Has anyone enrolled a Vistana week yet…or gotten an offer to enroll a Vistana week?

[TravelTime]

In the Marriott sales offices, Marriott is starting to sell packages that enroll the Vistana weeks with the purchase of points or a hybrid week. I do not know if this is happening in the Vistana sales offices yet. I am asking the question about either office.

I am just curious if anyone has yet purchased Destination Points or a hybrid week convertible to DPs from Marriott and gotten their Vistana week enrolled and eligible for the launch in June?

If so, what did they tell you about the new program? Did they write in your contract that the Vistana week would be enrolled and how many points it would convert to if you elected points? How much did you need to spend to enroll the Vistana week and how many combined DPs did it result in?

I suspect the answer to this questions is No One but I thought I would ask. Or maybe the answer is No One has yet enrolled a week pre-launch but perhaps people would like to share what offers have been made so far? If so, then some of the above questions still apply especially how much did they say you need to spend to enroll your Vistana week and how many points would you end up with after enrollment between the new points plus the number of points your Vistana week is worth.

So, for example, if they said you needed to buy 1000 points at $15 pp, you would have needed to spend $15,000 and then they would have let you enroll a Vistana week worth 4000 points annually. So for $15,000 plus what you paid for the resale week, you would ended with 5000 total destination points.

 

[pchung6]

I received an email few days ago from Vistana sales that he wants to talk to me. I replied and told him I won't even consider anything until I know what the program looks like. Also I'm totally fine with Vistana. Everything Vistana offers is just better in my opinion and I have no interest in Marriott resorts beside Ko Olina. If they let me in cheap, yes, I might consider. If I have to spend $15k or more to enroll, I'm fine with what I own. My Marriott trader also serves me well to get Marriott exchange.

 

[remowidget]

..

 

[dioxide45]

Vistana is still selling Sheraton Flex, Westin Flex and whatever else they have sold to date. I am not aware you can buy DC points yet in a Vistana sales office. From all reports, the only thing you can do by buying is requalify/retro an unqualified purchase.

 

[mjm1]

Our recent experience at a Westin resort is exactly what @dioxide45 mentioned.

 

[DanCali]

So, for example, if they said you needed to buy 1000 points at $15 pp, you would have needed to spend $15,000 and then they would have let you enroll a Vistana week worth 4000 points annually. So for $15,000, you would have ended up with 5000 total destination points from that spend.

That may not be the best way to look at it.

In your example, you end up with 1000 points and an enrolled week that can be used as a week or you can elect points for it. You paid $15,000 for 1000 points that are worth $3000 on the resale market if you try to sell them. The $12,000 difference is your DC "enrollment fee".

You can think of that week as 4000 points if you want to elect points most years, but presumably that week also had an upfront cost. If it was a WKV 2BR Platinum (worth ~4000 DC points) then you may have paid $15K for it. In that case, your calculation should be that you paid $15K (week) + $15K (1000 points) which is $30K for 5000 points, or $6/point. Saying that "for $15,000, you would have ended up with 5000 total destination points from that spend" understates the actual cost (and is probably what a salesperson would want you to do).

 

[TravelTime]

That may not be the best way to look at it.

In your example, you end up with 1000 points and an enrolled week that can be used as a week or you can elect points for it. You paid $15,000 for 1000 points that are worth $3000 on the resale market if you try to sell them. The $12,000 difference is your DC "enrollment fee".

You can think of that week as 4000 points if you want to elect points most years, but presumably that week also had an upfront cost. If it was a WKV 2BR Platinum (worth ~4000 DC points) then you may have paid $15K for it. In that case, your calculation should be that you paid $15K (week) + $15K (1000 points) which is $30K for 5000 points, or $6/point. Saying that "for $15,000, you would have ended up with 5000 total destination points from that spend" understates the actual cost (and is probably what a salesperson would want you to do).

Yes I totally agree with you. I should have added that in. That is how I calculate it the cost per point.

 

[TravelTime]

Vistana is still selling Sheraton Flex, Westin Flex and whatever else they have sold to date. I am not aware you can buy DC points yet in a Vistana sales office. From all reports, the only thing you can do by buying is requalify/retro an unqualified purchase.

