# Points Reservations, July 26th



## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

So it's July 26th a little after 9 AM, did you get the reservation that you wanted?  If so or not what did you get or try for?  I really hope you all were successful .

Y-ASK


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

I was curious too so got up early but see nothing yet.  

Happy hunting and I hope that you all will get what you are hoping for but I expect it because all eyes are on TUG to see how this works out.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning


still on hold

this was my biggest concern


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Yep!  I've been on hold for 20 minutes now...


Y-ASK


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

on hold also, 22 minutes now


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Me too, on hold for 23 minutes now!


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

anyone else on hold?????

knew this would happen, only 40 reps to handle these calls from thousands....


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

You guys are on hold for a vacation advisor right?  Is it the advisor that is going to make the resevation?  I did not get any options to be connected any where when I called.  They just asked me for my home phone number...


Y-ASK


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

Y-ASK said:


> You guys are on hold for a vacation advisor right?  Is it the advisor that is going to make the resevation?  I did not get any options to be connected any where when I called.  They just asked me for my home phone number...
> 
> 
> Y-ASK



Yes, that's what happenned to me also


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

I was asked for home phone #, am being given the option of leaving a message for my VOA or can "continue to hold for next available VOA". Tried calling  in on another phone to see what I  get now - busy signal.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning....

not an impressive start....


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Did you see anything different when you log into your account on the web?  I was told the 800 points would be deposited on the 26th but I don't see anything.  Not sure if I'm looking in the right area...


Y-ASK


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

I was told they would probably not  be  in the account today, but that  I would be able to use them anyway.


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## brianc936 (Jul 26, 2010)

on hold for 32 minutes......


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

tic  toc...

dan and tombo must be getting a good laugh...

sue.. are you on hold too????

if you are on hold, don't hang up, you will get a busy signal if you recall....


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Still on hold, at our timeshare in the Banff area, wondering how much longer my cell phone battery is good for!

Found the charger, yea!


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning 

II is looking pretty good right now....

the test drive appears to be stalled in its tracks....


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Unfortunately I'm at work and can't put the call on speaker phone so I'm stuck with it to my ear.  I would hate to be using a cell phone... 1 hour on hold and then poof the call is gone...  I feel for you 

Y-ASK


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

anybody get thru yet?


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning....

I need to buy Perry's atomic clock, he got through and snagged his first trade...

the infamous gold summit watch unit snagged ocean front MOC (Maui) studio  1st week march...with some spare points for next year...

still on hold

i feel great....


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## sernow (Jul 26, 2010)

What a disaster. How could Marriott not have anticipated any of this.  

I have to say that this is turning into a huge unforced blunder and guess that many at Marriott will be on to new careers in the not-to-distanct future.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

I called them last week and asked them how they planned to handle the calls with a non functioning on line reservation system.  They told me they had 40 VOAs ready to rock...

I wished them well


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## siberiavol (Jul 26, 2010)

*I got through at 9 Am*

Five night request for Ocean Palms in January fulfilled
Two weeks in Hilton Head at Sunset Point or Harbor Point June ,July -2011 wait listed. They did have Barony summer as of 9:15.
Harbor point-Sunset point four days in April wait listed
Barony Beach three day Ocean Front in January wait listed
Barony Beach three day in Garden view confirmed

Your wait list will not be able to be seen in account till Oct-Nov account 
Confirmations should be seen in account the next day

The whole process took about thirty minutes with me knowing what I wanted.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

dan, tombo, sue, doug, fred ,dean, lax mom and m6176 please chime in and help us pass the time...

if i hear  rep will be  with me shortly, I will scream...


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## sernow (Jul 26, 2010)

siberiavol said:


> The whole process took about thirty minutes with me knowing what I wanted.


 
There's the explanation.


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Earlier this week I called in for info on Alaska cruises (nothing on the web site, all the links are dead). During the course  of the conversation the VOA mentioned that in booking cruises both the VOA and I would be conference calling through to ICE (I think, but am not certain, that this is International Cruises and Excursions). VOA desecribed this as "the company that Marriott is working  with". So if some fractions of call ins result in a conference call with an external company I can understand the long holds!


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Ever the optimistic, I hoping that with all the experience that the VOAs will have gotton by the time the get to my call everything will go a smooth as a sheet of sandpaper...

Y-ASK


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good morning....
> 
> I need to buy Perry's atomic clock, he got through and snagged his first trade...
> 
> ...


Did he really?  Was that on his website?  I will have a look.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning...

yes, his website tells all ....


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

83 minutes and counting.....


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

... and  I've got a lunch meeting in just over three hours....


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Sorry, I got through and I guess my situation is taking more time than it should have.  They've been able to convert both 2011 and 2012 to points but they don't have the extra 800 pts in the account because of the BS e-mail enrollment response.  I've sent it three times now so hoping for success but I really shouldn't be keeping the VOA working my issues for this long.  Sorry about that.  But they did say that I would be able to get 8 days next summer at OceanWatch in a Ocean Side room...  If they are able to get that 800 points transfer done...


Y-ASK


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

glad you got thru, maybe  light at the end of tunnel


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

Also still on hold. I was on a cell phone originally - which rerouted my call to the wrong department and then they had to try to switch me to the correct number even though that is what I called in the first place - significant apologies from the Marriott rep who answered and told me I had the wrong department. After an hour + I was walking into work and LOST the call. 

I just called again from my work number which the system didn't recognize but I'm back in the que and behind the eight ball.

RIDICULOUS way to run a business!! 

Being the beta testers for all those people on the fence is NO FUN!!

Glad to hear someone got through and got a reservation.


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Ok, I'm off the phone I was able to get the following:

OceanWatch Ocean Side:  In on 23 July, 2011 - Out on July 31st - 8 Days...

Got 2550 for my week and had to convert both 2011 & 2012 to points.  I've got about 700 pts left over in 2012.  The bummer is that it is still contingent of that BS e-mail enrollment reply message.  They said that if I did not get an e-mail confirmation by Wednesday that I had better call back and see what is going on because they might cancel my reservation...

I did not get the exact days/room I wanted (Ocean View 9 days) but as long as they follow through I'll be happy.

Y-ASK


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning...

Yask...

If you don't mind my inquiry....

what week did you convert to points. sounds like you needed to borrow from 2012 as well.  The proof of the puddin' is if you could have snagged a summer ocean watch for one of your units the old fashioned way (II)???

what was your previous exchange history???

still waitin'


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

Hey Puck, you sound chipper today - are you home or calling from Lakeshore Reserve?  I'm on hold now at the DC number, it's telling me the wait time is "30 minutes or more."  No surprise, really, that things are going veeerrrrryyyy slowly this morning - this is all brand new!

Y-ASK, no need to apologize!  I'm pretty sure we all plan on keeping the reps tied up for however long it takes us to get our own situations straightened out.   

So far from the few confirmations reported in this thread it looks like one of the questions about buckets and marbles and cookies has been answered - at least as far as whether or not instant exchanges are possible.  Makes me happy.

(I'm wishing now that I'd experimented with using speakerphone on this new phone - if I was certain that I could toggle out of it without disconnecting the call then the phone wouldn't have to be attached to my ear right now.    Poor planning on my part.)


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

OK, I’m through!

Have been told over 200 calls in the queue


800 points not in account - complication

Now contacting ICE


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

Sue...

Puck rocks, I cleared my entire morning for the test drive.  Need to be at work at 3 pm... yikes!!!

just plugged the cell phone in the charger!!  remember the classic line from Gilligan's Island

skipper used to say "little buddy...  looks like we will be here for a long long time...."


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

Y-ASK said:


> Ok, I'm off the phone I was able to get the following:
> 
> OceanWatch Ocean Side:  In on 23 July, 2011 - Out on July 31st - 8 Days...
> 
> ...


Congrats!! I'm glad to hear you got a Oceanwatch reservation as I am looking for one in August!!

Still holding!!


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Would you believe that the VOA and I are on HOLD together, trying to contact ICE!!


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## dannybaker (Jul 26, 2010)

*ON HOLD 1 hour 10 minutes and counting*

Wow, this is fun!!!
How long is the wait? I will not give them two weeks for one to get to Hawaii. I would rather go with II and find outside of Marriott. With lock off I get four weeks with II and one with points to Hawaii.


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## sparty (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> OK, I’m through!
> 
> Have been told over 200 calls in the queue
> 
> ...



I've been on hold for 118 minutes..  If someone has a VOA on-line can they ask for anticipated time to answer stats?


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning...



you can double your pleasure while waiting!!!  Perry is livin' la vida loco on his website just across the great beyond!!!

and the mvcd phone hold is blastin' Margaritaville.....

who's ordering lunch


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Would you believe that the VOA and I are on HOLD together, trying to contact ICE!!


Yes, did that earlier today trying to get to a Points Specialist (when the call was rerouted to the wrong dept the VOA held with me for 40 min and then put me in the que by myself)


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

For what it's worth, I called at 9 am and was on hold for 1 hr 55 minutes


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Call just ended, nothing accomplished. Trying to book a cruise - VOA unable to dial out to ICE (the external company that Marriott works with, at least for cruises). VOA will call me back later today.


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good morning...
> 
> yes, his website tells all ....


I just read it. 


> Wahoo - got Maui Ocean Club *Ocean Front studio* March 7 - 12, 2011.
> Had 2,150 Points (Gold Summit Watch) + 800 PlusPoints = 2,950 Points in my account.
> Cost me 2,300 Points with 650 Points left over in 2011 which can be rolled into 2012.
> Thank you Marriott
> So once again our Gold Summit Watch gets us to Maui in Whale season!


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## 5infam (Jul 26, 2010)

Curious for those that have confirmed - are all of you converting to points first? Anyone try to use your week to see what is better?

Also, anyone using the II piece of the system, able to get AC's, that kind of thing?

Sorry to hear you are all on hold for so long, it must be frustrating  but hopefully you will get what you are looking for.


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Call just ended, nothing accomplished. Trying to book a cruise - VOA unable to dial out to ICE (the external company that Marriott works with, at least for cruises). VOA will call me back later today.



Things seem to be running so smooth today at Marriott  Good luck with that.

I'm in the same boat; just lost two hours for nothing!


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

Jim

do you mean to say you spent 2 hrs on the "blower" and walked away with ZERO...????  !!!!

yikes...


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## sparty (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> For what it's worth, I called at 9 am and was on hold for 1 hr 55 minutes



Ahh.. Thanks! I can't be that far behind. Been waiting 2 HRS 10 mins..


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## Fredm (Jul 26, 2010)

It's time for Marriott to be passing out MRP's for holds longer than 30 minutes!

Start up glitches are to be expected, but this is nuts.


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Would you believe that the VOA and I are on HOLD together, trying to contact ICE!!


This is crazy!!!!!!!!! :rofl:


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good morning
> 
> Jim
> 
> ...



Yes, that sums it up


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## FlyerBobcat (Jul 26, 2010)

I'm curious...  Are you all calling the same number that I would to make a normal weeks reservation for 2011 (12/13 months in advance)???


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## JimH (Jul 26, 2010)

Called the new Destination Points # 1-888-682-4862  Not sure what would have happened if I'd used the old #


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

you would call regular owner services 800-845-4226

we are on hold with the points voa #  888 682-4862..

both lines are jammed now!!!!


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

Not me, Tom, I'm calling the new DC 888 number.  Seems like it's a dedicated line, "Welcome to the new Marriott Destination Club! ..."


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## CA Richard (Jul 26, 2010)

I called right at 9:00 (6:00 AM here on the West Coast) and was connected immediately - no wait.

My 800 points for enrollement was already in my account.

I converted one of my 2011 units for points and requested a 3-day July 4 weekend (2011) at the Grand Chateau in Vegas.  Not immediately available so is waitlisted.  (Not a big surprise for July 4th.)

He gave me a choice as to how long I would like the waitlist to be in effect (I could name any specific date for the waitlist to expire from now until two weeks before the reserevation).  I left it open indefinitely, which means it will be in effect until either I call and cancel it or two weeks before the reservation.  He said they would send me an email when the waitlist clears and I receive my reservation.

I asked if any of this would show up on my online account and he did not know - he said they are still working on a lot of the pieces of the web site and on-line accounts.

So all seems to be working as advertised so far.  My real test will be when I call in a couple weeks to reserve at 13 months for my Fall 2011 vacation.

I was only on the phone with him for 3-4 minutes so I was not the one holding the rest of you up!


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## FlyerBobcat (Jul 26, 2010)

Thanks,  I had a call planned to the "regular" number...  but maybe I'll just wait until later...


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good morning

150 minutes now.....

yikes

anyone else lucky...


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Called the new Destination Points # 1-888-682-4862  Not sure what would have happened if I'd used the old #


I can tell you - they would transfer you to the 888 "Points Specialist" number if you wanted a Destination Club reservation!! I know because my call to the 888 number apparently was rerouted by the computer system (BAD system) to the regular 800 number who then had to reroute me to the 888 number causing more delay ....

Still holding ....


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## brianc936 (Jul 26, 2010)

After 2 hours and 5 minutes on hold we finally got through. My family (parents) bought 4000 points so we were able to book up to 8000 points. (I was told the 5300 incentive points were not available until after closing :-(... however we had enough to book what we wanted for now.

Our first choice was Marco Island- Crystal Shores- 2-bedroom- 6 nights- Mar 13-19, Spring Break for family. NO AVAILABILITY.

Second Choice- Oceana Palms- same 6 days as above during spring break- AVAILABLE- we booked for 3550 points (leaving a day early saves us 1,450 points).


Other smaller trips... all were successful in booking 2 bedroom units. Used the 1450 we saved from checking out of Oceana Palms on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Branson- Willow Ridge-  (visiting family in area)
Sat/Sun labor day weekend 2010- AVAILABLE-  booked for 575 points
Mon/Tues of Thanksgiving week 2010- AVAILABLE- booked for 350 points

Williamsburg- Manor Club- ( already going to DC for Christmas to visit family)
Monday, Dec 27th and Tuesday, 28th 2010- AVAILABLE- booked for 450 points.

This leaves us with 3075 points. Plus 5300 bonus points which we will get this fall. Made comment to VOA that I would like to use to go to Hawaii later in 2011. She made the comment that she had been earlier booking Hawaii (did not specify which property) but said the dates she was looking in July had "plenty" of inventory.


Other than the 2 hour wait, we were happy with what we got.


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## 5infam (Jul 26, 2010)

CA Richard said:


> I called right at 9:00 (6:00 AM here on the West Coast) and was connected immediately - no wait.
> 
> My 800 points for enrollement was already in my account.
> 
> I converted one of my 2011 units for points and requested a 3-day July 4 weekend (2011) at the Grand Chateau in Vegas.  Not immediately available so is waitlisted.  (Not a big surprise for July 4th.)



Hi Richard - that is interesting that you did not get the trade. I say that as you had to be one of the first people through on the phone. Is GC part of the 11 Trust properties? If it is, I can't imagine why you would not get it, as all weeks that Marriott owns were supposed to be proportionate by week vs. weeks owners. Hmmm...


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good morning
> 
> dan, tombo, sue, doug, fred ,dean, lax mom and m6176 please chime in and help us pass the time...
> 
> if i hear  rep will be  with me shortly, I will scream...





West Coaster here... still getting caught up on all this mess... I barely get up at 5:45am for my own reservations so let me get caught up and you can be sure I'll chime in


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> what week did you convert to points. sounds like you needed to borrow from 2012 as well.  The proof of the puddin' is if you could have snagged a summer ocean watch for one of your units the old fashioned way (II)???
> 
> what was your previous exchange history???


I own a Platinum at Harbour Lake which got me 2550 pts per year.  So with the 800 pts and borrowing from 2012 I had about 5900 points to work with.  I think the total points used was 5200 which left me with 700 for 2012...

