Access to Abound is up!

[TravelTime]

Not sure where I should be asking this questions since it is a dual Marriott/Vistana owner question related to the IT side of this launch.

Since I have a Marriott account already, when I elected points from Vistana, I called and they deposited the points into my existing Marriott account. From there, the points showed up as elected VSN points and I can book like I always do with Marriott properties. Is this how it is working for all the dual Marriott/Vistana owners even if you elect on the website?

I am hearing that if you elect points in Vistana then you book through the Vistana website. I assume that is only if you do not already have a Marriott account. Since I elected points by phone, I wonder if the rep did anything different for me since I told him I wanted my points deposited into my Marriott account. I assumed Marriott would give everyone a Marriott account and that the way it is working for me would be how everyone would do it but I guessed wrong.

Have any other dual Marriott/Vistana owners elected points and how did it work for you?

 

[vacationtime1]

Related question: How would a Vistana-only member rent CP's without a Marriott account?

 

[CPNY]

Not sure where I should be asking this questions since it is a dual Marriott/Vistana owner question related to the IT side of this launch.

Since I have a Marriott account already, when I elected points from Vistana, I called and they deposited the points into my existing Marriott account. From there, the points showed up as elected VSN points and I can book like I always do with Marriott properties. Is this how it is working for all the dual Marriott/Vistana owners even if you elect on the website?

I am hearing that if you elect points in Vistana then you book through the Vistana website. I assume that is only if you do not already have a Marriott account. Since I elected points by phone, I wonder if the rep did anything different for me since I told him I wanted my points deposited into my Marriott account. I assumed Marriott would give everyone a Marriott account and that the way it is working for me would be how everyone would do it but I guessed wrong.

Have any other dual Marriott/Vistana owners elected points and how did it work for you?

I’m a vistana only owner and I was given a Marriott points account. I’m just not sure if it’s exactly the same account that a Marriott owner has.

 

[DanCali]

Not sure where I should be asking this questions since it is a dual Marriott/Vistana owner question related to the IT side of this launch.

Since I have a Marriott account already, when I elected points from Vistana, I called and they deposited the points into my existing Marriott account. From there, the points showed up as elected VSN points and I can book like I always do with Marriott properties. Is this how it is working for all the dual Marriott/Vistana owners even if you elect on the website?

I am hearing that if you elect points in Vistana then you book through the Vistana website. I assume that is only if you do not already have a Marriott account. Since I elected points by phone, I wonder if the rep did anything different for me since I told him I wanted my points deposited into my Marriott account. I assumed Marriott would give everyone a Marriott account and that the way it is working for me would be how everyone would do it but I guessed wrong.

Have any other dual Marriott/Vistana owners elected points and how did it work for you?

When you click on "Use Club Points / Search & Book Reservations" you are logged into your MVC account automatically. I was an existing MVC member and when I do this on the Vistana side it basically takes me to a slimmed down version of my MVC account where I can see my existing MVC points too, so points can be combined. I imagine that if I elected points from VSN weeks they will also show up if I log in from MVC directly.

I say the website is "slimmed down" because it's the MVC website without the legacy weeks and a couple of other MVC account-specific tabs. It's kind of cool how they did that.

MVC wesbite from Vistana (auto) login:

My "Normal" MVC Website (login via MVC):

Related question: How would a Vistana-only member rent CP's without a Marriott account?

To transfer points you need an MVC Owner account. This is available on the right screenshot under "Account" (except the relevant link there been broken for a few months). It's also available via the MVC app. And it's also on MF bills.

I suspect all Vistana owners who are in Abound and were not in MVC before also have an MVC Owner number somewhere which will allow you to transfer points in. It's just not immediately obvious to me how to access it other than a phone call to Vistana or MVC Owner services.

 

[KACTravels]

I’m a vistana only owner and I was given a Marriott points account. I’m just not sure if it’s exactly the same account that a Marriott owner has.

