# Vidanta - What are registered, residence, and privilege weeks?



## Grandma P (May 12, 2018)

I am confused as to the differences between registered, residence, and privelege weeks at Vidanta. How many weeks of each are usually in a contract (if there is a standard)? My understanding is that privilege means using SFX. Is that true?


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## T-Dot-Traveller (May 12, 2018)

1) Privelege Weeks give access to Vidanta . The are administered by a “gatekeeper “often SFX but not exclusively ( ICE , Destino’s etc. may be the partner ) The term “ concierge “ has recently  been used by Vidanta for these partners .

Privilege Weeks should not have a resort fee since they are part of a Vidanta sales agreement . The access through Privelege weeks is based on “ availability “ and access through them may be more difficult for peak times such as Feb / snowbird season . Also - Privelege Weeks likely do not included use of any special addendums ( golf & spa deals etc.) that are in owner / registered week use .

Privilege Weeks (IMO) were created by Vidanta for(at least) 3 reasons :
1) a bonus - that helps sales close sales .
2) added weeks for owner usage  that do not impact “the numerical requirements **” of registered weeks .
3) added weeks for owners - that Vidanta hopes the will be use during shoulder seasons , that help with occupancy levels .
IMO - Vidanta likely gets a better split of the MF on Privelege Weeks than developer deposits into exchange companies .

Privilege Weeks seem to have been sold as bonus weeks in a full contract and as
a form of a stand alone exit package . The ones administered by SFX may be bonus weeks in a "full contract" that has registered weeks .

Residence Weeks are the name for weeks that are for owner usage that in some manner are not counted against the "numerical requirements" of registered weeks .
In some contracts , you have a registered week for 10 years and then becomes a residence week . There are other variations of this formula .Contracts since 2010 have typically had 1 registered week for 10 years and 2 residence weeks for 100 years . So 3  available usage weeks for the first 10 years and 2 for 90 more years , with a renewal cost every 10 years .

Registered Weeks - full contracts ( as compared  to exit packages etc) include a certain number of registered weeks . Registered weeks have a guaranteed ARP
and access .

In owner access :  there ( currently ) appears to be little functional difference between Registered and Residence Weeks . IMO - as long as Vidanta keeps growing this is likely to continue .

Some owners ,per TUG posts , have negotiated an addendum that states :
upon the 10 year renewal - one of the residence weeks , takes on the features & benefits of the expiring registered week . This likely makes no difference now ; BUT could be important for best access usage in 20-30 years .(IMO)

** the Mexican legal requirements of registered weeks is not known by me .
It does seem that Vidanta has carefully structured contracts to meet these requirements and still keep selling new RTU contracts .

Hope this helps . I am sure others can add  information .
Most of this I learned from reading TUG .

**********
Our contract is from 2006 . Mayan Palace .
Contracts from that period had a registered week and a Vacation Fare bonus week . The registered week has 6 month ARP ( Aug 1 2018 I can book Feb 2019 / using our 2018 registered week) The VF week has  45 day ARP for Feb & March (and 6 months for the rest of the year).
.
The renewal period is 25 years & the registered week renews as a registered week .

Vidanta has actively tried to upgrade owners "out of" contracts written in the older format . IMO - part of this is to regain registered week inventory so that it can be resold .


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## MULTIZ321 (May 12, 2018)

T-Dot-Traveller said:


> 1) Privelege Weeks give access to Vidanta . The are administered by a “gatekeeper “often SFX but not exclusively ( ICE , Destino’s etc. may be the partner ) The term “ concierge “ has recently  been used by Vidanta for these partners .
> 
> Privilege Weeks should not have a resort fee since they are part of a Vidanta sales agreement . The access through Privelege weeks is based on “ availability “ and access through them may be more difficult for peak times such as Feb / snowbird season . Also - Privelege Weeks likely do not included use of any special addendums ( golf & spa deals etc.) that are in owner / registered week use .
> 
> ...


Hi T-Dot,

Can you explain what  ARP (e.g. 6 month ARP) means?  

Thanks

Richard


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## T-Dot-Traveller (May 12, 2018)

MULTIZ321 said:


> Hi T-Dot,
> 
> Can you explain what  ARP (e.g. 6 month ARP) means?
> 
> ...



Hi Richard ,
Advanced Reservation Priority (or Period  or similar )

I picked up the Acronym from the TUG Wyndham  forum .