In the Marriott sales office, they are trying to enroll Vistana weeks already with a purchase of points or a hybrid week. I do not know about the Vistana offices. I updated my OP to reflect your point.

 

[dioxide45]

In the Marriott sales office, they are trying to enroll Vistana weeks already with a purchase of points or a hybrid week. I do not know about the Vistana offices. I updated my OP to reflect your point.

That is what they are saying, but I don't think they actually have the ability to do that. Unless someone else comes forward otherwise, as far as I know, there is no way to retro or requalify a Vistana week in VSN right now by purchasing DC points. Effectively, there is really no difference in how things work between now and before the "soft launch", except the embellishments.

 

[TravelTime]

That is what they are saying, but I don't think they actually have the ability to do that. Unless someone else comes forward otherwise, as far as I know, there is no way to retro or requalify a Vistana week in VSN right now by purchasing DC points. Effectively, there is really no difference in how things work between now and before the "soft launch", except the embellishments.

I assumed the contract would be drawn up and the Vistana week would added to the MVC account once the new program is launched since it can’t be added any sooner.

 

[dioxide45]

I assumed the contract would be drawn up and the Vistana week would added to the MVC account once the new program is launched since it can’t be added any sooner.

We really have no idea how the mechanics would work. I suspect it would just get requalified into VSN and then work through whatever mechanisms they use for Vistana owners to be able to elect DC Club Points. It may even require actual enrollment later as the transaction now might just be requalifying it making it eligible.

 

[TravelTime]

We really have no idea how the mechanics would work. I suspect it would just get requalified into VSN and then work through whatever mechanisms they use for Vistana owners to be able to elect DC Club Points. It may even require actual enrollment later as the transaction now might just be requalifying it making it eligible.

Yes I assumed it was the equivalent of re-qualifying with a direct Marriott purchase. I did not ask about the mechanics. I should have asked.

 

[DanCali]

We really have no idea how the mechanics would work. I suspect it would just get requalified into VSN and then work through whatever mechanisms they use for Vistana owners to be able to elect DC Club Points. It may even require actual enrollment later as the transaction now might just be requalifying it making it eligible.

This would require a Marriott sales office having Vistana paperwork to requalify weeks, and salespeople being trained on how to fill it out (there may be buyers who would accept less, but I wouldn't) and a buyer trusting that they know what to do with it... I sincerely doubt all that is in place.

I suspect there are many who would be satisfied with verbal promises but given that a buyer doesn't have much recourse after 10 days if stuff isn't in writing, it'd be unwise IMO to accept anything less.

Having actually done all that in a Vistana sales office, I can add that the retro process itself is somewhat vague and I also had to get a copy of some internal paperwork that the salesperson used to requalify my weeks. Otherwise, the only "official" thing I got with the sales paperwork is something saying I would be 5-Star Elite and listing a bunch of contracts that, along with the new purchase, "are already participating in the Network" - but nothing that said that they are actually allowing those resale contracts to fully participate in the network (to me this was more of a retro/resale distinction, not mandatory/voluntary).

At the risk of sounding like a salesperson injecting a sense of urgency I will say to those like the OP, who might be eager to requalify weeks that convert to lots of points - assuming their belief is that mandatory resale weeks will require a purchase - I strongly suggest looking at the option to retro at the current Vistana $10K threshold (+$5K per additional week). The idea that, if a purchase is indeed required to enroll Vistana resale weeks, Marriott will allow weeks into the system for a mere 1000-Point purchase is ungrounded in history. I hope that changes going forward, but until now I heard of minimum purchases north of $30K to enroll resale weeks. Is that incorrect? Of course, it's still possible that the theory that mandatory resale weeks will be allowed in anyways materializes, but by the time we find out Vistana retro deals will be gone...

 

[timsi]

So, for example, if they said you needed to buy 1000 points at $15 pp, you would have needed to spend $15,000 and then they would have let you enroll a Vistana week worth 4000 points annually. So for $15,000 plus what you paid for the resale week, you would ended with 5000 total destination points.

Highway robbery.

 

[TravelTime]

This would require a Marriott sales office having Vistana paperwork to requalify weeks, and salespeople being trained on how to fill it out (there may be buyers who would accept less, but I wouldn't) and a buyer trusting that they know what to do with it... I sincerely doubt all that is in place.

