Access to Abound is up!

[DanCali]

Marriott resale weeks are not in Abound. You can buy resale MVC points and expect it to come up to about $7 to $8 per point and it is not a cheap proposition either.

And there much cheaper ways to get Club "points" by buying weeks in Spain (or Aruba), which do get enrolled in Abound becaused they are purchased from Marriott.

For example, this recent offer from Spain you can buy 9600 "points" for $26,000 (it's effectively 4 weeks, each worth 2400 points). That's $2.7 per point all in cost. The MFs on these weeks are also more economical than Trust points (in the range of $0.60 vs around $0.68 for Trust points), so you can come out ahead on all fronts. If you buy just 1 or 2 weeks the cost per week may be higher than $6500, but even if it were $10,000 for 2400 points ($4.17/point) it's still far cheaper than $7-$8 per point.

I've dealt with that sales office before and have a contact there - the offer is legit.

Good sales offer to help increase ownership status

Just had a good offer, I would be interested if I was trying to get to Presidential or Chairmans but as already there I don't need more weeks. 4 weeks in Playa Andaluza Gold season Price - 26.000€/26.000$/22.000GBP First year use 2024 9600 points annually Gift 3000 DP If interests anyone else...

tugbbs.com

 

[Covid hater]

Just tried to log in Vistana site is down. When I was able to get in the site said I had no points available. I have made no travel plans for 2023. Does it show no availability because I have not chose to convert to Abound points"? Also when I click to check balances it only give me option of 2022 and nothing for 2023??

Thanks

 

[Troyrissa]

Just tried to log in Vistana site is down. When I was able to get in the site said I had no points available. I have made no travel plans for 2023. Does it show no availability because I have not chose to convert to Abound points"? Also when I click to check balances it only give me option of 2022 and nothing for 2023??

Thanks

Correct, if you haven’t elected it will say you have no club points available. This confused me too and I had to call vistana. But, if you go to elect club points on the vistana dashboard it will show you how many possible points you have per use year and VOI.

 

[SGould]

Abound may be up but the website is consistently down!

 

[dioxide45]

This has probably been posted elsewhere already, but I haven't been able to keep up on the threads with limited internet access the last couple weeks. I saw this on the back of our MF bill for SVV 2BR Bella. I also notice I am getting billed the $270 Executive Club Fee by Vistana, I hope I don't receive a bill for the Club Fee from MVC.

To Opt-Out of receiving the additional exchange opportunity and consolidated fee that replaces the separate transaction fees previously billed a la carte, please call/contact Owner Services at 1-888-SV-OWNER (1-888-786-9637) and you can opt out by paying the 2023 Club Dues amount of either $170.50 (for single week Owners) or $236.50 (for multi-week Owners). If you opt-out, please note that you will be responsible for paying separate transaction fees, will not receive the additional exchange opportunity and services through MVC Exchange Company, and will be automatically assigned to the Owner Membership Level in VSN and will not receive any benefits as a Grandfathered Elite Member, but rather benefits attributable to the Owner Membership Level including reservation windows, Bonvoy status, etc. In the event you opt out and want to later take advantage of the consolidated VSN Membership Fee for 2024 or subsequent years, you will also need to pay an enrollment fee which is currently $595.00 but subject to change from time to time.

 

[dsmrp]

This has probably been posted elsewhere already, but I haven't been able to keep up on the threads with limited internet access the last couple weeks. I saw this on the back of our MF bill for SVV 2BR Bella. I also notice I am getting billed the $270 Executive Club Fee by Vistana, I hope I don't receive a bill for the Club Fee from MVC.

