As an owner of 7 TS's myself, I guess you guys would need to spend as much time on TUG as you spend here to understand the value of TS's.

I'm a frequent lounger at TUG and went back and forth about buying a Marriott until I finally decided to sit it out with the new points program coming onboard and bought Hilton instead. I am so glad I did despite being a pretty loyal MR user for 20 years.

Marriott has just killed the resale market for their owners with this new system with points that do not transfer with the sale. Pretty soon Marriott resales will be selling on ebay for $1 like Wyndham and other TS's do. Lucky for Marriott they have ROFR and will be scooping up those $1 deals to fund their points program. It's actually pure genius on the part of Marriott. Ruin the market for sellers who need to sell so you can fly in and grab those killer ebay deals without having to lift a finger to find them.

No expensive resorts to build and have to carry while selling, just resell what you've already built and during these tough times how can they lose. Unless of course a buyer sitting in a MVCI sales presentation goes back to his room to research if what he just bought is worth the price he paid. When google brings him right to TUG and he sees all the flame throwing going on then Marriott might be processing alot of recission letters.

It's a shame they decided to skim on their most loyal fan base. It's just such bad business practice. Unfortunately all this negative press has tarnished my 25 plus year relationship with the brand and am happy that Hilton treats it's resale customers with much more respect.

And in case you are wondering why I own 7 TS's, it's because when you learn to work the TS systems, you can stay in nice 2 bedroom resorts for about $50 a night or even less by learning the ins and outs of TS's. It might surprise you to know that I've even stayed in a 2 bedroom for 7 nights in Orlando for $79 a week. Now this was no dump but a great TS with all amenities included. So that's why many people on TUG own several weeks. We are as fanatical about TS's as you guys are about flying.

That said, I hope to learn alot from everyone here and I hope that I can share my knowledge of TS'ing.