Dave M
TUG Lifetime Member
Updated as of 10:00 a.m. EDT June 30, 2010
Earlier today (June 29) I had a conversation with a high-ranking and knowledgeable corporate officer regarding some questions that either have not had good answers here or that I missed or that are still being responded to incorrectly by posters on this forum.
I submitted some questions in writing last Thursday and added some more over the weekend. Customer Advocacy assigned a specific officer to discuss the questions with me, knowing of my involvement here on the Marriott forum and approving publication here of the responses. If I get any of what he said wrong, I'm sure he will correct me. However, I have a lot of confidence in his answers.
Further, I can have further dialogue with this individual as appropriate. I promised that I would not bother him with every question posed here on TUG, especially where it appears that there aren't perfect answers (e.g., Why are more points required to reserve a week at my resort than what I received?) or where the questions have already been adequately answered on this forum.
If I get more info, I will edit this initial post, either adding to the Q&A here or linking to other threads. This thread does not take the place of what eventually will be a guide to the new program in the FAQs for this forum.
With that intro, here goes (The response wording is mine.):
Who will pay for additional housekeeping and any other new expenses at my home resort that are necessitated by the new points program (e.g., for short stays)?
Marriott response: An amount (not disclosed to me) for such expenses has been built into the $.40 MF per point that new points owners will pay. It's not clear what the amount of such additional expense will be. It depends on how many short stays there are, whether the rest of those weeks go unused or are used for other short stays, etc. In some cases, expenses might actually go down because a resort might be able to get by with fewer housekeeping personnel, some of whom work all week instead of only on weekends. The resort will be responsible for calculating and presenting to the administrators of the points trust the amount that the resort is owed. If you attend an HOA board or annual meeting in early 2012 or later, feel free to ask how your resort is affected.
If I Enroll my week(s) in the new program, will I have direct online access to II, just as I now do?
Marriott's response: Yes, yes, yes. You will be able to search for available II inventory even though you have an ongoing exchange request in place. You will also be able to search for Flexchange opportunities, just as you do now. Marriott is committed to giving current owners the same opportunities they have now. However, if you are concerned about the accuracy of that promise, simply keep your current II account until you are sure.
Edited to add: Unfortunately, Marriott did not anticipate the demand that we have for seeing available inventory online when using one of the new II accounts. Thus, they are scurrying to fix their software so that they can fulfill the commitment to give us that online access. It will happen.
Will II's Comparable Exchange methodology apply to Marriott's requests to confirm exchanges through II for points owners, just as it does to us as existing weeks owners?
Marriott's response: Yes. II is a separate profit-making company and is not owned by Marriott. Marriott has no contract with II that would give Marriott the right to "raid" weeks in II inventory (Dave M note: as has been postulated by many here on TUG). Instead, Marriott will be requesting exchanges, just as we do. Marriott will have to offer "Comparable Exchange" weeks to get what it wants. If Marriott offers II too many top weeks to get so-so weeks in exchange, it will be impossible for Marriott to adequately serve its points owners.
Additionally, note that if Marriott wants a week from II, it will give II one in exchange. So if one week isn't there for us to exchange into, another “comparable” one will be.
There might actually be more II inventory eventually. With the non-resort stay options (e.g., cruises and Explorer program) offered in exchange for points, there may be more weeks in the trust that stay in Marriott’s hands and go unused. Certainly, Marriott can rent some of them. But as anyone who has been rejected by Marriott's rental program can infer, Marriott will have excess weeks that it will deposit into II. Those weeks are in addition to the weeks Marriott will deposit to get its exchanges for points owners.
There is conflicting wording in the various documents on the website regarding whether current owners will pay II fees if they enroll in the points program. Would you please clarify?
Marriott's response: There is some language in the II Buyers Guide (for Enrolled Owners) that erroneously states that Enrolled Owners will pay $109 for an internal Marriott-to-Marriott exchange. That wording will be corrected.
Bottom line? If you enroll, you will still pay fees for non-Marriott exchanges, but not for Marriott-to-Marriott exchanges where the only requested resorts are Marriotts.
Will Enrolled Owners still be entitled to Accommodation Certificates when depositing a week that II wants? Also, will exchangers still enjoy the Marriott 24-day internal exchange priority?
Marriott's response: Yes to both questions. II will still need those prime weeks. Thus, it's up to II as to which weeks it will offer an AC for or whether it will offer 2-for-1 or other specials. No change to the Marriott internal priority rules.
