Confused about Abound

[tourproto]

So I am a longtime Vistana owner and have several weeks at WKV. I know the Vistana system well and there are only three properties we stay at (WKV, Westin Desert Willows and Westin Princeville).

The Abound program is very confusing to me, both from what benefits it provides existing Vistana owners (if any), and whether or not I can completely ignore it (for now) and keep doing things the way I have been doing them.

I book all my weeks back-to-back-back etc at WKV one year out for 1 bedroom premium villas, and then at 8 months out I use my remaining points to book more 1 bedroom premium villas (instead of the booking the regular 1 bedrooms). I end up with 5 weeks in a row and enough points left over the stay at Desert Willows for a couple of weekends to see family. Every 3 years or so, I do only 2 weeks at WKV and then use the rest of the points to book Princeville for as many nights as I can get at the 8 month window. Even less frequently we will book the full 2 bedroom lockoff in Princeville or WKV and have family join us.

I then rent out any WKV weeks that we don't intend to use (or need) and life is good (other than COVID this has always been easy and profitable). We always use the rental at Princeville. There are probably other more creative things to do, but I hate II (been really Rogered in the past by them) and these are the 3 places we really like. Mexico, the Bahamas, Florida have zero interest for us.

With this "Abound thing", I am just trying to figure out if I HAVE TO convert, or if I am missing out on something by not converting, or if my strategy outlined above is at risk because others are taking advantage of Abound. Currently there are no Marriott properties we are interested in. We just want to keep doing what we are doing relative to Vistana (I recently bought into HGVC but that does not affect our Vistana plans at all) and I cannot figure out if I can keep the status quo and ignore all the Abound stuff.

Thanks,

tourproto

 

[Sicnarf]

You can continue what you have doing and ignore the Abound thing. Abound just gives you another option of exchanging to MVC/Westin/Sheraton timeshares.

 

[alwysonvac]

So I am a longtime Vistana owner and have several weeks at WKV. I know the Vistana system well and there are only three properties we stay at (WKV, Westin Desert Willows and Westin Princeville).

The Abound program is very confusing to me, both from what benefits it provides existing Vistana owners (if any), and whether or not I can completely ignore it (for now) and keep doing things the way I have been doing them.

I book all my weeks back-to-back-back etc at WKV one year out for 1 bedroom premium villas, and then at 8 months out I use my remaining points to book more 1 bedroom premium villas (instead of the booking the regular 1 bedrooms). I end up with 5 weeks in a row and enough points left over the stay at Desert Willows for a couple of weekends to see family. Every 3 years or so, I do only 2 weeks at WKV and then use the rest of the points to book Princeville for as many nights as I can get at the 8 month window. Even less frequently we will book the full 2 bedroom lockoff in Princeville or WKV and have family join us.

I then rent out any WKV weeks that we don't intend to use (or need) and life is good (other than COVID this has always been easy and profitable). We always use the rental at Princeville. There are probably other more creative things to do, but I hate II (been really Rogered in the past by them) and these are the 3 places we really like. Mexico, the Bahamas, Florida have zero interest for us.

With this "Abound thing", I am just trying to figure out if I HAVE TO convert, or if I am missing out on something by not converting, or if my strategy outlined above is at risk because others are taking advantage of Abound. Currently there are no Marriott properties we are interested in. We just want to keep doing what we are doing relative to Vistana (I recently bought into HGVC but that does not affect our Vistana plans at all) and I cannot figure out if I can keep the status quo and ignore all the Abound stuff.

Thanks,

tourproto

JMHO… keep the status quo but choose the Abound annual club dues (vs the existing VSN and a la carte fees). You might find some savings depending on your VSN usage.

By paying the new Abound Club dues, you can keep your options open in case you ever want to take advantage of Abound in the future.

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TIP: The FAQ page on the member website provides detailed answers to most of the questions regarding Abound.
LINK - https://www.vistana.com/help-center#/faqs/?category=All Categories

 

[grrrah]

The above have it correct. Membership fee may be a tad higher upfront, but it seems like you bank and use SOs, so worth it stick with the new setup and continue to do what you do as it works out for you. Abound is just another option for exchanging one or more of your weeks/VOIs for points for use in the Marriott Vacation club system. Don't have to do it, and if you don't have interest in other resorts/locations, don't do anything different.

Like you, I like Kauai. The Marriott side has a bunch of Kauai options if you are interested in the south and SE sides of the island. But if you really prefer princeville (it was a bit too wet for me during winter months) then keep doing what you do! Also, as a Californian, I also liked going to Palm Desert, but now the Newport Coast Villas are of just as much interest to me. But definitely don't do anything different (except pay the Abound membership fee) until you get to know the Abound trade-offs, and then only if you want to exchage.

 

[pchung6]

I’ve learned a little about the Abound last few weeks. The key takeaway for me so far is the cheaper gets even cheaper. The expensive gets more expensive. So if you plan to use cheap summer Palm Desert or Phoenix, Abound is not bad. Prime week won’t be cheap in Abound, you better stay with Vistana. Sheraton Kauai gets cheaper in Abound mainly due to the room size. Other Marriott Kauai resorts are slightly more expensive than Vistana. WKORN or Marriott Maui are more expensive than Vistana. That’s what I learned so far. We mainly travel to Maui yearly, so we will most likely stay with Vistana.

 

[tourproto]

Thanks for the quick responses. I will look into signing up for the Abound club dues...

 

[alwysonvac]

Thanks for the quick responses. I will look into signing up for the Abound club dues...

For those who qualified for Abound, the club dues was automatically added this year (replacing the VSN Membership Fee).

If you didn't opt out when you paid your 2023 maintenance fees this year, then no further action is required.

2022 vs 2023 MF Statement

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NOTE: The Club Dues amounts are based on Ownership benefit level

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[jabberwocky]

Just a clarification - I think the new abound membership fee would have only been added on to your MF if you own an mandatory week. Ours was added to our WKORVN MF.

My parents have two voluntary weeks (both in VSN) and they got a separate statement for dues that they had to pay. It wasn’t on their MF statements.

 

[tourproto]

My Westin properties are all mandatory (WKV) but I don’t recall what I did when I paid my dues for 2023

 

[jabberwocky]

If you look back I suspect one of them will have the fee on it. You probably didn’t think much of it since that is how the VSN fee is presented.