Original Message:
Re: Marriott Vacation Club "Destinations" - What I Like and What I've Done (by Michael F.):
Dennis, You make my "point". You are paying for an abstract commodity without any true substance. This commodity can (and I believe is) manipulated by Marriott. If you have to pay thousands of dollars for family memories I feel sorry for you. As you may, or may not know, the airline tickets and cruises are definitely a "rip off" under the point system. You can do much better on your own. I brought this up at my last presentation in June. After laying it all out to our sales person-he agreed with me. I went over several other aspects of the point system (as I have researched it extensively) and I had him agreeing with me that points are not a good value and you can do considerably better on your own. My uncle & aunt (who sat in along with my wife) were impressed by the dollar and cents presentation I gave as it relates to doing business in the point system. Enjoy your points-oh, by the way; I added to my October week in Maui this year by renting an oceanfront 2 bed/2 bath condo for 4 extra days (located near Marriott). Total cost (w/ taxes, cleaning etc.)-$825.00. If I used points, the cost would have been over 10K plus maintenance fees, parking fee etc. - remember, people that use points at the Hawaii resorts currently pay $25/day to park while owners, such as myself, do not pay. All I can say is-do the math and enjoy your points.