In Wyndham , I believe : depending on your contract - your home resort can be booked at 13 months / others at 10 months .
The wisdom being that if you like staying at xxx then buy a points contract on ebay that lists that as your home resort,
that can be booked at the earlier date .There are further nuances in Wyndham

In the Vidanta RTU float week system - Grand Luxxe and Grand Bliss contracts generally have 1 year booking windows .

 Mayan Palace Bliss & Sea Garden  generally have 6 months .Some Grand Mayan's may have 1 year: if sales was upgrading an MP existing owner and needed
a final "goodie " to close the deal .


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## MULTIZ321 (May 12, 2018)

T-Dot-Traveller said:


> Hi Richard ,
> Advanced Reservation Priority ( or similar )
> 
> I picked up the Acronym from the TUG Wyndham  forum .
> ...


Thanks.
Appreciate your thoroughness.

Richard


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## Eric B (May 12, 2018)

Grandma P said:


> I am confused as to the differences between registered, residence, and privelege weeks at Vidanta. How many weeks of each are usually in a contract (if there is a standard)? My understanding is that privilege means using SFX. Is that true?



Do you own at Vidanta already, Grandma?  They do change what they call things depending on when a contract was written.  Tom has pretty faithfully described the current standards; 1 registered week good for 10 years, possibly on an every other year basis with an “alternate use year week” in the off years; 2 “residence” weeks - they’re called Grand Luxxe weeks if that’s what you own, then additional privilege weeks or vida weeks with SFX depending on the level you bought.  Vida weeks are essentially the same as SFX bonus weeks, but you can’t use them to come back to a Vidanta resort (though you can send someone for a week to Vidanta using one as long as you’re not staying in the unit.  Privilege weeks allow you to book back into Vidanta including during holidays.  SFX is the concierge for Vida & privilege weeks; there is a portion of their website that shows the availability they have.  Hope that helps.


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## richontug (May 12, 2018)

Eric B said:


> Do you own at Vidanta already, Grandma?  They do change what they call things depending on when a contract was written.  Tom has pretty faithfully described the current standards; 1 registered week good for 10 years, possibly on an every other year basis with an “alternate use year week” in the off years; 2 “residence” weeks - they’re called Grand Luxxe weeks if that’s what you own, then additional privilege weeks or vida weeks with SFX depending on the level you bought.  Vida weeks are essentially the same as SFX bonus weeks, but you can’t use them to come back to a Vidanta resort (though you can send someone for a week to Vidanta using one as long as you’re not staying in the unit.  Privilege weeks allow you to book back into Vidanta including during holidays.  SFX is the concierge for Vida & privilege weeks; there is a portion of their website that shows the availability they have.  Hope that helps.


Eric,
What is the URL for portion of SFX  websitefor the concierge?  I do not see it after I login.
Rich


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## Eric B (May 12, 2018)

It's https://members.sfxresorts.com/specials/privilegeweeks/search.  Note that they typically only get Grand Luxxe up to the suites level as available inventory; if you own at a higher level (Villa/Spa/Loft/Residence) you can still get privilege weeks through SFX, but they need to call Vidanta while you're on the phone to make the arrangements.  The inventory available for privilege weeks gives you a good indication of what they have available for exchanges as well, though there might not be a true one-for-one correspondence.


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## richontug (May 12, 2018)

Eric B said:


> It's https://members.sfxresorts.com/specials/privilegeweeks/search.  Note that they typically only get Grand Luxxe up to the suites level as available inventory; if you own at a higher level (Villa/Spa/Loft/Residence) you can still get privilege weeks through SFX, but they need to call Vidanta while you're on the phone to make the arrangements.  The inventory available for privilege weeks gives you a good indication of what they have available for exchanges as well, though there might not be a true one-for-one correspondence.


Thanks Eric. I only see availability through April 2019.


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## Eric B (May 12, 2018)

The privilege weeks get populated on a rolling 12 month basis.  Haven’t seen any beyond that; they’re not really the same as bulk deposits, but more akin to weeks you can reserve as part of your membership.


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## pittle (May 12, 2018)

My 2013 Contract does not have Privilege weeks. When I clicked on the link it specifically said we do not have them.  That is newer than when we upgraded.  I have no idea when they started.  You were the first person that i heard about them from.

