Marriott changes and SFX

[calgal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close calgal]

Hi Mark, It appears that Marriott owners who do not convert to the new points system will lose access to much of the Marriott inventory in II when trying to exchange, as the new rules clearly state that one of the sources of inventory for points club members will be non-enrolled weeks deposited into II. In light of that, I predict that many Marriott owners such as myself will be electing to exchange their Marriott weeks with SFX instead of II. Get ready for some increase in deposits of prime Marriott weeks! Calgal

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

Since SFX looks for premium properties, I'm sure they will be happy to get them. As will the rest of us.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

That is good news. I hope it happens.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

So do I. When Starwood shafted the non-SVN members using II for exchanges, I abandoned II and gave my Starwood timeshares to SFX instead. The greed of the big corporations trying to milk timeshares for big profits will cause a mass exodus from RCI and II to the independent exchange companies. It may take awhile for the word to get out and I will do my best everywhere I hang by the pool and chat with other timesharers. But I am confident that the average timeshare owner is not as gullible as Big Business thinks they are.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

At the moment, I'm not quite sure who has disappointed me more, Starwood, or Marriott.........

[littlestar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close littlestar]

At the moment, I'm not quite sure who has disappointed me more, Starwood, or Marriott.........

Sad, isn't it.

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

Hi Mark, It appears that Marriott owners who do not convert to the new points system will lose access to much of the Marriott inventory in II when trying to exchange, as the new rules clearly state that one of the sources of inventory for points club members will be non-enrolled weeks deposited into II. In light of that, I predict that many Marriott owners such as myself will be electing to exchange their Marriott weeks with SFX instead of II. Get ready for some increase in deposits of prime Marriott weeks! Calgal

Hi CalGal - Thank you for your post. This certainly is an interesting dynamic. It may have the potential for a number of Marriott Owners to use SFX for their vacation exchange... and we of course would welcome each and every one of them!

We do have a number of Marriott Owners that use SFX, but needless to say, we would like that number to grow significantly. We are watching this event closely.

In the last 12 months, we have been in intensive business development for the lauch of some exciting new programs which we hope to announce around January 2011. It's all about a big improvement in our services and benefits.

Here is my question to Marriott Owners..... If SFX was to create a Marriott Owner's Exchange department, which could be used for both internal and external exchanges, how would you the Owners like to see it operate and why?

This is a very interesting dialogue, and hopefully you can get this post out to as many Marriott Owners as possible perhaps on the Owner's websites (Starwood too). If there is a strong enough response, we will certainly give this a lot of attention.

Thanks,
Mark @sfx
Member Communications

[camachinist Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close camachinist]

Subset of Platinum membership; A/C standard with any Marriott relinquishment, deposit or request first, regardless of 'high season', utilizing standard Platinum membership rules. Promos/additional A/C's for 'early' Marriott deposits, e.g., six months or greater prior to check-in. Make Marriott owners feel valued when paying the higher (compared to II) exchange fee. Hire/train a proactive Marriott 'handler', someone with knowledge of the MVCI resort system, who can interface with owners. Raise the service standard.

There are some of us tracking Marriott exchange inventory on II and will continue to do so. I've seen signs of developer inventory disappearing/not appearing at certain resorts I track, indicating a possible shift into points. These were the bread and butter of II internal exchanges in the past for myself and others and we're watching this carefully. As a multi-week MVCI developer owner, I'm watching it especially carefully and my II subscription will expire within the year. Give me a reason to look at SFX again

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Subset of Platinum membership; A/C standard with any Marriott relinquishment, deposit or request first, regardless of 'high season', utilizing standard Platinum membership rules. Promos/additional A/C's for 'early' Marriott deposits, e.g., six months or greater prior to check-in. Make Marriott owners feel valued when paying the higher (compared to II) exchange fee. Hire/train a proactive Marriott 'handler', someone with knowledge of the MVCI resort system, who can interface with owners. Raise the service standard.

I vote for free Plat Membership with deposit. Go ahead and target us with the weeks you want/need-similiar to the HGVC promo you did in May. Make the AC/Bonus pricing worthwhile. I know the "value" of these weeks are always greater than what you pay..blah blah blah But I'd like to see the return of the 299.00 week with no restrictions.

I currently have nothing in SFX however that isn't a reflection on my satisfaction level. I have made great exchanges and used bonus weeks. I'm with Pat-make me want to deposit with you.

And for goodness sakes-will we EVER be able to search online?? (Ohhh you know I had to say it!!)

