CLOSED: Thread Dedicated to the Upcoming/Anticipated Integration of Vistana & Marriott Ownerships (Marriott Link + Vistana Discussion)

[jcflorian]

I am owner at 2BR Oceanfront Lockoff at Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas north. I always book my room 1 year to the day of my planned arrival. I keep hearing about 13 month reservations. I am hoping that is not going to hurt me in getting ideal room I always get in Maui. I am a little concerned. I have always called at 9:00am and always gotten building and floor I wanted .

 

[dioxide45]

I am owner at 2BR Oceanfront Lockoff at Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas north. I always book my room 1 year to the day of my planned arrival. I keep hearing about 13 month reservations. I am hoping that is not going to hurt me in getting ideal room I always get in Maui. I am a little concerned. I have always called at 9:00am and always gotten building and floor I wanted .

We pretty much already know that Vistana resorts won't be open to reservations until 12 months. THe big question though is, for owners that elect Club Points, how does the inventory they give up impact home resort reservations. There was a long thread on this topic about a month ago.

 

[samcar1]

I just got confirmation. Marriott will not have a 13 month reservation window on Vistana. They will have a 12 month booking window.

 

[samcar1]

We pretty much already know that Vistana resorts won't be open to reservations until 12 months. THe big question though is, for owners that elect Club Points, how does the inventory they give up impact home resort reservations. There was a long thread on this topic about a month ago.

However, it will be interesting to see if it will actually be easy to book Marriott at a 13 month window or is it a huge rush to the phone. I don't think you can book it on line.

 

[dioxide45]

However, it will be interesting to see if it will actually be easy to book Marriott at a 13 month window or is it a huge rush to the phone. I don't think you can book it on line.

Marriott points reservations can be made online at 13 months, at least with the current website.

 

[samcar1]

thanks for clarifying. Someone had said you need to call.

 

[ragdoll]

I just got confirmation. Marriott will not have a 13 month reservation window on Vistana. They will have a 12 month booking window.

That is good news but it remains to be seen if Vistana owners will be able to get on line at the exact time needed to get their favored reservation. Might MVC hold back availability a few minutes so that their bookings will go through first?

 

[samcar1]

i guess that remains to be seen. It's been such a long wait......

 

[dioxide45]

That is good news but it remains to be seen if Vistana owners will be able to get on line at the exact time needed to get their favored reservation. Might MVC hold back availability a few minutes so that their bookings will go through first?

I doubt it. I would expect all inventory to be available to all Abound members at the same time.

 

[SueDonJ]

thanks for clarifying. Someone had said you need to call.

It is a bit confusing with Marriott.

Using Destination Club/Abound Points (either purchased Trust Points or Exchange Points from Enrolled Weeks) it's been possible from Day One to use the online system to book available inventory online at any of the Reservation Windows.

Using Weeks, the system supports online bookings of single Weeks anytime from the 12-mos window opening, but it doesn't support immediate confirmation at the 13-mos window (which can only be used to book multiple consecutive/concurrent Weeks.) At the 13-mos window it's important to call in as soon as the window opens for high-demand inventory or immediate confirmation, but if you're looking for low-demand inventory and you don't mind waiting there's a mechanism on the website to send a query (which won't get processed until after the phone lines on the release date are cleared.)

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

I'm not in IT but aren't these huge changes usually done overnight and/or weekends? Why would they choose a workday and a Monday at that?

Probably started at 12:30am to allow a small booking window for anyone looking at 8/1/2023 but from a Vistana perspective that would be relatively small as that is a Tuesday and except for Flex, at the 12 month window reservations start Fri/Sat/Sun. Not sure what the Marriott systems rules are.

Also, don't know if you are aware but to fit 15 hours of work in 'overnight' you would have to be situated at the South Pole at this time of year

 

[ragdoll]

I doubt it. I would expect all inventory to be available to all Abound members at the same time.

Well, there will be many non-Abound members who are worried about this. If weeks owners are not participating in Abound, will that make priority less than it was before?