I do have both registered weeks and residence weeks


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## richontug (May 12, 2018)

Eric B said:


> The privilege weeks get populated on a rolling 12 month basis.  Haven’t seen any beyond that; they’re not really the same as bulk deposits, but more akin to weeks you can reserve as part of your membership.


On SFX website it says I have NO privilege weeks but then it allows me to check availability for Mayan Palace ( which is on deposit)!


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## Grandma P (May 13, 2018)

T-Dot-Traveller said:


> 1) Privelege Weeks give access to Vidanta . The are administered by a “gatekeeper “often SFX but not exclusively ( ICE , Destino’s etc. may be the partner ) The term “ concierge “ has recently  been used by Vidanta for these partners .
> 
> Privilege Weeks should not have a resort fee since they are part of a Vidanta sales agreement . The access through Privelege weeks is based on “ availability “ and access through them may be more difficult for peak times such as Feb / snowbird season . Also - Privelege Weeks likely do not included use of any special addendums ( golf & spa deals etc.) that are in owner / registered week use .
> 
> ...





T-Dot-Traveller said:


> 1) Privelege Weeks give access to Vidanta . The are administered by a “gatekeeper “often SFX but not exclusively ( ICE , Destino’s etc. may be the partner ) The term “ concierge “ has recently  been used by Vidanta for these partners .
> 
> Privilege Weeks should not have a resort fee since they are part of a Vidanta sales agreement . The access through Privelege weeks is based on “ availability “ and access through them may be more difficult for peak times such as Feb / snowbird season . Also - Privelege Weeks likely do not included use of any special addendums ( golf & spa deals etc.) that are in owner / registered week use .
> 
> ...


Thank you for the great response. Now it all makes more sense.


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## T-Dot-Traveller (May 13, 2018)

pittle said:


> My 2013 Contract does not have Privilege weeks. When I clicked on the link it specifically said we do not have them.  That is newer than when we upgraded.  I have no idea when they started.  You were the first person that i heard about them from.
> 
> I do have both registered weeks and residence weeks



I first heard of Privilege Weeks in Feb. 2016 . via a TUG member / Mayan owner .
who PM’ed saying : someone at the pool - mentioned buying Privelege Weeks. in some sort
of exit package & did I know what they were .

Mikenk - then mentioned them in a TUG post & I asked how they worked . He said they get you resort access ( but without the ability to use negotiated addendums / golf etc ) 

Eric posted that sales had told him that his SFX Privilege Weeks could potentially be used for Holiday Week access . 

There are likely some other TUG posts as well . 
I assume Privilege Weeks started sometime after 2013 .


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## Eric B (May 13, 2018)

I’ve actually used one for a Christmas week this year in GL NV, so it’s not just sales puffing.


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## Eric B (May 14, 2018)

richontug said:


> Thanks Eric. I only see availability through April 2019.



Rich, I seem to recall having seen you post that what you've been doing is depositing Wyndham weeks with SFX in order to book Grand Luxxe.  You might try going through the Wyndham-RCI portal and booking directly if you go to Grand Luxxe NV; they've got availability through December 2019 now.  The resort ID is RB71.  Last time I looked there was a single week available in a Spa unit in NV as well; didn't fit my vacation schedule or I would have booked it myself.


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## richontug (May 14, 2018)

Thanks Eric.  We went to NV once but much prefer the RM location.  Cancun is also a shorter flight from NJ.


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## hurnik (May 15, 2018)

Even though I don't own with Vidanta, I'm finding this to be a very informative thread, as the one sales pitch I attended (never again-LOL) was very confusing.


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## pianoetudes (May 26, 2018)

Eric B said:


> It's https://members.sfxresorts.com/specials/privilegeweeks/search.  Note that they typically only get Grand Luxxe up to the suites level as available inventory; if you own at a higher level (Villa/Spa/Loft/Residence) you can still get privilege weeks through SFX, but they need to call Vidanta while you're on the phone to make the arrangements.  The inventory available for privilege weeks gives you a good indication of what they have available for exchanges as well, though there might not be a true one-for-one correspondence.


Beware that the privilege week calendar at sfx website is not accurate. I mean I called them one day to book a week that showed as available in the calendar but customer service said it wasn't available. So don't trust it. 

Sent from my HTC U11 life using Tapatalk


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