MARRIOTT OWNERS: Important Update to our Guest of Owner Policy from Marriott Vacation Clubs [Related thread in the TUG Vistana forum.]

[Hindsite]

But it does happen and I am in such a situation now, maybe for the first time in more than 20 years. I have reservations for the same week at both WKORV and MOC (I am a weeks owner at both properties.) My spouse and I will be staying at WKORV but have a bunch of family (like 15 people) coming at the same time, and they will be splitting themselves between multiple units at MOC, including the one I have reserved. I actually don't yet know which specific people are going to be staying in the unit I have reserved there, and I may not know until a couple of days before, there are a bunch of issues with who will be traveling and health and schedule issues where we may not know until right beforehand. So I will need to change the name on that room, kind of at the last minute, depending on who will actually occupy it.

Yep I can see that being an issue, but surely you have at least 1 person for each of the number of units you have that can be the guest who checks in for that unit and you can put that on a form or just 1 other person for all units? They don't need the details of all the people staying in advance or even whether people actually stay in which unit in the end. That can be sorted at check-in, or not at all.

Well done you for tolerating a level of chaos that I don't . As you say you can go to do the check-ins yourself that won't mean you end up getting into hot water over the ENCs as the people in each unit can have their info provided at check-in.

I hope you get grace from MVC and your family.

 

[Ixchel]

The link was there and it said the five business days verbiage which I didn't have. While I was booking the reservation, it simply did not like my state. The box kept going red. So I couldn't put her name even though they really don't give a hoot about the address at all. So I booked it in my name and called to switch it. They had to get permission and I still had to submit the form

There does seem to be a glitch with regards to the State input field when attempting to add guest name. It's being widely reported on Facebook MVC Owners groups.

 

[AlmostRetired]

I never got an email so if not for TUG, I was unaware of the 30 day window. I have a check-in today of a rental and one next week. I am sure I am not alone in having used Marriott.Com before they closed the loop hole and put the 30 day window in effect. During last week, I called the resort at different times to confirm the reservation on both rentals and the changed name is what the reservation is under in both cases.

I know resorts get the reservation information from MVCI or II, two to three weeks before check-in. I think this is as simple as resorts do not want to be responsible for changing reservation sent to them. The only way to ensure this is to put in place a process that prevents this. MVCI uses a electronic form that gets filled out and if the 21 days window to get reservation information to resorts is correct, they want 9 days to do their own process. It the 9 day window excessive, yes. *bleep* does happen so there needs to be an exception process.

 

[jwalk03]

I never got an email so if not for TUG, I was unaware of the 30 day window. I have a check-in today of a rental and one next week. I am sure I am not alone in having used Marriott.Com before they closed the loop hole and put the 30 day window in effect. During last week, I called the resort at different times to confirm the reservation on both rentals and the changed name is what the reservation is under in both cases.

I know resorts get the reservation information from MVCI or II, two to three weeks before check-in. I think this is as simple as resorts do not want to be responsible for changing reservation sent to them. The only way to ensure this is to put in place a process that prevents this. MVCI uses a electronic form that gets filled out and if the 21 days window to get reservation information to resorts is correct, they want 9 days to do their own process. It the 9 day window excessive, yes. *bleep* does happen so there needs to be an exception process.

I also didn’t get any email at all. So had no clue about this until I read about it here. I own multiple weeks but no points.

 

[TimGolobic]

There does seem to be a glitch with regards to the State input field when attempting to add guest name. It's being widely reported on Facebook MVC Owners groups.

This "glitch' is on purpose.

 

[JIMinNC]

Since the email from MVC references a benefit of the change being “streamlines…villa assignment procedures”, I am hoping that means if a unit is being occupied by a guest of the owner without the owner present, the guest-occupied units will be prioritized lower in specific unit assignment as they do with exchanges. This may help owners occupying their reservation get better unit assignments at places like Maui Ocean Club that have a lot of owner rental activity. If that is indeed the case that guests of owners won’t be treated as owners for room assignment purposes, that could be a big plus for owners who always occupy as we do.

 

[emeryjre]

I read through the letter I received as a Vistana owner
At Vistana.com it is the same process I have used for several years to change a name on a reservation
I have not done it with our Marriot Timeshare
Never had a need
But it sounds like a mess at this point
Hopefully it will get reviewed and cleaner solution will be found
Until then
Best of luck Marriot owners

 

[5finny]

"I learned something new today in response to thinking about the email from MVC regarding adding guest names 30 days or prior to check in and will share what I learned here. We have had guests join us many times in the past, but they have never checked in before us. I learned today that it is important to list the maximum number of guests that a unit holds when you book it if you want to easily add guest names using the online form later. For example, I have a reservation at St. John in November. Our daughter is joining us, but apparently I only said 2 people when searching the availability and booking the unit. So, the online form will only let me add one guest.
I called owner services and was told that the number of people booked as using a unit cannot be changed once it is booked. However, I was told that even though there is only a block to add one guest on the online form, I can submit multiple guest names by resubmitting the “Change arriving guest information” form multiple times up to the occupancy limit. We will see if that really works since the form is to change a guest, not add a guest.
I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me.
My contingency plan going forward is to always book the unit I want for the maximum number of guests allowed and submit names of family members who might be able to use the reservation at short notice if we are unable to go and do not want to use the insurance or cancel. Also, we have never rented any of our ownership and have no desire to."

