"Hello HOTELS" Speculation Thread [MERGED]

[TugSavesMoney]

[Moderator Note: This thread is a merge of several threads over the last year or so that discussed the Hello HOTELS program before it was introduced. Now that it's live this thread is being locked. The discussion continues here: [Hello HOTELS] Booking Hotels With Abound Points is Live ... <-- SueDonJ

Hi All,

In a Virtual presentation they mentioned in 2025 that MVC points will be able to go directly to booking any Marriott hotel worldwide. I tried to search the subject but came up empty.

Is this true and is anyone optimistic that the conversion will be even remotely reasonable?

In theory, if Marriott can make it attractive enough for owners to use then they can book and rent out weeks themselves. My fear is then they grab really nice weeks and those are never available for the average owner.

 

[jwalk03]

If the salesman's lips were moving...

Its a total lie.

 

[dioxide45]

I heard this at a presentation a while back too. It is certainly possible that they could allow for some type of cross booking using Club Points into Marriott hotel properties that are available on Marriott.com. There are currently some offerings in the Explorer Collection. That said, any type of conversion of points for this type of transaction is not going to be in your favor. MVC has to convert your points to inventory that it can rent and then book those hotels for you to stay in with cash. These are rarely a good deal.

 

[Dean]

Hi All,

In a Virtual presentation they mentioned in 2025 that MVC points will be able to go directly to booking any Marriott hotel worldwide. I tried to search the subject but came up empty.

Is this true and is anyone optimistic that the conversion will be even remotely reasonable?

In theory, if Marriott can make it attractive enough for owners to use then they can book and rent out weeks themselves. My fear is then they grab really nice weeks and those are never available for the average owner.

IMO there's no way that any exchange option will be of reasonable value when the rooms have to be converted to cash on both ends. This includes cruises, tours, etc. There might be a situation where one has use or lose points or a specialty option where the cash price has gone so high that it's workable but those are very rare situations and likely don't happen at all for most options and certainly not with demand pricing. Remember, they don't have access to special inventory and are basically paying cash for the end point option then they have to concert the timeshare to cash and several people have their hand out along the way. Just compare the cash price to the value of a point for the same or a comparable option. Even just looking at the maint fees and you'll get a good idea.

 

[Venter]

Here is the link to book hotels once you are signed into MVC: https://owners.marriottvacationclub.com/timeshare/mvco/hotelandluxuryresidence

You have to call to book. Value is not good and there is limited choice.

I don't believe this will be an all online and all hotels worldwide option, ever. There is no way Marriott IT will pull it off.

 

[bazzap]

It is now some 3 years since we were first told at a sales presentation that all Marriott hotels would soon be bookable with DC / Abound points.
I am still waiting!

 

[ljmiii]

IMO there's no way that any exchange option will be of reasonable value when the rooms have to be converted to cash on both ends....

I agree completely. There is no real reason for 'instant' conversion from Abound Points to Bonvoy Points not to happen...nor is there any reason to expect that the conversion rate will be anywhere near close to reasonable (except perhaps for Abound Points about to expire). And if MVC did add this exchange option there is every reason to expect them to introduce as a benefit for higher tiers only as an added incentive to buy more.

But as others have said, it's been promised for a while and hasn't happened yet.

 

[LeslieDet]

In a Virtual presentation they mentioned in 2025 that MVC points will be able to go directly to booking any Marriott hotel worldwide. I tried to search the subject but came up empty.

No, it has never applied to "any" of the Marriott hotels worldwide. This has been available for at least the past 6 years. The hotels that participate do change, and there has been an increase in variety of hotels, however, it still seems to require a large quantity of Club Points to make the bookings, negating any "value".

 

[Fasttr]

Just heard this again at a presentation at MCS. I laughed and said I have been hearing this for at least 2 years now. Sales manager said all contracts have been signed and they are just beta testing the rollout, as he claimed we will all have the ability to book any Marriott in the world via Abound points, and will be able to do so via the MVC site, without need to call an advisor like current Explorer Collection offerings. He claimed latest rollout date they were given was end of April 2025…but he did say nothing requiring MVC IT is usually on time. He also agreed the value is likely to be a step down from the value of using Abound points directly booking MVC locations.

 

[davidvel]

How could it ever not be a better deal to book with cash? They are not going to "lose" money letting you book with points.

 

[jwalk03]

If their lips are moving…

I firmly believe this is never happening. And even if by some miracle it ever does I’m sure the exchange rate will not be advantageous.

 

[jwalk03]

WOW- Geller just said on the quarterly earnings call that this Summer they plan to launch the ability for Points owners to use Abound points to book virtually ANY Marriott hotel online directly.

