I was told the same thing at my presentation in January. It is so hard, you don't know who to beleive....
I wrote to my salesguy, and this was his response. Apparently, there will be some motion at the levels of which most of us are members:
"There aren’t any properties where all of the inventory is in the trust. That will happen when we build a new resort, where no weeks will be sold.
There are times when you try to make a reservation and there are no inventories in the exchange bucket, but there may be in the trust bucket. That’s where trust points can help you getting an instant reservation. If you only have exchange points, you can get on a waiting list and wait for
1. exchange inventory to become available
2. product supply management to determine that enough of the trust inventory is available where they will fulfill your reservation even though you only have exchange points.
The ultimate goal is to get to a place where “a point is a point is a point”. That will be easier I’m assuming once we bring the Europe weeks into the program, marry in the Asia points program (which both should happen within 12 months), and more and more owners enroll/purchase club points.
Yes, if you have some trust points to get your foot in the door (say get 3 of the 7-nights you need booked, for example), it’s then easier to have the remaining part of the reservation fulfilled using the exchange/legacy points.
If you feel new club points will help in general, overall with your vacationing, then consider another purchase.
But if you feel that the amount of exchange points you can get from your weeks (while still building Rewards points too), can cover your vacations, then you may want to wait and see if you run into any troubles getting what you need. "
So - he says *build* new resorts - I wonder if that covers "acquire" - through them purchasing properties (or rather, having previously independently-owned resorts now pay to fly under the Marriott flag), too. Seems that *building* new places is not so cost effective, and only is happening where there were contracts that force this - otherwise, I hear talk here (where else???) of properties that might be bought or otherwise brought aboard, as above. Me? still waiting to see the MGC Tower 3 built - should be starting soon, if at all.
Mamianka