8/24/22 NEW THREAD: Discussion of new Abound/VSN Documents [please limit chitchat posts]

[dioxide45]

I used this number as my Owner ID and the account was set up. I guess we can wait for MVC, I was just trying things for fun.

Yeah, I am wondering what would happen if someone tried to transfer points to you using that owner number or perhaps the owner number you can sometimes get while at a sales presentation. Will the transfer go through? I don't see anything in the Exchange Procedures that exclude Vistana Abound Members from being able to transfer points to/from another owner.

 

[DanCali]

This number seems to be different than the one provided in paperwork for sales. IIR, an MCV owner number on that paperwork was only 8 or 9 digits. This one looks to be 13?

Mine is 9 + 4 zeros. Totally different from my actual MVC owner number but goes to the same place.

 

[tomvc]

My Owner ID is 4 digits, followed by the 6 digits of one of my Vistana contract numbers, followed by 3 digits. I own both Vistana and MVC and the number on the URL ties to the number I see under MVC maintenance fees.

 

[dioxide45]

I looked at my VSE&ownerId and it doesn't seem to have any relation to a Vistana VOI contract number that we have or our MVC owner number.

 

[jeffm211]

Once you go to the MVC site via Vistana.com, select Book Vacation Points Club. Now on the URL, you can see your MVC Owner ID as "VSE&ownerId=0000000000000" A Few months back, I created an MVC account with a User ID and PW on ( https://owners.marriottvacationclub.com/timeshare/mvco/club-resorts ) but was unable to continue the setup until I could provide a good MVC Owner ID. Well, I used the VSE&ownerid I found on the URL and was granted access. Anyway, this is probably too much work to get the same information logging via vistan.com instead of going directly to MVC. I am used to doing this kind of thing due to my job. A small caveat, this works most of the time but it looks like our MVC accounts are not super stable yet.

I called MVC Owner Services on Monday and the rep gave me my MVC customer ID. I used it to log into a previously set up MVC account and it took me to a generic owners homepage with absolutely no reference to my account. This tells me the IT is still screwed up and not even remotely stable.

 

[dioxide45]

I called MVC Owner Services on Monday and the rep gave me my MVC customer ID. I used it to log into a previously set up MVC account and it took me to a generic owners homepage with absolutely no reference to my account. This tells me the IT is still screwed up and not even remotely stable.

Truely, if you are a Vistana only owner you don't log in through MarriottVacationClub.com. Your access to Abound is through Vistana.com.

 

[jeffm211]

Truely, if you are a Vistana only owner you don't log in through MarriottVacationClub.com. Your access to Abound is through Vistana.com.

Got it! Vistana site was down so thought I’d give it a shot. Thanks!

 

[luv_maui]

I elected club points for my 2023 WKORV week last Wednesday, but still no points balance. I called last week and they told me they see I tried to elect but somehow it didn’t go thru. IT has to fix it, so I’m in limbo land. Website shows 2023 has been elected but no points balance to book anything. So frustrating.

 

[luv_maui]

So frustrating. I called MVC owner services, they see a ticket # for the issue but referred me back to Westin. Of course, waited 15 minutes before getting someone, they needed my ownership contract # which I provided then got disconnected. Westin owner services didn’t return my call but the survey returned my call - you can guess my ratings. I’ll have to followup again later after I have more time. It’s been a week since I elected club points and still stuck in abyss with no use or access to my club points

 

[DanCali]

So frustrating. I called MVC owner services, they see a ticket # for the issue but referred me back to Westin. Of course, waited 15 minutes before getting someone, they needed my ownership contract # which I provided then got disconnected. Westin owner services didn’t return my call but the survey returned my call - you can guess my ratings. I’ll have to followup again later after I gave more time. It’s been a week since I elected club points and still stuck in abyss with no use or access to my club points

I'm surprised you were able to connect. I tried in the last couple of days in afternoons and the message said it's over 1 hour hold. The callback feature never called me back. I was calling the Elite Line".

 

[Myrddin12]

Yes, anyone with 10K Points or less will only have 1 year to use banked Staroptions (after 2025), while owners with 10K-15K points will have 18 months.

They are clearly aware this is a sensitive issue since they did not make the change immediate like everything else.

