Earning Bonvoy Points for ALL Activities Booked??

[controller1]

We've discussed in the past how some activities booked through a Vistana timeshare resort's concierge or pool group do not earn Marriott Bonvoy points and we've surmised this is due to the fact those activities are not owned/operated by the Vistana timeshare itself.

This afternoon I received an email from Vistana titled Your October Vacation Inspiration. Part of the email has the following:

So, has there been a change in Vistana's policy or is this a marketing glitch??

 

[DannyTS]

It makes sense from the Marriott/Vistana prospective if they can bring more owners in front of a concierge, this is an opportunity to invite them to a sales presentation

 

[YYJMSP]

So, has there been a change in Vistana's policy or is this a marketing glitch??

These are booked directly via Marriott's activities portal, where they effectively act as an OTA, so don't really have anything to do with the concierge, etc. You get Bonvoy points as listed on each activity.

I found quite often their prices were quite a bit higher for the exact same activity booked elsewhere.

 

[farsighted99]

We've discussed in the past how some activities booked through a Vistana timeshare resort's concierge or pool group do not earn Marriott Bonvoy points and we've surmised this is due to the fact those activities are not owned/operated by the Vistana timeshare itself.

This afternoon I received an email from Vistana titled Your October Vacation Inspiration. Part of the email has the following:

View attachment 14818

So, has there been a change in Vistana's policy or is this a marketing glitch??

When you rent snorkels, etc. from Nanea in Maui, there is a company that rents those items out (not the hotel), and you pay them directly with your credit card. It isn't charged to your room. Get a Bonvoy AX or Chase card and then you can get the points; just not as many as you would get if it was on your hotel bill though.

 

[controller1]

When you rent snorkels, etc. from Nanea in Maui, there is a company that rents those items out (not the hotel), and you pay them directly with your credit card. It isn't charged to your room. Get a Bonvoy AX or Chase card and then you can get the points; just not as many as you would get if it was on your hotel bill though.

Yes, I'm familiar with that.

@YYJMSP pointed out this is for activities booked through the link in the email and not for those booked through the concierge or a pool hut. That makes sense.

 

[YYJMSP]

Pretty sure you end up at the same underlying activity booking site as if you started from Marriott.com and clicked through to the cars, tours and activities list...

The URLs are different (Vistana.placepass.com vs activities.marriott.com), but they list the exact same things in the same way. Funny thing is it offers twice the Bonvoy points for the same tours if you start from the Marriott site instead of the Vistana site...

We looked at these on our last trip to Europe, and found they were essentially the same activities you would find via TripAdvisor/Viator or other sites, just more expensive most of the time.