a new program there.

Apparently Marriott has forgotten that a reputation takes years to build and minutes to lose. Very sad. I believe that Bill Marriott is a man of integrity. I can only assume that his lieutenants have served him very poorly in this fiasco. With the sweep of a hand, Marriott has alienated and angered some its most loyal (and profitable) customers. What a great business move. Don't believe me? - read some of the comments at tugbbs.com and at Bill Marriott's own blog http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marrio...lity.html#more

This particular forum is relatively quiet and tame compared to what people are saying elsewhere.