And all the Elite levels lose 1-2 months on the banking deadline:
3-Star (~Executive) will be Aug 31 instead of Oct 1
4-Star (~Presidential) will be Aug 31 instead of Oct 1
5-Star (~Chairman) will be Oct 31 instead of Dec 31

I think the only reason they didn't make the change immediate is to avoid confusion for all of those who already have points banked through 2024. Anything banked next year would have to be used in 2025 at the latest, so at that point, there won't be any other pending banks that could go the two years. Really not happy about that change because for those of us who don't have huge levels of points, it won't be easy, or even possible in some cases, to bank up enough points to make reservations at certain locations for certain size rooms for certain amounts of days. We have been saving up for a Hawaii trip which thanks to the two years, we'll be good to have a two room somewhere, but after this change? Not going to happen. And very very unhappy about that.

 

[ccclement250]

Hi. Here are my questions -

- What if when I elect the Club Point, and it is not enough to book my home resort as I could via VSN? (I have no idea how many points are required to book a week stay at my home resort)?
- What happen to the leftover (unused) club points at the end of the year? Do I lose it?
- What if I needed more club points?

Thanks!

 

[dioxide45]

Hi. Here are my questions -

- What if when I elect the Club Point, and it is not enough to book my home resort as I could via VSN? (I have no idea how many points are required to book a week stay at my home resort)?
- What happen to the leftover (unused) club points at the end of the year? Do I lose it?
- What if I needed more club points?

Thanks!

If you don't have enough, you don't have enough. Right now we don't think 100% Vistana owners can rent/transfer points in. I wouldn't elect Club Points if you are booking a time when it costs more club points than they give you for your VOI. You can check how many club points you get and how much it costs through the Visana.com site by going through one of the links.

Leftover Club Points have to be used before their expiration date of 12/31/2023, but you can bank them ahead at least a year.

Right now we think that if you need more points you have to buy more points, unless we get more clarification on renting/transferring Club Points for owners that don't also own MVC enrolled weeks or points.

 

[ocdb8r]

I don't see anything in the Exchange Procedures that exclude Vistana Abound Members from being able to transfer points to/from another owner.

In fact it is explicitly included in the FAQs. Strangely there is an FAQ that prohibits "renting of club points" (is this also the official line on the MVC side?) but another FAQ says:

• VSN Members can transfer some or all of their Club Points for usage by another Owner who is affiliated with Abound by Marriott Vacations™, but Club Points that were previously banked, or transferred may not be transferred again (e.g., if usage of 2023 Club Points is transferred to another Owner, usage of those 2023 Club Points cannot be transferred again).
• Transferred Club Points retain the Use Year of the Owner who transferred them. For example, if an Owner transferred Club Points to you with a Use Year of January 1 through December 31, 2023, then those transferred Club Points must be used for vacations that take place from January 1 through December 31, 2023.
• Transferred Club Points may not be banked, borrowed, or transferred again.

 

[ccclement250]

Hi. Here are my questions -

- What if when I elect the Club Point, and it is not enough to book my home resort as I could via VSN? (I have no idea how many points are required to book a week stay at my home resort)?
- What happen to the leftover (unused) club points at the end of the year? Do I lose it?
- What if I needed more club points?

Thanks!

We have 148,100 SOs yearly. We were able to book Maui with that this year. But under Abound, Maui required at least 6000+ !

 

[sponger76]

We have 148,100 SOs yearly. We were able to book Maui with that this year. But under Abound, Maui required at least 6000+ !

Which is why planning or at least having a general idea by the election deadline of what you're going to do the next year will be crucial. Some years, electing Abound points might make sense. In other years, it won't.

 

[daviator]

We have 148,100 SOs yearly. We were able to book Maui with that this year. But under Abound, Maui required at least 6000+ !

If your plan is to exchange within the family of Vistana properties, it will rarely make sense to do so with Club Points, unless you own in Maui or somewhere else where you get a lot of Club Points with your ownership.

If you own Flex, or if you own at a property that doesn't exchange for many Club Points, you are much better off to NOT elect Abound and just exchange within VSN like you've always been able to do. Of course, if you're trying to exchange into a property that's not your Home Resort, you'll be subject to the inventory availability at 8 months, which is a big unknown right now.

 

[ocdb8r]

...or you travel on the shoulders of the VSN seasons which are not as nuanced as Abound. Just one example - weeks 24 and 25 (last two weeks in June) cost 148,100 StarOptions or 3,950 Abound points at Lagunamar for a 2-bedroom. I get 148,100 StarOptions or 4950 Abound points when I elect my Platinum Lagunamar week. If I was going either of these weeks, it makes more sense to elect and reserve with Abound rather than use my home week or StarOptions. I'd end up with 1,000 Abound points to use elsewhere (or to extend my stay).

This is just one example, but a more careful examination of the charts shows there are plenty (again, for those to travel not in just "low" season but on the shoulders of the defined VSN seasons...which includes some prime weeks).

