I agree that the timeshare stories give anyone plenty of ammo to say no the next time you sit through a presentation. At the end of the 90 minutes, refer to the point adjustments and just say, "No." - It doesn't get much easier.

As for the statistics posted by Marriott Concierge, these started me thinking about whether or not Marriott Executives truly understood their program enhancement research - or did they react to poorly labeled and misinterpreted data?

Marriott Concierge - Could you please take a look at this spreadsheet? I'm interested in filling in as much accurate information as possible (Yellow rows are the variables I need to Adjust). I don't know what level of access to data you have, but I think that it would be interesting and perhaps revealing to complete. It opens up a set of facts that both elite members and Marriott management could examine to better understand the business end of the decision. Maybe management was dead on - maybe they missed a few facts. Of course this sheet won't capture every variable, but if filled in accurately, it lends itself to helping elite members see the reasoning behind Marriott's decisions - and tries to do so in a way that does not twist the numbers (like the stay redemptions vs. nights redeemed stats). Anyway, you asked us to keep the comments coming... If you respond here or email me, I'll update the sheet to mirror your numbers.

http://sites.google.com/site/makemar...venue-Analysis

Before I get flamed - I do recognize that this is a simplistic approach - but it would be interesting to see the results. Maybe the casual traveler is a better target for Marriott.

Thanks for your time.