Original Message:
Re: Ripoff - Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Program - New Point System (by Kathryn M.):
Paul--
Just to let you know, I went to school when I joined this blog! In addition to the ones you've mentioned, g333s was especially helpful to me! He explained things so clearly that I finally was able to grasp how this program really works. My thanks to all of you!
Sad to say, there is a LOT of misinformation out there--and REALLY sad to sad, much of it comes from the Marriott Sales Reps! I think the bottom line is that no one timeshare program is right for everyone. You have to know how you enjoy vacationing and then invest in the program that will work best for you. I know that my husband and I went to about 4 different presentations and settled on Marriott. We bought our first week back in 1993, and there is no question that the program has changed radically since we bought our first week (we now own three). Fortunately, when we bought into the Destinations Program we still had the option to keep things as they were--we could trade through II, stay at our Resort, or trade for Marriott Reward Points every other year--and now also deposit our week for Exchange Points in the Destinations Program. We will see how the Destination Program will work for us in the near future as we just recently deposited our three weeks with Marriott netting 6,500 exchange points. We'll see how we do versus owning "trust" points. Several in this blog indicate that they haven't had any difficulty using either. Hopefully in the future, MVCI may see the wisdom in accepting a point as a point and eliminate the difference...but we will see. We have always been so satisfied with the Marriott quality and (hopefully) that will never change.