Marriott Vac Club reservation system

[taxman1224]

I just finished a second frustrating experience trying to reserve my Platinum week for 2013 at Marriott Mountainside in Park City UT.
This same situation faced me last year reserving for 2012.
First, it took the computer I was using about 3 minutes to get into Marriott's system at 7 am mountain time on 2/1.
OK, a lot of people logging in at the same time - Marriott should improve their system to handle this load don't you think?
Then, by the time I was in, about 4 minutes after the system was "open", only a Sunday arrival was available.
That is, all the Friday and Saturday inventory was taken in less than 5 minutes!!
There are more than 180 suites in this building - so 120 were gone in less than 5 minutes?
Not really as I found out.
I called later that day and finnaly got through to a human.
As the conversation went along I was told that Marriott holds back some suites to sell as "hotel" rooms to outside guests - i.e. non owners.
That means that Friday and Saturday suites are available - but not to owners!!!
How can they do that?
I asked to speak to a supervisor but after 15 minutes of hold time I just hung up.
I will call again during the coming week - but do not expect any resolution.
Yesterday I responded to the survey seeking feedback on my "experience" making the reservation. I vented in that survey and asked to get a call back.
Again, I do not expect a satisfactory resolution.
I never have believed the new point system was anything but a money making angle for Marriott and now I discover they sell suites to the general public at the expense of the people who bought units.
What do you make of this?
Is it written anywhere in the sale contracts that they have the right to sell units like this? My contract for Mountainside Park City was signed in Feb 2000 before the building was completely finished and I don't recall seeing this anywhere.

 

[puckmanfl]

good morning

25% of owners turn in weeks for MRpoints..some exchange weeks for DC points...

MVCD now "controls" these weeks... and can snag theprime inventory... These are now developer controlled weks thatthey are free to rent on marriott.com, just as owners can rent theirs!!!

 

[tschwa2]

First of all up to 50% of the inventory can be reserved at 13 months by multiple week owners making consecutive or concurrent reservations. So half the inventory available to owners would not have been available to you when you logged on/called.

Second Marriott owns units (which they pay MF on) so they too are owners. They probably have a certain number of units that have been deposited into the Trust for point members (they have done selective ROFR and buybacks to seed the trust in sold out resorts). They also keep a certain amount of their inventory for paying customers.

The third way they end up with inventory to sell at marriott.com is through owners that have exchanged for Marriott reward points to use at hotel stays.

 

[taxman1224]

First of all up to 50% of the inventory can be reserved at 13 months by multiple week owners making consecutive or concurrent reservations. So half the inventory available to owners would not have been available to you when you logged on/called.

Second Marriott owns units (which they pay MF on) so they too are owners. They probably have a certain number of units that have been deposited into the Trust for point members (they have done selective ROFR and buybacks to seed the trust in sold out resorts). They also keep a certain amount of their inventory for paying customers.

The third way they end up with inventory to sell at marriott.com is through owners that have exchanged for Marriott reward points to use at hotel stays.

I am very aware of the 13 month ability.
I suspect there are not many people who spent 60K + to buy two weeks in Platinum season at Park City and locked up as much as 50% of the inventory. Seems far fetched.
Skiing is a "working" vacation and much more expensive ( lift tickets) than going to the beach.
I was told point members do not get access inventory until later than owners.
My point in this post is that owners should come ahead of "paying" customers. Didn't owners "pay" up front for this privilege?
In the 5 minutes or less it took for me to click on a date I cannot see how Marriott recaptured and withdrew the units of people who took points instead.
Last, my theory is that people who buy a ski week generally do so because they want to ski so they either use it or trade it to ski somewhere else - I suspect it is a minority that trade for points.
It would be interesting to get the statistics on that point at this location.

 

[dioxide45]

Were you also not on the phone at the same time trying to get a reservation by phone?

 

[SueDonJ]

... I never have believed the new point system was anything but a money making angle for Marriott and now I discover they sell suites to the general public at the expense of the people who bought units.
What do you make of this? ...

