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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Thomas N.):

While all this theoretical discussion about how the new program should or should not work is certainly beneficial, ultimately the advantages and disadvantages to owners will be based on the actual usability of the program. In this regard, I will reserve my final judgment until after the program has time to play out. However, my actual personal experience so far is as follows:

- After I enrolled my five weeks, Marriott somehow lost two of the weeks in their system, and after a great deal of time and effort on my part, I am still not 100% sure they have resolved the problem

- Every call with Marriott has relatively long wait times, and they have no idea when we can manage our points and reservations online, like in the past. So for now, it all has to be done over the phone.

- I have been on the waiting list since July for a simple two day points usage in Hawaii, and nothing has come through.

- I tried to take advantage of the 50% off points sale announced last week (i.e., to stay at certain properties at half the point value in early December), but none of the three designated properties I checked had availability for the room type I desired.

- I have had success reserving units at three lessor demand properties during non-peak times.

- The many, many Interval International trade opportunities that existed in the past have virtually all dried up, except for less desirable locations and times of the year.

So, my initial conclusion is that the system will work great if you want to go to lessor properties during non-peak times, but reserving in a high value property during a peak time is virtually impossible. (Which is something I had great success doing through Interval International trades in the past. Unfortunately, those trades are no longer showing up on II due to the new system.)