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Dear all, I am not a huge fan of the points' system, mainly because Marriott can change the rules of the game in the coming years in the points' value (vs. strict one week deeds), but it provides excellent flexibility depending on your situation. We joined to gain flexibility in being able to stay more or less than one "strict" week. Also, I did it because I bought my weeks all Platinum and at very low resale prices. Having said this, I really understand the loyal Marriott customers holding Gold/Silver (paid full) that are now angry. As mentionned in an earlier message, I was able to extend my ski vacation for a couple of days (in addition to my deeded week). Yesterday, I also booked President's week-end at a great beach location in Florida, as my wife does not want to go to Orlando again. I had to convert/elect for points (7 nights deeded week) to be able to book 4 nights at the beach location. Note that I was able to convert my 2011 week! It seems that Marriott is getting more pragmatic on the dates for converting/using points (I am sure that going forward they will have to make some minor adjustments/changes to that). We all agree that my last trade is not the best deal, but at the end of the day my family is happy in general (because we paid low resale price to start with and we will anyway not have 7 days vacations!) so the overall deal is OK for us. I frankly can understand the angry "loyal long-term Marriott" customers (paid full price Gold/Silver weeks) that were using II to have great deals. With the new points system, Marriott just took it from them and seriously reduced the value of their properties. If you are not usually staying at your own resort (i.e. exchanging your deed week), only excellent Platinum weeks will make it over the long run in this new system.