II is alive and well..

[answeeney]

I don’t blame anyone for maximizing their options; in fact I applaud it. Let’s face it though the II system is far from perfect and results in some trades which are highly skewed. There are attempts such as trading power and XYZ (II’s best kept secret, to borrow a phrase from DVC) to address the imperfections and give participants a fairer deal but the flaws provide an opportunity for experts (like many tuggers) to use their knowledge to come out ahead more often than not. You could argue this is a legitimate benefit for someone who has put in the time and effort to learn about the system. However, in my view, it is just as reasonable to try to level the playing field and the DC system is, arguably, an attempt to do just that.

The DC system has its own imperfections but I do not think it is legitimate to criticise it on the basis that it reduces the opportunities to play the existing system to your advantage, which is an attitude that does often come across to me on this site (my apologies in advance if anyone who has posted on this thread thinks I am pointing a censorious finger at them - I’m not – it’s just an impression I have gained from reading many past threads).

As for agruments like "the Marriott salesman said I could always trade my silver studio mudweek for a 3 bed in Hawaii", well...

[DCBoy]

I assume that most folks will join or not join the DC based upon its cost at the time and whether or not they think it works for them financially and otherwise in the long-run. However, in order to avoid the need for our own spinoff here on TUG, I might suggest that if someone reports that they got a great trade through II or DC in the future, it would be best to just congratulate them on their "score" and move on. After all, aren't we all just trying to do the best we can with what we own regardless of our membership class or status?

[davemy]

But all tuggers like to brag! We all like to hear succes stories thou. It just bums me out that i will have to join, just in case i don't want to be left behind in the future. I would not do it at over $2000 dollars and marriott probably knows that.

[puckmanfl]

good morning...

Dave... I am assuming you own direct purchased weeks...

Spend the $695 to enroll. Collect your 800 pts and add 2 weeknites to one of your Legacy week stays. The next time you snag a HHI week on Flex add 2 nites with the 800 pts. This more than $695 retail. Your enrollment was wash!!!

Keep playing the Legacy game and only use points if you want to!!! remember, they are your weeks, use them as you want too!!!!

[csalter2]

Originally Posted by rpk113

I don't want something for nothing... My expectations were set at my sales presentation when my used car salesman recommended this practice as commonplace and well accepted. So in a way Marriott caused there own problem.

I am all for people taking advantage of what's available to them. However, some people feel entitled to some advantages they are able to achieve through a system. It is the entitlement attitude that some tuggers have that is what I don't understand. Marriott did try to level the field a bit with the DC system. Some folks paid $50,000 for their 2 bedroom platinum week in Hawaii while others paid $25,000 for their 1 bedroom gold week in Desert Springs Villas. The problem that I have is that people feel entitled to that platinum Hawaii and with their gold Desert Springs. Folks on this site have been raving mad about losing what was nothing more than a privilege.

Your expectations were set by the paperwork you signed, nothing more and nothing less. Anything extra should be considered just that, an extra but not an entitlement.

[rpk113]

Originally Posted by csalter2

Your expectations were set by the paperwork you signed, nothing more and nothing less. Anything extra should be considered just that, an extra but not an entitlement.

I disagree with that statement. The facts of your ownership were set when you signed the paperwork (one week, where you bought). The delusions of grandeur and "go anywhere you want in the marriott system" expectations were set by the salesman. Two very distinct and different things.

[m61376]

Originally Posted by csalter2

Marriott did try to level the field a bit with the DC system.

Possibly, but for owners at many resorts they just created a different set of inequities. Theoretically, they could have leveled the playing field IF they set the point allocations to some objective measure (equating it, for example, to what Marriott.com charges for renting rooms at each resort). But as is, they created another subset of inequities, with some resorts being better value to won and others being better values to trade into.

And I understand the skim- but in the interest of leveling the playing field, as you put it, why did Marriott make it so that at some resorts owners can't book a single week in their season, while at others they can book some weeks and not have enough points for others (and- yes- I know that you simply book a week at your home resort using your week- BUT- and this is a bug BUT- if you aren't given enough points to book a week at your home resort you are effectively downtrading anyplace else.