As a footnote, there are a ton of owners who don't want to have to deal with II, in part because they don't know how to use II effectively. We know this from the many posts here at TUG on that topic. Those people, as Enrolled Owners, can now use an Owner Services rep to handle everything and might not get an AC. We know to wait until II offers an AC before depositing, so we can still "work" the system.
As an Enrolled Owner, will I still have the same 13-month access to multiple week (concurrent or consecutive weeks) reservations that I do now?
Marriott's response: Yes. Further, the available inventory at 13 months for all who seek to reserve (including Marriott on behalf of points owners) will still be limited to 50% of the weeks available at a resort for any single week of the year. Thus, at least 50% of weeks will still be available at 12 months.
Edited to note that reserving a week should be as easy for us as in the past. Just as in the past, Marriott (and now points purchasers) will have the ability to reserve weeks that Marriott owns and puts into the points trust and weeks given up by those who trade for Marriott Rewards points. In addition, those current weeks' owners who enroll and trade their weeks for points give Marriott / points owners another shot at reserving weeks. However the total number of weeks that points owners can reserve is limited to those categories, unless I have missed one. There will be enough weeks available in our seasons for all weeks owners to reserve a week.
Also, see posts #60 and #61 in this thread for a more detailed explanation of my view of why we should generally have the same success in trying to resereve weeks at our home resorts as we do now.
There are various scenarios under which there could be more inventory available at 13 months and 12 months than there is now. Some of these scenarios have been discussed in other threads, but they include the point that it takes a lot of points (did I say skimming?) to reserve a prime week.
Can a points purchaser rent weeks obtained with point?
Marriott's response: Casual rentals by a points owner will be allowed. The language in the documents that prohibits commercial activity is to prevent the type of activity that often happens currently with owners of multiple weeks whereby they call in at 13 months, reserve many of the best weeks and then put them up for rent as a commercial enterprise.
Note: Whether rentals constitute commercial activity will be decided on a case by case basis. But renting a week or two will definitely not be a problem.
* * * * *
As stated above, I will edit this post and add to the thread as appropriate.
See posts #45, 60 and 61 in this thread for my latest follow-up and for my responses to a few questions posed later in this thread.
Earlier today (June 29) I had a conversation with a high-ranking and knowledgeable corporate officer regarding some questions that either have not had good answers here or that I missed or that are still being responded to incorrectly by posters on this forum.
I submitted some questions in writing last Thursday and added some more over the weekend. Customer Advocacy assigned a specific officer to discuss the questions with me, knowing of my involvement here on the Marriott forum and approving publication here of the responses. If I get any of what he said wrong, I'm sure he will correct me. However, I have a lot of confidence in his answers.
Further, I can have further dialogue with this individual as appropriate. I promised that I would not bother him with every question posed here on TUG, especially where it appears that there aren't perfect answers (e.g., Why are more points required to reserve a week at my resort than what I received?) or where the questions have already been adequately answered on this forum.
If I get more info, I will edit this initial post, either adding to the Q&A here or linking to other threads. This thread does not take the place of what eventually will be a guide to the new program in the FAQs for this forum.
With that intro, here goes (The response wording is mine.):
Who will pay for additional housekeeping and any other new expenses at my home resort that are necessitated by the new points program (e.g., for short stays)?
Marriott response: An amount (not disclosed to me) for such expenses has been built into the $.40 MF per point that new points owners will pay. It's not clear what the amount of such additional expense will be. It depends on how many short stays there are, whether the rest of those weeks go unused or are used for other short stays, etc. In some cases, expenses might actually go down because a resort might be able to get by with fewer housekeeping personnel, some of whom work all week instead of only on weekends. The resort will be responsible for calculating and presenting to the administrators of the points trust the amount that the resort is owed. If you attend an HOA board or annual meeting in early 2012 or later, feel free to ask how your resort is affected.
If I Enroll my week(s) in the new program, will I have direct online access to II, just as I now do?
Marriott's response: Yes, yes, yes. You will be able to search for available II inventory even though you have an ongoing exchange request in place. You will also be able to search for Flexchange opportunities, just as you do now. Marriott is committed to giving current owners the same opportunities they have now. However, if you are concerned about the accuracy of that promise, simply keep your current II account until you are sure.
