Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Points - demystified

I have read many blog posts and comments and have noticed there are many Marriott timeshare owners dissatisfied with the new Destinations program.

Many feel that Marriott has taken away privileges they had, like access to new properties, and have made them feel that they need to get more points (and a higher tier) just to enjoy the same benefits that they always had available. For example, if you don't convert your deeded week into Destination points and buy additional trust points, and Marriott builds a new property, since they are only selling points now, and not deeded weeks, you would not have access to this new property. This gives a feeling of being forced to buy into the Destinations program.

 

Two Pools of Inventory
In the Marriott Destinations program, there are 2 pools of  inventory (trust and exchange). Exchange inventory is deeded weeks and trust inventory is weeks that Marriott owns.  Marriott no longer sells deeded weeks, and they are trying to get deeded weeks owners to change to points and trust points. The price to do this seems to vary, and the buyer should definitely beware.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, as the saying goes. 

 

The Marriott owners with deeded weeks, can "elect" for Club Points in any given year. These points can be used to reserve Marriott Vacation Club stays for any number of days that they choose. These "enrolled" Club points can only access the available inventory of resorts and dates that are made available from owners turning their deeded weeks into Club Points. This is also known as the Exchange Inventory.  So, what happens with new properties that Marriott builds? All of this inventory will be in the Trust inventory and not in the Exchange Inventory.

 

At a sales presentation, they will try hard to get you to not only convert your deeded week into Club Points, but they will try to get you to buy more points (Trust Points). With these points you can access the Trust Inventory (unsold weeks, resale weeks and re-acquired weeks). This is the inventory that Marriott owns, not the owners. It will cost a lot more to own this inventory, and if you don't want to pay for this, they will try very very hard to dissuade you.

 

It is not what they are telling you, it is what they are not telling you

• The total amount of available vacation weeks is now split many different ways: Exchange Inventory, Trust Inventory, Interval International Inventory, Redweek inventory...

• Your annual fees will increase if you convert, and this is often not mentioned until you are signing the papers. For more fees, will you get more advantages? Probably not.  The biggest difference with the points program is the ability to stay less than 7 days, and if this greatly appeals to you, then  maybe you should look into converting.

• If you elect to use your week as points, and change your mind, and want to stay at your home resort, you can't. You won't have enough points.  The amount of points you are given, in exchange for your week, will not be enough.

Marriott can change the program again and again
Many timeshare owners bought their week or weeks under the assumption that the system in place would allow them to enjoy a certain type of vacation and have the flexibility to stay at new and exciting places (through exchange companies like Interval International). With the radical change to the points system, Marriott is potentially changing the inventory available to those that don't convert their weeks.  And for those that do convert and buy into the Destinations program, who is to say or promise them that the points needed for certain resorts won't change, or that the fees won't radically increase over the years?  This is a huge concern for many, because many don't trust Marriott anymore.

After putting a lot of research and thought into this situation, I believe staying within the Interval International exchange program is best.  Interval International is still better than Marriott Destinations.