Except for your puzzlement, we agree on quite a lot
The issue is not specifically with MF, but with costs, fees, etc and how the monies get back to the timeshare side of the business, how much in excess of cost Marriott charges for the management, etc. All the flows are there, follow or not, as you will. Marriott does do a lot of good things, but the company is far from perfect. If we all just simply accept the status quo, they will keep pushing at the edges.
I don't think timeshares are a waste of money. I think there's lots to like with timeshares, but again if we keep accepting the status quo w/o asking questions and looking in the corners, the companies running them will keep pushing at the edges to see what they can get away with. My family owns multiple in multiple systems. Me specifically, for 25 years.
I'm not looking for financial return. I am looking to ensure that my family (extended and me) can continue to enjoy our vacations. The key issues here is the steady rise of MF and other costs/fees, when in all honesty over the past 10-12 years through the recession and such should not have continued at a steady rise of 3-5% / year IMHO. In it's steady march of 3-5%, we will be priced out of vacations at some point.
I suspect also that the integration of all the new purchases will result in a lot of the benefits of the system being diluted. For example, those at the top (Presidents/Chairmans) may find they are suddenly not at the top of the system--they may be closer to the executive, meanwhile, the executive may be under a rug somewhere. In the hotel points system, silver/golds became like platinums and platinums became like everyone else for about a year.
Some of the new purchases really havent been managed effectively for a few years, and they will likely be costly to update/integrate back to the norm.
Just thoughts... so how do we hedge our bets against the coming tide of change and increasing MF?