I have never tried to trade with II even though I've been a member for over two years, so I have no idea what it's trade value would have been.


Y-ASK


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

iconnections said:


> I just read it.





> Wahoo - got Maui Ocean Club Ocean Front studio March 7 - 12, 2011.
> Had 2,150 Points (Gold Summit Watch) + 800 PlusPoints = 2,950 Points in my account.
> Cost me 2,300 Points with 650 Points left over in 2011 which can be rolled into 2012.
> Thank you Marriott
> So once again our Gold Summit Watch gets us to Maui in Whale season!



I didn't realize that downgrading from a 2BR to a studio while needing a boost of 150 bonus points to get that trade is a reason to cheer...

Well - at least Perry got through to a VOA so he does have some secrets up his sleeve.


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## 5infam (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> I didn't realize that downgrading from a 2BR to a studio while needing a boost of 150 bonus points to get that trade is a reason to cheer...
> 
> Well - at least Perry got through to a VOA so he does have some secrets up his sleeve.



Not only that, but he is not getting a week, but 4 or 5 nights (not sure if he is checking out on the 11th, or the 12th). But he is ocean front, so maybe that is the difference for him - who knows.

Also just noticed that he needed his extra 800 points from enrolling to pull this off - so this was a 1 time deal for him, unless he wants to take off another night or two in the future.


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So far from the few confirmations reported in this thread it looks like one of the questions about buckets and marbles and cookies has been answered - at least as far as whether or not instant exchanges are possible.  Makes me happy.



I'm not so sure about the whole trust pot and legacy owner pot.  I requested either an Ocean View 1st or Garden View 2nd so that I could use more points and have a longer stay and they said I would have to be wait listed but then offered the Ocean Side.  Now from what little I read and understand there were plenty of GV's and OV's deposited in the Trust and I can't imagine that they would have all been taken by now.  And I'm pretty sure that the OS units have been sold out for a very long time now.  So if you ask me it looks like I got my 8 days from a legacy owner exchange and not from the trust which is where I would have thought it would have come from this early in the game...  Maybe they would have come off those OV/GV units at a later date but I have no way knowing since I took the OS view...


Y-ASK


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

This recording telling me that my vacation rep will be with me "momentarily" is getting very, very old after 93 mins on a landline (and that is after my cell phone lost my initial call and I was 90+ min in when it dropped ) !!!

If I get the reservations I want it might be worth it .....


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## sparty (Jul 26, 2010)

kedler said:


> This recording telling me that my vacation rep will be with me "momentarily" is getting very, very old after 93 mins on a landline (and that is after my cell phone lost my initial call and I was 90+ min in when it dropped ) !!!
> 
> If I get the reservations I want it might be worth it .....



I just crossed the 3 hour mark waiting..


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## dannybaker (Jul 26, 2010)

*2 HOURS 17 minutes and still waiting*

Not my idea of a great start to a new program.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon....

Just finished.  After the long wait I had a very helpful rep named Michelle.  She was a "pro" and knew the system cold...  My 800 pts. were locked and loaded and we were ready to "play".

I first started with trying to change my 2 concurrent 5/28/2011 Waiohai's into one 3 bedroom in Kauai Lagoons, but alas no availability (2 or 3's there).  Thus, I decided to just keep my home weeks at Waiohai and Koolina for my nice 2 week trip 5/28-6/11.  

since I did not pick up extra points playing with Hawaii, I went to work with the 4550 pts available to me.

Frenchman's Cove was not available for Spring Break week 3/25 but St Kitts was!!!  

Some ski weeks were available in prime Feb times for Summit Watch (did not ask about mountainside).  I would have had to borrow for this!!!

July was pretty open at NCV, Tahoe and Grande Ocean (HHI) (including July 4th at Tahoe and Grande Ocean)  At GO there is no extra tax for July4th.  

To end the suspense, I took a week Oceanside at GO for 4500 pts.  7/21-7/28.   I believe that i could have done as well with my 3 bedroom GV trading thru II,but now I have certainty of dates, ability to cancel and most importantly, I can call again and check on other options and move if necessary!!!!  I can also call weekly to check if that 3 bedroom at KL becomes available and pick up some extra points in the process...

The true test will come in 2012 when I have the full quota of points to play with!!!  

Overall, it was a good experience and I feel that I did similiar work to previous deals...

So in summary in 2011

Park City Mountainside 2/6  old II trade
Hawaii 2 islands   5/28-6/11  old use of owner occupied weeks
GO  7/21 -7/28  thru points...

I still have a II week on deposit just to keep a unit in play there!!!


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

sparty said:


> I just crossed the 3 hour mark waiting..


We are all certifiably insane .... when did you call in?


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## sparty (Jul 26, 2010)

sparty said:


> I just crossed the 3 hour mark waiting..



Well I got through at the 3 Hour 6 min mark.. However I am not having luck getting what I want, 2 bedroom Maui Ocean Club.  After several back and forths with VOA's and supervisors they finally gave up and I went on wait list. So crash and burn for now. 

However, I won't say failure until my reservation date passes with no availability.

Total time on call, 3 hours 32 mins 14 sec (of which 3 hours 6 mins was waiting for a VOA)


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

CA Richard said:


> I converted one of my 2011 units for points and requested a 3-day July 4 weekend (2011) at the Grand Chateau in Vegas.  Not immediately available so is waitlisted.  (Not a big surprise for July 4th.)



HERE IS A CRUCIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUST OWNERS AND LEGACY OWNERS:

They make you convert to points in order to waitlist ("deposit first"). Now trust and legacy owners have access to your week.

I believe Trust owners do not deposit trust points (aka "real points"; aka "green marbles") into the exchange company unless the exchange is confirmed. They can waitlist while keeping their green marbles ("request first")


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good afternoon....
> 
> Just finished.  After the long wait I had a very helpful rep named Michelle.  She was a "pro" and knew the system cold...  My 800 pts. were locked and loaded and we were ready to "play".
> 
> ...


Congratulations!!

Sounds like you did well as I'm still holding how long did it take??


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> HERE IS A CRUCIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUST OWNERS AND LEGACY OWNERS:
> 
> They make you convert to points in order to waitlist ("deposit first"). Now trust and legacy owners have access to your week.
> 
> I believe Trust owners do not deposit trust points (aka "real points"; aka "green marbles") into the exchange company unless the exchange is confirmed. They can waitlist while keeping their green marbles ("request first")



Dan, all due respect, but do you think it's possible to keep this thread on topic, the experiences of those calling in - and save your commentary for the threads where your thoughts are already being discussed?


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

I called in at 10:30, my phone died at 12:35.  Called back in with a different phone and got this message:  "We are experiencing unusually high call volume and are unable to take your call at this time.  Please call back again later."

Grrrrrrrrr.


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## Cindala (Jul 26, 2010)

5infam said:


> Not only that, but he is not getting a week, but 4 or 5 nights (not sure if he is checking out on the 11th, or the 12th). But he is ocean front, so maybe that is the difference for him - who knows.
> 
> Also just noticed that he needed his extra 800 points from enrolling to pull this off - so this was a 1 time deal for him, unless he wants to take off another night or two in the future.



Exactly what I thought! Down from a 2bdrm to a studio and from a week down to 5 nights. If one was getting this trade before using weeks (and getting a full week), this looks like one was shortchanged to me.


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> I called in at 10:30, my phone died at 12:35.  Called back in with a different phone and got this message:  "We are experiencing unusually high call volume and are unable to take your call at this time.  Please call back again later."
> 
> Grrrrrrrrr.


Hi Susan,

I feel your pain I called in at 9:00 AM on the dot on my cell as I couldn't use a landline at the time and at 10:30ish the call was dropped!!!!

I've now been on a land line for 2 hrs 20 mins and counting ....


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

150 minutes on hold, then 20  minutes to shop....

I had a ton more questions, but I knew the "queue" was backed up...

The good news, is that I can make other calls and change if inventory opens!!!


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Cindala said:


> Exactly what I thought! Down from a 2bdrm to a studio and from a week down to 5 nights. If one was getting this trade before using weeks (and getting a full week), this looks like one was shortchanged to me.


I think it really all depends on what the owner is looking for.  In my case you may think that I'm getting shortchanged as well.  I own Plat. Harbour Lake in Orlando.  I get 2550 pts each year.  I don't really want to stay there since I own at other Orlando resorts.  I pay about $950 in MF's each year.

So if I combine two years of points I can stay one week every two years at OceanWatch during the Plat season.  Total cost (2 x $950) + (2 x $169) = $2238.  Most OceanWatch summer rentals go for well over $2,000 on Redweek and I already own at Harbour Lake.  No need to purchase any thing new via resale or take a chance on renting.  Now if it becomes difficult to get into Oceanwatch at the 12 month window then I might think about purchasing Oceanwatch Plat. via resale later down the road...

Y-ASK


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Can someone ask the rep this question when you have them on the line:   If I convert my 2012 week to points and borrow for a vacation in 2011, if the request is not fulfilled after waitlisting, will they return my 2012 points back into 2012 use year or do they permanently stay in 2011?  I realize I can not get my "week" back and must be content with points, but if they can not fulfill my request, I think I should not lose the points if I can't use them somewhere else in 2011.  

I don't want to tie up a line just to ask a question since I am not quite ready to make a decision on next year.

Thank you so much in advance.


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> Dan, all due respect, but do you think it's possible to keep this thread on topic, the experiences of those calling in - and save your commentary for the threads where your thoughts are already being discussed?



Jeez - Are you now a moderator now too?

IMO that was actually an important difference to note... don't take out your frustrations on me. Perhaps you should direct that towards Marriott for a change?

But since you want to stay "on topic" fine - you asked for it...



SueDonJ said:


> So far from the few confirmations reported in this thread it looks like one of the questions about buckets and marbles and cookies has been answered - at least as far as whether or not instant exchanges are possible.  Makes me happy.



So when you posted this in post #37 exactly two people reported they even got through... Are you promoting Marriott with a statistical sample the size of two? Really?

Since then we had:



CA Richard said:


> I converted one of my 2011 units for points and requested a 3-day July 4 weekend (2011) at the Grand Chateau in Vegas.  Not immediately available so is waitlisted.  (Not a big surprise for July 4th.)





brianc936 said:


> After 2 hours and 5 minutes on hold we finally got through. My family (parents) bought 4000 points so we were able to book up to 8000 points. (I was told the 5300 incentive points were not available until after closing :-(... however we had enough to book what we wanted for now.
> 
> Our first choice was Marco Island- Crystal Shores- 2-bedroom- 6 nights- Mar 13-19, Spring Break for family. NO AVAILABILITY.



By the way, isn't the trust loaded with Marco Island?



puckmanfl said:


> I first started with trying to change my 2 concurrent 5/28/2011 Waiohai's into one 3 bedroom in Kauai Lagoons, but alas no availability (2 or 3's there).  Thus, I decided to just keep my home weeks at Waiohai and Koolina for my nice 2 week trip 5/28-6/11.





puckmanfl said:


> July was pretty open at NCV, Tahoe and Grande Ocean (HHI) (including July 4th at Tahoe and Grande Ocean)  At GO there is no extra tax for July4th.



*I'm sure NCV owners are thrilled that Marriott booked all these July weeks for itself... Any owner calling at 9:02am at 13 or 12 months out is out of luck on this.
*



sparty said:


> Well I got through at the 3 Hour 6 min mark.. However I am not having luck getting what I want, 2 bedroom Maui Ocean Club.  After several back and forths with VOA's and supervisors they finally gave up and I went on wait list. So crash and burn for now.





JimH said:


> Call just ended, nothing accomplished. Trying to book a cruise - VOA unable to dial out to ICE (the external company that Marriott works with, at least for cruises). VOA will call me back later today.





SueDonJ said:


> I called in at 10:30, my phone died at 12:35.  Called back in with a different phone and got this message:  "We are experiencing unusually high call volume and are unable to take your call at this time.  Please call back again later."



I was actually optimistic over the weekend when I said Marriott flooded the exchange company with trust points to make this work so everyone will get their first choice. Every time I give them some credit they just manage to discredit themselves.

There is a bright side in all this... despite the 3 hour hold times those who do get their exchanges still do so faster than it would take II to fill those requests. But it demonstrates that this is just an exchange company, not a point reservation system. There is no justification in my mind to pay a $500-$2000 enrollment fee to put up with this.

Good luck to all those still on hold.


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## dougp26364 (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Earlier this week I called in for info on Alaska cruises (nothing on the web site, all the links are dead). During the course  of the conversation the VOA mentioned that in booking cruises both the VOA and I would be conference calling through to ICE (I think, but am not certain, that this is International Cruises and Excursions). VOA desecribed this as "the company that Marriott is working  with". So if some fractions of call ins result in a conference call with an external company I can understand the long holds!



For me, this is more bad news. ICE was NEVER the best price for a cruise. Not even close most of the time. There are much better and less expensive cruise TA's Marriot could have choosen to work with. One more strike against them.

They'll definately have to fix online access for owners. I don't have the sort of time it's taking you guys to make simple reservation requests.

This is just the first day. Like anything new, you know there would have to be issues. I guess most of us knew this would happen but apparently Marriott didn't. I'm still a happy Marriott owner but this is like watching a car wreck in slow motion. I just can't believe Marriott has dropped the ball so badly on this one.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

Y-ASK...

please remember that you are the customer and don't have to defend your actions to anyone!!!  If you are happy with your trade, then I say "Happy Days" and please enjoy....

puck


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## dougp26364 (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Would you believe that the VOA and I are on HOLD together, trying to contact ICE!!



Yes I would. Why Marriott didn't go with one of the largest firms, Cruises Only, who has a ton of experience and books their Marriott Rewards cruises, beats the heck out of me. It took me maybe 15 minutes working with Cruises Only using MR points to book the cruise we wanted. No hold times, no inexperienced person handling the account. Just called, told them what I wanted and it was done.


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

I'm on the phone with a live rep .... 2 hrs & 45 min


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Doug, I looked at the ICE website.  It looks like mostly corporate info only.  How can you see their cost for a cruise and their availability???

It seems Marriott has taken the long, hard way in every instance of this new program.  Really quite unbelievable for such a large, (formerly) sophisticated company.


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## Cindala (Jul 26, 2010)

Y-ASK said:


> I think it really all depends on what the owner is looking for.  In my case you may think that I'm getting shortchanged as well.  I own Plat. Harbour Lake in Orlando.  I get 2550 pts each year.  I don't really want to stay there since I own at other Orlando resorts.  I pay about $950 in MF's each year.Y-ASK



I would think with a platinum week at Harbour Lake your trading power should be very good in II if you don't want to stay there. You don't think you could get OceanWatch Platinum with your week putting in a request a year ahead, or other resorts for that matter?


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## dougp26364 (Jul 26, 2010)

JimH said:


> Call just ended, nothing accomplished. Trying to book a cruise - VOA unable to dial out to ICE (the external company that Marriott works with, at least for cruises). VOA will call me back later today.



Unbelievable and unacceptable from such a large company. Especially when they already had a working relationship with Cruises Only through MR points.


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> I didn't realize that downgrading from a 2BR to a studio while needing a boost of 150 bonus points to get that trade is a reason to cheer...
> 
> Well - at least Perry got through to a VOA so he does have some secrets up his sleeve.


It depends if view is important to you or not. To us it is and walk out the unit right on the beach is wonderful too so a downtrade to an oceanfront studio would be worth it to us too as it is with Perry. Owning a timeshare today is nothing but a hassle with the big timeshare developers making it more difficult and more expensive too.

Renting an oceanfront condo for a whole month is starting to sound better every year and rents are down right now but that may change again once the economy picks up, if it ever will in the USA with so much debt.