To Opt-Out of receiving the additional exchange opportunity and consolidated fee that replaces the separate transaction fees previously billed a la carte, please call/contact Owner Services at 1-888-SV-OWNER (1-888-786-9637) and you can opt out by paying the 2023 Club Dues amount of either $170.50 (for single week Owners) or $236.50 (for multi-week Owners). If you opt-out, please note that you will be responsible for paying separate transaction fees, will not receive the additional exchange opportunity and services through MVC Exchange Company, and will be automatically assigned to the Owner Membership Level in VSN and will not receive any benefits as a Grandfathered Elite Member, but rather benefits attributable to the Owner Membership Level including reservation windows, Bonvoy status, etc. In the event you opt out and want to later take advantage of the consolidated VSN Membership Fee for 2024 or subsequent years, you will also need to pay an enrollment fee which is currently $595.00 but subject to change from time to time.

Hmm this is the first time I'm hearing of a $595 enrollment fee if you don't choose to join Abound. I suppose though that one could pay the new club fee, but not elect club pts for 2023?

 

[dioxide45]

Hmm this is the first time I'm hearing of a $595 enrollment fee if you don't choose to join Abound. I suppose though that one could pay the new club fee, but not elect club pts for 2023?

You are automatically part of Abound. There is no opt in, enrolling or joining. If you are in VSN, you are in Abound. If you choose to opt out, it seems you can later opt back in by paying the, then current, enrollment fee. Being a member of Abound doesn't require to to elect Club Points for 2023 or any year.

 

[CPNY]

Hmm this is the first time I'm hearing of a $595 enrollment fee if you don't choose to join Abound. I suppose though that one could pay the new club fee, but not elect club pts for 2023?

This was reported on Facebook a week or two before abound was rolled out. Anyone who owns two enrolled VSN units should not opt out of abound. The club dues are only a few dollars more and come with so many more options to use the VOI.

 

[dsmrp]

This was reported on Facebook a week or two before abound was rolled out. Anyone who owns two enrolled VSN units should not opt out of abound. The club dues are only a few dollars more and come with so many more options to use the VOI.

Yes, we'll pay the new fee. Worth it for the housekeeping charges. I just didn't see it billed yet to either of my units last week. I'll go check again.

 

[TravelTime]

This has probably been posted elsewhere already, but I haven't been able to keep up on the threads with limited internet access the last couple weeks. I saw this on the back of our MF bill for SVV 2BR Bella. I also notice I am getting billed the $270 Executive Club Fee by Vistana, I hope I don't receive a bill for the Club Fee from MVC.

To Opt-Out of receiving the additional exchange opportunity and consolidated fee that replaces the separate transaction fees previously billed a la carte, please call/contact Owner Services at 1-888-SV-OWNER (1-888-786-9637) and you can opt out by paying the 2023 Club Dues amount of either $170.50 (for single week Owners) or $236.50 (for multi-week Owners). If you opt-out, please note that you will be responsible for paying separate transaction fees, will not receive the additional exchange opportunity and services through MVC Exchange Company, and will be automatically assigned to the Owner Membership Level in VSN and will not receive any benefits as a Grandfathered Elite Member, but rather benefits attributable to the Owner Membership Level including reservation windows, Bonvoy status, etc. In the event you opt out and want to later take advantage of the consolidated VSN Membership Fee for 2024 or subsequent years, you will also need to pay an enrollment fee which is currently $595.00 but subject to change from time to time.

Why would anyone want to opt out? It seems like you lose more than you gain. Are the club dues less if you opt out? Would there be any other reason to opt out?

 

[CPNY]

Why would anyone want to opt out? It seems like you lose more than you gain. Are the club dues less if you opt out? Would there be any other reason to opt out?

There are people who own one VSN unit that only use their deeded week. They may want to save the extra cost in fees.

 

[dioxide45]

There are people who own one VSN unit that only use their deeded week. They may want to save the extra cost in fees.

This is really the only reason that I am able to think of.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

We already booked 15 nights in north for this summer so we will sit back and learn from everyone's experiences for this next year. We typically have housekeeping fees so the new fee is worth it, even though we may never use Abound.

 

[ocdb8r]

Is Vistana down for others? I haven't been able to get in all morning.

 

[timsi]

We already booked 15 nights in north for this summer so we will sit back and learn from everyone's experiences for this next year. We typically have housekeeping fees so the new fee is worth it, even though we may never use Abound.