 

[jabberwocky]

Well, there will be many non-Abound members who are worried about this. If weeks owners are not participating in Abound, will that make priority less than it was before?

It’s different inventory. Only Abound inventory can be booked by Abound members and vice versa

 

[alexadeparis]

Probably started at 12:30am to allow a small booking window for anyone looking at 8/1/2023 but from a Vistana perspective that would be relatively small as that is a Tuesday and except for Flex, at the 12 month window reservations start Fri/Sat/Sun. Not sure what the Marriott systems rules are.

Also, don't know if you are aware but to fit 15 hours of work in 'overnight' you would have to be situated at the South Pole at this time of year

Yeah I hear you, I just think for example a 5pm to 8am update may have been less intrusive

 

[timsi]

It’s different inventory. Only Abound inventory can be booked by Abound members and vice versa

It will fragment the Vistana inventory, no question about it. The more internal and external exchanges, the lower the inventory in each exchange not to mention MVC has the ability to give better weeks to Abound. MVC has an economic incentive because the peak weeks cost more points (vs VSN where all the weeks of the season cost the same)

 

[timsi]

The 15 hours of scheduled maintenance have passed 15 minutes ago. Marriott does not believe in under promising and over delivering it seems.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Yes, it's still down, but hopeful that this is true:

Your Owner website and reservation systems will be offline starting 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time on August 1, 2022, for a scheduled system update. We expect the website to be unavailable for approximately 15 hours.
There continues to be many behind-the-scene improvements as we bring together multiple vacation options for you to explore and enjoy. This important update will enhance your vacation planning and online experience.
Thank you for your patience during this extended outage.

 

[chemteach]

Probably started at 12:30am to allow a small booking window for anyone looking at 8/1/2023 but from a Vistana perspective that would be relatively small as that is a Tuesday and except for Flex, at the 12 month window reservations start Fri/Sat/Sun. Not sure what the Marriott systems rules are.

Also, don't know if you are aware but to fit 15 hours of work in 'overnight' you would have to be situated at the South Pole at this time of year

Yes, but the 8 month window for booking is for Saturday, April 1, 2023.

 

[Eric B]

Interesting observation while waiting for the site to come back — I’ve shifted from Silver Bonvoy status to Gold as an all resale mandatory owner with just 19 elite nights this year. Not sure what that indicates vis-a-vis enrollment eligibility for my weeks - if enrolled, the points they should bring would get me executive or higher (i.e., platinum or titanium).

 

[dioxide45]

Interesting observation while waiting for the site to come back — I’ve shifted from Silver Bonvoy status to Gold as an all resale mandatory owner with just 19 elite nights this year. Not sure what that indicates vis-a-vis enrollment eligibility for my weeks - if enrolled, the points they should bring would get me executive or higher (i.e., platinum or titanium).

Do you have any Elite * status in VSN, or are you below 3*? Perhaps the first step is just mapping owners over based on their * status? and those below 3* are gold at a minimum. Just hypothesizing here.

 

[BluePrelude]

Andit is still down at 5:38pm ET

 

[Eric B]

Do you have any Elite * status in VSN, or are you below 3*? Perhaps the first step is just mapping owners over based on their * status? and those below 3* are gold at a minimum. Just hypothesizing here.

Nope - all resale

Edited to add that I'm as far below 3* as you can get....

 

[timsi]

Yes, it's still down, but hopeful that this is true:

Your Owner website and reservation systems will be offline starting 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time on August 1, 2022, for a scheduled system update. We expect the website to be unavailable for approximately 15 hours.
There continues to be many behind-the-scene improvements as we bring together multiple vacation options for you to explore and enjoy. This important update will enhance your vacation planning and online experience.
Thank you for your patience during this extended outage.

A site that works would be a great enhancement, kind of like the Vistana site when Marriott was not around.

 

[timsi]

Nope - all resale

This is quite intriguing. Are all your retail purchases mandatory?

 

[Eric B]

Not all, but most. My thought is that eligible points don’t count until enrolling them