How did Marriott give you the Marriott Points account? I’m assuming you mean Vacation Points Account not Bonvoy. Did you call to have it set up and connected to your Vistana account? Or were you able to do it online by yourself? I hope my question makes sense.

 

[CPNY]

How did Marriott give you the Marriott Points account? I’m assuming you mean Vacation Points Account not Bonvoy. Did you call to have it set up and connected to your Vistana account? Or were you able to do it online by yourself? I hope my question makes sense.

It was automatic. Once you go to elect to convert, or search and book club points reservations via the vistana site it brings you to an external webpage (Marriott vacation club page) see post #1 in the thread

 

[CPNY]

When you click on "Use Club Points / Search & Book Reservations" you are logged into your MVC account automatically. I was an existing MVC member and when I do this on the Vistana side it basically takes me to a slimmed down version of my MVC account where I can see my existing MVC points too, so points can be combined. I imagine that if I elected points from VSN weeks they will also show up if I log in from MVC directly.

I say the website is "slimmed down" because it's the MVC website without the legacy weeks and a couple of other tabs. It's kind of cool how they did that.

MVC wesbite from Vistana (auto) login: View attachment 69597

My "Normal" MVC Website (login via MVC): View attachment 69598

To transfer points you need an MVC Owner account. This is available on the right screenshot under "Account" (except the relevant link there been broken for a few months). It's also available via the MVC app. And it's also on MF bills.

I suspect all Vistana owners who are in Abound and were not in MVC before also have an MVC Owner number somewhere which will allow you to transfer points in. It's just not immediately obvious to me how to access it other than a phone call to Vistana or MVC Owner services.

Maybe they aren’t allowing vistana owners without Marriott points the ability to transfer points?

 

[KACTravels]

It was automatic. Once you go to elect to convert, or search and book club points reservations via the vistana site it brings you to an external webpage (Marriott vacation club page) see post #1 in the thread

Thank you for your quick reply. I have been able to get to the other Marriott Club page, but at one point when I was clicking around it said I needed to create a Marriott Vacation Club Account. I didn’t want to do that without understanding if it was going to create a duplicate account.

 

[sponger76]

It was automatic. Once you go to elect to convert, or search and book club points reservations via the vistana site it brings you to an external webpage (Marriott vacation club page) see post #1 in the thread

I think what he's asking is, do you see an actual MVC account number? I access Abound via Vistana as well and don't see an account number anywhere.

 

[CPNY]

I think what he's asking is, do you see an actual MVC account number? I access Abound via Vistana as well and don't see an account number anywhere.

No account number, I have the watered down version of a points account.

 

[dsmrp]

Plz excuse if this is a dupe post.
I just saw my Friday email from Marriott announcing Abound. There is a deadline of Dec 31 for electing club pts for 2023.

LOL, I can't see much reason for cancelling a star options reservation and rebooking with Abound pts. There may be some scenarios where Abound pts are a better redemption value, but IMO by and large, I can get more with star options.

 

[DanCali]

Plz excuse if this is a dupe post.
I just saw my Friday email from Marriott announcing Abound. There is a deadline of Dec 31 for electing club pts for 2023.

LOL, I can't see much reason for cancelling a star options reservation and rebooking with Abound pts. There may be some scenarios where Abound pts are a better redemption value, but IMO by and large, I can get more with star options.

You do now have 60+ more resorts to choose from, so a re-evaluation of vacation plans for some owners may be completely reasonable. But there are drawbacks...

While I think "skim" is something you can get used to if you think of it as a "transaction cost" incurred when exchanging to a different resort and/or season, IMO, the biggest drawback/turnoff from the perspective of a Vistana 2BR lockoff unit owner is the unequal treatment of the whole vs. the sum of the parts.

In Vistana we got used that:

• The Staroptions you receive for a studio/small 1BR + large 1BR = Staroptions received for a 2BR lockoff
• The Staroptions needed to book a studio/small 1BR + large 1BR = Staroptions needed to book a 2BR lockoff
• You can use one part of a lockoff and still exchange the other to Staroptions or II, this maximizing the use of you VOI. Or exchange the two parts separately at different times of the year.

