14  LONG-TERM DEBT

Our long-term debt at year-end 2009 and year-end 2008, net of unamortized debt discounts of $20 million and $27 million, respectively, consisted of the following:

As of year-end 2009, all debt was unsecured, and we had long-term public debt ratings of BBB- from Standard and Poor's and Baa3 from Moody's.

We are party to a multicurrency revolving credit agreement (the "Credit Facility") that provides for $2.4 billion of aggregate effective borrowings to support general corporate needs, including working capital and capital expenditures, and letters of credit supported our commercial paper program. The Credit Facility expires on May 14, 2012. Borrowings under the Credit Facility bear interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus a fixed spread. We also pay quarterly fees on the Credit Facility at a rate based on our public debt rating.

Until the 2008 fourth quarter, when disruptions in the financial markets significantly reduced liquidity in the commercial paper market, we regularly issued short-term commercial paper primarily in the United States and, to a much lesser extent, in Europe. At that time, we suspended issuing commercial paper and used funds borrowed under the Credit Facility to repay all of our previously issued commercial paper as it matured. Our Standard and Poor's commercial paper rating at the end of 2009 was A3. Because the current market for A3 commercial paper is very limited, it would be very difficult to rely on the use of this market as a meaningful source of liquidity, and we do not anticipate issuing commercial paper under these circumstances.

We classified outstanding commercial paper as long-term debt based on our ability and intent to refinance it on a long-term basis. We reserved unused capacity under our Credit Facility to repay outstanding commercial paper borrowings in the event that the commercial paper market was not available to us for any reason when outstanding borrowings matured. Given our borrowing capacity under the Credit Facility, fluctuations in the commercial paper market or the costs at which we can issue commercial paper have not affected our liquidity, and we do not expect them to do so in the future.

Although we are predominantly a manager and franchisor of hotel properties, we may use capital to buy, develop, and improve hotels, as well as to develop timeshare properties. Capital markets were disrupted in the fourth quarter of 2008 and have remained challenging due to the recession and ongoing worldwide financial instability. See the "Cash Requirements and Our Credit Facilities" discussion in the "Liquidity and Capital Resources" section of this report for additional information regarding our Credit Facility.

In 2009, we repurchased $122 million principal amount of our Senior Notes in the open market, across multiple series. We recorded a gain of $21 million for the debt extinguishment representing the difference between the acquired debt's purchase price of $98 million and its carrying amount of $119 million. The weighted average interest rate on the senior debt that was paid down in 2009 was 6.8 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, we made a $79 million cash payment of principal and interest to retire, at maturity, all of our outstanding Series C Senior Notes.

Aggregate debt maturities at year-end 2009 were: $64 million in 2010; $12 million in 2011; $784 million in 2012; $410 million in 2013; $12 million in 2014; and $1,016 million thereafter.

Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized, was $96 million in 2009, $110 million in 2008, and $115 million in 2007.

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