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

[kozykritter]

Andit is still down at 5:38pm ET View attachment 61428

They said approximately 15 hours. It's tough to give exact time on a big IT transition because you don't know exactly where the problems will crop up until you actually do it, no matter how much planning or guessing you do up front.

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

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

Only a fool would want to book for that date

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

They said approximately 15 hours. It's tough to give exact time on a big IT transition because you don't know exactly where the problems will crop up until you actually do it, no matter how much planning or guessing you do up front.

Yes. Knowing their history (and working in IT) I took that to mean somewhere between 5 and 25 hours.

 

[sunski]

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).

I think anyone who owns with Marriott is a minimum gold

 

[daviator]

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).

I’ve had that happen before, where I was inexplicably shifted into a higher category. Lately I was just as inexplicably shifted back to where I belonged. So don’t get too excited…

Are you sure you don’t have any elite night credits from a Bonvoy credit card or something? Though those would normally show up in your elite night total on the Marriott site or app.

 

[Eric B]

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

I had commented somewhere about April 1st being a Saturday, which would make it a poor choice of a date to start the upgrade on, but subsequently wound up needing to call customer service for something and noted that the voicemail indicated that any availability that would have been loaded on August 1st would be withheld until August 2nd (or words to that effect). They didn't do much of a good job informing anyone of that though as there was no email notification and that fact wasn't noted on the popup, so the folks that were looking for an April 1st check in date when the window opened this morning at midnight until the 12:30 am down time would have gotten their April Fools surprise early for next year. I wasn't one of them, but find myself wondering if there was any notification at midnight that the availability wouldn't be coming. Thrilled and delighted....

 

[daviator]

I had commented somewhere about April 1st being a Saturday, which would make it a poor choice of a date to start the upgrade on, but subsequently wound up needing to call customer service for something and noted that the voicemail indicated that any availability that would have been loaded on August 1st would be withheld until August 2nd (or words to that effect). They didn't do much of a good job informing anyone of that though as there was no email notification and that fact wasn't noted on the popup, so the folks that were looking for an April 1st check in date when the window opened this morning at midnight until the 12:30 am down time would have gotten their April Fools surprise early for next year. I wasn't one of them, but find myself wondering if there was any notification at midnight that the availability wouldn't be coming. Thrilled and delighted....

I’m pretty sure the email they sent out contained the information about the inventory that would have been loaded on August 1 being postponed until August 2. I know I read it somewhere. Pretty sure it was in the email they sent out.

 

[Eric B]

I think anyone who owns with Marriott is a minimum gold

I've seen that listed on the Status Chart linked in the Marriott stickies for folks that are enrolled in the Destination Club. That would include resale owners there, of course. I'm not sure that's the case for resale owners that aren't in the Destination Club and know that it isn't the case for resale Vistana owners.

I’ve had that happen before, where I was inexplicably shifted into a higher category. Lately I was just as inexplicably shifted back to where I belonged. So don’t get too excited…

Are you sure you don’t have any elite night credits from a Bonvoy credit card or something? Though those would normally show up in your elite night total on the Marriott site or app.

Not counting my chicks until they hatch, of course. I do have 2 elite night credits that were not in my account that I've been trying to get them to give me from a stay at a Vistana resort, but still haven't got those listed to date. The only thing that has changed recently is that I had them link my resale Vistana contracts to my Bonvoy account (which they said was mandatory in order to get elite night credits for a Vistana stay despite that not being in the terms and conditions) and the change was coincident with the current upgrade. They might have messed up linking them or it might be that mandatory resale ownerships are actually eligible. Hoping to find out soon, but won't be heartbroken if I have to just keep going to Westins.

 

[Eric B]

I’m pretty sure the email they sent out contained the information about the inventory that would have been loaded on August 1 being postponed until August 2. I know I read it somewhere. Pretty sure it was in the email they sent out.

It wasn't noted on the email I got (see below). I understand it was on the one that went out to Marriott owners.

Dear valued Owner, I am reaching out to share a renewed commitment to your future ownership experience. The last two years have been challenging, and if we’ve learned anything, it’s that our Owners want to go on vacation and continue to spend time with those who matter most. Service Enhancements As you know, ownership is not only about the place you vacation but also about the service you receive. Most recently, we have worked diligently to bring our Marriott Vacation Club®, Sheraton® Vacation Club, and Westin® Vacation Club products together to give Owners even more options. To support these efforts, a series of digital enhancements are needed to integrate the website and mobile app that Owners use. The goal is to deliver a better online experience, making it easier for you to search, book, and manage your vacations. These enhancements will require periodic technology and systems upgrades, some of which may result in outages and downtimes. As part of this modernization effort, steps are also being taken to combine online upgrades more efficiently, reducing the impact on you and other Owners. We are proactively sharing this with you and ask for your patience during this time. In the coming weeks, you will notice updates on scheduled maintenance and outages on the Owner website and app you use to help keep you better informed. With Gratitude We are excited to bring our premium vacation club brands together and improve service to valued Owners like you. Your ownership and vacation experiences are about to get even better. Thank you for your continued ownership. We look forward to sharing more detailed information with you. To More Vacation Possibilities, Ron Essig Senior Vice President, Global Owner Services Marriott Vacations Worldwide

