Report Abuse

Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst

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.