Original Message:
Re: Re: Re: Re: Ripoff - Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Program - New Point System (by Den):
jimf41 wrote:=== I don't agree with you, but a salesperson would.One must distinguish between reservations for owned weeks and point reservations. For weeks, I own the week in the season and can book 13 mos out - I get what I want for great beach locations.
No, you can't book a single week 13 months out using your week. If you convert it to points or you have trust points then you can. To book a week 13 months out you have to have two weeks and you have to book them consecutively or concurrently. One of the quirks is that they don't have be in the same season. I'm not sure if you can book them at separate resorts, I've never tried it.
Some may say the flexibility of the points system compensates for all this. But, if you can't get the points reservation "you want," who cares?
All of the reservations I make and the ones I referred to in my post have been made with points.
There is no which is better points or weeks. Weeks bought before June 2010 are great because you can exchange them for points. Weeks bought after that can only be used as what they are, a week in the season you bought. I use both some weeks I use as weeks, most I convert to points. In order to play the game you have to know the rules and strategies if you want to win. Trust points bought from Marriott seem pretty expensive and are not very appealing to me.
We own a substantial portfolio of both weeks and points - most of our points come from deposits of weeks for points. I'm happy with where we are. . It sounds like we are both pretty savvy users of both points and weeks. I don't doubt that you can get some pretty good reservations at your favorite resorts with points. The problem is it is a spotty availability prospect with respect to points reservations over the entirety of MVC resort offerings. However, you and I will probably figure out how to get what we want one way or another. We should be concerned that the program is not getting better in terms of available reservations for points.
One other thought - In terms of unobstructed access to resort reservations, the clearest and most beneficial path is through week ownership at the resort. There is nothing better than owning weeks for hard-to-get weeks at resorts like OceanWatch in Myrtle Beach.
Good luck in your pursuits.