Just Purchased in the Abound program @ Ko Olina

[txp415]

Just spent a week a Ko Olina and sat through the new presentation into the abound trust point system. I was a originally a Platinum deeded week at the Grand Chateau who then converted to be able to us the MVC exchange company. We had previously canceled buying into the trust points system in 2019. This time around it was presented as the abound trust point system. The newly added Westin and Sheraton vacation resorts would be added to the system and that would gain priority since all our points would be available in the new point system Abound. We purchased the minimum of 1000 points and received a bonus of 1000 each for 2 years snd bank them for 2 years. The purchase did not change my membership and is just wondering if buying trust resell points would also grandfather me into the abound program or is it something completely new? Clock is ticking!

 

[jabberwocky]

Just spent a week a Ko Olina and sat through the new presentation into the abound trust point system. I was a originally a Platinum deeded week at the Grand Chateau who then converted to be able to us the MVC exchange company. We had previously canceled buying into the trust points system in 2019. This time around it was presented as the abound trust point system. The newly added Westin and Sheraton vacation resorts would be added to the system and that would gain priority since all our points would be available in the new point system Abound. We purchased the minimum of 1000 points and received a bonus of 1000 each for 2 years snd bank them for 2 years. The purchase did not change my membership and is just wondering if buying trust resell points would also grandfather me into the abound program or is it something completely new? Clock is ticking!

What do you mean by “grandfather”? It sounds like you already get Abound points with your Grand Chateau week. If you buy resale points they are just like developer purchased points once you pay the $3/pt junk fee.

 

[Fasttr]

You do not need to buy points to have access to the new Sheraton/Weston resorts. If you are an enrolled MVC owner already, you will also be an enrolled member in Abound with no need to buy anything. They just changed the name and added new resorts. If your purchase was not to climb to a new ownership level, I would certainly rescind.

 

[txp415]

So to confirm my Grand Chateau week that I chose (every year or a week at my home resort) to convert to points are already part of the ABOUND program and will have access to all the properties that are being added into the points trust system. Thank you all your help!

 

[jabberwocky]

So to confirm my Grand Chateau week that I chose (every year or a week at my home resort) to convert to points are already part of the ABOUND program and will have access to all the properties that are being added into the points trust system. Thank you all your help!

Yes. The properties have not yet been added, but you will be able to book later this year using points.

 

[dougp26364]

Sounds like you were given a variation of “buy trust points to supercharge your existing legacy week points”. If he so,d you points on the idea that they’ll somehow magically show you more options, then you were lied too. Your legacy week points will see everything pure trust points see. We’ve owned strictly legacy points and a few years ago bought trust points. There has been no difference in what we can or can’t see and book.

Yes there are “two buckets” of inventory with legacy weeks and trust points, but Marriott blends them so seamlessly that it’s highly unlikely anyone will ever notice.

 

[emeryjre]

The new way to spin a sales presentation. Same wine, new label.

 

[BreakingAway]

So to confirm my Grand Chateau week that I chose (every year or a week at my home resort) to convert to points are already part of the ABOUND program and will have access to all the properties that are being added into the points trust system. Thank you all your help!

What did you pay for 1000 Abound points (and the 2000 temporary points) retail? To decide whether to keep the points or give them back to Marriott, I would compare the cost I paid retail vs. resale trust points. So, if it were me, I would rescind if I paid more than $4.00 per point plus $3.00 per point Marriott profit or $7.00 per point for a total of $7,000. Maybe I would value the 2000 single use points at $2,000, maybe a little more. So if I paid more than $9,000, I would rescind. Another way I would think about it is to calculate how many additional points I could purchase with the extra money I would have paid Marriott for 1000 points. Just my thoughts.

 

[jwalk03]

You should rescind. As others have mentioned you will already be able to access the Sheraton & Westin resorts with your enrolled week points (once they actually become available to book which has been an ever evolving target!) If you need more points buy resale for ~$7 pp all-in.

 

[rthib]

Unless you paid $7/points, rescind.
You do not need to buy points to make your enrolled points work but even if you did - resale points are $3to$4 + $3 junk for $7.
Once you pay junk fee they are just like developer points. I bought mine to move up level.
And speaking of levels, make sure you understand booking windows and how many points you will need for where and when you want to go.

 

[winger]

You should rescind. As others have mentioned you will already be able to access the Sheraton & Westin resorts with your enrolled week points (once they actually become available to book which has been an ever evolving target!) If you need more points buy resale for ~$7 pp all-in.

A neighbor just came back from a presentation. They are enrolled but do not have trust points. They were promised purchasing into the trust will give them access to all newly added properties and trust points going forward, whereas enrolled members will not see those properties and trust points.

Being Marriott as big as they are, are they putting themselves out there as a HUGE target for huge class action(s) for lying in the process of selling property ? Or have people tried?