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

5infam said:


> Not only that, but he is not getting a week, but 4 or 5 nights (not sure if he is checking out on the 11th, or the 12th). But he is ocean front, so maybe that is the difference for him - who knows.
> 
> Also just noticed that he needed his extra 800 points from enrolling to pull this off - so this was a 1 time deal for him, unless he wants to take off another night or two in the future.


This is true and that is not good at all as it costs you plenty.   Almost funny! :hysterical: 

Points are for the birds as you get shafted but it is *F L E X I B L E *and you can get your view. No doubt, renting is the way to go.


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## m61376 (Jul 26, 2010)

Yikes- just got home from work awhile ago and I expected to see posts regaling the great exchanges on Day 1.

One thing that I am curious about- and not to fan the flames between Sue and Dan on this. I understand Dan's contention that trust points are akin to request first and legacy points to deposit first; with either points can you go on multiple waitlists at once, or are the points "tied up" when you are on a waitlist?

I have to say- I am astounded that they rolled out something like this. I really expected Puck and others to be shouting how great the experience was, rather than searching for friendly posts to whittle away the time.

Reading this has exhausted me...I need a vacation


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

Cindala said:


> I would think with a platinum week at Harbour Lake your trading power should be very good in II if you don't want to stay there. You don't think you could get OceanWatch Platinum with your week putting in a request a year ahead, or other resorts for that matter?


I really don't think I would get into a summer time week at OceanWatch but I've only tried once in II and it didn't work out very well.  I've got kids and need something during the summer months.  My situation is not as flexable as I would like for it to be .  Maybe I will try a trade in the future but for now I good to go for a couple of years...

Y-ASK


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## dannybaker (Jul 26, 2010)

*3 Hours 13 Minutes Got To Marriott For Reservation*

WOW, 3 HOURS 13 MINUTES GOT TO MARRIOTT AND THEY SAID SORRY WE DON'T HAVE YOUR II ACCOUNT SET UP. I had called 10 days ago and was assured I would be able to make my reservation or request today. STILL WAITING!!!!!!! We joined up on JUNE 20th, so I am really confused and frustrated.

UGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

Kauai Lagoons availability 5/28 would have been the "homerun". I only gave them one week so I can't be too harsh.  This was more like a "double".  It seemed like I received fair value.  A plat week at GO is nothing to sneeze at!!!

not shouting from the rooftops, but satisfied...

next year will be a bigger test when more of my weeks are in play!!!

puck


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## Superchief (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good afternoon....
> 
> July was pretty open at NCV, Tahoe and Grande Ocean (HHI) (including July 4th at Tahoe and Grande Ocean)  At GO there is no extra tax for July4th.


 
For those NCV owners out there, have any of you had difficulty reserving a July week for next year? This could be a bad sign for Legacy owners who want to use their own week.


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## ajlm33 (Jul 26, 2010)

Superchief said:


> puckmanfl said:
> 
> 
> > good afternoon....
> ...


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## RandR (Jul 26, 2010)

Thanks everyone for posting your findings here.  It will definitely help people going forward, whether it convinces some people not to join because of the waits or it gets others to join as most of those that have gotten through seem reasonably happy.


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

Ok, I was able to get:

From the "TRUST INVENTORY ONLY” - 7 nights oceanfront OceanWatch on the exact dates I wanted!!!!! 3500 points -- we bought 1750 & are using two yrs because they won't apply the PlusPoints even though I was clearly told they would for 2011 reservations (we'll either use those later for long Fairway weekend or swap as below if it works). I was told that this reservation was only available with Trust Points.

On waitlist for 3 bdrm St. Thomas or Aruba Surf Club for week beginning 7/23 or 24 (special occasion so need exact dates & 3 bdrm). The first choice is St. Thomas so that is way we did it this way rather than through II. I need to pull a 3 bdrm way before Flexchange. Otherwise I'd be using two weeks either way to get what I want.

Have 2010 Barony Beach previously deposited in II searching away for all of the above and some non-Marriott east coast ski weeks.

This took a long, long time due to some technical glitches in the system with the calculation of the OceanWatch points because the system was charging me the extra 20% even though we’re Premier status so they had to “fix it” but they did.

CALIFORNIAGIRL: If you borrow points or convert weeks from 2012 to 2011 you cannot put them back into use year 2012 if you cancel the reservation or change it you will have to use them but you can bank 2011 cancelled points/weeks into 2012.

PLUSPOINTS:  You can’t use them until they are in your account (60 days from closing date) but you can call up later and “swap” the PlusPoints for points you can bank into 2012. In my case I’m being told that when the PlusPoints come into my account I switch them for my 2011 Trust Points and then bank my 2011 Trust Points into 2012 – it’s a shell game!!! 

4 hours  after I started I at least have a reservation I wanted  and we’ll see how that waitlist goes!!!!  

The Marriott rep I worked with was excellent and very pleasant.


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## Jeffrey (Jul 26, 2010)

*3 hours for waiting list.*

Just got off the line after a three hour wait.  
I am now offically on the waiting list for a 3 bedroom Crystal Shores next August... 13 months out and no availability.  Pretty frustrating...  
I had thought to have picked up that the Trust had a lot of Crystal Shores inventory ?


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

Jeffrey said:


> Just got off the line after a three hour wait.
> I am now offically on the waiting list for a 3 bedroom Crystal Shores next August... 13 months out and no availability.  Pretty frustrating...
> I had thought to have picked up that the Trust had a lot of Crystal Shores inventory ?



See kedler's post as well as the discussion in this thread.

Your "points" are exchange points. They do not give you "direct access" to trust inventory. All you are doing is going through an exchange process. If no trust points are deposited there, you will not "see" trust inventory. You also likely cannot combine trust and legacy points to get "direct access" to trust inventory.



kedler said:


> Ok, I was able to get:
> 
> From the "TRUST INVENTORY ONLY” - 7 nights oceanfront OceanWatch on the exact dates I wanted!!!!! 3500 points (we bought 1750 & are using two yrs because they won't apply the PlusPoints even though I was clearly told they would for 2011 reservations still we'll use those later for a long Fairway weekend). *I was told that this reservation was only available with Trust Points*.


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## Delicate Arch (Jul 26, 2010)

*No luck*

After 2 hours of wait time, as an enrolled member, there were no 2BR at the new towers in Maui. 

I was also told that if I had purchased new beneficial interest points I would have access to the Maui weeks/days in the Trust, but as I only have enrolled points as part of the exchange program,  I only have access to "exchanged" properties. I gently explained that if I had purchased an extra 1000 points, only those 1000 points would be eligible for reserving in the Trust, not my high enrolled member points. Oh yeah, she says, you are right about that.

Here is what I infer. Yes there are two buckets (in fact, she used the term buckets, not me). The Trust bucket and the eligible to exchange bucket. Enrolled Legacy owners only play in the eligible to exchange bucket.

Marriott is not releasing Trust weeks into the exchange pool on a spontaneous basis to help facilitate exchanges. If there were any day that they were going to do this, it would be today.

As the primary "owner" of most of the Trust properties, Marriott could elect to make a "reservation" that matches what an exchanger wants, put it into the exchange pool and facilitate the exchange (especially, as in my case they would have garnered 2 Waiohai weeks). They are not choosing to do this.

Coupling the vastly understaffed telephone bank and with the non-aggressive trading of inventory it all adds up to odd managerial decisions overall.


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

kedler said:


> Ok, I was able to get:
> 
> From the "TRUST INVENTORY ONLY” - 7 nights oceanfront OceanWatch on the exact dates I wanted!!!!! 3500 points -- we bought 1750 & are using two yrs because they won't apply the PlusPoints even though I was clearly told they would for 2011 reservations (we'll either use those later for long Fairway weekend or swap as below if it works).* I was told that this reservation was only available with Trust Points.*



That sounds like a fairly definitive answer to the question of whether trust points and enrolled weeks points have the same rights to access trust inventory - they don't, only trust points have direct access to trust inventory.


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

Delicate Arch said:


> After 2 hours of wait time, as an enrolled member, there were no 2BR at the new towers in Maui.
> 
> *I was also told that if I had purchased new beneficial interest points I would have access to the Maui weeks/days in the Trust, but as I only have enrolled points as part of the exchange program,  I only have access to "exchanged" properties.* I gently explained that if I had purchased an extra 1000 points, only those 1000 points would be eligible for reserving in the Trust, not my high enrolled member points. Oh yeah, she says, you are right about that.
> 
> ...



So its official, we are all resale owners now, with less access to trust inventory than new points purchasers.


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Kedler, thank you so much for getting the answer to my question.  Not the answer I was looking for, but the one I expected.  

A friend owns a Napili tower 2 bdrm OF week and a Mountainside week 51.  They want to get a Napili 3bdrm and two efficiencies for next July.  They have the points to do it.  The dilemma is that they would have to give up their booked 2 bdrm for a waitlist on the 3 bdrm.  A bird in the hand...  

As I was typing this my friend called.  He got through fairly quickly at 9:30 pacific time.  As expected there was not a 3 bdrm available.  He will keep the two bdrm and try to get 3 effeciencies.  This is a 3 generation family trip.

What is interesting is that his 1st choice July week he tried to book as an owner was unavailable a few weeks ago, but was magically available to book with points today.   Not sure if some other OF 2bdrm owner deposited their week or traded for points first thing this morning or if Marriott did what we have feared and cherry picked the prime weeks for their exchange purposes!  I'm thinking it is the latter.:annoyed:


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

californiagirl said:


> Kedler, thank you so much for getting the answer to my question.  Not the answer I was looking for, but the one I expected.
> 
> A friend owns a Napili tower 2 bdrm OF week and a Mountainside week 51.  They want to get a Napili 3bdrm and two efficiencies for next July.  They have the points to do it.  The dilemma is that they would have to give up their booked 2 bdrm for a waitlist on the 3 bdrm.  A bird in the hand...
> 
> ...



These also could have been weeks in inventory previously unavailable to reserve via weeks due to being turned in to marriott for rent, or for MRPs, which marriott is now making available to reserve via points, as the program documentation has indicated would occur.


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Delicate Arch said:


> Here is what I infer. Yes there are two buckets (in fact, she used the term buckets, not me). The Trust bucket and the eligible to exchange bucket. Enrolled Legacy owners only play in the eligible to exchange bucket.



So "Points are points"  False...myth busted!

Basically this is just another exchange program for legacy owners.  Fact.  An exchange program with a high price:  the skim.

I think if legacy owners refuse to give up prime weeks/properties into the destination club the new trust owners are going to get very frustrated with just 11 resorts to choose from!  They are going to say, "But you promised me I could go anywhere, anytime!"


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

hipslo said:


> These also could have been weeks in inventory previously unavailable to reserve via weeks due to being turned in to marriott for rent, or for MRPs, which marriott is now making available to reserve via points, as the program documentation has indicated would occur.



I agree that *could *have occurred.  But respectfully, do you think an owner of a 2 bdrm OF in Maui would have traded for Marriott Reward points?  Talk about skim!


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

moved to different thread


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## Numismatist (Jul 26, 2010)

californiagirl said:


> I think if legacy owners refuse to give up prime weeks/properties into the destination club the new trust owners are going to get very frustrated with just 11 resorts to choose from!  They are going to say, "But you promised me I could go anywhere, anytime!"



The sad truth is that Marriott won't care about new points purchasers either.  You see:  they RELY on uninformed buyers for their profits and growth.  It doesn't matter how bad current owners complain, the new buyers don't hear it.  As soon as you sign the sales agreement, they don't care about you any longer - they HAVE YOU and it's on to the next.

I realized this immediately after signing and walking out of the Frenchman's Cove area, I said to my wife:  "well, they have all the money now, why should they continue to do anything for us?" - I was right and I didn't feel good about it, but it was the truth.


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

californiagirl said:


> I agree that *could *have occurred.  But respectfully, do you think an owner of a 2 bdrm OF in Maui would have traded for Marriott Reward points?  Talk about skim!



I dont know, personally, I dont see why anyone would ever trade a high value week for MRPs, but apparently it happens all the time.   I guess its easier than renting it and taking the rental proceeds to book a hotel stay and still have plenty left over (which is what I would do if I wanted to stay in a marriott hotel, rather than use my mountainside ski week).


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## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

Delicate Arch said:


> After 2 hours of wait time, as an enrolled member, there were no 2BR at the new towers in Maui.
> 
> Here is what I infer. Yes there are two buckets (in fact, she used the term buckets, not me). The Trust bucket and the eligible to exchange bucket. Enrolled Legacy owners only play in the eligible to exchange bucket.
> 
> ...



Very disappointing -- I still can't believe Puck didn't get Kauai Lagoons, although I'm happy for him that he got something he is satisfied with.

There are 13 unit of Kauai Lagoons that have been deposited (in their entirety) into the Trust -- 52 weeks of the year.  I don't know what the different view classes, but it is extremely likely what Puck wanted as in the Trust -- Marriott just didn't make the trade.

Tough reality.....

Good luck to all,

Greg


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

Called back and was on hold for just under an hour.  I converted a SW Gold 3BR OV unit for 4625 points which combined with the 800 incentive points gives me 5425 to play with.  We have another week, 6/18-25/11, booked at SW and I wanted to use points for a 2BR OF or OS at SW, BB or GO consecutive to that, the 6 nights beginning 6/12/11.  The one I didn't expect to be available was SW Oceanvista because that inventory is extremely limited anyway.  It wasn't, but neither were some of my choices.

GO was the only one of the three that had any 2BR availability for those 6 nights so I booked the OS unit for 3375 points.  GO is third on our list, though, so I'll be checking back until the trip to see if SW or BB becomes available.  We have 2050 points left that can be used if our other resort/view choices become available, or we may bank them into 2012 (because the 800 incentive points were first-in-first out.)  Today I also cancelled a Barony 5/21/11 confirmation; we'll be using the 12-mo call-in day to try to book that as a 9/17/11 week.

Something interesting ... it appears that when they're searching for your dates they are able to access Marriott and II inventory at the same time.  Because after she told me that SW and BB weren't available for the 6 nights, I asked her to check availability for a week-to-week trade in II instead and she told me that if it's not available in Points it most likely will not be in II Weeks.  She checked anyway because her first search was for the 6 nights I wanted instead of the usual 7, but no dice.

So I'm happy.  We wanted a specific 6-day stay to run consecutive to an already-confirmed week and got it at one of my three choices of resorts, but I still have the ability and available points to keep re-checking for either of the other two on our list as well as an OF view at any of them.  No complaints other than the ridiculous call waiting time but there's no sense blaming the VOA's for that when they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.


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## scrapngen (Jul 26, 2010)

*Waitlisted?? How is that better than exchanging w/II?*

OK, I've been relatively quiet once the skim was clear, and other troubling aspects have been somewhat figured out by the collective TUG braintrust...
I'm just trying to understand this...

But one of the big "advantages" everyone was so clear about with DP was that they would instantly know if they got their exchange using the new system. Taking into account that this is the first day of use...still, it seems a lot of people who have reported are sitting on a waitlist for half of their exchanges.
The argument was that they would be able to make their flight arrangements, etc, because there would be no more waiting - you get your trade instantly. Now I see many people who have kindly shared their experiences stuck in points, but no reservation. It may be they were trying for the moon, but still... the argument was that if you have enough points you could get it!!

My concern is that you HAVE to choose points to waitlist. Some people deposited 2011 points, so they've lost future weeks. Now all those people's weeks are gone, they are stuck with the points, but don't have what they hoped for. So what will they end up with? _And how is this any better than trading through II?_ At least with II, you can do a "request first." These people have been forced to "deposit first" ie. go to points, without knowing if they'll ever get their trade. You could argue it is equal, except that they've already been skimmed, and if they can't get their trade now, when you would think Marriott would be trying to make this work the hardest, what are they actually going to end up with?? 