You have received this transactional message as part of your vacation ownership. Please do not reply directly to this system-generated email. Contact Vistana Signature Experiences, Inc.online or at 9002 San Marco Court, Orlando, Florida 32819. ©2022 Marriott Vacation Club International. All Rights Reserved. Marriott Vacation Club International and the programs and products provided under the Sheraton Vacation Club and Westin Vacation Club brands are not owned, developed, or sold by Marriott International, Inc. Marriott Vacation Club International uses the Marriott marks under license from Marriott International, Inc. and its affiliates. Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions | 10549 | 20A | 22-103-1618563

 

[sunski]

Yeah, the service outage notes are different on the marriott and vistana websites. Marriott's has the note about weeks inventory being released on 8/2. I think it may be because inventory opens for booking via vistana at midnight and marriott is 9am Eastern time zone

 

[sunski]

Sorry I'm not understanding 100% but I do believe the gold status was granted prior to DC, just like Vistana was automatic lifetime gold with Westin back in the day, for anyone who owned (but maybe only direct purchases?). When they merged the two programs you got whichever status was higher in either of your accounts, so if you were Silver in both you would be Silver in Bonvoy, but if you were lifetime gold in one you were lifetime gold in Bonvoy. That was my understanding. I got a boost after DC to platinum.
OTOH, I recently used owner services to help answer some questions about an upcoming reservation and they already had my marriott bonvoy account info and linked it to the reservations I never gave this to Vistana, so I assumed that the two systems must have already been linked. I'm assuming that I will get elite night credits for these reservations. So if you have had many nights at Vistana perhaps they are giving you credit for those stays. But seems that should be reflected in your nights count as well, so who knows why the change in status. I don't think it has anything to do with the points value of your mandatory weeks though because I would also have a bump in status from adding the points value of my mandatory week and I don't see that reflected in my Bonvoy account. At least not yet...

 

[kozykritter]

I’m pretty sure the email they sent out contained the information about the inventory that would have been loaded on August 1 being postponed until August 2. I know I read it somewhere. Pretty sure it was in the email they sent out.

Never mind. Someone already answered what I had typed here as a reply

 

[daviator]

Now the Vistana website notice has been updated to:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE

Your Owner website and reservation systems have been offline for scheduled system updates since 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time on August 1, 2022. While we anticipated the website would be unavailable for approximately 15 hours, the process is taking longer than expected. We encourage you to return tomorrow to conduct any business online.

 

[kozykritter]

Marriott website has the same message, as you might guess.

 

[Henry M.]

Duplicate information deleted.

 

[timsi]

They said approximately 15 hours. It's tough to give exact time on a big IT transition because you don't know exactly where the problems will crop up until you actually do it, no matter how much planning or guessing you do up front.

If they are now at the stage of trying to fix issues they did not foresee, they are in deep trouble. In any case, something is really not going according to the plan. It may take few more hours or a LOT more.

 

[pchung6]

If they are now at the stage of trying to fix issues they did not foresee, they are in deep trouble. In any case, something is really not going according to the plan. It may take few more hours or a LOT more.

We all know what will happen. These workers finally got the chance to poke back to management, why they will work hard and help for a project like that? They will just do what they are told to do and hoping bad thing to happen to screw management.

 

[VacationForever]

Vistana system is up and there is no difference from before. MVC site is still down.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Ha....Nothing to see here after 3 years and 15 hours.

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

We all know what will happen. These workers finally got the chance to poke back to management, why they will work hard and help for a project like that? They will just do what they are told to do and hoping bad thing to happen to screw management.

You have a very cynical view of the IT Profession who in general strive to help keep the world turning (not literally of course).

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

Ha....Nothing to see here after 3 years and 15 hours.

They never said there would be anything to see. At our recent update we were told they were working on a 'new' web experience but it wouldn't be launched until some time after the new program was launched. I guess the work today was backend/database updates/integration.

 

[GraceH]

Marriott site is now up and running. Only noticed subtle change in DP booking UI, namely the order in which the vacation clubs are listed is different from before. Haven’t spent enough time on the site to notice other differences.

 

[pchung6]

The new Vistana site is up now. It looks the same as before, but the background infrastructure probably is updated. I also made a reservation using SO points for next April Eastern week, and I didn't notice any different as before. We will see how it goes from here.

 

[Eric B]

Noticed one difference - on the page listing what I own, the entries for 2 resale Lagunamar weeks now says yes for VSN member and lists the appropriate SOs. The account balances still shows the number of days, though, so it's just a little bit of an odd display issue rather than actually putting them in the VSN. We'll see what happens with that.

 

[timsi]

Noticed one difference - on the page listing what I own, the entries for 2 resale Lagunamar weeks now says yes for VSN member and lists the appropriate SOs. The account balances still shows the number of days, though, so it's just a little bit of an odd display issue rather than actually putting them in the VSN. We'll see what happens with that.

My Lagunamar resale still mention VSN no.