 

[jwalk03]

A neighbor just came back from a presentation. They are enrolled but do not have trust points. They were promised purchasing into the trust will give them access to all newly added properties and trust points going forward, whereas enrolled members will not see those properties and trust points.

Being Marriott as big as they are, are they putting themselves out there as a HUGE target for huge class action(s) for lying in the process of selling property ? Or have people tried?

Timeshare sales people have been telling these lies for ever. Big timeshare companies have really good lawyers too.

 

[rthib]

Being Marriott as big as they are, are they putting themselves out there as a HUGE target for huge class action(s) for lying in the process of selling property ? Or have people tried?

They can tell you anything they want. They cover themselves legally with the language in the documents that tell you that only the details in the documents are what you are buying and you agree to that. People have tried a few times suing Marriott and they went nowhere,
Also the reason why if they promise anything, you should ask “where is that in writing.”

 

[rickandcindy23]

I hope the OP comes back to clarify what they paid for that meager # of points. I would be interested to know what they found so intriguing. Salespeople lie, but Marriott salespeople are usually not quite as sleazy.

 

[winger]

They can tell you anything they want. They cover themselves legally with the language in the documents that tell you that only the details in the documents are what you are buying and you agree to that. People have tried a few times suing Marriott and they went nowhere,
Also the reason why if they promise anything, you should ask “where is that in writing.”

LOL maybe next time I sit through an update, I will take out my recorder and ask for permission to record our interaction so I would not need to be actively taking notes and refer back to if I ever had questions

 

[Pamplemousse]

Not to take this thread too far off track (although OP seems to have received their answer unanimously!)-but for you tech savvy folks-
Do you think it’s even possible for MVC to set up so elected points can only exchange into units derived from electing with no access to trust inventory? Could they separate that completely?
Doing so would exclude enrolled weeks owners from the “new” resorts where weeks were no sold- and that was a major pitch for trying to sell us points 7 years ago.
Given the state of their website for many months now that seems like it would be a huge technical nightmare.
That might be a fun question to ask a sales person.

 

[winger]

Not to take this thread too far off track (although OP seems to have received their answer unanimously!)-but for you tech savvy folks-
Do you think it’s even possible for MVC to set up so elected points can only exchange into units derived from electing with no access to trust inventory? Could they separate that completely?
Doing so would exclude enrolled weeks owners from the “new” resorts where weeks were no sold- and that was a major pitch for trying to sell us points 7 years ago.
Given the state of their website for many months now that seems like it would be a huge technical nightmare.
That might be a fun question to ask a sales person.

I venture yes, it is possible. As long as a human can manually come up with some rules to do the sorting/filtering, a machine (reservation system) can be updated to do the same. The question is whether Marriott is willing to spend the money to get the system setup correctly to work as intended, and potentially angry quite a few existing members in the process.

 

[JIMinNC]

Not to take this thread too far off track (although OP seems to have received their answer unanimously!)-but for you tech savvy folks-
Do you think it’s even possible for MVC to set up so elected points can only exchange into units derived from electing with no access to trust inventory? Could they separate that completely?
Doing so would exclude enrolled weeks owners from the “new” resorts where weeks were no sold- and that was a major pitch for trying to sell us points 7 years ago.
Given the state of their website for many months now that seems like it would be a huge technical nightmare.
That might be a fun question to ask a sales person.

The answer is yes they do have the capability, and it can and has already happened - by fulfilling the reservation directly out of the Trust rather than the MVC Exchange Company. Several TUGgers a while back (a couple years maybe?) reported their Points reservation confirmations noted the source of their reservation was the "MVC Trust". That means the reservation was fulfilled directly from the Trust, and only Trust owners with Trust points can book reservations directly out of the Trust (just like Weeks owners can only book a week at the resort they own). Those cases were few and far between, however, and may have been exclusively between 13 and 12 months out, but others will have to confirm the details. In practice, it appears almost all reservations are fulfilled out of the MVC Exchange Company (confirmations read "MVC Exchange"), meaning that MVC deposits most Trust inventory into the Exchange to be bookable by all DC/Abound members. But, the question posed was CAN MVC limit Trust inventory only to Trust points? That answer is certainly yes, because they have done it.

 

[txp415]

Also when looking at the properties via the MVC website they now have property indicators stating if they are Trust and or Exchange icons next to them. With none of them showing Trust only. Looks like I will be rescinding but I see ABOUND and MCV having their own section in the paperwork. Without much benefit of my pints purchase it doe snot make sense to sick with it. I have been happy with my results of my deeded week/4850 points a year. Thank you everyone for your quick response and I appreciate all your insight on the purchase. Definitely paid more than the resale price. Looking forward to staying at Ko Olina again in November. Hopefully I receive to renovated rooms in the
Hale Nai‘a tower!! Mahlo everyone.

