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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Ric K.):

My ears were ringing so I thought I should get back on this forum to see who was talking about me..... Couple of updates...

Thanks to Marks773 (2-22-11) and Kathyw84 (3-5-11) for the information regarding St Kitts and their experiences with exchanges. Regarding my post from (2-21-11) and the unique experience with interval....ever since then I have received several calls and all of them were back as they were prior to getting the unique one I mentioned in that post. Polite, helpful, no mention that I could never get that exchange... A few days ago I received a confirmation for the exchange to St Kitts, a full six months ahead of the travel date. My daughter is thrilled (honeymoon). So internal exchanges are still possible yet, despite the points program, and this was a bronze to silver internal exchange within Marriott, so they still have done right by me. I am glad I held out and did not take the "hotel" getaway to St Kitts...

I also did a little test with a non Marriott week I have deposited with interval and found that I could trade immediately into Marriott on Hilton Head at any of their resorts around the end of November beginning of December. My wife and I traded our Dec (bronze) week for Barony Beach thanksgiving week bak in 2004 and this is a great early fall time on the island for golf, bike riding, and shopping. We had a great time. My point here is that external exchanges into Marriott are also still possible at this time. I almost confirmed right on the spot the other day.... So while opportunities may change or be diminished by the new program, they havent been eliminated yet, all it takes is someone to deposit their week for someone else to get the exchange....as it always has been...

ErmanC - I have a few things for you too. Thanks for posting all the info on Monarch and the active association board you have. The newsletter is a nice touch and ALL association boards should be so proactive with the major change in the Marriott program. I know that while I feel that our board at Grande Ocean has done a good job representing our interests over the years, they do not communicate at all with the members. Even the General Manager of the resort only puts out an occasional newsletter. Shame they dont take a more active roll. The annual meeting only lasted 35 minutes last year. You have to wonder if they really do much at all. ( i am sure they do throughout the year but they sure dont tell us about it)

Also, I think you asked about rentals. I have never rented my unit through Marriott and have attempted to rent through Red Week, so you have to consider the advantages of each to see what works for you. As I understand it, you can put up your unit with Marriott for rent and if they accept it, you get a rental check right away less a 35% commission for them doing the rental. Your week then goes into the resort's marketing pool of available weeks and it's theirs.... Easy, quick, but a bit less money for you. If you rent yourself, say through redweek, you can set your price and possibly get a greater return. But you dont get a guarantee that you will rent it. That is the risk for a greater reward. You also have to deal with the money thing with the renter. There are safe ways to do that. Now that is not really a problem since you are not dealing with a lower end price point and folks that want something for nothing. I have had two experiences with renting on RedWeek, One was to rent back at Harbour Club and after I paid for the rental the owner discovered she errored and did not have a week available to rent to me. She was sincerely sorry for the mixup, offered to pay for another rental for us even if it cost more. We then rented on redweek from another owner, this time at Monarch for about $400 more than I was first going to spend. She paid it for us! She was even willing to pay for a week at Grande Ocean for us which would have been about $1400 more that what she was going to take in from me. I didnt want to take advantage of her so we rented Monarch and had a great week. I would rent from her in the future without hesitation as well as the owner we did rent from at Monarch. So redweek rentals are just fine, you more often than not get great renters. You just have to pick one of the methods and go for it...