No info on what kind of exchange rate their will be- so the devil is in the details as always, but sounds like this is actually coming since this is not just a lie from some sales weasel.

 

[DanCali]

If true, I’m 99% sure the exchange rate will be one that most savvy owners will shy away from this option. Just like we have from the option to convert to Bonvoy points. I left one percent possibility for the option for me to be pleasantly surprised.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mjm1]

They’ve had a trial system in place for a while at a limited number of hotels. My FIL used it a couple of times. However, the exchange rate is not good. Just like other non-timeshare uses of points. But it does provide another use of points if one doesn’t care about that disadvantage.

 

[davidvel]

They’ve had a trial system in place for a while at a limited number of hotels. My FIL used it a couple of times. However, the exchange rate is not good. Just like other non-timeshare uses of points. But it does provide another use of points if one doesn’t care about that disadvantage.

Sure, who would care about spending way too much for something than they can get through alternative methods?

 

[dioxide45]

So the salespeople haven't been lying all these years...

 

[mjm1]

Sure, who would care about spending way too much for something than they can get through alternative methods?

Thanks for your helpful comment.

 

[dioxide45]

They’ve had a trial system in place for a while at a limited number of hotels. My FIL used it a couple of times. However, the exchange rate is not good. Just like other non-timeshare uses of points. But it does provide another use of points if one doesn’t care about that disadvantage.

I understand that those hotels had individual contracts with Marriott Vacations to facilitate the points transactions. A new system would have to be an agreement between Marriott International and Marriott Vacations for owners to use Club Points. In the end, Marriott Vacation Club still has to book the hotel with cash and then Marriott Vacations has to take those points and rent inventory to cover their costs and any breakage.

 

[dioxide45]

The markets must have liked this news! VAC stock is up quite a bit since they released their Q1 earnings.

 

[bazzap]

This is certainly the first time I can recall mention being made of this through any official corporate channels, so perhaps it may finally happen?
The “trial”, as mentioned, has been running for many years now though and resort sales staff have been talking about the imminent rollout to include most if not all Marriott hotels for at least 5 years now without it ever happening.
We will see.

 

[dioxide45]

This is certainly the first time I can recall mention being made of this through any official corporate channels, so perhaps it may finally happen?
The “trial”, as mentioned, has been running for many years now though and resort sales staff have been talking about the imminent rollout to include most if not all Marriott hotels for at least 5 years now without it ever happening.
We will see.

It is the first official word, so I would fully expect it to be happening. I don't think the existing hotels through the Explorer Collection is a "trial". I suspect there will be some calculation that happens where they assign a value per point and then use a cash rate for the room to determine the number of points. It could also be a Club Point to Bonvoy point ratio that they use to determine the number of points to book using Club Points.

 

[bazzap]

It is the first official word, so I would fully expect it to be happening. I don't think the existing hotels through the Explorer Collection is a "trial". I suspect there will be some calculation that happens where they assign a value per point and then use a cash rate for the room to determine the number of points. It could also be a Club Point to Bonvoy point ratio that they use to determine the number of points to book using Club Points.

Although, when it does become available, it will almost inevitably be a relatively poor usage of Points I may still find it to be a welcome usable option sometimes as a UK resident owner to get access to many more short haul locations we like to visit

 

[DanCali]

The markets must have liked this news! VAC stock is up quite a bit since they released their Q1 earnings.

I am not sure that will change the long-term trend given that it was at $160 in early 2023 and it's at $65 now even after the 10% gain today. They need to sell points to move the needle and between the high MFs and low resale value that's a hard sell even to the less informed buyers.

 

[jellen613]

WOW- Geller just said on the quarterly earnings call that this Summer they plan to launch the ability for Points owners to use Abound points to book virtually ANY Marriott hotel online directly.

No info on what kind of exchange rate their will be- so the devil is in the details as always, but sounds like this is actually coming since this is not just a lie from some sales weasel.

Our presentation in mid April she said it would be live May 1st. She said starting as low as 150 MVC points for Fairfield type level, then dynamic pricing from there. I think many people will use points this way, I will be hard pressed to as the math except for in a few cases does not work in my favor.

 

[jellen613]

This is certainly the first time I can recall mention being made of this through any official corporate channels, so perhaps it may finally happen?
The “trial”, as mentioned, has been running for many years now though and resort sales staff have been talking about the imminent rollout to include most if not all Marriott hotels for at least 5 years now without it ever happening.
We will see.

We were told in April it will roll out to all 7200+ (I think that was the number) Marriott hotel properties.