I suspect there are many who would be satisfied with verbal promises but given that a buyer doesn't have much recourse after 10 days if stuff isn't in writing, it'd be unwise IMO to accept anything less.

Having actually done all that in a Vistana sales office, I can add that the retro process itself is somewhat vague and I also had to get a copy of some internal paperwork that the salesperson used to requalify my weeks. Otherwise, the only "official" thing I got with the sales paperwork is something saying I would be 5-Star Elite and listing a bunch of contracts that, along with the new purchase, "are already participating in the Network" - but nothing that said that they are actually allowing those resale contracts to fully participate in the network (to me this was more of a retro/resale distinction, not mandatory/voluntary).

At the risk of sounding like a salesperson injecting a sense of urgency I will say to those like the OP, who might be eager to requalify weeks that convert to lots of points - assuming their belief is that mandatory resale weeks will require a purchase - I strongly suggest looking at the option to retro at the current Vistana $10K threshold (+$5K per additional week). The idea that, if a purchase is indeed required to enroll Vistana resale weeks, Marriott will allow weeks into the system for a mere 1000-Point purchase is ungrounded in history. I hope that changes going forward, but until now I heard of minimum purchases north of $30K to enroll resale weeks. Is that incorrect? Of course, it's still possible that the theory that mandatory resale weeks will be allowed in anyways materializes, but by the time we find out Vistana retro deals will be gone...

You can get Marriott weeks enrolled for less than $30K if you buy a week through the Europe office. I did that 4 years ago. My cost per point was below $5 that way.

In terms of buying before the new program is rolled out, if you get an addendum to the contract, they will need to honor it. The risk is how the mechanics will work to enroll and what will the new rules be. And maybe no purchase of points will be needed to enroll.

However, if someone wants more points anyway, and can get them at $5-$7 pp through a hybrid package with Marriott in Europe, and $4 pp after taking into account the amount they paid for the week and the total points that result, then purchasing and enrolling is fine.

 

[dioxide45]

This would require a Marriott sales office having Vistana paperwork to requalify weeks, and salespeople being trained on how to fill it out (there may be buyers who would accept less, but I wouldn't) and a buyer trusting that they know what to do with it... I sincerely doubt all that is in place.

I suspect there are many who would be satisfied with verbal promises but given that a buyer doesn't have much recourse after 10 days if stuff isn't in writing, it'd be unwise IMO to accept anything less.

Having actually done all that in a Vistana sales office, I can add that the retro process itself is somewhat vague and I also had to get a copy of some internal paperwork that the salesperson used to requalify my weeks. Otherwise, the only "official" thing I got with the sales paperwork is something saying I would be 5-Star Elite and listing a bunch of contracts that, along with the new purchase, "are already participating in the Network" - but nothing that said that they are actually allowing those resale contracts to fully participate in the network (to me this was more of a retro/resale distinction, not mandatory/voluntary).

At the risk of sounding like a salesperson injecting a sense of urgency I will say to those like the OP, who might be eager to requalify weeks that convert to lots of points - assuming their belief is that mandatory resale weeks will require a purchase - I strongly suggest looking at the option to retro at the current Vistana $10K threshold (+$5K per additional week). The idea that, if a purchase is indeed required to enroll Vistana resale weeks, Marriott will allow weeks into the system for a mere 1000-Point purchase is ungrounded in history. I hope that changes going forward, but until now I heard of minimum purchases north of $30K to enroll resale weeks. Is that incorrect? Of course, it's still possible that the theory that mandatory resale weeks will be allowed in anyways materializes, but by the time we find out Vistana retro deals will be gone...

I agree. I don't think it is possible right now to requalify a Vistana week with a Marriott DC purchase. I think it is just a verbal promise and we know how good those are.

 

[DanCali]

In your example, you end up with 1000 points and an enrolled week that can be used as a week or you can elect points for it. You paid $15,000 for 1000 points that are worth $3000 on the resale market if you try to sell them. The $12,000 difference is your DC "enrollment fee".

