Abound! The combined Marriott/Vistana integrated exchange program now has a name.

[TravelTime]

Owners means everyone but that does not mean resale owners get the same benefits as enrolled owners.

 

[JIMinNC]

What do they mean by getting rid of recognition levels? Did they explain that? It makes no sense to get rid of recognition levels. The motivation to buy more points will go away because they often sell more points based on promoting the extra benefits you get at higher levels. Plus what about exsiting people who already get these benefits based on recognition level? Now they would be downgraded. If anything, I thought they should enhance the higher benefits levels to increase motivation to buy more points. I am glad I decided not to enroll my Vistana week before the launch since the changes are going in the opposite direction of what I expected.

My post above did not say they were getting rid of recognition levels. They said that once ABOUND launches, all owners across all Marriott brands will be on the same owner recognition levels. So, I assume this means either the MVC Basic, Select, Executive, Presidential, Chairman levels or some new recognition structure for ABOUND,

 

[Fasttr]

What do they mean by getting rid of recognition levels? Did they explain that? It makes no sense to get rid of recognition levels. The motivation to buy more points will go away because they often sell more points based on promoting the extra benefits you get at higher levels. Plus what about exsiting people who already get these benefits based on recognition level? Now they would be downgraded. If anything, I thought they should enhance the higher benefits levels to increase motivation to buy more points. I am glad I decided not to enroll my Vistana week before the launch since the changes are going in the opposite direction of what I expected.

I don’t believe they meant they were getting rid of ownership levels, I took that to mean they are normalizing the levels across all brands (MVC, Vistana, etc will all have same levels).

 

[sea&ski]

So if DC Points were Destination Club Points….
Perhaps the combined program points should be referred to as…
AC Points for Abound Club Points.

Why did no one pick up on the AC-DC riff?

 

[JIMinNC]

I also found interesting that they are sitting on $600 million of unsold inventory. One issue I see with that inventory is that much of it probably sits outside the US in Bali and Costa Rica. That inventory is probably harder to sell than US domestic inventory.

It's more than that. They meant $600 million in EXCESS inventory, meaning $600 million more than their target. If you look at the separate thread I started on the non-ABOUND topics, you will see they actually have $1.18 billion of inventory on their books, which represents about 5 years of inventory, whereas their target is 1.5-2 years. They hope to work down their inventory levels to $760-$790 million by about 2025.

Those numbers are also for all of MVW and include Welk/Hyatt inventory. So, I suspect they will need to look at inventory levels within each of their two systems and increase repurchases or new development whenever each of the two systems reaches their target levels.

 

[TravelTime]

My post above did not say they were getting rid of recognition levels. They said that once ABOUND launches, all owners across all Marriott brands will be on the same owner recognition levels. So, I assume this means either the MVC Basic, Select, Executive, Presidential, Chairman levels or some new recognition structure for ABOUND,

When you said “on the same owner recognition levels” it sounded like there would not longer be levels. How can everyone be on the same owner recognition levels and there still be different levels? I am confused.

 

[TravelTime]

I don’t believe they meant they were getting rid of ownership levels, I took that to mean they are normalizing the levels across all brands (MVC, Vistana, etc will all have same levels).

Oh, okay, that makes sense. The way it was worded is what confused me.

 

[Aviator621]

When you said “on the same owner recognition levels” it sounded like there would not longer be levels. How can everyone be on the same owner recognition levels and there still be different levels? I am confused.

I think they mean that the current Marriott levels will be imported over to the Sheraton/Westin owners (or vice versa) so that all programs share the same recognition levels

 

[JIMinNC]

When you said “on the same owner recognition levels” it sounded like there would not longer be levels. How can everyone be on the same owner recognition levels and there still be different levels? I am confused.

As @Fasttr noted, they meant owners from both the MVC side and Vistana side of ABOUND will now use the same recognition tiers instead of MVC having one tier structure and Vistana another tier structure.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Definition of Abound from Google: To be plentiful; to be very prevalent; to overflow. To be copiously supplied; to be wealthy in; to teem with; -- followed by in or with.