In Abound these are all violated and, as a result:

1) Owners of 2BR lockoffs (who could actually have purchased the 2 smaller units comprising the lockoff from the developer - or resale - for about the same price and MFs) are now, all of a sudden, short-changed by receiving about 15% fewer points than they could have received if they owned the two smaller units. This is unrelated to "skim", but rather a structure of the Abound exchange system. It's actually on top of the "skim" that everyone choosing Abound points incurs...

2) Owners who want Abound points, are required to exchange the entire 2BR lockoff. I am not that familiar with Disney/Hyatt/Hilton etc... is there any other timeshare exchange system that does that with lockoffs? It certainly doesn't work that way with II and Vistana.

So as a WKV owner I am not happy that I only get 4050 points whereas if I purchased a small + large 1BR unit for the same cost and MFs I'd be getting ~4700 points of the two units and could also make a choice to deposit both, just the small one, just the large one, or neither. When I have the choice of "the 2BR or nothing," I'm more inclined to choose "nothing" but, to be fair, I also have other options with my MVC ownership.

 

[THSMTHS]

It seems that access to Abound via Vistana website is now up and running. It also seems my post 8/9 is listed as “not enrolled” that’s a bummer. If this isn’t the official roll out, it surely is a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately I have no eligible weeks in 2023 to convert to test it (I’ve already made reservations using SO). Someone else may be in a better position to test it out.

View attachment 69358View attachment 69359

Just saying that to access the Marriott inventory, you loose value turning your property into points. It is why we bought Vistana in the first place. What ever your unit is worth is what you have to use another property, instead of the 10% reduction Marriott takes when you convert. Marriott gives us 2900 pts. for our Desert Springs property. It costs others 3775 to use. Obviously still a sticking point for me.

 

[dcdowden]

Are banked staroptions able to be converted to Abound points?

 

[DanCali]

Are banked staroptions able to be converted to Abound points?

No - you have to give up an actual week.

 

[Juliegomsu]

Maybe I am missing your point. The way I see it is that Marritott owns the inventory and they chose to deposit into Abound just like any other owner. I am agreeing with you. So why is this against the rules?

On Nov 10th I went to a sales talk at the Sheraton Desert Oasis which is Vistana points. The points or options I have are not the same as Marriott Points. They were of course looking for me to spend more money. I can try to transfer to a Marriott, but they say I will not have much chance because those who pay for the Abound will get in ahead of me. They wanted me to spend $12,000 for the Abound membership and then came down to ONLY $8000. Why wouldn't someone just purchase a Marriott resale? This was crazy and anyone who paid that was not informed correctly.

 

[jeffm211]

When you click on "Use Club Points / Search & Book Reservations" you are logged into your MVC account automatically. I was an existing MVC member and when I do this on the Vistana side it basically takes me to a slimmed down version of my MVC account where I can see my existing MVC points too, so points can be combined. I imagine that if I elected points from VSN weeks they will also show up if I log in from MVC directly.

I say the website is "slimmed down" because it's the MVC website without the legacy weeks and a couple of other tabs. It's kind of cool how they did that.

MVC wesbite from Vistana (auto) login: View attachment 69597

My "Normal" MVC Website (login via MVC): View attachment 69598

To transfer points you need an MVC Owner account. This is available on the right screenshot under "Account" (except the relevant link there been broken for a few months). It's also available via the MVC app. And it's also on MF bills.

I suspect all Vistana owners who are in Abound and were not in MVC before also have an MVC Owner number somewhere which will allow you to transfer points in. It's just not immediately obvious to me how to access it other than a phone call to Vistana or MVC Owner services.

"I suspect all Vistana owners who are in Abound and were not in MVC before also have an MVC Owner number somewhere which will allow you to transfer points in."

Great point! Where can we find that number or does it require a call to MVC Owner Services? No purchased CPs and no elected VOIs as of yet. Nothing on the VSN MF statements work. Thanks.