I'm not sure if you're saying that your experience with the reservation process this year didn't work because the new DC has been introduced, or, if you're saying that the DC introduction combined with them being able to offer inventory to cash-payers is just further proof that Marriott's only in it for the money.

Either way, my take is the same. Marriott's in it for the money, always have been and always will be. In that regard there's no difference now than before the DC was introduced.

Is it written anywhere in the sale contracts that they have the right to sell units like this? My contract for Mountainside Park City was signed in Feb 2000 before the building was completely finished and I don't recall seeing this anywhere.

Yes, the governing docs (Master Deed and Management Agreement, specifically) give Marriott the rights to do whatever they want with the Weeks they own as well as the Weeks that are given up by owners for other usage such as MR Points exchanges, Marriott's Rental Program, etc. There's nothing in the docs that says Marriott must wait for Weeks owners to make their reservations before Marriott can access what's available to them. (Although, at a few resorts Marriott is prohibited from using the 13-mos window to reserve multi-weeks the same as all other owners. SurfWatch is one of those.)

I'm surprised, actually, that you've owned since 2000 and have only in the last two years come across this difficulty of reserving one in-demand Week when the 12-mos reservation window opens. It happens a lot with in-demand Weeks throughout all the resort calendars.

 

[SueDonJ]

... My point in this post is that owners should come ahead of "paying" customers. Didn't owners "pay" up front for this privilege?

No. Owners paid for the right to book what they own according to availability and the Reservation Procedures stipulated in the docs. Owners don't have a priority over Marriott for availability of certain inventory.

In the 5 minutes or less it took for me to click on a date I cannot see how Marriott recaptured and withdrew the units of people who took points instead. ...

In that five minutes you weren't just in competition with Marriott, you were also in competition with other owners. Five minutes is a long time when it takes only seconds to click on a date on the online calendar once you get through the portal. It's an eternity, practically, when the Week you want is a high-demand Week.

It would be interesting to get the statistics on that point at this location.

It sure would! I'd love to see exact numbers for my resorts as far as how many folks use the 13-mos window successfully, how many Weeks are given up to Marriott for other usage, how often owners are shut out of their first choice. It sure would make a whole lot of things easier to figure out if Marriott would share all that!

 

[tschwa2]

I am very aware of the 13 month ability.
I suspect there are not many people who spent 60K + to buy two weeks in Platinum season at Park City and locked up as much as 50% of the inventory. Seems far fetched.
...
Skiing is a "working" vacation and much more expensive ( lift tickets) than
Last, my theory is that people who buy a ski week generally do so because they want to ski so they either use it or trade it to ski somewhere else - I suspect it is a minority that trade for points.
It would be interesting to get the statistics on that point at this location.

The 13 month rule as currently implemented only requires a platinum week at your resort and any other Marriott week at any resort that has concurrent or consecutive reservations. One could own a silver Branson week, or a bronze/silver Myrtle Beach week booked 1 month one week ago along with this weeks ski week in Utah. The first week could get deposited in II and used for Marriott priority in flex time and ski week booked before single week owners. The silver and bronze weeks can be had for nothing these days and in some cases include transfer cost and first years MF. Some resort documents are written this way and some mention specifically at the same resort but for consistency sake Marriott is currently interpreting the rule to include different Marriott resorts concurrently and consecutively.

I was told that the conversion to MR points happens all the time in all seasons. Owners who don't want to use for whatever reason convert even though they would do much better to rent their prime time. As you said ski vacations are more expensive and active and just because one bought with the intention to use every year doesn't mean that circumstances don't change.

 

[BocaBoy]

I was told that the conversion to MR points happens all the time in all seasons. Owners who don't want to use for whatever reason convert even though they would do much better to rent their prime time.

That depends very much on the resort. At a lot of resorts you still get more value from 110,000 MR points (a common platinum exchange value) than from renting your week, even if it is in prime season. We did it a lot when we owned in Orlando. And exchanging for MR points is so much easier than renting.