Edited to add: Unfortunately, Marriott did not anticipate the demand that we have for seeing available inventory online when using one of the new II accounts. Thus, they are scurrying to fix their software so that they can fulfill the commitment to give us that online access. It will happen.
Will II's Comparable Exchange methodology apply to Marriott's requests to confirm exchanges through II for points owners, just as it does to us as existing weeks owners?
Marriott's response: Yes. II is a separate profit-making company and is not owned by Marriott. Marriott has no contract with II that would give Marriott the right to "raid" weeks in II inventory (Dave M note: as has been postulated by many here on TUG). Instead, Marriott will be requesting exchanges, just as we do. Marriott will have to offer "Comparable Exchange" weeks to get what it wants. If Marriott offers II too many top weeks to get so-so weeks in exchange, it will be impossible for Marriott to adequately serve its points owners.
Additionally, note that if Marriott wants a week from II, it will give II one in exchange. So if one week isn't there for us to exchange into, another “comparable” one will be.
There might actually be more II inventory eventually. With the non-resort stay options (e.g., cruises and Explorer program) offered in exchange for points, there may be more weeks in the trust that stay in Marriott’s hands and go unused. Certainly, Marriott can rent some of them. But as anyone who has been rejected by Marriott's rental program can infer, Marriott will have excess weeks that it will deposit into II. Those weeks are in addition to the weeks Marriott will deposit to get its exchanges for points owners.
There is conflicting wording in the various documents on the website regarding whether current owners will pay II fees if they enroll in the points program. Would you please clarify?
Marriott's response: There is some language in the II Buyers Guide (for Enrolled Owners) that erroneously states that Enrolled Owners will pay $109 for an internal Marriott-to-Marriott exchange. That wording will be corrected.
Bottom line? If you enroll, you will still pay fees for non-Marriott exchanges, but not for Marriott-to-Marriott exchanges where the only requested resorts are Marriotts.
Will Enrolled Owners still be entitled to Accommodation Certificates when depositing a week that II wants? Also, will exchangers still enjoy the Marriott 24-day internal exchange priority?
Marriott's response: Yes to both questions. II will still need those prime weeks. Thus, it's up to II as to which weeks it will offer an AC for or whether it will offer 2-for-1 or other specials. No change to the Marriott internal priority rules.
As a footnote, there are a ton of owners who don't want to have to deal with II, in part because they don't know how to use II effectively. We know this from the many posts here at TUG on that topic. Those people, as Enrolled Owners, can now use an Owner Services rep to handle everything and might not get an AC. We know to wait until II offers an AC before depositing, so we can still "work" the system.
As an Enrolled Owner, will I still have the same 13-month access to multiple week (concurrent or consecutive weeks) reservations that I do now?
Marriott's response: Yes. Further, the available inventory at 13 months for all who seek to reserve (including Marriott on behalf of points owners) will still be limited to 50% of the weeks available at a resort for any single week of the year. Thus, at least 50% of weeks will still be available at 12 months.
Edited to note that reserving a week should be as easy for us as in the past. Just as in the past, Marriott (and now points purchasers) will have the ability to reserve weeks that Marriott owns and puts into the points trust and weeks given up by those who trade for Marriott Rewards points. In addition, those current weeks' owners who enroll and trade their weeks for points give Marriott / points owners another shot at reserving weeks. However the total number of weeks that points owners can reserve is limited to those categories, unless I have missed one. There will be enough weeks available in our seasons for all weeks owners to reserve a week.
Also, see posts #60 and #61 in this thread for a more detailed explanation of my view of why we should generally have the same success in trying to resereve weeks at our home resorts as we do now.
There are various scenarios under which there could be more inventory available at 13 months and 12 months than there is now. Some of these scenarios have been discussed in other threads, but they include the point that it takes a lot of points (did I say skimming?) to reserve a prime week.
Can a points purchaser rent weeks obtained with point?
Marriott's response: Casual rentals by a points owner will be allowed. The language in the documents that prohibits commercial activity is to prevent the type of activity that often happens currently with owners of multiple weeks whereby they call in at 13 months, reserve many of the best weeks and then put them up for rent as a commercial enterprise.
Note: Whether rentals constitute commercial activity will be decided on a case by case basis. But renting a week or two will definitely not be a problem.
* * * * *
As stated above, I will edit this post and add to the thread as appropriate.
See posts #45, 60 and 61 in this thread for my latest follow-up and for my responses to a few questions posed later in this thread.
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