I don't think they are meaning for us to be plentiful and overflowing, but I think Marriott is thinking they will be those things. Kind of funny. I took it to mean another kind of bound, like when people say, "I am Disney bound," or "I am Maui bound."

I am abound for Vancouver in just a few weeks.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Oh, okay, that makes sense. The way it was worded is what confused me.

They should maybe have someone write that can communicate better, but maybe they want to confuse people?

I still like the name of it. I hope I never see Vistana again after the name change. I don't want to log into Vistana, anymore. The website is bad. I need to call to make my SBP reservations.

 

[JIMinNC]

They should maybe have someone write that can communicate better, but maybe they want to confuse people?

The wording that confused @TravelTime was my summary wording of what was spoken during the presentation, not wording crafted by Marriott Vacations Worldwide. So any confusion was from me, not Marriott. They were very clear in their presentation.

 

[hangloose]

I just need to know if and when I can enroll my post 06/20/2010 re-sale weeks without a corresponding Pts purchase. I am still hopeful they will allow this at time point in time…at a small cost to enroll .

 

[VacationForever]

I just need to know if and when I can enroll my post 06/20/2010 re-sale weeks without a corresponding Pts purchase. I am still hopeful they will allow this at time point in time…at a small cost to enroll .

Since they are sitting on more inventory than they like, they will be more than happy to sell you some of those inventory to enroll your post June 2010 resale weeks!

 

[rickandcindy23]

I just need to know if and when I can enroll my post 06/20/2010 re-sale weeks without a corresponding Pts purchase. I am still hopeful they will allow this at time point in time…at a small cost to enroll .

My favorite post of the day! When pigs fly. I am in the same place as you.

 

[gln60]

Incompetence Abounds

 

[Bunk]

I wonder if "owners" include resale owners. Or are we considered a non-recognized lower class?

They haven't decided whether to call you Downward Bound or Steerage Bound

 

[kozykritter]

What do they mean by getting rid of recognition levels? Did they explain that? It makes no sense to get rid of recognition levels. The motivation to buy more points will go away because they often sell more points based on promoting the extra benefits you get at higher levels. Plus what about exsiting people who already get these benefits based on recognition level? Now they would be downgraded. If anything, I thought they should enhance the higher benefits levels to increase motivation to buy more points. I am glad I decided not to enroll my Vistana week before the launch since the changes are going in the opposite direction of what I expected.

I think you're misread what the post said. Recognition levels aren't going away. Once the combined program platform launches, they are going to sync up the three Vistana elite levels to match the existing ones at MVC, currently pegged to Executive, Presidential and Chairman. . This information has been shared consistently through reports on sales presentations. I think they might also map some non-elite Vistana members into the Select level at MVC using some appropriate option level. It all makes sense to me if you are trying to combine two programs without truly doing it

 

[TravelTime]

I think you're misread what the post said. Recognition levels aren't going away. Once the combined program platform launches, they are going to sync up the three Vistana elite levels to match the existing ones at MVC, currently pegged to Executive, Presidential and Chairman. . This information has been shared consistently through reports on sales presentations. I think they might even map some non-elite Vistana members into the Select level at MVC using some appropriate option level. It all makes sense to me if you are trying to combine two programs without truly doing it

This has now been clarified to me 3x. Jim said the way he initially wrote it was confusing.

 

[kozykritter]

This popped up on the login page


We’re Excited to Announce
Abound by Marriott Vacations™

Through a new affiliation with the Vistana Signature Network®, Abound (previously known as the Marriott Vacation Club Destinations Exchange Program) is designed to give you more brands, more destinations, and more choices to make your
vacation life even better.

We’re working hard to launch later this summer, so watch for more details
in the coming weeks.

It makes you wonder if they're basically just renaming the MVC exchange system where DP flow through. I was told at a recent presentation that that is where the Vistana elected inventory will sit along with enrolled week owners elected inventory. Would that theoretically mean that this would provide no access to DC trust inventory unless Marriott continues there practice of dumping it into the exchange company, often 12 months out?

 

[kozykritter]

This has now been clarified to me 3x. Jim said the way he initially wrote it was confusing.