 

[daviator]

...or you travel on the shoulders of the VSN seasons which are not as nuanced as Abound. Just one example - weeks 24 and 25 (last two weeks in June) cost 148,100 StarOptions or 3,950 Abound points at Lagunamar for a 2-bedroom. I get 148,100 StarOptions or 4950 Abound points when I elect my Platinum Lagunamar week. If I was going either of these weeks, it makes more sense to elect and reserve with Abound rather than use my home week or StarOptions. I'd end up with 1,000 Abound points to use elsewhere (or to extend my stay).

This is just one example, but a more careful examination of the charts shows there are plenty (again, for those to travel not in just "low" season but on the shoulders of the defined VSN seasons...which includes some prime weeks).

Yes, there is a lot more to look at now in trying to make the best use of what we own. But you also have to consider inventory availability... you might find that the weeks you want are available in VSN but not in Abound, or vice-versa. Everything will presumably be in different buckets so I expect we are going to have lots more cases like that.

 

[kozykritter]

If you own Flex, or if you own at a property that doesn't exchange for many Club Points, you are much better off to NOT elect Abound and just exchange within VSN like you've always been able to do. Of course, if you're trying to exchange into a property that's not your Home Resort, you'll be subject to the inventory availability at 8 months, which is a big unknown right now.

In general that is likely a sound philosophy for Flex owners but I still feel that looking at all your options on a case by case scenario helps identify the best use of your ownership. Case in point, I was able to snag a Steamboat 2Bed through Abound for 1,000 Club Points, which cost me about 35K Sheraton Flex home options when converted to CP. To book the same thing through VSN is 95,700 SO's. By converting and booking in Abound, I saved 60K SO's! There are sweet spots out there due to different seasonalities between Vistana and MVC charts. I think their advice in the FAQs to check both methods (plus also II) is the way to go to maximize your ownership.

 

[timsi]

...or you travel on the shoulders of the VSN seasons which are not as nuanced as Abound. Just one example - weeks 24 and 25 (last two weeks in June) cost 148,100 StarOptions or 3,950 Abound points at Lagunamar for a 2-bedroom. I get 148,100 StarOptions or 4950 Abound points when I elect my Platinum Lagunamar week. If I was going either of these weeks, it makes more sense to elect and reserve with Abound rather than use my home week or StarOptions. I'd end up with 1,000 Abound points to use elsewhere (or to extend my stay).

This is just one example, but a more careful examination of the charts shows there are plenty (again, for those to travel not in just "low" season but on the shoulders of the defined VSN seasons...which includes some prime weeks).

Generally the low demand weeks at WLR can booked as getaways through II and it is hard to beat that cost. Typically to me the best value is Interval (getaways or exchanges), then my home resort, then VSN and a distant last is Abound.

Speaking of getaways, most Westin getaways have currently disappeared from II, I wonder if it is a new strategy or if they completely messed up the Abound inventory in the first day and now they try to find weeks wherever they can.

 

[ocdb8r]

Generally the low demand weeks at WLR can booked as getaways through II and it is hard to beat that cost. Typically to me the best value is Interval (getaways or exchanges), then my home resort, then VSN and a distant last is Abound.

Speaking of getaways, most Westin getaways have currently disappeared from II, I wonder if it is a new strategy or if they completely messed up the Abound inventory in the first day and now they try to find weeks wherever they can.

These are not low demand weeks; we're talking Platinum weeks (in VSN). I also think the widespread "reports" of getaway availability are overblown, many of which report COVID era weeks.

 

[timsi]

These are not low demand weeks; we're talking Platinum weeks (in VSN). I also think the widespread "reports" of getaway availability are overblown, many of which report COVID era weeks.

Pre-Covid you could always find plenty of June-October WLR weeks in II as getaways and many times even as AC.

 

[timsi]

In general that is likely a sound philosophy for Flex owners but I still feel that looking at all your options on a case by case scenario helps identify the best use of your ownership. Case in point, I was able to snag a Steamboat 2Bed through Abound for 1,000 Club Points, which cost me about 35K Sheraton Flex home options when converted to CP. To book the same thing through VSN is 95,700 SO's. By converting and booking in Abound, I saved 60K SO's! There are sweet spots out there due to different seasonalities between Vistana and MVC charts. I think their advice in the FAQs to check both methods (plus also II) is the way to go to maximize your ownership.

This is another example where you still overpaid compared to getaways, there are 2BR units for May 2023 in Interval at $527.

 

[VacationForever]

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