Yes, some of these people say they are still happy with their results. Really? After sitting 3 hours on the phone and not getting the trade that would have made points worth it? Again, not trying to argue, just understand. I really hope these waitlists come through, eventually, and I hope we'll hear the good news from these posters sooner rather than later! I applaud them for taking the leap and sharing positives and negatives when there is a lot of potential for "I told you so" on these boards.  I am not trying to be one of those. I just keep looking for the benefits of this system, as I suspect in the long run there might come a time when it would work for me... but  I would personally hate to have payed the extra money, spent the time trying to learn a new system and make a plan to use it, only to have to put my weeks into an unknown limbo...  

Sorry, but Marriott seems to be losing this round - AGAIN! 
II seems an equal/better option as an exchange company?!!


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## windje2000 (Jul 26, 2010)

californiagirl said:


> So "Points are points"  False...myth busted!
> 
> Basically this is just another exchange program for legacy owners.  Fact.  An exchange program with a high price:  the skim.  (Have you not paid an initiation fee?)
> 
> I think if legacy owners refuse to give up prime weeks/properties into the destination club the new trust owners are going to get very frustrated with just 11 resorts to choose from!  They are going to say, "But you promised me I could go anywhere, anytime!"



That's why they are throwing the shiny penny of the exchange/lock-off/etc. fee benefits and 800 one time points on the street, and hoping you'll be distracted from what you just joined - an exchange program.

Moreover, you're giving them the inventory they need to make the points buyers dreams come true while you get basically a predatory II with higher prices.

edited to add - DClub is a scheme to sell points (written down inventory)  - nothing more.


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> Something interesting ... it appears that when they're searching for your dates they are able to access Marriott and II inventory at the same time.  Because after she told me that SW and BB weren't available for the 6 nights, I asked her to check availability for a week-to-week trade in II instead and she told me that if it's not available in Points it most likely will not be in II Weeks.



That is interesting, and suggests that if the inventory is in II and is requested by a points owner (either trust or enrolled), marriott will likely do whatever it needs to do to access it from II in order to satisfy the points reservation request.  Not a great sign for those who hope to continue to trade weeks via II into marriott resorts outside of the points system.


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## jimmylo (Jul 26, 2010)

*Can someone please clarify this trust vs. legacy point?*

I spent this past 7/18 week at Manor Club.  The rep there in a solid 3 hour discussion ASSURED me that if I enroll, anyone who has points whether by a week conversion to points or buying points from the Marriott Trust as a new point owner, has equal access to any booking and NO annual fees ever for exchanging or reserving.  

I was even considering buying 1250 more points to combine with my 2375 Manor Club points in order to always be guaranteed a SW or GO 2 bedroom every summer.

Is this false?

I will call corporate and raise hell for wasting my time in trying to sell me new points.


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## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

hipslo said:


> That is interesting, and suggests that if the inventory is in II and is requested by a points owner (either trust or enrolled), marriott will likely do whatever it needs to do to access it from II in order to satisfy the points reservation request.  Not a great sign for those who hope to continue to trade weeks via II into marriott resorts outside of the points system.



This is extremely interesting -- and it does suggest a real-time co-mingling of the weeks in the exchange points pool with the weeks in the interval international pool (one-way co-mingling that is, to the points holders benefit).  And with a VOA who can tell you what's available right now for exchange with inventory (from either location).


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

jimmylo said:


> I spent this past 7/18 week at Manor Club.  The rep there in a solid 3 hour discussion ASSURED me that if I enroll, anyone who has points whether by a week conversion to points or buying points from the Marriott Trust as a new point owner, has equal access to any booking and NO annual fees ever for exchanging or reserving.
> 
> I was even considering buying 1250 more points to combine with my 2375 Manor Club points in order to always be guaranteed a SW or GO 2 bedroom every summer.
> 
> ...



I dont think anyone knows for sure, and marriott has avoided answering the question directly, but it looks like yes, it very well may be false.  Best thing to do likely to be to wait and see how things play out and more data points are developed.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

Of course, MVCD is going to use II exchanges to fill "points " requests.  Go to the intro web site under FAQ's. They tell you this upfront. The question is "where does inventory to fulfill points requests come from?" They list exchange inventory from II!!!

not a big secret!!!

even if II inventory is constant (unit in/unit out) they still get dibs.  MVCD is now an exchanger, whereas previously they were a bystander and depositer...


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

scrapngen said:


> My concern is that you HAVE to choose points to waitlist. Some people deposited 2011 points, so they've lost future weeks. Now all those people's weeks are gone, they are stuck with the points, but don't have what they hoped for. So what will they end up with? _And how is this any better than trading through II?_ At least with II, you can do a "request first." These people have been forced to "deposit first" ie. go to points, without knowing if they'll ever get their trade. You could argue it is equal, except that they've already been skimmed, and if they can't get their trade now, when you would think Marriott would be trying to make this work the hardest, what are they actually going to end up with??



Thank you for raising this issue again because this in my opinion is a huge deal. You also discuss it much better than I did in post #77...

At least I'm not the only one who thinks that "Deposit First" is another big negative for the system especially when (i) trust owners are not subject to it, (ii) exchanges are not getting filled seamlessly when you call (iii) you need need to give up a prime week reservation to do it, (iv) you get skimmed in the process and (v) it's irreversible... no getting your week or the skim back if waitlist is unsuccessful.

I guess it you know you will never use your week and were going to deposit in II, then this is almost equivalent. Personally, I'd hold out for my first choice with II using Request First and rent my week if unsuccessful...


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

Gang...

Trust points are different than Legacy points.  MVCD can, if they choose make them functionally equal by populating the Exchange Company with trust points at THEIR discretion!!!  Can't be any simpler than this....  It is what it is!!!


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## windje2000 (Jul 26, 2010)

jimmylo said:


> I spent this past 7/18 week at Manor Club.  The rep there in a solid 3 hour discussion ASSURED me that if I enroll, *anyone who has points whether by a week conversion to points or buying points from the Marriott Trust as a new point owner, has equal access to any booking* and NO annual fees ever for exchanging or reserving.
> 
> I was even considering buying 1250 more points to combine with my 2375 Manor Club points in order to always be guaranteed a SW or GO 2 bedroom every summer.
> 
> ...



The evidence appears to be pointing to false for the highlighted statement.


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## hipslo (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good afternoon
> 
> Of course, MVCD is going to use II exchanges to fill "points " requests.  Go to the intro web site under FAQ's. They tell you this upfront. The question is "where does inventory to fulfill points requests come from?" They list exchange inventory from II!!!
> 
> ...



The fact that the inventory in II is "available" to fill points requested is what was known previously.  The fact that they basically say that if its not available in points, it wont be available in weeks, basically suggests that if it is in II, marriott will be able, and willing, to access it, every time, as a practical matter, to fullfill points requests.  Meaning points owners (enrolled or purchased), in effect, have first dibs on marriott inventory in II.  To the potential detriment of non-enrolled folks using II.  Sure, they have to make a comparable deposit to II, but they make that deposit without regard to who may be looking for the week they pull, or who needs the week they deposit.  Whereas the points owner who requests the inventory will get it, so long as its there in II.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

hipslo said:


> That is interesting, and suggests that if the inventory is in II and is requested by a points owner (either trust or enrolled), marriott will likely do whatever it needs to do to access it from II in order to satisfy the points reservation request.  Not a great sign for those who hope to continue to trade weeks via II into marriott resorts outside of the points system.



Right, but I don't know if she was only able to see the II inventory that's available to all of us if we use the II website, in which case she and we can only see a snapshot of what's available at that moment.  It appears that if we choose to waitlist most will consider themselves better off doing that in II as a "request first," because we have to make the decision to convert to points before waitlisting in Marriott's DC.  But she told me that all waitlist matches are made on a first-come-first-served basis.  I'm guessing that if the II and DC inventory is co-mingled as it appears, then whatever could be matched in II could be matched in the DC at the same time.

In my case, I've only ever done one "request first" in II and that was to confirm the first week of a 2-units-for-2-consecutive-weeks trip - if that first week didn't become available then I had no intention of using the next year's weeks to complete the trip.  "Deposit first" is the only way to get AC's so that's the way I've put in all other II trades.  If any of my choices hadn't been available today I probably would have waitlisted in the DC, because II hasn't offered me an AC for the deposit and the DC would give me a surplus of points no matter which request came through.


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## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good afternoon
> 
> Of course, MVCD is going to use II exchanges to fill "points " requests.  Go to the intro web site under FAQ's. They tell you this upfront. The question is "where does inventory to fulfill points requests come from?" They list exchange inventory from II!!!
> 
> ...



Puck,

Understood, I think we all knew that Marriott could get inventory from II, I just hadn't realized it was real-time access.  That Marriott could access the inventory from a third-party and take what they wanted?  It's interesting.

I assumed that Marriott would just put in an Exchange Request with II (to fill a waitlist), versus have the capability to see it and confirm it immediately.

It's just very interesting.

Thanks very much!


----------



## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

hipslo said:


> The fact that the inventory in II is "available" to fill points requested is what was known previously.  The fact that they basically say that if its not available in points, it wont be available in weeks, basically suggests that if it is in II, marriott will be able, and willing, to access it, every time, as a practical matter, to fullfill points requests.  Meaning points owners (enrolled or purchased), in effect, have first dibs on marriott inventory in II.  To the potential detriment of non-enrolled folks using II.  Sure, they have to make a comparable deposit to II, but they make that deposit without regard to who may be looking for the week they pull, or who needs the week they deposit.  Whereas the points owner who requests the inventory will get it, so long as its there in II.



I think this will make it very important for week exchangers to have good on-going searches with II since you can no longer assume that you can call up and see if something is available.

Bummer because I liked calling up and saying, I've got a good Studio, what good 1BR's are out there?  I can't do that via a search.

But very very powerful for the points users.


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

Okay.  I finished 1 hour and 18 minutes on the phone with a VOA.  I was able to get an 2 BR OceanFront week at the MOC Lahaina and Napili tower for 7 nights in 2011 using 2011 points and some borrowed 2012 points.  Here are the things I found out:

1.  As expected, the Trust inventory and the Exchange inventory are separate inventories.

2.  Unexpectedly, they would not (or could not) move any of the Trust inventory into the Exchange inventory to do any bookings from it.  However, I'm not done with this issue.  I'll be talking to my points salesperson about this issue more.  He swore that unsold weeks in the Trust would be made available for exchangers.

3.  You can combine the Trust points with Exchange points to make reservations.  So, that is a good thing.

4.  The so-called PlusPoints are kind of a crock.  They will not get posted to the account until 6 months after closing.  However, by that time, we all will have booked our 2011 vacation.  Worse yet, they expire after 2011.  So, they cannot be used for the 2012 reservation.  So, the only way to use them will be either to delay booking the 2011 vacation until early next year, go on a waitlist until they are posted, or do a cancel/rebook when then they are posted.  Clever way for Marriott to appear to give you something, but actually not give you anything.  Kind of a shady, almost dishonest, way to do business.

5.  The banking and borrowing features appear to work as advertised.  I was able to borrow from my 2012 points, and was told that a later rebook would allow me to bank 2011 points (but not borrowed 2012 points).

All-in-all, I think the points program will end up being a pretty good program.  The only feature that I feel I was lied to about was the availability of Trust inventory.  Don't know about all of the unsold inventory at resorts not in the Trust.  Since I was not trying to go to any of those resorts, I could not test whether the unsold inventory from them was available.  There is going to be a lot of flexibility to the program once it gets going, and the bugs are worked out.


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

jimmylo said:


> I spent this past 7/18 week at Manor Club.  The rep there in a solid 3 hour discussion ASSURED me that if I enroll, anyone who has points whether by a week conversion to points or buying points from the Marriott Trust as a new point owner, has equal access to any booking and NO annual fees ever for exchanging or reserving.



Below is the response Dave M got from Marriott on this topic. It makes it as clear as possible (in legalese) that trust points owners have different access than legacy points to trust inventory. 

It appears that points purchased from Marriott have "direct access" (can book as reservation) while you have "indirect access" meaning you go through an exchange process. This is similar to the "thousands of resorts" you have access to via II...





> The reservation rules and priorities that owners of Marriott Vacation Club weeks enjoyed prior to introduction of the new points program have been maintained. The inventory that owners of the new points product have *direct access* to at any resort consists of weeks that are actually owned by the Trust. Any other occupancy by owners of the new points product at a resort, is of inventory that owners of weeks have elected to place into the new points exchange program.
> 
> Owners of Marriott Vacation Club weeks continue to have access to inventory at their home resort and Interval International exchange inventory, as they have in the past. Owners of Marriott Vacation Club weeks who enroll in the points product and elect to exchange for Vacation Club points have *access* to Marriott Vacation Club Destinations inventory and Interval International exchange inventory.



Also see posts 103 and 106 for further confirmation on this issue.


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

GregT said:


> Puck,
> 
> Understood, I think we all knew that Marriott could get inventory from II, I just hadn't realized it was real-time access.  That Marriott could access the inventory from a third-party and take what they wanted?  It's interesting.
> 
> ...



I actually don't see this big deal on this one (yet).

Is the VOA doing anything different than you going to II and checking available inventory yourself? I doubt Marriott has direct access to any inventory II may be stashing in wait for a strong exchanger.


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

scrapngen said:


> OK, I've been relatively quiet once the skim was clear, and other troubling aspects have been somewhat figured out by the collective TUG braintrust...
> I'm just trying to understand this...
> 
> But one of the big "advantages" everyone was so clear about with DP was that they would instantly know if they got their exchange using the new system. Taking into account that this is the first day of use...still, it seems a lot of people who have reported are sitting on a waitlist for half of their exchanges.
> ...


I'm happy that I got one of the two exchanges that I was seeking on the phone today. I hated the wait but I expected it.

As far as the waitlist is concerned I've always understood that I was enrolling in another Exchange Company - when we enrolled we gave ourselves two exchange companies and the choice to - deposit in Marriott's Exchange Company (MEC) or deposit in Interval International (II). In this case I weighted my options and felt that depositing in MEC was giving me the best likelihood of success and flexibility to change/rework request for very specific dates.  I would have been ecstatic if I'd gotten both exchanges when the rep finally answered the phone.

The problem with MEC over II is MEC is much more of an unknown that II and you can't "get" your week back but you can get the points back - and you can bank them if you change cancel the request unless they are borrowed points so my waitlist request is done with only 2011 points. 

Of course once I deposit my weeks in II I can't get them back either so I really don't see the difference (except as a "request first"). 

Only time will tell if I made the right choice.

Additionally we bought points to be assured of going to OceanWatch every year for 5 days and I'm going in 2011 for 7 days courtesy of the Plus Points over my birthday so that makes me very happy indeed!!

FYI - the Marriott rep told me that they have 16 more people coming on board very soon to make it easier to get through and she confirmed that online access is in the works.


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

hotcoffee said:


> 3.  You can combine the Trust points with Exchange points to make reservations.  So, that is a good thing.



You can combine to make "exchanges," which is obvious, but not trust reservations (per the distinction in post #106)


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon

when sales and exchanges are almost completely controlled by the same agency, it can be dicey.  It is  MVCD's game, they have the "bats and balls" I enrolled because I want to play on the winning team...

As Dean said about 5000 posts ago.   Everything changes in Timesharing,up to us to adapt and follow the rules as best we can!!!

I must admit, it was a nice feeling to go in with a "shopping list", survey the inventory and make the best deal.  At the end of the day, I chose when I wanted to go to GO and can change if I desire.  The price for this is the "skim"...


