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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Thomas and Kristin M.):

My spouse and I were motivated to attend a meeting on converting to Destination Points (DP) from the “Legacy” system (LS) after reading the comment thread on Red Week. Our family arrived at the KoOlina Beach Club and were told to get our “Welcome Packet”, which was a hook to signing us up for the meeting on DP. (Note: If you are outside or in one of the buildings, you will likely get approached by one of the Marriott carney’s. I use this term deliberately because it felt like we were at a county Fair being enticed to play a shell game.) The person who gave us our Welcome Packet signed us up, highlighting that we’d receive a $75 gift if we went, and later (lucky us) we received 3 reminder calls about the meeting!

Since only one of us was able to attend the meeting, I was “uninvited” to the sales presentation and “tour.” (The tour was news to me.) Instead, a salesman met with me 1:1. He had no marketing materials or business cards. His first question was “what can I do for you?” I said I was told it was important that I listen to the meeting on DP conversion. He sketched the differences between the programs on the back of a piece of paper…no printed material, hmm? I have no materials other than what he wrote and will give you those details so you can consider the alternatives, but please, do your own research!

Here’s the spiel I got. Under the new DP, Owners won’t be “nickel and dimed” by Interval Int’l’s fees. Instead, you pay Marriott a one-time $695 enrollment fee plus $199/year to have all your “vacation needs” taken care of by Marriott. Paying the enrollment fee nets you 800 points. Second, depending on where you own, you are assigned points—more points for high demand properties like Maui and KoOlina while others get fewer. He was unable or unwilling to share with me how the points were determined. KoOlina, has 4,950 points assigned for 1 week. Maui is higher (he didn’t say how much). If you have more than 6,000 points/year you are a “Premier Owner” and can book at SF, Vail, Aspen, St Thomas and St. Abaco (sp?) in the Bahamas. If you need to bank a week, you have 24 mos. vs. 12 at Interval Int’l. (please check facts on Interval’s banking timeline—my husband doesn’t think it’s just 12 months!)

When it comes to inventory selection, owners do not get precedence over anyone or anything. We are treated just like any other squirrel trying to get a nut. The salesman didn’t go into much of the “flexibility” arrangements like checking-in on mid-week. However, if you are someone who mostly uses your home property, checks in on Saturday and out on the following Saturday, and likes to use Marriott Reward points for hotels and travel packages, I personally don’t see an incentive to change. In fact, it’s more costly because you can get a 5-year membership at Interval and bank several weeks and not even come close to the $895 Marriott wants in the first year!! Honestly, I can’t see why anyone would convert, except that the administration seems easier under the new program and (as the salesman told me), people in the DP program like to use the “Explorer Collection” which takes them to more exotic places. However, from personal experience we had no trouble going to an “exotic” location using Interval Int’l under LS.

One thing that concerns me, and only time will tell, is the salesman’s metaphor that described the LS as buying an individual stock and the DP program is like buying into a “Trust” or “Mutual Fund”. Being an investor, I avoid mutual funds at because the “advisors” pay themselves first, regardless of any gain in the fund and they charge an an obscene 6%+ fee regardless. So, while the salesman told me that the MVP spin-off would be the best overall, I have a hard time believing these people. They make a ton of money off of selling “the vacation dream” and very likely work on commission. Another concern is that the salesman told me if we don’t convert to DP soon, we won’t get as many points and the fees will increase. Maybe this was the typical used-car sales tactic, “hurry and buy while sale lasts!”, but I feel in full disclosure I need to write this to our Owner community. Oh, BTW, KoOlina weeks are going for $60,000/per week and annual maintenance fees are $2,400. Interesting how there is no resale market for them, isn’t it…I know, I tried.

To add insult to injury, they weren’t going to give me my $75 gift. I fought a good fight and got $38 for my time and saved $895 by NOT enrolling. Good luck, everyone!