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Besides Marriott, we also own with Starwood. We have preferred Starwood timeshare operation ever since we bought with them. There is never the same pressure as at Marriott (except occasionally to purchase additional time, and depending on the agent). With Marriott we have felt they are trying to get into your pocket at EVERY opportunity: to exchange (old method), to exchange for airline miles (always a cut to Marriott in the exchange--even if you pick the "value" option where you get airmiles, car rental week, plus the week at a Marriott hotel; and IF you wanted to exchange to another timeshare property, there was always an additional fee (except via Interval, where there was the standard fee and standard iffiness getting into a prime property). Starwood has always offered availability to it's other properties. If it was an even exchange to the same category/level property--it didn't cost you ANY additional points. You can often exchange points for amenities like spa, restaurant, activities, etc. People there nearly always treat us as respected guests(!) Sorry, to say, but at Marriott-- we pretty much always feel like a "mark". I do think the annual fee for the DC is too high, however--esp. since, as they know, most people don't even exchange elsewhere! But we bought minimal so as to get some check-in/checkout /additional day flexibility and it serves that purpose. We NEVER exchange our original property weeks for points. And that was recommended from the outset to us--that we COULD do it, but would lose value if we traded those into points. I don't think availability is any more issue than it would have been had the resorts that have the trust property had sold out. Our understanding is that the DC folks are limited to the availability of the trust share property--if that's full too bad for them. (It's only +/- 15% of our property availability.) However, I don't know about locations where Marriott continues to build and add units. Speaking of FEES--we did pay HUGE $$ to "move" our ownership from Shadow Ridge to Newport...one of the reasons being we could see how much expansion land was available at the previous property, thus limiting re-sale availability (Newport is now fully built-out) [Not sure about Marriott, but our prime weeks with Starwood AZ rent for about 4-5x what we pay in annual fees. We would not be able to afford our visits in the peak period other than thru the timeshare ownership.]