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## pipet (Jul 26, 2010)

Delicate Arch said:


> I was also told that if I had purchased new beneficial interest points I would have access to the Maui weeks/days in the Trust, but as I only have enrolled points as part of the exchange program,  I only have access to "exchanged" properties. I gently explained that if I had purchased an extra 1000 points, only those 1000 points would be eligible for reserving in the Trust, not my high enrolled member points. Oh yeah, she says, you are right about that.
> 
> Here is what I infer. Yes there are two buckets (in fact, she used the term buckets, not me). The Trust bucket and the eligible to exchange bucket. Enrolled Legacy owners only play in the eligible to exchange bucket.
> 
> ...



I have to say, even with all the pools & marbles & bucket discussions, that I thought Marriott would in actuality mingle the pools more.  It's not like they *have* to reserve all those trust points for trust owners since there are relatively few of them.  The inventory is just sitting there (as confirmed by the VOA)!!!  So, I am just boggled.   I totally didn't expect to hear comments like the above. _I thought in reality they would do some point swapping on the fly to make people happy._ 

Grats to those who were able to get what they wanted. 

And boo on Marriott.  The more we learn, the more convoluted this program is.  Despite all the ill-feelings I have to Marriott right now, I keep thinking that I need to have my mind open about the program because whether I like it or not, points are the future for Marriott, but my overpriced, developer purchased week will never be a "real" point.  Like it or not, I can't be part of the new system.  Thankfully, due to all the info on TUG, I am actually starting to like II!  I sure hope that II makes Marriott actually fulfill requests rather than deposit random inventory in II... but that remains to be seen.


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## scrapngen (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> Thank you for raising this issue again because this in my opinion is a huge deal. You also discuss it much better than I did in post #77...
> 
> At least I'm not the only one who thinks that "Deposit First" is another big negative for the system especially when (i) trust owners are not subject to it, (ii) exchanges are not getting filled seamlessly when you call (iii) you need need to give up a prime week reservation to do it, (iv) you get skimmed in the process and (v) it's irreversible... no getting your week or the skim back if waitlist is unsuccessful.
> 
> I guess it you know you will never use your week and were going to deposit in II, then this is almost equivalent. Personally, I'd hold out for my first choice with II using Request First and rent my week if unsuccessful...



It's an even bigger negative if you are looking for weeks in the last three months of the year. Say, owning fixed weeks in Dec, or having a Thanksgiving reservation... You HAVE to decide to trade your week for points before a certain date, losing any ability to hold on to your reservation like those who have earlier timeframes can while you see if you can get the point trade. (Sorry to be so vague, but I don't have the appropriate link to show how this is such a disadvantage - just remember reading how the timeframe to deposit in points adversely affects those last three months of the year..) 

But Marriott would LOVE to have those prime weeks traded for points - It  is *so one-sided for Marriott* that I don't see letting them ever have my prime fixed weeks unless they change the incentives and deposit situation!!


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

The issue of permanently borrowing the points from a future use year to waitlist bothers me more than I initially thought.  Here is why, with Disney if I do a waitlist that requires borrowing from another year, the points are not transferred until the waitlist comes through.  Yet another time when I don't see why Marriott is so rigid when they promote flexibility. 

I have new respect for the customer friendly process of Disney Vacation Club.  I didn't realize I had it so good.  The only problem with Disney is that their options are more limited than Marriott.


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## kedler (Jul 26, 2010)

Hi HotCoffee,

"3.  You can combine the Trust points with Exchange points to make reservations.  So, that is a good thing."

I didn't do it but the rep I dealt with said it could be done.

"4.  The so-called PlusPoints are kind of a crock.  They will not get posted to the account until 6 months after closing.  However, by that time, we all will have booked our 2011 vacation.  Worse yet, they expire after 2011.  So, they cannot be used for the 2012 reservation.  So, the only way to use them will be either to delay booking the 2011 vacation until early next year, go on a waitlist until they are posted, or do a cancel/rebook when then they are posted.  Clever way for Marriott to appear to give you something, but actually not give you anything.  Kind of a shady, almost dishonest, way to do business."

I was upset about this also and here is what the rep told me (posted in my earlier post):

PLUSPOINTS: You can’t use them until they are in your account (60 days from closing date) but you can call up later and “swap” the PlusPoints for points you can bank into 2012. In my case I’m being told that when the PlusPoints come into my account I switch them for my 2011 Trust Points and then bank my 2011 Trust Points into 2012 – it’s a shell game!!! 
 Again time will tell if this works or not.

"5.  The banking and borrowing features appear to work as advertised.  I was able to borrow from my 2012 points, and was told that a later rebook would allow me to bank 2011 points (but not borrowed 2012 points)."

Agreed.

I definitely made a reservation with TRUST Points that the rep said could not have been made if I had not purchased those points.

If I get my waitlist reservation and I can swap Plus Points for Trust Points, then I'll be convinced its a good solid program.


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## californiagirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Has anyone had success with booking an explorer trip???  Cruise or tour?


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## taffy19 (Jul 26, 2010)

puckmanfl said:


> good afternoon
> 
> Gang...
> 
> Trust points are different than Legacy points.  MVCD can, if they choose make them functionally equal by populating the Exchange Company with trust points at THEIR discretion!!!  Can't be any simpler than this....  It is what it is!!!



I expected them to do this on the first day because so many interested Marriott timeshare owners are following TUG but now you know what to expect.    I haven't found Dave's answer yet either. Has he posted it somewhere but I missed it.


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## dbbk94404 (Jul 26, 2010)

> I definitely made a reservation with TRUST Points that the rep said could not have been made if I had not purchased those points.


 Kedler,

When you made the "trust point" reservation, did you have to use 100% trust points that you purchased or a combination of points. I'm still on the fence about purchasing additional points (I purchased but recsinded as I posted in another thread) and my "new' sales rep did assure me that my points (legacy and purchased) can be combined to access the trust inventory. But from what I'm hearing today, this is not true and would love to call him on it with actual facts. TIA


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## puckmanfl (Jul 26, 2010)

good afternoon...

if purchasing trust points magically converts legacy points to trust points, it blows up the "legal" argument about trust owners owning at their "home resorts" a.k.a the trust!!!


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

dbbk94404 said:


> Kedler,
> 
> When you made the "trust point" reservation, did you have to use 100% trust points that you purchased or a combination of points. I'm still on the fence about purchasing additional points (I purchased but recsinded as I posted in another thread) and my "new' sales rep did assure me that my points (legacy and purchased) can be combined to access the trust inventory. But from what I'm hearing today, this is not true and would love to call him on it with actual facts. TIA



The answer as of today is "no".  You can use Trust points for things in the Trust pool, and you can use Exchange points for things in the Exchange pool.  You can also combine your Trust points with your Exchange points to make reservations from the Exchange pool.  

Marriott reps have been misleading people right-and-left.  We will see how this goes long term.


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

*Finally*

It took numerous phone calls and long wait times but...

Got a reservation for Grande Ocean ocean side for 7/8 till 7/15!!!  We wanted ocean front but no ocean front was available for Barony or Grande Ocean

VOA was very helpful and very apologetic for the long wait; he promised it would be better in the future.


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## dvc_john (Jul 26, 2010)

So, does anyone know what the current wait time for a VOA is? They say 30 minutes or longer, but I know earlier in the day that  meant up to 3 hours or more. Just wondering if I should wait or not.


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

kedler said:


> Hi HotCoffee,
> 
> "3.  You can combine the Trust points with Exchange points to make reservations.  So, that is a good thing."
> 
> I didn't do it but the rep I dealt with said it could be done.



That part worked well.



kedler said:


> PLUSPOINTS: You can’t use them until they are in your account (60 days from closing date) but you can call up later and “swap” the PlusPoints for points you can bank into 2012. In my case I’m being told that when the PlusPoints come into my account I switch them for my 2011 Trust Points and then bank my 2011 Trust Points into 2012 – it’s a shell game!!!
> Again time will tell if this works or not.



I was told six months. I guess even the VOAs are also confused.  Mine kept leaving the phone to ask people just like the sales people had done earlier.  Doesn't give you a warm-and-fuzzy that they know what they are talking about.  I will also do the cancel/rebook scenerio to make use of them and save some of my 2011 points.

I still consider that to be shady dealing (60 days is not as shady as 6 months, admittedly).  It reminds me of AT&T giving you a "rebate" consisting of a "credit card" that max'es out at the rebate amount and has a expiration date.  They know that a certain number of people will not use the cards, and a certain number of others will not use the full amount.  In this case, people want to use their PlusPoints now when they are making their reservations.  There will be people who will not do the cancel/rebook thing, and they will simply lose them.



kedler said:


> I definitely made a reservation with TRUST Points that the rep said could not have been made if I had not purchased those points.
> 
> If I get my waitlist reservation and I can swap Plus Points for Trust Points, then I'll be convinced its a good solid program.



I did not mention in my earlier post that Marriott could not find any record of my enrollment.  Oops.  They had to charge me the $800 now to enroll prior to making a reservation with my "enrolled" week.  Imagine that!


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

dvc_john said:


> So, does anyone know what the current wait time for a VOA is? They say 30 minutes or longer, but I know earlier in the day that  meant up to 3 hours or more. Just wondering if I should wait or not.



After a bunch of failures, I got through at 1:17 PM EDT, and I got a VOA at 2:15 PM.  I would imagine at this time, the wait will be shorter.


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## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> I doubt Marriott has direct access to any inventory II may be stashing in wait for a strong exchanger.



Dan, this will be an important key point -- my (perhaps incorrect) interpretation was that Marriott could see all II inventory, not just the stuff that's available for Instant Exchange.    If it's just Instant Exchange, that's not nearly as interesting....

Thanks very much!

Greg


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## cruz-in (Jul 26, 2010)

*Successful Test Run*

Hi,

    After a long wait (2 Hours), I was very happy with my test run of the new system:

1) Got a very knowledgable VOA
2) Wanted a week (Wed to Wed), 2 Bedroom,  in early June 2011 at Arube OC
3) All views were available at Arube OC and SC
4) Cashed in Barony HHI Platimun (300 Points go to skim)
5) Booked Aruba Ocean Club OV
6) 1500 points left over. 
The whole process took less than 5 minutes (that is once I got to the VOA)
Then
7) I Booked 4 Frequent Flyer Flights on AA to Aruba. 

For me, the beauty of the new system is the flexability. It allowed me to get a Wed./Wed. week  so we could reserve the 4 Frequent Flyer tickets (about a $2K savings) to Aruba. Other days (like sat to sat) the flights were not available. I knew ahead of chatting with the VOA the dates I needed to get the free flights. I understand for some, the new system  has drawbacks...but it sure worked for us! Thanks Marriott!


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

Apparently, if I had been willing to be waitlisted, I have now learned that I would have had a crack at the Trust inventory because that inventory can be used to fill waitlisted exchange requests.  Apparently, the VOAs cannot move inventory around, and so they can only immediately meet exchange requests from the Exchange inventory.  I guess that makes sense now that I think about it.  That is kind of the same way II works in that I might need an ongoing search to get anything other than what is currently available.

Oh well, I got a Sat-to-Sat week in a 2BR Ocean Front at the Moc Lahaina And Napili tower that could not have gotten under the old weeks system.  My preference would have been an OV unit for 9 days Tues-Thu., but the points system improved upon what I could have had under the old weeks system.

The two things that tripped me up were the lack of knowledge that waitlisted requests can be filled via the Trust inventory and the fact that I did not get the 1800 PlusPoints immedidately.  I was counting on the PlusPoints to extend my vacation the two extra days (with some borrowing from 2012).


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> Hi,
> 
> After a long wait (2 Hours), I was very happy with my test run of the new system:
> 
> ...



Congrats - this sounds like everything you hoped for worked out!

I'm trying to understand the savings on the flight calculation better. What do the savings come out to if you assume a value of 1.5 cents per mile? So if the "cost" to you of a 25K miles ticket is $375 how does that compare if you got an II Sat-Sat exchange and booked the more expensive Sat-Sat flight with cash?


----------



## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

GregT said:


> Dan, this will be an important key point -- my (perhaps incorrect) interpretation was that Marriott could see all II inventory, not just the stuff that's available for Instant Exchange.    If it's just Instant Exchange, that's not nearly as interesting....
> 
> Thanks very much!
> 
> Greg



If your interpretation is correct that is indeed a key point. I just can't see II giving Marriott that kind of access to proprietary data.


----------



## cruz-in (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> If your interpretation is correct that is indeed a key point. I just can't see II giving Marriott that kind of access to proprietary data.



I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that II was where the VOA got our Aruba OC. The VOA was able to offer us either SC or OC and any view for the requested week. While not an expert, the breadth of offerings implied to me pretty borad access to II inventory.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> ... Something interesting ... it appears that when they're searching for your dates they are able to access Marriott and II inventory at the same time.  Because after she told me that SW and BB weren't available for the 6 nights, I asked her to check availability for a week-to-week trade in II instead and she told me that if it's not available in Points it most likely will not be in II Weeks.  She checked anyway because her first search was for the 6 nights I wanted instead of the usual 7, but no dice. ...





hipslo said:


> That is interesting, and suggests that if the inventory is in II and is requested by a points owner (either trust or enrolled), marriott will likely do whatever it needs to do to access it from II in order to satisfy the points reservation request.  Not a great sign for those who hope to continue to trade weeks via II into marriott resorts outside of the points system.





GregT said:


> This is extremely interesting -- and it does suggest a real-time co-mingling of the weeks in the exchange points pool with the weeks in the interval international pool (one-way co-mingling that is, to the points holders benefit).  And with a VOA who can tell you what's available right now for exchange with inventory (from either location).





SueDonJ said:


> Right, but I don't know if she was only able to see the II inventory that's available to all of us if we use the II website, in which case she and we can only see a snapshot of what's available at that moment.  It appears that if we choose to waitlist most will consider themselves better off doing that in II as a "request first," because we have to make the decision to convert to points before waitlisting in Marriott's DC.  But she told me that all waitlist matches are made on a first-come-first-served basis.  I'm guessing that if the II and DC inventory is co-mingled as it appears, then whatever could be matched in II could be matched in the DC at the same time. ...





GregT said:


> I think this will make it very important for week exchangers to have good on-going searches with II since you can no longer assume that you can call up and see if something is available.
> 
> Bummer because I liked calling up and saying, I've got a good Studio, what good 1BR's are out there?  I can't do that via a search.
> 
> But very very powerful for the points users.



Hmmmmm.  I'm not sure that I walked away thinking it's that powerful.  Going in we had no idea how they would be co-mingling the inventory between Marriott and II in order to satisfy Exchange Members' requests, whether or not an exchange to II inventory could be instant.  Right?  But I think this confirms that it is co-mingled at least as far as instant confirmations are possible for inventory that's sitting in II's bucket.

But because she also said that requests are filled first-come-first-served, I don't think it means that requests made through the DC will be filled before requests made to II.  IOW, if both an Exchange Member and an II Member are waitlisted for the same inventory and each has deposited something strong enough to pull the request (a "comparable" week or sufficient points,) when a deposit is made to II to satisfy either request then the first request will be filled.

I termed it "interesting" because it appears to confirm that Points Members will not have to wait an additional amount of time for VOA's to search II inventory; it appears the VOA's search of Marriott and II inventory runs concurrently.  Also, with either method your request could be filled by the same deposit to II regardless of whether you're waitlisted with the DC or II.  As well, if you normally do a "Deposit First" search with II in order to take advantage of an AC offer, there really isn't much difference between the DC waitlist and II's "Deposit First" method - with each if your exchange doesn't come through by a certain date, you have to re-evaluate your request.


----------



## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that II was where the VOA got our Aruba OC. The VOA was able to offer us either SC or OC and any view for the requested week. While not an expert, the breadth of offerings implied to me pretty borad access to II inventory.



