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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Sandy P.):

I had finally decided to give to new system a try (despite the terribly cheap sales presentation we to had in Aruba this Nov.). I own 9 weeks & figured that I would save by paying the 199$ yearly fee since I often lock-off & exchange via II. So I called Marriott to join & explained that I don't want to convert my 2011 weeks to points this year but simply want to exchange my 1bdr with kitchen Oceanside (Aruba July) for a 2bdr or 3 bdr in Orlando week 50 (low season). I was told that with this new systems I could no longer upgrade... Basically I could only get a 1 bdr in Orlando. I was also told that upgrades even at the last minute were not possible. I guess some would call it fair trade but if you look at the dollar value, I feel that a 1bdr Gold Oceanside (better than Oceanview) is a fair trade for a 2bdr or 3bdr Orlando. Many times in the passed I have gotten bonus weeks with II for depositing my units on top of the upgrades. These were all deciding factors for me to stay with II. So I hung up. Called II paid the exchange fee & got a 3bdr at the Grande Vista.

Maybe one day we will have no choice to join if the majority has joined because at that point II will have nearly no Marriott's availability. I suspect that eventually Marriott's plan is to withdraw totally from II. But until then I will stick with II. Also I was afraid of having points left over but not enough to secure a full week as we don't live anywhere near any Marriott's Vacation club (so mini vacations are of no interest to us).

**To Rick1217: The reason you can still find lots of good trades with II FOR NOW is because THOSE OWNERS have NOT converted to points or if they did they still decided to use II because of either their banked weeks or because of the upgrades.