BTW: Arnie recently stated it was his belief MI would be able to securitize TS mortgages in 2009

Hoo-boy! Isn't that what got the economy started down the slippery slope we're sliding down now? Securitizing mortgages (which means the mortgage holder can't adjust the payment terms on individual mortgages when a crunch comes), which led to credit default swap defaults and all the rest?

Glad I finally managed to peddle my MVCI timeshare(Kauai) last year...

Had the mortgage through Marriott and no one ever told me about a points program if I did so, or paid electronically...woulda been nice to know.

Just seems to me that there's way more potential downside to being stuck in a timeshare if things get really nasty, than any upside based upon past situations(that appear to be changing by the day).

So there have been 2 recent changes this week by Marriott:

1) Eliminate the check cashing service for all
2) Elimination of the Wall Street Journal for all, including the Lounge

Have yet to see anything but "take away's' and negative changes for its best customers. Hang on as I am sure there is more to come. Those that choose to ignore the early warnings do so at your own peril.

Maybe some POSITIVE moves to INCREASE the reasons to stay with Marriott may have customers feeling like Marriott is a brand that they want to support. This post is not to rail on Marriott but to give the facts, (be it timeshares, Award point increases or the 2 posted above) and suggest that there is a better way to turn things around.

Is it possible for this ridiculous title to be changed?

Peril? A bit melodramatic considering we are choosing a hotel, hardly a perilous thing. We choose the best one for our needs. Many businesses are making a variety of changes and/or cutbacks. Changes to these programs come every year. There are annual increases to hotel categories, and the addition of Cat 8 this year was not unexpected. Regarding the point increases for awards, I expected them last year in the same time frame that SPG and Hilton raised their award levels.

I actually like one of the biggest benefits of economic downturns and that is lower prices, an item yet to be added to your list. My Sydney stay last month went from $369 AUD down to $289 AUD, and with the strong dollar my cost went from $350 to $189. My Hong Kong stay last month dropped from 1800 HKD down to 1035 HKD.

You also neglected to mention that due to the economic downturn Marriott is extending Platinum and Gold benefits for 2009 to many of its elites who did not qualify this year.

As far as the original assertion of bankruptcy, that won't happen to Marriott International unless the economy gets real bad and if that happens we have much more serious things to worry about than at what hotel we will stay. Now some of the individual hotels may go belly up, but that is what happens in hard economic times to hotels in weak markets; but that means that the owner of that hotel is the one most affected, whereas MI will have lost a revenue stream. Some of the current projects may get stalled or suspended (Fiji, Bali, Maldives - all of which are franchises and funded by the owners/investors, not MI), or some hotels like the Vail Marriott will use the next year to plan their next expansion to become a JW Marriott (also funded by the owner Diamondrock Hospitality, not MI). I am sure the same may well be happening to other hotel chains' hotels.

BTW, they (Vail Resorts) are building a new Ritz-Carlton next to the Vail Marriott. There is a boatload of new construction going on at Vail. Solaris, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons just to name a few. Appearances here show no sign of a slow market. For their sake, I hope their gamble works. If not, I might actually be able to afford to buy some property at Vail in the next couple of years.

I second this suggestion.

Marriott is about to remove blackout dates-I believe most will view this as a positive move

. . . and raising the bonus for Platinums from 30% to 50% -- I consider that very positive move, thank you!

Yes two positive changes.

1) No blackouts for those that need them --not everyone does.
2) Elite Bonus increase from 30% to 50%

3) I don't believe that the 5th night "free" is a positive since the point savings from the old schedule to the new is 0%,-7%,-4.8% and -5.9% (in categories 1-4) but is still increases of +5.3%, +9.1%, +7.7% and 23.1% (in categories 5-8).

Negative changes.

1) Creation of Category 8 hotels--only effects those who choose to stay in these elite properties. The prime hotels which happen to be cities of New York(top 3 properties), Paris (2 properties), London (5 properties)& Rome (only property in town) to name popular locations. Significant.

2) These new Category 8 hotels can still apply blackouts.

3) Point increase that affect EVERYONE. The most increase hits 60% for a 7-night award. Most families take a 1 week or 7 night vacation. In Categories 6, 7 & 8 the changes are 14 increases in excess of 20%.

4) The large increase of 7-night Travel Package which affects everyone who choose to use this Award Type.

5) Elimination of graduated point scale which reduced the average points used per award for the longer you stayed. Effects everyone!

6) No adjustment of timeshare exchanges for points. Only effects those who own timeshares.

Conclusion based upon this information plus the negative opinions of 90% of the 601 posts on Marriott Rewards Insiders these changes are more negative than positive.

