Original Message:
Re: Ripoff - Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Program - New Point System (by Philip A.):
My wife and I have 2 weeks at Mountain Side (Park City) and one at Sable Palms (Orlando). We bought the Sable Palms week because when we only had the Park City weeks, we were not getting the weeks we wanted. We are not very flexible in our travel plans. I was very irritated when we needed to buy the 3rd week to get the time we wanted. Last week we just bought the minimum 1,500 points to get into the Trust. My point total gets me into the Premier level. I have already tried to book high demand time in both Hawaii and Vail and have had no success, as such, I am frustrated now, like I was 7 years ago when I bought my Park City weeks. However, I am trying to book times that are less than a year away. If I have the same issues next year, I will feel extremely mislead by my Marriott sales person. However, if what my sales person said is true, I think the points program will be very valuable as it will lead to better options and greater flexibility. I have a very powerful week in Park City and I have never been able to trade it for anything of equal value with II, as such I have always used it. I believe that the points program will allow my family to get into high demand resorts at high demand times. I hope my beliefs are proven to be true! I am new to this forum and it sounds like you have all had a lot more experience with exchanging weeks. I have not had a lot of luck with exchanges, but have amassed a ton of rewards points that never expire and enjoy my home resort, so all in all, not knowing anything else, I am happy with Marriott. Let's see if I can say the same thing next year.