What's very curious is I just ran a search using a 2BR MOC, and the only thing it saw (for Instant Exchange) in Interval for Aruba Surf Club was Studio's.

Aruba Ocean Club only had things in 2010.  

Puzzling.


EDITED:  I called Interval and spoke to an advisor, and they had two 1BR's for Surf Club in June that don't show up for Instant Exchange.  Perhaps Marriott gets both a 1BR and Studio both and bolts them together for their 2BR -- but it does suggest that Marriott can see more than Instant Exchange.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

iconnections said:


> I just read it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





DanCali said:


> I didn't realize that downgrading from a 2BR to a studio while needing a boost of 150 bonus points to get that trade is a reason to cheer...
> 
> Well - at least Perry got through to a VOA so he does have some secrets up his sleeve.





5infam said:


> Not only that, but he is not getting a week, but 4 or 5 nights (not sure if he is checking out on the 11th, or the 12th). But he is ocean front, so maybe that is the difference for him - who knows.
> 
> Also just noticed that he needed his extra 800 points from enrolling to pull this off - so this was a 1 time deal for him, unless he wants to take off another night or two in the future.





Cindala said:


> Exactly what I thought! Down from a 2bdrm to a studio and from a week down to 5 nights. If one was getting this trade before using weeks (and getting a full week), this looks like one was shortchanged to me.





iconnections said:


> It depends if view is important to you or not. To us it is and walk out the unit right on the beach is wonderful too so a downtrade to an oceanfront studio would be worth it to us too as it is with Perry. Owning a timeshare today is nothing but a hassle with the big timeshare developers making it more difficult and more expensive too.
> 
> Renting an oceanfront condo for a whole month is starting to sound better every year and rents are down right now but that may change again once the economy picks up, if it ever will in the USA with so much debt.



Perry appears to be traveling on Mon (425), Tue (425), Wed (425), Thur (425), and Fri (600) points. So for 800 PlusPoints and 1500 points from his 2BR gold SW he is able to get 5 nights in a studio and in the the second lowest demand season of the MMO calendar. He has a few points to spare that will give him four more years of doing the same.

Looking at this from a pure dollars points of view. His SW week MF is probably close to $1050. It was just under $1K in 2008, so I think that is a good estimate. So a total of $1219 for the 5 days.

A comparable unit for the same dates at Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa goes $2295 (inclusive of taxes and fees) using the M11 MR Member code.

So in all, this saved him about $1000. Not a bad deal. The view must have been the seller for him though. That is the only explanation based on his prior postings.

Since he indicated he was able to go to once again go to Maui during whale season, he has obviously done this in the past. He could have easily locked off and I am sure gotten two weeks (for 7 days each). Even if both in a garden-view studio, each go for close to $2500 at Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. That would have ended closer to a $4000 savings in actual dollars.

It appears that the important part for Perry is the guaranteed view. There is no other explanation given his past II exchange track record. He has apparently been trading down all of these years in to no guaranty of view with II.


----------



## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that II was where the VOA got our Aruba OC. The VOA was able to offer us either SC or OC and any view for the requested week. While not an expert, the breadth of offerings implied to me pretty borad access to II inventory.



That's the impression I was left with, too.  But not that it's II inventory which is being held specifically for Points Members and isn't being matched to ongoing requests of Weeks owners -  nothing the VOA said today led me to that conclusion.


----------



## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

hotcoffee said:


> Apparently, if I had been willing to be waitlisted, I have now learned that I would have had a crack at the Trust inventory because that inventory can be used to fill waitlisted exchange requests.  Apparently, the VOAs cannot move inventory around, and so they can only immediately meet exchange requests from the Exchange inventory.  I guess that makes sense now that I think about it.  That is kind of the same way II works in that I might need an ongoing search to get anything other than what is currently available.
> 
> Oh well, I got a Sat-to-Sat week in a 2BR Ocean Front at the Moc Lahaina And Napili tower that could not have gotten under the old weeks system.  My preference would have been an OV unit for 9 days Tues-Thu., but the points system improved upon what I could have had under the old weeks system.
> 
> The two things that tripped me up were the lack of knowledge that waitlisted requests can be filled via the Trust inventory and the fact that I did not get the 1800 PlusPoints immedidately.  I was counting on the PlusPoints to extend my vacation the two extra days (with some borrowing from 2012).



Good to know, hotcoffee, thanks.  That's a point in favor of using the DC waitlist.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

GregT said:


> Dan, this will be an important key point -- my (perhaps incorrect) interpretation was that Marriott could see all II inventory, not just the stuff that's available for Instant Exchange.    If it's just Instant Exchange, that's not nearly as interesting....
> 
> Thanks very much!
> 
> Greg



All of IIs inventory is always available in either instant exchange or getaway. There isn't any other inventory other than what comes in and gets instantly matched. If I own a awesome resort and put in the highest TDI week and search, I too should be able to see all of IIs inventory. This is in essence what Marriott seems to be doing. Nothing special here.

There isn't any inventory out there other than instant exchange. II doesn't hold anything back unless you don't have the trade power for it. Marriott can get just about anything they want if they are willing to offer up a high power week. The "wait list" in II is based on trade power, the highest trade power wins every time, no matter how long one has been waiting.


----------



## GregT (Jul 26, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> All of IIs inventory is always available in either instant exchange or getaway. There isn't any other inventory other than what comes in and gets instantly matched. If I own a awesome resort and put in the highest TDI week and search, I too should be able to see all of IIs inventory. This is in essence what Marriott seems to be doing. Nothing special here.
> 
> There isn't any inventory out there other than instant exchange. II doesn't hold anything back unless you don't have the trade power for it. Marriott can get just about anything they want if they are willing to offer up a high power week. The "wait list" in II is based on trade power, the highest trade power wins every time, no matter how long one has been waiting.



Dioxide,

I'm not sure if this is important, but its very interesting.  I've routinely found that I can call Marriott and tell them I've got a Studio that I've deposited and I'm looking for a 1BR at Ko Olina (I do this all the time).   Instant Exchange only shows other Studio's.

The Advisor will tell me, yes, there is a 1BR if I want to go Nov XX (and I couldn't see it online).

I'm curious if Marriott can now SEE those other deposits (maybe they just arrived today and haven't gone against the waitlist yet, I don't know) and may be able to obtain them and offer them to the points redeemer?

I'm just curious, and it may be relevant to understanding the inventory availability (and access).

Please also see my edited post #158.  Thanks!

Greg


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> Good to know, hotcoffee, thanks.  That's a point in favor of using the DC waitlist.



You are kind of taking a gamble on the waitlist if they have your second choice available immediately.  I had a very hard time turning down an 2BR OF MOC in the new tower!  I  had been hoping for middle-of-the-week travel to save airfare.  I had also been misinformed about the length of time that it would take to get my PlusPoints.  Six months would have been a no-go for waitlisting.  If I had known that the wait would be only about two weeks, I might opted to wait for my first choice.  Still, one cannot be too unhappy about getting an 2BR OF.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

GregT said:


> What's very curious is I just ran a search using a 2BR MOC, and the only thing it saw (for Instant Exchange) in Interval for Aruba Surf Club was Studio's.
> 
> Aruba Ocean Club only had things in 2010.
> 
> ...



It is possible that in order for Marriott to fulfill a 2BR request that they exchange to II for a 1BR and studio. They then place this back in inventory as a 2BR. It is actually very likely that they have the flexibility as once the weeks are in their inventory they can do as the please.



GregT said:


> Dioxide,
> 
> I'm not sure if this is important, but its very interesting.  I've routinely found that I can call Marriott and tell them I've got a Studio that I've deposited and I'm looking for a 1BR at Ko Olina (I do this all the time).   Instant Exchange only shows other Studio's.
> 
> ...



It is fairly well known that sometimes you can access additional weeks by calling II instead of looking online.. Also they can tell you what may be available outside of your search window. They may also be able to tell you what they have but you don't have enough trade power to offer.


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> There isn't any inventory out there other than instant exchange. II doesn't hold anything back unless you don't have the trade power for it. Marriott can get just about anything they want if they are willing to offer up a high power week. The "wait list" in II is based on trade power, the highest trade power wins every time, no matter how long one has been waiting.



Aren't you forgetting about Request-First searches?  All points searches are Request-First.  What that means is that two Request-First searches can satisfy each-other.  So, Marriott can satisfy an II Request-First search by pulling something out of its own inventory.  That is something you cannot do (except if your own search just happens to also hit on the other search).


----------



## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

hotcoffee said:


> You are kind of taking a gamble on the waitlist if they have your second choice available immediately.  I had a very hard time turning down an 2BR OF MOC in the new tower!  I  had been hoping for middle-of-the-week travel to save airfare.  I had also been misinformed about the length of time that it would take to get my PlusPoints.  Six months would have been a no-go for waitlisting.  If I had known that the wait would be only about two weeks, I might opted to wait for my first choice.  Still, one cannot be too unhappy about getting an 2BR OF.



I know what you mean - I took my third choice today only because I had specific dates that I needed and didn't want to take a chance on not getting anything if I waited!  Wouldn't it be nice if you could confirm one res and still waitlist for another using those same points?  Haha ... that's really wishful thinking!


----------



## sjuhawk_jd (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> Congrats - this sounds like everything you hoped for worked out!
> 
> I'm trying to understand the savings on the flight calculation better. What do the savings come out to if you assume a value of 1.5 cents per mile? So if the "cost" to you of a 25K miles ticket is $375 how does that compare if you got an II Sat-Sat exchange and booked the more expensive Sat-Sat flight with cash?



The 1.5 cents per mile is a mythicial value of frequent flyer miles (just like funny money) and this value means nothing if you keep on accumulating the miles and can never redeem them when you want to travel. A typical Sat to Sat timeshare reservation would have costed $2000 in four airline tickets and a wed-wed reservation resulting in four free frequent flier tickets. So the savings are $2K.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

*More Experiences Still Needed*

Something else that is unique only this year is that we are over half way through the booking season. Many prime summer and spring break weeks are long gone at those non trust resorts. I think we will get a better feel for all of this when people start looking for those Christmas weeks. At that time the deadline to convert to points will have passed.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 26, 2010)

So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?


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## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

hotcoffee said:


> Aren't you forgetting about Request-First searches?  All points searches are Request-First.  What that means is that two Request-First searches can satisfy each-other.  So, Marriott can satisfy an II Request-First search by pulling something out of its own inventory.  That is something you cannot do (except if your own search just happens to also hit on the other search).



I didn't forget about this. The discussion was directly related to instant exchange and what Marriott can see at any given time.


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## cruz-in (Jul 26, 2010)

sjuhawk_jd said:


> The 1.5 cents per mile is a mythicial value of frequent flyer miles (just like funny money) and this value means nothing if you keep on accumulating the miles and can never redeem them when you want to travel. A typical Sat to Sat timeshare reservation would have costed $2000 in four airline tickets and a wed-wed reservation resulting in four free frequent flier tickets. So the savings are $2K.



Yeah.. I  was just going to ignore the 1.5 cent post. I have bazillions of FF points.....If I could sell them for 1.5 cents each I would be a rich man...but this is somewhat off topic....


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## cruz-in (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?



Mine is still showing as an Upcoming reservation....


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## ilene13 (Jul 26, 2010)

GregT said:


> What's very curious is I just ran a search using a 2BR MOC, and the only thing it saw (for Instant Exchange) in Interval for Aruba Surf Club was Studio's.
> 
> Aruba Ocean Club only had things in 2010.
> 
> ...



There may be weeks that Marriott owns at the SC and OC in June.  It will be much harder for someone to get either resort during the Platinum season!!


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## Y-ASK (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?


Mine shows as an Upcoming Reservation... 

Y-ASK


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## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

deleted...


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 26, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?



Still showing as upcoming on my acct also.


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## cruz-in (Jul 26, 2010)

ilene13 said:


> There may be weeks that Marriott owns at the SC and OC in June.  It will be much harder for someone to get either resort during the Platinum season!!



If Marriott still owned weeks at Aruba OC or SC in June, wouldn't they have show up in the trust properties?

 Actually I do not care where the week came from. Just trying to see if it offers any insight into Marriott's relationship with II.


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## hotcoffee (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> If Marriott still owned weeks at Aruba OC or SC in June, wouldn't they have show up in the trust properties?



The answer to this is "no" because they have not yet added anything beyond the 11 initial resorts to the Trust.  I have been told that they will not add anything else until most of the existing points are sold.  They have millions of unsold points in the Trust.  

There are obviously unsold weeks at places other than the 11 Trust resorts.


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## NJDave (Jul 26, 2010)

Cindala said:


> I would think with a platinum week at Harbour Lake your trading power should be very good in II if you don't want to stay there. You don't think you could get OceanWatch Platinum with your week putting in a request a year ahead, or other resorts for that matter?



I traded into an Oceanfront unit once and Oceanside unit three times all during July (including the 4th of July) with a Platinum Cypress Harbour.


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## Beverley (Jul 26, 2010)

Y-ASK said:


> Did you see anything different when you log into your account on the web?  I was told the 800 points would be deposited on the 26th but I don't see anything.  Not sure if I'm looking in the right area...
> 
> 
> Y-ASK



I waited to call until about 7:00pm and was able to use part of the 800 points that was given for enrolling.  I never saw them in my account however, that is what was used first.  My first request was for a single night at the Harbor Club in mid summer on Hilton Head.  That was available and booked during the phone call.  

The other requests were for 6 days for mid August, also HHI, and another single night for 8/20th, Williamsburg.  The August reservations are a little early for the availability because it is before the 12 months.  None the less, I placed pending requests for both and we will see. 

Waited 15 minutes to talk to someone.  Played solitaire on my computer while I waited    

Beverley


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## Beverley (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> Hi,
> 
> After a long wait (2 Hours), I was very happy with my test run of the new system:
> 
> ...



That clearly IS one of the beauties of this new system!  Congrats on your "trade" and enjoy your trip to Aruba next year. 

Beverley


----------



## DanCali (Jul 26, 2010)

sjuhawk_jd said:


> The 1.5 cents per mile is a mythicial value of frequent flyer miles (just like funny money) and this value means nothing if you keep on accumulating the miles and can never redeem them when you want to travel. A typical Sat to Sat timeshare reservation would have costed $2000 in four airline tickets and a wed-wed reservation resulting in four free frequent flier tickets. So the savings are $2K.



I am sure there is a reason why most people don't book a $200 round-trip LAX-SFO flight using 25K miles... call it whatever you want but we all have a cutoff point under which we'd rather pay cash. That cutoff point is the value you assign to miles. Ignoring that cutoff point to convince yourself you saved $2K on airline tickets is more mental accounting than ascribing some value to those miles to begin with. 



cruz-in said:


> Yeah.. I  was just going to ignore the 1.5 cent post. I have bazillions of FF points.....If I could sell them for 1.5 cents each I would be a rich man...but this is somewhat off topic....



If they are that worthless to you, I'll buy 100K miles from you (UA or AA) for 1 cent per mile...

But you're right - it's getting off topic...


----------



## Luckybee (Jul 26, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> Yeah.. I  was just going to ignore the 1.5 cent post. I have bazillions of FF points.....If I could sell them for 1.5 cents each I would be a rich man...but this is somewhat off topic....



Well if i could I'd buy them from you at that price....dh and I have used for the following business class tickets in the past 15 -20 years....Australia 2x, Fiji, 2x, French Polynesia 1x, Hawaii, at least 8 times, Europe 2x and countless trips to the Caribbean.....a single trip to Australia in a pod seat or flat bed runs between $6000 and $12000 depending on the carrier. 

