Fee to pay by Credit Card

[TheTimeTraveler]

We read that certain states (such as ours, CT) do not allow the credit card surcharge, can anybody corroborate the validity of this. My husband said he did see this posted on ct.gov ….

I think that the "CO" posted back in post 25 stands for Colorado and not Connecticut.











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[dioxide45]

I think that the "CO" posted back in post 25 stands for Colorado and not Connecticut.

Connecticut is certainly one of the states that bans the practice. Colorado isn't. Though CO might have certain restrictions that cap the amount. Stripe seems to have the best article on all the limits and laws.

A Guide to Credit Card Surcharges for Businesses | Stripe

Learn what businesses need to know about credit card surcharges, including the reasons for applying credit card surcharges and ways businesses can reduce the need for them.

stripe.com

 

[dioxide45]

Then why outsource?

It could be for many reasons. The fee the merchant pays for you to use the Bonvoy credit card might be a different fee than they have to pay for someone who uses a plain jane no frills credit card. Do they plan to assess a different credit card fee to you than to that other person. Perhaps that is something the outsource company specializes in. Knowing what type of card is being used at the time of processing to correctly calculate the fee for each individual customer. Sometimes they outsource simply because the company they are outsourcing to can do something they can't.

 

[bazzap]

Its the draft budget for the US points systems prior to the annual meeting that have been released.

Yes, I understand that for the Abound Points Trust MFs.
I was just responding on the wider issue of individual resort Weeks MFs, where draft budgets will not have been released.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[winger]

<<<DELETED POST - no idea what happened with the Smartphone and multi-tasking this morning ><<

 

[dioxide45]

So, since at least gotten 2027 maintenance fee statements, this additional statement payment sits as a credit on your MVC account until the statement generates and then the system will automatically apply the credit to the MF? If you have both deeded week and club points I wifey how they ain't the credit? Also hope MVC doesn't apply the 3% fee later for those people pre-paying to beat the deadline

I don't really know what you are asking here, but perhaps how do they know what to credit with your payment, the week you own or the points? When you make a payment, you are indicating exactly what you are making the payment for. I prepaid one of our weeks and specifically applied the payment toward Harbour Lake. I suspect when paying your points, you can specify that the payment is toward those.

 

[del2327]

I only have points so there was no need to specify whether the payment was for weeks or points. This morning, the transaction didn't go through right away and I thought it was going to fail. When given the choice between "retry" and "cancel," I chose to retry and then it went through without a 3% fee.

 

[M Wyo]

I can understand why it is being done. But, I also remember being told expressly that each year that one of the perks for buying a VOI was that you can pay your MF using your Marriott branded AMEX card and getting 6X Bonvoy points. While I understand it, and understand nothing was put in writing........it still feels like just one more benefit of owning is being taken away. Because it is. And it doesn't taste very good.

 

[sponger76]

I can understand why it is being done. But, I also remember being told expressly that each year that one of the perks for buying a VOI was that you can pay your MF using your Marriott branded AMEX card and getting 6X Bonvoy points. While I understand it, and understand nothing was put in writing........it still feels like just one more benefit of owning is being taken away. Because it is. And it doesn't taste very good.

Well, to be fair, they're not taking away the benefit of getting bonus Bonvoy points for paying your MFs with a specific card. You can still do that for as long as the credit card issuer, in conjunction with Marriott the hotel brand (the Chase/AMEX deals are with the hotel company not the timeshare company which is different) doesn't change or cancel the actual card benefits. They're just charging you the transaction cost to do so, and no longer passing the cost of credit card transactions to people who chooses not to use a credit card.

 

[ljmiii]

Well, to be fair, they're not taking away the benefit of getting bonus Bonvoy points for paying your MFs with a specific card…

We actually don’t know that. We do know that the third party credit card processor now used by the Ritz Carlton Club doesn’t code as Marriott or even Travel. And that MVC has refused to answer any questions on the topic.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

We actually don’t know that. We do know that the third party credit card processor now used by the Ritz Carlton Club doesn’t code as Marriott or even Travel. And that MVC has refused to answer any questions on the topic.

That's the big outstanding question to me. Depending on this gets implemented will definitely impact which card or payment method I choose. It would be a very bad choice if they follow the Ritz model, but I could see that happening.

I have a few cards that still make sense if the payment codes as travel, but it gets harder if it's something else.

 

[chunkygal]

I remember when people hated cash or checks!

 

[sponger76]

We actually don’t know that. We do know that the third party credit card processor now used by the Ritz Carlton Club doesn’t code as Marriott or even Travel. And that MVC has refused to answer any questions on the topic.

Well, after receiving the email from Vistana about the same change regarding credit card processing fees, I paid my Sheraton Flex MFs a few days ago. From what I understand Sheraton/Westin/Vistana uses the exact same payment processor as MVC. I used my Chase Marriott Boundless card. On the charge summary on the Chase app it shows merchant type coded as timeshares and category as travel; when I look in my Marriott Bonvoy account I definitely got the 6x points.