This assertion is comepletely irresponsible.

Mods would be well advised to remove it, as it borders on libel.

I did my own math on another thread somewhere, and now I can't be bothered to totally rehash it.

In any case, I was looking at total spend required to get to my favorite award - the Category 6 120k Travel Package. I assume that in an 8-category system, my favorite hotels will likely be 7's soon, so I looked at the new Category 7 rates.

Basically, I have to spend about 10% more to get the same award I got last year. So the question is: is the alleged lack of blackout dates going to be worth 10%? In the past, I've had good luck getting my awards, but I've sometimes had to shift dates a bit to get them, and on occasion I've had to settle for what people generally regard as the 2nd best Marriott property in a given location.

The jury is still out... I will be booking an late 2009 award sometime soon, destination still uncertain, so that will be the first test for me.

The 5th Day Free is a nice enhancement for people who earn smaller numbers of points. This has long been my praise of the Starwood system: you actually have some decent rewards for people who only earn 20k-50k points per year in the system. With Marriott, the whole game is pretty much based on shooting for the 120k Travel Packages, so even though the 5th Day Free isn't on par with those, it's better than nothing.

I TOTALLY agree WITH you and YOUR posts!! MARRIOTT is DONE. IN FACT, I think THINGS are going to be EVEN WORSE than your OBVIOUSLY well informed POSTS indicate.

I'VE HEARD that MARRIOTT will have to START 2 NEW policies come summer:

1.) GUESTS paying DISCOUNT rates will have a LOT to WORRY about if THERE IS a cool SUMMER NIGHT requiring HEAT in HOTELS that use BOILERS. SINCE IT IS expensive to restart a BOILER during the WARM SEASON, these GUESTS will be LIT ON FIRE and FORCED to run around the HOTEL to warm the GUESTS paying HIGHER rates.
2.) ONCE Marriott REWARDS implodes and TAKES AWAY all our POINTS they will FOLLOW UP by billing EVERYONE ever redeeming a REWARD at ANY TIME during the life of the PROGRAM $1,000,000 PER REDEMPTION. A HUGE PART of the POPULATION will be BANKRUPT and HOMELESS after MARRIOTT'S NEW MILITARY COLLECTION UNIT captures those WHO can't PAY and hauls them TO MARRIOTT PRISONS to be built in OLD HOTELS.

PERIL EVERYONE!!!! PERIL!!!!! SPEND WHAT TIME YOU HAVE LEFT WITH YOUR FAMILIES!!

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Seriously pal, just because Marriott is ending a promotion (a non-hotel promotion at that), we can hardly say we have conclusive evidence that Marriott Rewards is dead. Anytime one banks a lot of points/miles in any program, one accepts and monitors a risk associated with that. All we can do is keep an eye on the situation and cash out when it makes sense or stay in if that looks like the best move. The end of your MVCI promotion plus a handful of changes to the program overall do not provide enough data to jump to the dramatic conclusions you've made. Further, you are new here with a low number of posts and little confirmed authority on the situation. Stick around a bit and you'll find your speculation taken a lot more seriously, especially if you learn from other posters and edit the tone of your posts accordingly.

So you don't have a heart attack, I have edited my original post. I don't think simply because you have been around a while that your posts are any more accurate or meaningful than new posts.

In the spirit of cooperation --why don't you read my January 10th post and factually respond as to why you think Marriott's changes are more positive than negative. I have not said that they can not make these changes -I am pointing out the responses to the changes.

Are you a member of Marriott Rewards Insiders? Have you read the 601 posts to Mr. French's announcement in October of the changes? I think a review of these posts may prove to be enlightening as to the majority view of the changes.

Respectively.

Respectfully, to a great extent when there are negative postings happening in any forum, those who are ambivalent or in this case don't feel that the changes are that monumental tend not to post. I posted in the FT thread once with my opinion. There are those who have posted dozens of times in the same thread repeating the same thing over and over. Frankly I'm bored with the postings as I find many of them to be whiny at best. 601 posts or 6001 posts makes no difference IMO, as it is all repetitive. With that said, it is nice that there is a forum where people can vent. Reading the posts sure does open ones eyes to human condition. Why aren't we all posting about food prices that go up 4% every year? Because it happens gradually. So after 9 years Marriott decides to up the number of points needed for an award... SURPRISE! NOT! I love it when I spend 2 weeks at Vail Marriott and get a week free. A few years ago it took 4 weeks so I am not surprised redemption levels are going up. SPG and Hilton upped theirs a year ago. Anyone who thought awards levels wouldn't change was fantasizing.

My assessment: I don't think Marriott's changes were positive or negative, I think they were inevitable.