If you have bazillions of points and arent using them then either a) you arent travelling for leisure(because you're on the road too much for business  or b) you arent travelling to destinations that make them worthwhile to use, or c) you arent booking far enough in advance to get the seats.


----------



## Asia2000 (Jul 26, 2010)

Very interesting thread.  

It sounds like Marriott is starting a used car lot, but the only cars they have to sell are the cars that future or current buyers are trading in.  

Until the points program lures in a hefty percentage (I think someone said at best Marriott is currently at 2-3%), the wait-listing may occur.  If I were a points man, I would not be happy being wait-listed after paying money to avoid exactly that.  However, it is encouraging to see that the program is working for some.

One TUGger used a Wed through Wed stay - very smart.  Another TUGger just went for 10 days (great plan, especially since your extra days cost fewer points).

The points program looks the best for those that have high levels of points and is beginning to look really good for brand new points purchasers as they have access to all of the trust inventory (ie. Marco Island).  The only problem is, you have to pay big for this. 

Concerning Perry, I think he just likes fiddling with programs more than what he actually gets in return.  To me, time is worth the most money, so going from 7 days to 5 days is an automatic, hefty downgrade.  However, I've never been to Maui either, so I could be wrong on that one.


----------



## dougp26364 (Jul 26, 2010)

DanCali said:


> I didn't realize that downgrading from a 2BR to a studio while needing a boost of 150 bonus points to get that trade is a reason to cheer...
> 
> Well - at least Perry got through to a VOA so he does have some secrets up his sleeve.



I sort of had that same thought. I exchange a 2 bedroom Grand Chateau for a 2 bedroom Waiohai for the second week of March and was confirmed within 1 week. Granted it wasn't an ocean front unit but still, I woudln't want want to downgrade from 2 bedrooms to a studio no matter what the view. 

To each his own.


----------



## dougp26364 (Jul 26, 2010)

sparty said:


> Well I got through at the 3 Hour 6 min mark.. However I am not having luck getting what I want, 2 bedroom Maui Ocean Club.  After several back and forths with VOA's and supervisors they finally gave up and I went on wait list. So crash and burn for now.
> 
> However, I won't say failure until my reservation date passes with no availability.
> 
> Total time on call, 3 hours 32 mins 14 sec (of which 3 hours 6 mins was waiting for a VOA)



Wow, all that time spent just to make a request for an exchange. I'm afraid I'd have to shoot myself.


----------



## sparty (Jul 26, 2010)

californiagirl said:


> So "Points are points"  False...myth busted!
> 
> Basically this is just another exchange program for legacy owners.  Fact.  An exchange program with a high price:  the skim.
> 
> I think if legacy owners refuse to give up prime weeks/properties into the destination club the new trust owners are going to get very frustrated with just 11 resorts to choose from!  They are going to say, "But you promised me I could go anywhere, anytime!"



Lisa,

Well put, I feel the same way..


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2010)

I guess it is safe to say that the uncertainty that II apparently provided is not fixed with this program. Though I don't think Marriott ever sold guaranteed reservations as a selling point but I did read several people indicate the likelihood to buy in based on the uncertainty of II.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 27, 2010)

good morning...

any experiences from TRUST owners who used only Trust points to make a reservation today?  Brian's parents are the only ones I can recall reading about during this long day!!!!

just curious...


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

It took to sittings today for me to get through this thread.   The family tries to talk to me--don't they know I'm reading????

Now at the end I still have questions and I'm so afraid they're dumb but here it goes--

When a legacy person gives up enrolled points and makes a request for  something that is in the trust it wasn't being given.   Then I thought someone said that later they found out if they had waitlisted it would have been filled later.   Did I understand that correctly?

Is trust inventory available to legacy owners, just not on an instant?   

How does trust inventory get moved from the trust into a position that legacy enrollees can receive it?


----------



## dougp26364 (Jul 27, 2010)

GregT said:


> Puck,
> 
> Understood, I think we all knew that Marriott could get inventory from II, I just hadn't realized it was real-time access.  That Marriott could access the inventory from a third-party and take what they wanted?  It's interesting.
> 
> ...



You have to remember that we can do that as well when we do an online search. If Marriott is doing the same thing, they're seeing what we're seeing. That is everything that's passed through the exchange filters and hasn't been matched. 

This is probably no big deal but, it's something to watch closely.


----------



## kedler (Jul 27, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?


Hi Susan,

So far my converted week reservation is still in my MR account under reservations together with my new OceanWatch reservation. I'm wondering if the cancellation just hasn't hit the system yet.


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## DanCali (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> It took to sittings today for me to get through this thread.   The family tries to talk to me--don't they know I'm reading????
> 
> Now at the end I still have questions and I'm so afraid they're dumb but here it goes--
> 
> ...



Trust inventory gets into the exchange company if a trust owner (including Marriott) is willing to deposit points in exchange for a week in the trust. I believe what was said is that you can waitlist and then MAYBE Marriott will decide they will take your week and give you your exchange. 

Considering that once you waitlist it is a "deposit first", meaning you lose your home resort reservation and convert to points while incurring the cost of the skim, Marriott already made its money on you. It's now a game of chicken as to whether they give you your exchange or you compromise and take a second or third choice (or risk losing those too). 

Unlike II, here you can hold the chips with a "request first" you have zero bargaining power at this point. So do you trust that Marriott will give you your week exchange or will you "crack" and take a less desirable resort? From what I read today, most people chose the latter...


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## 5infam (Jul 27, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> I know what you mean - I took my third choice today only because I had specific dates that I needed and didn't want to take a chance on not getting anything if I waited!  Wouldn't it be nice if you could confirm one res and still waitlist for another using those same points?  Haha ... that's really wishful thinking!



Hi Sue - they won't let you do that??? I think (emphasize think, because I haven't done it in a long time) that DVC will let you do that. I remember one year booking at my home resort at 11 months out (DVC home resort priority window), and then at 7 months (the window where you can book everything else) trying to get into the Beach Club. It was not available, but they put me on the wait list for it anyway. The whole 10 days never came through, just some days here and there, so I stayed with what I had booked originally. I assumed you could do the same thing with Marriott - but it sounds like you can't.


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## ilene13 (Jul 27, 2010)

dougp26364 said:


> I sort of had that same thought. I exchange a 2 bedroom Grand Chateau for a 2 bedroom Waiohai for the second week of March and was confirmed within 1 week. Granted it wasn't an ocean front unit but still, I woudln't want want to downgrade from 2 bedrooms to a studio no matter what the view.
> 
> To each his own.



I agree with you--I wouldn't want to go to Aruba in the summer.  I look to get out of the snow so only high season for me!!!  Also when we went to the sales presentation at Surfwatch and I talked about the skim his  reply was that with my 13,350 points (if I choose to enroll) I could spend Jan, Feb and March in Hilton Head.  I asked him why would I want to do that--it's not exactly hot there in te winter.


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## m61376 (Jul 27, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that II was where  the VOA got our Aruba OC. The VOA was able to offer us either SC or OC  and any view for the requested week. While not an expert, the breadth of  offerings implied to me pretty borad access to II inventory.





GregT said:


> What's very curious is I just ran a search using a 2BR MOC, and the only thing it saw (for Instant Exchange) in Interval for Aruba Surf Club was Studio's.
> 
> Aruba Ocean Club only had things in 2010.
> 
> ...



There was likely developer inventory for those weeks given the availability. Don't forget Marriott was going to prime the club inventory with weeks turned in for reward points, as well as weeks they still own (which, even in sold out resorts, can be from foreclosures, etc.). Since they offered all view options, it sounds like they were offering weeks that otherwise would be in their rental pool perhaps or find their way to II at some point, and not that they were going to II for instant exchanges.


cruz-in said:


> If Marriott still owned weeks at Aruba OC or SC in  June, wouldn't they have show up in the trust properties?
> 
> Actually I do not care where the week came from. Just trying to see if  it offers any insight into Marriott's relationship with II.


No- they would be in the destination club pool, because they are not part of the trust inventory (limited to 11 resorts at this point).



ilene13 said:


> I agree with you--I wouldn't want to go to Aruba  in the summer.  I look to get out of the snow so only high season for  me!!!  Also when we went to the sales presentation at Surfwatch and I  talked about the skim his  reply was that with my 13,350 points (if I  choose to enroll) I could spend Jan, Feb and March in Hilton Head.  I  asked him why would I want to do that--it's not exactly hot there in te  winter.


I agree with your premise that the VOA's will likely be touting stretching points for longer off-season vacations, but wanted to mention that many people find Aruba a year round destination, and not to just get out of the snow. June weeks, which I believe was what Cruz was requesting, are nearly fully occupied. While people like to escape the cold over the winter, so those months are Platinum, the remainder of the year is Gold, because the climate is consistent year round. Personally, while we love a winter break there, we also enjoy a summer week too.


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## kedler (Jul 27, 2010)

5infam said:


> Hi Sue - they won't let you do that??? I think (emphasize think, because I haven't done it in a long time) that DVC will let you do that. I remember one year booking at my home resort at 11 months out (DVC home resort priority window), and then at 7 months (the window where you can book everything else) trying to get into the Beach Club. It was not available, but they put me on the wait list for it anyway. The whole 10 days never came through, just some days here and there, so I stayed with what I had booked originally. I assumed you could do the same thing with Marriott - but it sounds like you can't.


You need to have available points to waitlist a reservation. If you confirm any reservation - as I did to OceanWatch and the rep emailed me my confirmation while I was on the phone with her - those points are not available for a wait list reservation. 

For the wait list reservation you can give them as many dates and resorts as you like and they put a "hold" on the number of points for the resort with the highest point requirement, which in my case was the Surf Club. If my St. Thomas request comes through then I'll get some of the points being held to reserve this vacation back as a St. Thomas 3 bdrm is 400 pts less than a Surf Club. If you have to borrow points from another year to make this request then those points (whether trust or weeks points) cannot be returned to their original use year; however any points from the current year can be banked forward as long as its on or before 6/30 of the current use year. 

You can call back and change the wait list, change the confirmation etc. Additionally the rep told me that they email confirmations once a match is make and you have 48 hours to accept or decline the reservation but that time frame really only counts if you are within 60 days of the commencement date of the reservation when canceling/changing your reservation means the points wind up in a holding account.


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

DanCali said:


> Trust inventory gets into the exchange company if a trust owner (including Marriott) is willing to deposit points in exchange for a week in the trust. I believe what was said is that you can waitlist and then MAYBE Marriott will decide they will take your week and give you your exchange.
> 
> Considering that once you waitlist it is a "deposit first", meaning you lose your home resort reservation and convert to points while incurring the cost of the skim, Marriott already made its money on you. It's now a game of chicken as to whether they give you your exchange or you compromise and take a second or third choice (or risk losing those too).
> 
> Unlike II, here you can hold the chips with a "request first" you have zero bargaining power at this point. So do you trust that Marriott will give you your week exchange or will you "crack" and take a less desirable resort? From what I read today, most people chose the latter...




I do deposit first with II and get my exchanges because I have these studios that I play around with.   From what I've been reading there seems to be questions that even II holds back inventory while my studio sits waiting because they're looking for a bigger fish.   

But wait!!!   If that's the case why did my old and cold CV studio snag an April 2011  OceanWatch in May 2010?

Suspicion that either company, II or Marriott, is holding back inventory to squeeze it's customers doesn't make it fact.   I'd like to have concrete evidence of the facts.

Can someone with something current and powerful check II inventory for MOW next April 3-10?   The largest thing I have on deposit is an old and cold MSE 2 bedroom and it's not pulling up anything.


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## m61376 (Jul 27, 2010)

kedler said:


> You need to have available points to waitlist a reservation. If you confirm any reservation - as I did to OceanWatch and the rep emailed me my confirmation while I was on the phone with her - those points are not available for a wait list reservation.
> 
> For the wait list reservation you can give them as many dates and resorts as you like and they put a "hold" on the number of points for the resort with the highest point requirement, which in my case was the Surf Club. If my St. Thomas request comes through then I'll get some of the points being held to reserve this vacation back as a St. Thomas 3 bdrm is 400 pts less than a Surf Club. If you have to borrow points from another year to make this request then those points (whether trust or weeks points) cannot be returned to their original use year; *however any points from the current year can be banked forward as long as its on or before 6/30 of the current use year. *
> 
> You can call back and change the wait list, change the confirmation etc. Additionally the rep told me that they email confirmations once a match is make and you have 48 hours to accept or decline the reservation but that time frame really only counts if you are within 60 days of the commencement date of the reservation when canceling/changing your reservation means the points wind up in a holding account.


Does that mean, then, that any leftover points from unfulfilled waitlists or from leftovers from multiple options made from July-Dec. will result in either a loss of points or some scrambling to go on a short notice trip so the points don't expire?

The other thing that hits me is that, while prior to June 30th you can bank the current year points if the waitlist doesn't come through (extending their use for a year) any borrowed points from next year will now expire at year's end (a year earlier). Do the pressure is on to accept an exchange and not lose the points.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> I do deposit first with II and get my exchanges because I have these studios that I play around with.   From what I've been reading there seems to be questions that even II holds back inventory while my studio sits waiting because they're looking for a bigger fish.
> 
> But wait!!!   If that's the case why did my CV studio snag an April 2011  OceanWatch in May 2010?
> 
> Suspicion that either company, II or Marriott, is holding back inventory to squeeze it's customers doesn't make it fact.   I'd like to have concrete evidence of the facts.



I think it is very possible that II holds back inventory if you don't have the trade power. However they also manually look through the ongoing searches and match even if you don't have the trade power.

If no one else out there is wanting the week, then it is in II's best interest to make the match and get the fee, regardless of the week you are offering.

This would explain why some people can't see a week in instant exchange and place a request only to have the request filled the very next day. This happened to us with a search request last fall.


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> I think it is very possible that II holds back inventory if you don't have the trade power. However they also manually look through the ongoing searches and match even if you don't have the trade power.
> 
> If no one else out there is wanting the week, then it is in II's best interest to make the match and get the fee, regardless of the week you are offering.
> 
> This would explain why some people can't see a week in instant exchange and place a request only to have the request filled the very next day. This happened to us with a search request last fall.



I edited my last post just about the time you were posting this.   Do you have something to look in II for the week I'm looking for next year so we can see how my little deposit first is doing?


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## dioxide45 (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> I edited my last post just about the time you were posting this.   Do you have something to look in II for the week I'm looking for next year so we can see how my little deposit first is doing?



I only have a 1BR and studio on deposit. You could try posting a sightings request over on the sightings board though. Someone with a "tiger" trader should be able to tell you if what you are wanting it out there.


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## pwrshift (Jul 27, 2010)

JimH said:


> Still on hold, at our timeshare in the Banff area, wondering how much longer my cell phone battery is good for!
> 
> Found the charger, yea!



Those roaming charges from Canada will be more than your MF!


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> I only have a 1BR and studio on deposit. You could try posting a sightings request over on the sightings board though. Someone with a "tiger" trader should be able to tell you if what you are wanting it out there.



Thanks, I rarely venture off the Marriott Board and forget what else it out there in Tugland.

BTW, I did see a Barony with my studio for the week before (Mar 26-April 2).   We'd be at Grande Ocean, friends could be at Barony.   That would indicate the OceanWatch is just not available.


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## Cindala (Jul 27, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> Since he indicated he was able to go to once again go to Maui during whale season, he has obviously done this in the past. He could have easily locked off and I am sure gotten two weeks (for 7 days each). Even if both in a garden-view studio, each go for close to $2500 at Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. That would have ended closer to a $4000 savings in actual dollars.
> 
> It appears that the important part for Perry is the guaranteed view. There is no other explanation given his past II exchange track record. He has apparently been trading down all of these years in to no guaranty of view with II.