You can think of that week as 4000 points if you want to elect points most years, but presumably that week also had an upfront cost. If it was a WKV 2BR Platinum (worth ~4000 DC points) then you may have paid $15K for it. In that case, your calculation should be that you paid $15K (week) + $15K (1000 points) which is $30K for 5000 points, or $6/point. Saying that "for $15,000, you would have ended up with 5000 total destination points from that spend" understates the actual cost (and is probably what a salesperson would want you to do).

You can get Marriott weeks enrolled for less than $30K if you buy a week through the Europe office. I did that 4 years ago. My cost per point was below $5 that way.

However, if someone wants more points anyway, and can get them at $5-$7 pp through a hybrid package with Marriott in Europe, and $4 pp after taking into account the amount they paid for the week and the total points that result, then purchasing and enrolling is fine.

The method of looking at cost/point we both referenced is valid only if you really think you will elect points for your week almost annually. But per my post above, I prefer to calculate the cost as an "enrollment fee" rather than looking at the week as if it were points because in the case of many Vistana owners having an enrolled week is more in the "nice to have" category. I can rent out a WKV week for $4500+ and use that to rent 6400 DC points, so electing 4050 DC points is highly suboptimal and something I would probably seldom choose to do.

What did you pay out of pocket for that Spain week, and how much is it worth on the resale market? That difference is your "enrollment fee" - excluding that Spain week, how many additional points (from your other weeks) did that enable you to enroll? If that number was $1/point I might consider it. But I suspect it's north of $2.5/point?

I do have a couple of unenrolled Marriott weeks that I might consider enrolling but the only way I would even consider that is via a week purchase, as you did in Europe, and only at a "reasonable cost". I dislike the points product itself (not to be confused with the DC exchange system, which I generally like) way too much to consider buying it and I doubt that enrolling my remaining unenrolled MVC weeks as part of such a transaction (31c to 44c MF/point) will make me feel any differently. And that's also because I can rent most of them for more than the value of the points they convert to.

 

[TravelTime]

The method of looking at cost/point we both referenced is valid only if you really think you will elect points for your week almost annually. But per my post above, I prefer to calculate the cost as an "enrollment fee" rather than looking at the week as if it were points because in the case of many Vistana owners having an enrolled week is more in the "nice to have" category. I can rent out a WKV week for $4500+ and use that to rent 6400 DC points, so electing 4050 DC points is highly suboptimal and something I would probably seldom choose to do.

What did you pay out of pocket for that Spain week, and how much is it worth on the resale market? That difference is your "enrollment fee" - excluding that Spain week, how many additional points (from your other weeks) did that enable you to enroll? If that number was $1/point I might consider it. But I suspect it's north of $2.5/point?

I do have a couple of unenrolled Marriott weeks that I might consider enrolling but the only way I would even consider that is via a week purchase, as you did in Europe, and only at a "reasonable cost". I dislike the points product itself (not to be confused with the DC exchange system, which I generally like) way too much to consider buying it and I doubt that enrolling my remaining unenrolled MVC weeks as part of such a transaction (31c to 44c MF/point) will make me feel any differently. And that's also because I can rent most of them for more than the value of the points they convert to.

All your points are valid for people who are willing to spend time renting their weeks. I have absolutely no desire to do that. I prefer to spend my time working part time because I make a lot more money that way and then I can afford to buy expensive DPs. LOL

I do elect DPs every year. I really hate owning a week where my choices are using it, renting it out or using II. None of these options are attractive to me. In the rare years where I want to use my week, then I will not elect points just for that year. However, I do not think I have ever used my enrolled week as a week.

Next year I am forcing myself to go to Maui because it is an odd year and my choice is to use my Maui week or rent it out. I rented it out last time and I did not enjoy doing it. I lost 81,000 SOs last year too because the options of where to go within Vistana that interested me were not practical to visit during Covid.

My goal now is to get enough points for Chairman’s Club level and for what we need to travel in 2BRs with ocean views in high season (if we want high season) anywhere within the new MVC system. I want to buy DPs at a reasonable cost per point so I do not feel like I am totally throwing my money into a money pit.

If the options to enroll my week are not attractive after the launch, then I will sell my Vistana week and get my $15K back, hopefully.

 

[VacationForever]

Why don't you pay $10K to buy Flex and qualify your Maui resale week?