This is a common misconception that we will save on housekeeping fees. Don't you think that in the future the maintenance fees will reflect higher housekeeping net costs? The housekeeping fees have been charged by the resorts.

 

[timsi]

Is Vistana down for others? I haven't been able to get in all morning.

It has been down intermittently in the last few days, mostly down for me in the last 24h.

 

[timsi]

Why would anyone want to opt out? It seems like you lose more than you gain. Are the club dues less if you opt out? Would there be any other reason to opt out?

If they had kept 2 yr. banking for all the VSN members, a lot of owners would have opted out IMO. This is why they had to change it.

 

[dioxide45]

This is a common misconception that we will save on housekeeping fees. Don't you think that in the future the maintenance fees will reflect higher housekeeping net costs? The housekeeping fees have been charged by the resorts.

Yeah, over time the HK fee line item in the annual budget for the resorts will go up. Just like they did with MVC weeks years ago. Someone has to pay the extra housekeeping costs of short points based stays. As I understand, the only time that the HOA gets reimbursed for HK on Abound Points stays is when they are using Trust points.

 

[daviator]

I suspect that owners are already paying for extra housekeeping. I've never seen anything that leads me to think that extra housekeeping fees ever went back to the HOAs of the impacted properties. So it's probably better this way, at least it's all more clear. Short stays cost all owners more in housekeeping fees, but allowing short stays creates a system with more flexibility. So maybe it's a wash.

 

[bizaro86]

Yeah, over time the HK fee line item in the annual budget for the resorts will go up. Just like they did with MVC weeks years ago. Someone has to pay the extra housekeeping costs of short points based stays. As I understand, the only time that the HOA gets reimbursed for HK on Abound Points stays is when they are using Trust points.

Speaking as a voluntary Vistana owner this cheeses me off. I get to pay for short stay housekeeping in my MFs with no associates benefits.

 

[dioxide45]

Speaking as a voluntary Vistana owner this cheeses me off. I get to pay for short stay housekeeping in my MFs with no associates benefits.

But you are saving the Club Fee...

 

[timsi]

Speaking as a voluntary Vistana owner this cheeses me off. I get to pay for short stay housekeeping in my MFs with no associates benefits.

Still unclear to me how many resorts have daily cleaning for the Bonvoy bookings and who pays for those.

 

[dioxide45]

Still unclear to me how many resorts have daily cleaning for the Bonvoy bookings and who pays for those.

On the Marriott side, I know that MVC pays the HOA a set percentage for Bonvoy or Marriott.com reservations. I beleive the same is true for Encore Packages. I know this based on several annual BOD meetings that I attended at Grande Vista. The HOA doesn't bear the burden of daily housekeeping for those says.

 

[timsi]

On the Marriott side, I know that MVC pays the HOA a set percentage for Bonvoy or Marriott.com reservations. I beleive the same is true for Encore Packages. I know this based on several annual BOD meetings that I attended at Grande Vista. The HOA doesn't bear the burden of daily housekeeping for those says.

It kind of bothers me because the more daily housekeeping, the more time the cleaners have to spend, and it seems to happen more often that the rooms are not ready before 4PM. A friend of mine had to wait until 8PM during the summer to get his room. Maybe the higher volume of rentals is another reason why they took away the early check in late check out for the elite owners? Also, the amount is important, who is actually checking? I did not see any evidence in the WLR budget of such reimbursement.

 

[bizaro86]

But you are saving the Club Fee...

I wasn't paying the club fee before, because I didn't/don't have club access. The difference is under VSN club members got only as many free housekeepings as they had intervals, so there was some incentive to conserve.

Abound has none of that and I expect the average stay to go down over time and housekeeping costs to go up. That cost isn't being borne by those who are using the extra housekeeping any more, its being born equally by all owners including those who aren't even eligible for short stays.

Seems intrinsically unfair to me.

Edited to add: that would be extremely relevant if the club fees were paying for incremental housekeeping at the resorts, but I haven't seen any suggestion that is the case.