That does appear to be the only explanation. Everyone has their own priorities and they should be respected. For us, the view is probably the least important consideration; I would much rather have my full week and a larger size unit.


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## dougp26364 (Jul 27, 2010)

cruz-in said:


> Hi,
> 
> After a long wait (2 Hours), I was very happy with my test run of the new system:
> 
> ...



Flexability is the key to points based systems and, in you case it paid out very well. It would be great if Marriott could get their online system up to speed like nearly every other timeshare points system out there and eliminate these hold times to get anything done (or not get anything done).


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## dougp26364 (Jul 27, 2010)

OMG! I FINALLY have gone through every post in this thread, realizing that along the way I was posting in resonce to something that had already been well covered or had been moved past a long time ago. This despite the fact I'll likely never convert either of my weeks to points just because I'll get fewer vacations in accomadations of the size and length we enjoy in the weeks based system.

What I've learned:

Flexability is very important (or must be) to those posting on the first day. The Skim hurts us bad enough points will rarely, if ever be an option.

Marriott is very poor at planning roll outs.

Marroitt has failed to understand is clientes needs and didn't meet them on day one.

Our needs will be different that most of those who have posted here as we'll be using weeks exchanges if (and that's a big if right now) we decide to join. Based on the results I've seen from day one, we're very glad we decided to wait. I'm not impressed with how Marriott handled day 1. I believe it will get better but, before we shell out more money for a prodcut we already own, I want to see improvements from Marriott. I can't afford to spend the sort of time on the phone some have reported on day 1. For that matter, after 15 minutes on hold I'll typically hang up. That's 15 minutes of life I'll never get back.

By comparison, Royal Caribbean International had a roll out of their super giant cruise ship Oasis of the Sea's. They had a plan in place on day one for reservations. I called early to book and knew I'd be on hold. Hold time was less than 15 minutes and total time on the phone to obtain the cabin catagory I wanted in a location I wanted took less than 30 minutes total phone time (hold plus booking). 2 plus hour hold times just to be waitlisted is unacceptable for such a large corporation that is accustomed to customers making resrevations on a daily basis. Their underestimation calls into account Marriott's understanding of it's own customers. It was a very disappointing day IMHO.


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## m61376 (Jul 27, 2010)

It makes one wonder if the complexity of the system is just too much for the computer systems to effectively handle. I wonder if the online booking which ultimately comes will just be able to search the inventory pool that one is directly eligible for, and not any others on an instantaneous basis. Will waitlist be the norm on-line? It does not appear to be the simplistic, direct booking advantage touted by Marriott for the program.


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## Michigan Czar (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> Can someone with something current and powerful check II inventory for MOW next April 3-10?   The largest thing I have on deposit is an old and cold MSE 2 bedroom and it's not pulling up anything.



I used Maui Ocean Club, 2 bedroom, President's week 2011 check-in, I see nothing available in April for MOW in II.


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## 5infam (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> Can someone with something current and powerful check II inventory for MOW next April 3-10?   The largest thing I have on deposit is an old and cold MSE 2 bedroom and it's not pulling up anything.



I have a 1 bedroom, Maui week with a 4th of July check in date for next year. I did a search from now until July of next year for MOW. I got 35 weeks showing, all 2 bedrooms, with check in dates starting on November 12 - and the last week I see checks out on March 5th. After that, there is nothing else I can see. Sorry!!


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## Michigan Czar (Jul 27, 2010)

5infam said:


> I have a 1 bedroom, Maui week with a 4th of July check in date for next year. I did a search from now until July of next year for MOW. I got 35 weeks showing, all 2 bedrooms, with check in dates starting on November 12 - and the last week I see checks out on March 5th. After that, there is nothing else I can see. Sorry!!



Your results sound exactly like mine with my 2 bedroom Maui, I couldn't see anything after March 5 either.


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## puckmanfl (Jul 27, 2010)

good afternoon

let's change the thread to points reservation (7/27)

How long is the wait today???

Any legacy point players snagging stuff at trust resorts???

Any pure TRUST points players out there to report their experiences????

inquiring minds want to know!!!  I am done for 2011, want to live vicariously thru others...  My next feeding at the point trough is in 2012!!!!


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## SueDonJ (Jul 27, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?





cruz-in said:


> Mine is still showing as an Upcoming reservation....





Y-ASK said:


> Mine shows as an Upcoming Reservation...
> 
> Y-ASK





pfrank4127 said:


> Still showing as upcoming on my acct also.





kedler said:


> Hi Susan,
> 
> So far my converted week reservation is still in my MR account under reservations together with my new OceanWatch reservation. I'm wondering if the cancellation just hasn't hit the system yet.



Hmmmm.  This sounds like something that could cause problems down the road ....

The reason I asked is because during the same phone call where I converted one week to points, I also cancelled an existing reservation for another week but didn't convert it.  That cancellation email came through immediately which made me worry that she'd converted the wrong week.  But I know she was working with the right Points totals during the call so it's confusing.   

Thinking about it and looking over my notes I realized that we never discussed cancelling the existing res for the converted week.  I think I mentioned at the beginning that it had a reservation attached to it already but I don't think it came up any more during the call.  She told me to expect 4 emails: 1-confirmation of the conversion of an ownership week to points (not here yet,) 2-a survey of the telephone rep's helpfulness (of course, Marriott surveys everything! but also not here yet,) 3-confirmation of Points reservation (here,) 4-confirmation of other week cancellation (here.)

Hmmmm.  Did any of you hear anything directly related to the existing res during your call?  Shouldn't these have been cancelled immediately and put back in to the inventory bucket?

Also, does anybody know anything about where online you can double-check your Point allocations and distributions?   Maybe when all the emails show up it will be in those somewhere, but I don't like that the confirmation email for the res doesn't indicate anywhere on it the amount of Points used.  We better make sure to to keep detailed records until this is all worked out.

PS - Don't know if it means anything but just now I tried to access marriottrewards.com to check for changes before posting, but "We're sorry. We are unable to display your account information online at this time. Please try again later. Thank you for your patience."  Ugh.


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## DanCali (Jul 27, 2010)

m61376 said:


> It makes one wonder if the complexity of the system is just too much for the computer systems to effectively handle. I wonder if the online booking which ultimately comes will just be able to search the inventory pool that one is directly eligible for, and not any others on an instantaneous basis. Will waitlist be the norm on-line? It does not appear to be the simplistic, direct booking advantage touted by Marriott for the program.



The bigger question is why do we even take the "promise" of an online reservation system seriously?

I honestly don't think there will make points reservations available in an online system. If they do that, they lose control of inventory and give you a level of transparency they probably don't want you to have. This is even more true when there are probably much fewer units in the points exchange system at any point in time than you may see on II. How long have they been promising 13 month weeks reservations online, and that's probably much easier to implement and less loaded with transparency issues since it's all in the CC&Rs? Did that ever come to fruition? 

An online reservation system is something Starwood has been promising owners since 2004 or earlier. It is now 2010 and we are still waiting... Here is a thread from 2007 from the Starwood Board on the topic:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59184


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

DanCali said:


> The bigger question is why do we even take the "promise" of an online reservation system seriously?
> 
> I honestly don't think there will make points reservations available in an online system. If they do that, they lose control of inventory and give you a level of transparency they probably don't want you to have. This is even more true when there are probably much fewer units in the points exchange system at any point in time than you may see on II. How long have they been promising 13 month weeks reservations online, and that's probably much easier to implement and less loaded with transparency issues since it's all in the CC&Rs? Did that ever come to fruition?
> 
> ...



Well I guess one way to look at things is if you never believe anything you won't be disappointed.


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## kedler (Jul 27, 2010)

I just checked Marriott.com and the week is still showing as reserved and I did not get a cancelation email but I did get a confirmation email for the OceanWatch trust points reservation. I also checked my-vacation club.com and it shows an existing Grande Vista reservation. I know I used this week as part of the wait list request and I'm wondering if they just aren't processing the cancellations (even though they said they had to) until the wait list is confirmed or reviewed by whoever is in charge of the wait lists.


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## kedler (Jul 27, 2010)

DanCali said:


> The bigger question is why do we even take the "promise" of an online reservation system seriously?
> 
> I honestly don't think there will make points reservations available in an online system. If they do that, they lose control of inventory and give you a level of transparency they probably don't want you to have. This is even more true when there are probably much fewer units in the points exchange system at any point in time than you may see on II. How long have they been promising 13 month weeks reservations online, and that's probably much easier to implement and less loaded with transparency issues since it's all in the CC&Rs? Did that ever come to fruition?
> 
> ...


The only good sign is that they have put the right boxes in place on my-vacation club to handle the online requests but the open question is when, and if, they will complete it (along with certain unfinished resorts)!


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## ldanna (Jul 27, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> All of IIs inventory is always available in either instant exchange or getaway. There isn't any other inventory other than what comes in and gets instantly matched. If I own a awesome resort and put in the highest TDI week and search, I too should be able to see all of IIs inventory. This is in essence what Marriott seems to be doing. Nothing special here.
> 
> There isn't any inventory out there other than instant exchange. II doesn't hold anything back unless you don't have the trade power for it. Marriott can get just about anything they want if they are willing to offer up a high power week. The "wait list" in II is based on trade power, the highest trade power wins every time, no matter how long one has been waiting.



That's not my experience. The last one, I called II last week because I have a pending request for NCV week 1 starting Jan 1st using my MGV studio. Searching online, I could find the week a want with my 1bd MGV and my 2bd MBY. So I called II to try to persuade someone to confirm this exchange with my studio instead of the 1bd. Well, my studio was not powerful enough (I knew that), BUT it could confirm the same week checking in Jan 2nd with my studio. This was not available online, no matter what week I used.


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## Quilter (Jul 27, 2010)

I called today a bit before noon.   Didn't have to wait long until I had a real person.   She, however, was a regular Owner Services rep., not a DC person.   I was still able to get my questions answer.   

They were:

-When will I get my new II account?   About 2 weeks.
-No fees after that?   No fees with NEW exchanges.   Old deposits will still have fee.
-where does inventory come from for my exchanges?   Specifically, do new point buyers have more opportunity to get trust weeks than I do?   No, the same trust inventory is available to all points people, new and enrolled.
-Is online ability coming for enrolled members?  Yes
When will I get a new VOA?  Soon
Will I be able to contact him/her by email for my questions?   Yes

I think that was all.

p.s.   thanks everyone who looked for the OceanWatch week


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## pfrank4127 (Jul 27, 2010)

Quilter said:


> I called today a bit before noon.   Didn't have to wait long until I had a real person.   She, however, was a regular Owner Services rep., not a DC person.   I was still able to get my questions answer.
> 
> They were:
> 
> ...



Hope you have better luck on that one then I am.  Left 5 messages over the last 10 days no return phone call.  That being said I'm sure they are extremely busy so I'm trying to show patience.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 27, 2010)

DanCali said:


> The bigger question is why do we even take the "promise" of an online reservation system seriously?



I agree, the online system could still be a year or more off. Sure there is a promise, but that doesn't mean anything. At least it appears they have a structure of a potential online system setup. That is a start.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 28, 2010)

Okay, I'm feeling a little bit better - the email with the conversion confirmation showed up and it does include the points value so we have "proof" if ever we need it.

But I'm still concerned that the existing Weeks reservation for that converted week isn't cancelled at marriottrewards.com.  Maybe it will cycle through overnight following that email, but usually cancellations can be processed instantly!  What do you think, should I be this worried that somewhere down the line this is going to cause problems?

kedler, it will be a nice feature if the Weeks reservations are held until a waitlist comes through, but shouldn't the Points conversion nullify the Weeks use immediately?  And my Points weren't waitlisted ...

I dunno but I have scary visions of a total mix-up at the front desk.  It could be nice if these things are never cancelled and we get full use of both intervals (HA!) but somehow I think Marriott's going to catch on to this eventually, and I'd rather it work correctly at the start than be left worrying ...


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## SueDonJ (Aug 3, 2010)

Okay, it is one week later and the Weeks reservation which had been confirmed prior to converting that Week to Points is STILL not cancelled.  So from one Week I currently have a SW Week that was booked in June as well as a 6-day GO stay that was booked on the DC opening Day as well as the surplus Points from converting the Week to Points.

I can't imagine that they're going to let us keep all of these reservations!  Are all of you in the same boat - are your previously-confirmed Weeks reservations still showing in your Upcoming Reservations at your marriottrewards.com account?


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## dougp26364 (Aug 3, 2010)

dioxide45 said:


> I agree, the online system could still be a year or more off. Sure there is a promise, but that doesn't mean anything. At least it appears they have a structure of a potential online system setup. That is a start.



I have read once here and had an MPB owner on the Yahoo group for that resort confirm that the online system was up and running. The MPB owner confirmed that he could navigate the online account just like he'd done all along with his personal I.I. account.


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## SueDonJ (Aug 3, 2010)

dougp26364 said:


> I have read once here and had an MPB owner on the Yahoo group for that resort confirm that the online system was up and running. The MPB owner confirmed that he could navigate the online account just like he'd done all along with his personal I.I. account.



Doug, you might be mixing up accounts.  The II new/corporate accounts are up and running as far as being able to search the same way as before (don't know if anyone's actually pulled the trigger and done a week-to-week exchange yet without any glitches.)  But the accounts that dioxide is talking about here are the Marriott DC accounts - at our my-vacationclub.com accounts we can see that there's an interface for Points along with Weeks but are not yet able to search and/or confirm Point reservations online.


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## SueDonJ (Aug 9, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> So here's a question for anyone who converted a Week to Points today that had a confirmed 2011 reservation already attached to it - how is that confirmed Weeks reservation listed at your marriottrewards.com account now?  Are you seeing it as an Upcoming Reservation or a Cancelled Reservation?



FINALLY the reservation for that converted Week has been cancelled!  Everything else appears to be in order, the Points res is still in place and I'm not seeing any problems.  Did the rest of you have your reservations cancelled, also?


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## markbernstein (Aug 13, 2010)

Here's a story where everything worked right the first time.  

We enrolled in the points club on July 3rd.  The welcome letter and other materials arrived two to three weeks later, and our new membership cards from both Marriott and II a week or so after that.  

Today, I got word from my son that my older granddaughter's 2011 spring break will be April 4th to 8th.  I called the number on my membership card, and got through, with no wait, to a very nice VOA named Jessica.

I started by telling her my MVC membership number, and she found our account immediately.  I then asked the availability of seven days at Imperial Palms (which only has 3BR units) for check in on either Saturday, April 2nd or Sunday, April 3rd.  Both were available.  I then asked if my 800 plus points had been posted to my account.  The answer was yes.

So I told Jessica to do three things:  Trade my 2011 week (Oceana Palms Gold 2 BR OV) for points (2625), book the seven nights at Imperial Palms (also 2625) using a combination of plus points and regular points, and bank the remaining 800 points into 2012.  It was done in a couple of minutes, and I received my email confirmation for the Imperial Palms reservation immediately.


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## VacationPro (Aug 13, 2010)

markbernstein said:


> Here's a story where everything worked right the first time.
> 
> We enrolled in the points club on July 3rd.  The welcome letter and other materials arrived two to three weeks later, and our new membership cards from both Marriott and II a week or so after that.
> 
> ...



:whoopie: Great to hear.  I just enrolled my weeks a few days ago.  Can't wait for the fun to begin.


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## kedler (Aug 14, 2010)

SueDonJ said:


> FINALLY the reservation for that converted Week has been cancelled!  Everything else appears to be in order, the Points res is still in place and I'm not seeing any problems.  Did the rest of you have your reservations cancelled, also?


My Grande Vista reservation is now cancelled as well but I think it was there a few days ago. My OceanWatch & Fairway reservations are there and of course our upcoming Aruba Surf Club reservation!


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