 

[dioxide45]

Well, after receiving the email from Vistana about the same change regarding credit card processing fees, I paid my Sheraton Flex MFs a few days ago. From what I understand Sheraton/Westin/Vistana uses the exact same payment processor as MVC. I used my Chase Marriott Boundless card. On the charge summary on the Chase app it shows merchant type coded as timeshares and category as travel; when I look in my Marriott Bonvoy account I definitely got the 6x points.

But I don't think Vistana has started charging the fee. We don't know if they will continue to use the existing third party processor or are moving to a different company completely. I know when Hyatt Vacation Club made similar changes in 2024, charges were not initially processed as Hyatt for World of Hyatt Credit Card holders to get the 4 point multiplier. Chase eventually fixed it.

Also to note. When you make a payment on the Vistana website, it redirects you to FreedomPay. I don't think the Marriott Vacation Club payment system does that.

 

[dioxide45]

We actually don’t know that. We do know that the third party credit card processor now used by the Ritz Carlton Club doesn’t code as Marriott or even Travel. And that MVC has refused to answer any questions on the topic.

Have people tried taking it up with Chase? I know Hyatt owners had this issue back in 2024 and Chase eventually fixed it.

 

[sponger76]

But I don't think Vistana has started charging the fee. We don't know if they will continue to use the existing third party processor or are moving to a different company completely. I know when Hyatt Vacation Club made similar changes in 2024, charges were not initially processed as Hyatt for World of Hyatt Credit Card holders to get the 4 point multiplier. Chase eventually fixed it.

Also to note. When you make a payment on the Vistana website, it redirects you to FreedomPay. I don't think the Marriott Vacation Club payment system does that.

Yeah I didn't get charged a processing fee, but I thought the payment system was different from last year and figured it was the new one they were referencing. So maybe there will be issues going forward after all. Did not realize it was in fact different from the MVC system. I'm glad that for this year at least my Sheraton Flex payments got the points, still waiting for other MF statements to come in and see if those payments go differently. I guess I'll also have to wait and see if they come at me after the fact for processing fees for the the fees I've already paid.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I took a guess this year's MF and prepaid it last week. Guess I will find out how it codes if I end up with a small balance due.

Though I am pretty sure any changes to way it codes will be widely discussed here and on FB.

 

[winger]

I have a credit card that rebates back 2% in cash on credit card charges every month. So, I will pay with that card and absorb the difference. Am I the only one who values cash as better than points?

It is some comfort that there is an attempt to reduce maintenance fees. I hope they are as deliberate about reducing other expenses.

I don't see why not just pay the MF with cash in your case because end of the day you are still paying the 3%?

 

[Huskerpaul]

I signed up for a new AMEX Bonvoy BIZ card and prepaid the MF on my three weeks. With the SUB and P2 referral I will earn over 20x Bonvoy points on the payments.

 

[DRH90277]

I don't see why not just pay the MF with cash in your case because end of the day you are still paying the 3%?

Not quite so. First, the charge is up to 3% and in many states they are limited by the actual cost. I suspect the charge will be around 2.4% depending on the state limits. The Credit Card free financing brings me to near break even as I pay off the credit card every month. So the small spread from my rebate is ok for me. Understand, our family trust is heavy into Marriott timeshare and this may not matter to many.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I still have not personally received or heard of how this 3% CC fee will effect legacy weeks owners. I just made my 3rd advance payment towards 2027 for an Amex Bonvoy bonus points offer and there was no 3% fee in sight.

I'd rather not pay in advance, really about 90 days in advance, but will do so to max the points one more year.

 

[dioxide45]

I still have not personally received or heard of how this 3% CC fee will effect legacy weeks owners. I just made my 3rd advance payment towards 2027 for an Amex Bonvoy bonus points offer and there was no 3% fee in sight.

I'd rather not pay in advance, really about 90 days in advance, but will do so to max the points one more year.

Westin Flex, Sheraton Flex and Club Point trust owners were only notified a few days before they started receiving either MF bills or estimated budgets. I suspect the same might be true for deeded weeks owners. The problem is that our bills don't come out until much later in the year. I think we don't get some of ours until November. Deeded week owners may not start to be told of the new fee for quite a while.

 

[MOXJO7282]

The problem is that our bills don't come out until much later in the year. I think we don't get some of ours until November. Deeded week owners may not start to be told of the new fee for quite a while.

I think it's such a tone deaf way to notify owners of an important change to how we pay our bills. Did they not realize, or just don't care that it would be very poorly received by owners?

 

[MikeM132]

Westin Flex, Sheraton Flex and Club Point trust owners were only notified a few days before they started receiving either MF bills or estimated budgets. I suspect the same might be true for deeded weeks owners. The problem is that our bills don't come out until much later in the year. I think we don't get some of ours until November. Deeded week owners may not start to be told of the new fee for quite a while.

How do you pay deeded week MF in advance? I usually don't even get the statement of how much it will be until December. Do you just go on the website and pay like the same as last year assuming it won't be less than that? Never considered that until now. I know Grand Vista used to ask you (in the stuff they mailed) to not pay by CC as the fee was high, but I think they add in a line item for this now in the fee. I always got a bunch of points from this every year until now.

 

[davidvel]

I think it's such a tone deaf way to notify owners of an important change to how we pay our bills. Did they not realize, or just don't care that it would be very poorly received by owners?

I don't think it is poorly received by all owners. I think it is great.