So while theoretically the DC could have leveled the playing field and made trades equitable, in which case I could understand your point that the prior uptrades were lucky but not guaranteed, for many of us it created a whole new subset of inequities (and I think even many of those that love the system recognize that there are essentially winners and losers by virtue of the point allocation). When units that Marriott itself rents at close to double the price don't receive enough points to reserve units that Marriott itself rents for half to two-thirds the price, how is the playing field being made more equitable?

[pipet]

Originally Posted by m61376

Possibly, but for owners at many resorts they just created a different set of inequities.

Exactly - with points there is a new game to play, but it is still a game with winners & losers. People who paid extra $$$ for a special week/view but were not given any additional DC points are definitely losers in the DC game. People who tended to make like-for-like trades also don't do so well with the DC. Some resorts have a fabulous MF to DC pt ratio, and if I owned at one of those, I'd be in DC point heaven busy planning out trips.

There are ways to work around the DC, but just as some folks had to know the ins-and-outs of II to not feel like they were losing out, the same can be said of the DC. At least here on TUG, we learn the nuances of whatever systems we choose to use.

As for the OP's great uptrade, it should be impossible according to some sales reps!

[Scott_Ru]

Originally Posted by rpk113

DC points can kiss my rear....

I just got my trade 11 months out..

1 Bdrm Gold Surf Club deposited..
2 Bdrm Plat Surf Club Granted...

I'll be there all week , enjoy the veal, be sure to tip your waitress...

Agreed - we own at Grande Vista in Orlando...but also have a much cheaper unit on Cape Cod. We needed more space in prime time for 2013 at GV and just got a 2-bedroom Grande Vista for our Cape Unit off-prime season.

Go Interval!

[ilene13]

Originally Posted by csalter2

I am all for people taking advantage of what's available to them. However, some people feel entitled to some advantages they are able to achieve through a system. It is the entitlement attitude that some tuggers have that is what I don't understand. Marriott did try to level the field a bit with the DC system. Some folks paid $50,000 for their 2 bedroom platinum week in Hawaii while others paid $25,000 for their 1 bedroom gold week in Desert Springs Villas. The problem that I have is that people feel entitled to that platinum Hawaii and with their gold Desert Springs. Folks on this site have been raving mad about losing what was nothing more than a privilege.

Your expectations were set by the paperwork you signed, nothing more and nothing less. Anything extra should be considered just that, an extra but not an entitlement.

The resorts in Aruba were shortchanged in DC point allocations. To stay at the OC during Christmas and New Year's in a 1 bedroom unit it is in excess of 4000 points. As a platinum owner I am only allocated 2900 points---I own 3 platinum weeks. The playing field is definitely inequitable and I do NOT have an entitlement issue.

[Safti]

I deposited a one bedroom master (of my 2 bedroom lock off) using my gold MCV. Less than 24 hours later, just yesterday, I receives confirmation of my successful exchange into Marriott Grande Ocean in HH for April 19-26, 2013.

I'm thinking this is not a bad exchange. My studio couldn't pull it. I have a feeling that a studio couldn't pull HH except for maybe Jan.

[dioxide45]

We had a similar experience with Ocean Watch for this past April. Had an ongoing request with our Grande Vista studio unit. It didn't come though after a couple of weeks of waiting. We canceled that request and started one with the 1BR and it came through overnight. So it was a trade power issue where the studio couldn't pull the 2BR but the 1BR could.

[m61376]

And my friend recently used a Gold Aruba SC studio week to get the exact dates over week 51 she wanted; matching into a 1BR at the Aruba OC. Much better deal than using points for the holiday week!

[Safti]

Now just thinking about what I can nab with my gold studio..... a one or two bedroom perhaps? I just traded my last gold MCV studio in April for a 2 bedroom lakeshore reserve in October. It's working for me!