I'm a super slow typist on my phone so sorry to hit you over the head with it again.

 

[dougp26364]

I am soooooo tired of hearing about the labor pains. I want to see the baby.

I really don’t care about all the teasers that either tell us what we already know or something so irrelevant it puts me to sleep.

Really? The name of the product? That’s not exactly vacation planning changing news. I guess it does distract from the fact their IT can’t seem to get the website working.

 

[JIMinNC]

It makes you wonder if they're basically just renaming the MVC exchange system where DP flow through. I was told at a recent presentation that that is where the Vistana elected inventory will sit along with enrolled week owners elected inventory. Would that theoretically mean that this would provide no access to DC trust inventory unless Marriott continues there practice of dumping it into the exchange company, often 12 months out?

I think you are correct that the new ABOUND program sounds like it's basically a re-branding of the current Marriott Destination Club to reflect the broadening of the program to include Westin/Sheraton. The way I interpreted how kit all will work (some of this was not explicitly said today, but is just my inference based on what we know about how these programs work):

• Later this summer, all Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton sales centers will begin exclusively selling ABOUND ClubPoints. No more Destination Club Points. No more Westin Flex. No more Sheraton Flex. No more Aventuras Flex. ABOUND Points will be sold everywhere. There perhaps may still be multiple trusts for legal reasons (especially as it relates to Aventuras), but that will be behind the scenes and transparent to the buyer.
• Existing owners of eligible legacy Westin/Sheraton/Marriott weeks will have the option to choose to enroll in ABOUND and elect their weeks for ABOUND ClubPoints just as Marriott enrolled owners do with Destination Points today. Based on the points charts that some TUGgers have seen at sales presentations, it would seem for enrolled Marriott week owners and Marriott trust owners, their Destination Points may just be automatically converted to ABOUND ClubPoints on launch day. Westin/Sheraton owners will then have the option to begin enrolling/electing their week/FlexPoints to ABOUND ClubPoints on an annual basis.
• All transaction/reservation capabilities will convert to a single technology platform, meaning Marriott, Westin, and Vistana owners will begin using the same new ABOUND web site to book all their ownership vacations - those using ABOUND ClubPoints, as well as bookings for legacy Marriott/Westin/Sheraton weeks and legacy StarOptions/FlexOptions, etc.
• Given all that, I would presume they would continue to use the existing Internal Exchange Company (maybe renamed the ABOUND Exchange Company) to co-mingle inventory from the ABOUND Trust, whatever legacy Vistana FlexTrusts survive, elected Marriott weeks, and elected Westin/Sheraton weeks.
• While sales people always try to use the "you have to buy trust points to access trust inventory argument", in practice, we have found that almost all inventory gets put into the Exchange. While there is certainly no guarantee that will always happen, so far at least, MVW has given no indication that is a direction they are likely to go...but anything can change, I guess.

 

[kozykritter]

All transaction/reservation capabilities will convert to a single technology platform, meaning Marriott, Westin, and Vistana owners will begin using the same new ABOUND web site to book all their ownership vacations - those using ABOUND ClubPoints, as well as bookings for legacy Marriott/Westin/Sheraton weeks and legacy StarOptions/FlexOptions, etc.

Thanks for laying that all out! You've gone above and beyond. I find it particularly helpful personally because I just added MVC points this week to become a hybrid Vistana-Marriott owner.

What you've said in this section about the single technology platform fits what I've been observing from the beginning about them merging all Vistana accounts on to Marriott's IT platform, and now we know sort of what that mechanism will look like. This combined new form also explains why they are applying the same recognition levels to both timeshare programs as well as charging only one annual club dues regardless if you own in both systems.

 

[gln60]

I am soooooo tired of hearing about the labor pains. I want to see the baby.

I really don’t care about all the teasers that either tell us what we already know or something so irrelevant is puts me to sleep. Really? The name of the product? That’s not exactly vacation planning changing news. I guess it does distract from the fact their IT can’t seem to get the website working.

You can put a tuxedo on a hobo…but it’s still a hobo