 

[DanCali]

"I suspect all Vistana owners who are in Abound and were not in MVC before also have an MVC Owner number somewhere which will allow you to transfer points in."

Great point! Where can we find that number or does it require a call to MVC Owner Services? No purchased CPs and no elected VOIs as of yet. Nothing on the VSN MF statements work. Thanks.

I would start with MVC Owner Services because they will know what number you are looking for. I also know that, at this point, they can see my Vistana ownership at least in some of their systems, so they may be able to look you up by name. If they can't, then try Vistana Owner Services.

Tip: don't try MVC right at 9am - that's usually when people call to make reservations and you may be on hold for a long time. Some inventory is released for 13 months weeks, some inventory is released for 12 months weeks, points inventory is released on Tuesdays (13-moth) and Fridays (12-month), and resorts have different weeks inventory release dates depending in the first checkin day is Thursday or Friday so, while it's hard to keep track, 9am seems busy pretty much every day...

 

[jeffm211]

I would start with MVC Owner Services because they will know what number you are looking for. I also know that, at this point, they can see my Vistana ownership at least in some of their systems, so they may be able to look you up by name. If they can't, then try Vistana Owner Services.

Tip: don't try MVC right at 9am - that's usually when people call to make reservations and you may be on hold for a long time. Some inventory is released for 13 months weeks, some inventory is released for 12 months weeks, points inventory is released on Tuesdays (13-moth) and Fridays (12-month), and resorts have different weeks inventory release dates depending in the first checkin day is Thursday or Friday so, while it's hard to keep track, 9am seems busy pretty much every day...

Thank you. No urgency, so will keep these windows in mind.

 

[DanCali]

Thank you. No urgency, so will keep these windows in mind.

I just realized I forgot there is a 10-month window, 6-month window, 120-day window and 60-day window....

Those release dates are so unfriendly, that this webpage is now a very good friend

Once on the MVC website, it's under "Use Points / When Can I Reserve"

 

[jeffm211]

I just realied I forgot there is a 10-month window, 6-month window, 120-day window and 60-day window....

Those release dates are so unfriendly, that this webpage is now a very good friend

Once on the MVC website, it's under "Use Points / When Can I Reserve"

View attachment 69682

Thanks for pointing this out! Very helpful tool!

 

[SteelerGal]

deleted. Wrong thread.

 

[dsmrp]

I would start with MVC Owner Services because they will know what number you are looking for. I also know that, at this point, they can see my Vistana ownership at least in some of their systems, so they may be able to look you up by name. If they can't, then try Vistana Owner Services.

Tip: don't try MVC right at 9am - that's usually when people call to make reservations and you may be on hold for a long time. Some inventory is released for 13 months weeks, some inventory is released for 12 months weeks, points inventory is released on Tuesdays (13-moth) and Fridays (12-month), and resorts have different weeks inventory release dates depending in the first checkin day is Thursday or Friday so, while it's hard to keep track, 9am seems busy pretty much every day...

What are the MVC owners services phone #s? Is there one for higher levels? I'm only Executive, but Vistana had one for 3* and up.

TIA!

 

[DanCali]

What are the MVC owners services phone #s? Is there one for higher levels? I'm only Executive, but Vistana had one for 3* and up.

TIA!

The regular number is 800-845-4226.

In general - see the screenshots I posted in post #304 - once you are on that page, click on "Have A Question?" at the top of the page and it will show you a number you can call.

 

[VacationForever]

On Nov 10th I went to a sales talk at the Sheraton Desert Oasis which is Vistana points. The points or options I have are not the same as Marriott Points. They were of course looking for me to spend more money. I can try to transfer to a Marriott, but they say I will not have much chance because those who pay for the Abound will get in ahead of me. They wanted me to spend $12,000 for the Abound membership and then came down to ONLY $8000. Why wouldn't someone just purchase a Marriott resale? This was crazy and anyone who paid that was not informed correctly.

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.