[jaym Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaym]

Mark-
Agree with others about raising service level and incentives to lure more Marriott owners in order to both increase SFX available inventory to fulfill exchange requests and improve on the deficiencies of II, current and future (such as possible "raid" on weeks owner deposits to fill points owner requests)
If possible, identify the current SFX Marriott demand requests and success rate in filling those Marriott to Marriott exchange requests. Is it true that you mostly have west coast, such as Hawaii, inventory for Marriott at the present time? Can you identify those locations, such as Aruba, where SFX would need to expand available inventory? Would it help if Marriott owners identified "wish lists" for future exchange request locations so you might better be able to target inventory deficits?
In my opinion, exchange company competiton is needed more than ever. Tired of II increases and leftovers and glad I did not renew my subscription that expired in May.
Best of luck. Feel free to request more info. I recently contacted you here regarding a possible first time deposit of my MMC week with SFX.

JM

Subset of Platinum membership; A/C standard with any Marriott relinquishment, deposit or request first, regardless of 'high season', utilizing standard Platinum membership rules. Promos/additional A/C's for 'early' Marriott deposits, e.g., six months or greater prior to check-in. Make Marriott owners feel valued when paying the higher (compared to II) exchange fee. Hire/train a proactive Marriott 'handler', someone with knowledge of the MVCI resort system, who can interface with owners. Raise the service standard.

There are some of us tracking Marriott exchange inventory on II and will continue to do so. I've seen signs of developer inventory disappearing/not appearing at certain resorts I track, indicating a possible shift into points. These were the bread and butter of II internal exchanges in the past for myself and others and we're watching this carefully. As a multi-week MVCI developer owner, I'm watching it especially carefully and my II subscription will expire within the year. Give me a reason to look at SFX again

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

Need to hear from more Owners...

This is all great feedback.... We would however like to hear from many more owners. That will give us more scope and help us respond accordingly. So get the word out there.

Thanks,
Mark @sfx
Member Communications

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

Mark-
Agree with others about raising service level and incentives to lure more Marriott owners in order to both increase SFX available inventory to fulfill exchange requests and improve on the deficiencies of II, current and future (such as possible "raid" on weeks owner deposits to fill points owner requests)
If possible, identify the current SFX Marriott demand requests and success rate in filling those Marriott to Marriott exchange requests. Is it true that you mostly have west coast, such as Hawaii, inventory for Marriott at the present time? Can you identify those locations, such as Aruba, where SFX would need to expand available inventory? Would it help if Marriott owners identified "wish lists" for future exchange request locations so you might better be able to target inventory deficits?
In my opinion, exchange company competiton is needed more than ever. Tired of II increases and leftovers and glad I did not renew my subscription that expired in May.
Best of luck. Feel free to request more info. I recently contacted you here regarding a possible first time deposit of my MMC week with SFX.

JM

Would be happy to include my 2 weeks at Marbella ... G

[djyamyam Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djyamyam]

- If you're going to offer a bonus week for a Marriott deposit, make it a special bonus week. Currently in II when you get an AC for Marriott deposit, the AC retains the same priority period for Marriott deposits as a regular banked week. So any SFX Marriott bonus week would have to be different from "regular" bonus weeks (ie. removal of size, location and resort upgrade fees that are currently applied for bonus weeks).
- Free Platinum membership for a year is a must and discounted membership fee for multiple year memberships. (II does a 2 for 1 - buy a 1 year membership and get one free).
- I second the lower bonus week prices again.
- Have to have a properly updated resort list on your website - You've been saying for over a year that it's going to be updated and it doesn't happen and the date keeps getting pushed back - Marriott owners are used to be able to look online and if that's not an option then they have to be able to at least have an idea of where they can get a reservation
- You'll need to do something to dispel the perception that you're a west coast inventory exchange company ( I know you posted that you're not but the perception is there and it's real) - there are many more Marriotts in eastern locations so those people will want to know that they can get east stuff and not have to travel across the country

[lizwolfspada Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lizwolfspada]

As an owner of high quality resorts that are not Marriott, I would not appreciate anything that would allow Marriott owners to have prior access to exchanges with SFX or in anyway reduce my platinum benefits. That would possibly be reason for me to stop using SFX and go more with other independents that do let me search online.
Liz

[urple2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close urple2]

This is all great feedback.... We would however like to hear from many more owners. That will give us more scope and help us respond accordingly. So get the word out there.

Thanks,
Mark @sfx
Member Communications

Sounds to me there's a whole lotta business out there for you...but we can't bring it all to you. It's there,your company needs to go after it.

Marriott owner (summit watch summer weeks)