 

[JIMinNC]

Also when looking at the properties via the MVC website they not have property indicators stating if they are Trust and or Exchange icons next to them. With none of them showing Trust only. Looks like I will be rescinding but I see ABOUND and MCV having their own section in the paperwork. Without much benefit of my pints purchase it doe snot make sense to sick with it. I have been happy with my results of my deeded week/4850 points a year. Thank you everyone for your quick response and I appreciate all your insight on the purchase. Definitely paid more than the resale price. Looking forward to staying at Ko Olina again in November. Hopefully I receive to renovated rooms in the
Hale Nai‘a tower!! Mahlo everyone.

Newer US properties (opened since 2010) are all Trust owned. You are correct that there is no indication of this, but all of the MVC Pulse locations, plus Waikoloa Ocean Club in Hawaii are totally Trust-only owned - no weeks were ever sold there. All other resorts are a mix of weeks owned by individual owners and plus weeks owned by the Trust. That distinction, however, is mostly meaningless, however, as I mentioned above, all inventory generally gets co-mingled in the MVC Exchange so it can be booked by any Points owner.

 

[winger]

Newer US properties (opened since 2010) are all Trust owned. You are correct that there is no indication of this, but all of the MVC Pulse locations, plus Waikoloa Ocean Club in Hawaii are totally Trust-only owned - no weeks were ever sold there. All other resorts are a mix of weeks owned by individual owners and plus weeks owned by the Trust. That distinction, however, is mostly meaningless, however, as I mentioned above, all inventory generally gets co-mingled in the MVC Exchange so it can be booked by any Points owner.

just da fats point, I am enrolled only (no Trust points) and I can see Waikoloa Ocean Club inventory (just checked as a test). 1bd and 2bds in May 2023

 

[frank808]

Also when looking at the properties via the MVC website they now have property indicators stating if they are Trust and or Exchange icons next to them. With none of them showing Trust only. Looks like I will be rescinding but I see ABOUND and MCV having their own section in the paperwork. Without much benefit of my pints purchase it doe snot make sense to sick with it. I have been happy with my results of my deeded week/4850 points a year. Thank you everyone for your quick response and I appreciate all your insight on the purchase. Definitely paid more than the resale price. Looking forward to staying at Ko Olina again in November. Hopefully I receive to renovated rooms in the
Hale Nai‘a tower!! Mahlo everyone.

If you want to, PM me when you are about to arrive and we can have a meet n greet. Will be in Naia for Thanksgiving week but will probably be in Kona for the other weeks of Nov.

Have a safe trip and have fun at MKO.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[bazzap]

Not to take this thread too far off track (although OP seems to have received their answer unanimously!)-but for you tech savvy folks-
Do you think it’s even possible for MVC to set up so elected points can only exchange into units derived from electing with no access to trust inventory? Could they separate that completely?
Doing so would exclude enrolled weeks owners from the “new” resorts where weeks were no sold- and that was a major pitch for trying to sell us points 7 years ago.
Given the state of their website for many months now that seems like it would be a huge technical nightmare.
That might be a fun question to ask a sales person.

If MVC were to do this though, there would be very limited incentive for Weeks only resort Owners to enrol or if already enrolled to elect their Weeks for Points?
This would effectively do the opposite and exclude (or at least severely constrain) Trust owners access to these resorts, all the European ones for example.
How would this benefit either MVC or all of us as Owners?

 

[Pamplemousse]

If MVC were to do this though, there would be very limited incentive for Weeks only resort Owners to enrol or if already enrolled to elect their Weeks for Points?
This would effectively do the opposite and exclude (or at least severely constrain) Trust owners access to these resorts, all the European ones for example.
How would this benefit either MVC or all of us as Owners?

Exactly.
But when sales people tell enrolled weeks owners they need to buy 1000 points so “all our points would be available in the new point system” that’s what they are saying.
So the answer the enrolled owners should give the sale person is you told me I’d have access to everything when I enrolled.

Now if they want to hold the Sheraton/Westin resorts separate and require purchased points to get access to them that’s another angle. But that’s not what I’ve been reading.

I‘ve read many posts about sales people saying you need to buy “1000 points” and also have friends with an enrolled week who was told 18 months ago that they need “1000 points”.
This concerted effort by the sales force to sell everyone just that number seems odd to me

 

[winger]

...

I‘ve read many posts about sales people saying you need to buy “1000 points” and also have friends with an enrolled week who was told 18 months ago that they need “1000 points”.
This concerted effort by the sales force to sell everyone just that number seems odd to me

It is the concept of selling something is better than nothing. Also, once a member buys a small amount of points, it's easier to persuade them later to buy more points to be able to make more bookings.