 

[jabberwocky]

Why don't you pay $10K to buy Flex and qualify your Maui resale week?

A 67,100 EOY would do the trick and give you an extra 2100 DP points to elect every second year.

 

[VacationForever]

A 67,100 EOY would do the trick and give you an extra 2100 DP points to elect every second year.

How much does Vistana sell 67,100 Flex for, presumably Westin Flex? I would never buy Sheraton Flex.

 

[jabberwocky]

Not sure on current pricing, but we paid around $13k a few years ago for WFlex. That was all-in. There is a slight premium for and EOY, but if figured I wanted a usable size with lower MF rather than a smaller package that we wouldn’t be able to use.

67,100 gives a small 1BR or studio for a full week at most WFlex resorts in plat season which is why we went that way.

 

[DanCali]

How much does Vistana sell 67,100 Flex for, presumably Westin Flex? I would never buy Sheraton Flex.

Not sure on current pricing, but we paid around $13k a few years ago for WFlex. That was all-in. There is a slight premium for and EOY, but if figured I wanted a usable size with lower MF rather than a smaller package that we wouldn’t be able to use.

67,100 gives a small 1BR or studio for a full week at most WFlex resorts in plat season which is why we went that way.

Based in this thread as of a year ago it was 22,600 + closing costs for 67.1K EY Westin Flex. So $13K for an EOY package sounds right.

If the goal is to convert to DC Points anyway, then the number of points itself is somewhat immaterial - just getting to $10K and having an MF cost that is reasonable compared to DC Points.

Based on that same thread, the MF on those 67K Flex points is around $1600 annually (as of 2021). If that's equivalent 2100 DC points (stated in a prior post) that's a cost of around 76c per DP, which is considerably higher than the ~65c per DC Trust Point (point election "skim" doesn't help here). So that lower upfront cost does have a long-term price... Definitely something to consider - but to keep it in perspective, for an EOY package, we're talking about $120/year in extra MFs and potentially spending thousands less in upfront costs to retro.

As for the comment of "never buying Sheraton Flex" - why does that matter? The goal is to retro a WKORV OF week, right? Whatever you buy from Vistana, will be used to elect DC Points annually/biennially, right? So in the end it comes down to just doing it the most cost effectively. There are tradeoff with number of Options, points conversion, MF/point, resale value etc., but does it matter otherwise if for that $10K they sell you Sheraton, Flex, Westin Flex, or an EOY Orlando mandatory week (the latter may have the highest resale value)?

 

[jabberwocky]

Based in this thread as of a year ago it was 22,600 + closing costs for 67.1K EY Westin Flex. So $13K for an EOY package sounds right.

If the goal is to convert to DC Points anyway, then the number of points itself is somewhat immaterial - just getting to $10K and having an MF cost that is reasonable compared to DC Points.

Based on that same thread, the MF on those 67K Flex points is around $1600 annually (as of 2021). If that's equivalent 2100 DC points (stated in a prior post) that's a cost of around 76c per DP, which is considerably higher than the ~65c per DC Trust Point (point election "skim" doesn't help here). So that lower upfront cost does have a long-term price... Definitely something to consider - but to keep it in perspective, for an EOY package, we're talking about $120/year in extra MFs and potentially spending thousands less in upfront costs to retro.

As for the comment of never buying Sheraton Flex - why does that matter? The goal is to retro a WKORV OF week, right. Whatever you buy from Vistana, will be used to elect DC Points annually, right? So in the end it comes down to just doing it the most cost effectively. Does it matter if they sell you Sheraton, Flex, Westin Flex, or an EOY Orlando week (all have zero resale value)?

I think that $1600 includes the VSN fee. In our case we have more than two units, so we don’t have to pay anything for the additional VOI. Our MF on the EOY WFlex package is $705 or $1410 annualized. That’s around 67 cents per DP equivalent - so pretty close there.

 

[TravelTime]

Why don't you pay $10K to buy Flex and qualify your Maui resale week?

Would this be simply to qualify the week or would I get something that converts to DPs for it too? I would prefer to buy more DPs at a reasonable cost and enroll my week. OTOH, if MVC lets us enroll for nothing or very low cost, then I might do that and not buy more DPs.