I found this on a facebook site
I am not familiar with the site and the poster bases his info on a conversation he had with owner services
I have found that the advice I get from owner services is only as good as the advisor I am talking to so I am not sure that this is accurate but if accurate seems useful
Specically in my case if one of my adult children could not use a unit another could do so without issue as all are listed owners
Can anyone confirm or correct?

 

[Pink_Warrior]

I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me.

Well I found this to not be true. I could not check in to Village D'ile de France. We only had the one MVC login so it was under my husband's name. I could not check in. He had to send an email (1am his time) to verify that I could check in. This might be an unusual situation since it was out of the country so they needed all of the passports. It was also over that weekend when the system was down so I couldn't verify that I was an owner.

 

[kiko412]

"I learned something new today in response to thinking about the email from MVC regarding adding guest names 30 days or prior to check in and will share what I learned here. We have had guests join us many times in the past, but they have never checked in before us. I learned today that it is important to list the maximum number of guests that a unit holds when you book it if you want to easily add guest names using the online form later. For example, I have a reservation at St. John in November. Our daughter is joining us, but apparently I only said 2 people when searching the availability and booking the unit. So, the online form will only let me add one guest.
I called owner services and was told that the number of people booked as using a unit cannot be changed once it is booked. However, I was told that even though there is only a block to add one guest on the online form, I can submit multiple guest names by resubmitting the “Change arriving guest information” form multiple times up to the occupancy limit. We will see if that really works since the form is to change a guest, not add a guest.
I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me.
My contingency plan going forward is to always book the unit I want for the maximum number of guests allowed and submit names of family members who might be able to use the reservation at short notice if we are unable to go and do not want to use the insurance or cancel. Also, we have never rented any of our ownership and have no desire to."

I found this on a facebook site
I am not familiar with the site and the poster bases his info on a conversation he had with owner services
I have found that the advice I get from owner services is only as good as the advisor I am talking to so I am not sure that this is accurate but if accurate seems useful
Specically in my case if one of my adult children could not use a unit another could do so without issue as all are listed owners
Can anyone confirm or correct?

That is correct, search a resort using the minimum amount of guests so you will be able to see what is available, then re-search using the maximum amount of guests and add names to the additional guest field when booking so you won't have to use the change guest form later. Something I learned in the past, kind of an unwritten rule.

 

[BigDawgTUG]

That is correct, search a resort using the minimum amount of guests so you will be able to see what is available, then re-search using the maximum amount of guests and add names to the additional guest field when booking so you won't have to use the change guest form later. Something I learned in the past, kind of an unwritten rule.

Are you sure that works? I've been told that adding additional guests when booking online is not sufficient to enable them to check in without the primary guest/owner present.

 

[WBP]

You want to know where these rules come from, here you go (look at their mugshots, and imagine that you are at the Post Office):

https://ir.marriottvacationsworldwide.com/corporate-governance/management

https://ir.marriottvacationsworldwide.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors

 

[kiko412]

Are you sure that works? I've been told that adding additional guests when booking online is not sufficient to enable them to check in without the primary guest/owner present.

Personally, I've done it twice at Ko'olina the last 2 years when my relatives have checked in before us when our flights came in later. They did not have the same last name as we did and they had no problem checking in. Just my experience with that.

 

[BigDawgTUG]

Personally, I've done it twice at Ko'olina the last 2 years when my relatives have checked in before us when our flights came in later. They did not have the same last name as we did and they had no problem checking in. Just my experience with that.

I seriously doubt that will work anymore or, at best, be relied upon, and I seem to recall others stating in other threads that it now no longer works. It would make no sense for them to disable our ability to change the primary guest information, only to continue to permit a "back door" by adding additional guests when making the reservation.

 

[suzannesimon]

I think the answer may be to just bombard them with complaints and “what-if’s”. I remember when Vistana decided to charge its owners a fee for a guest certificate. They were snowed under with complaints and backed off in a couple of weeks deciding we would only be charged for Star Options reservations but not our owned weeks. Also they didn’t allow rental of Star Options weeks and we all know there is no way for them to police that.

 

[DebraR]

I recently used Redweek to rent an Abound week we couldn't use in Cancun. When I went to the guest form through the website (Vistana link taking you to Marriott) it gave me an odd security warning. I called the next day to make sure they actually got the name change and was told Vistana employees were not allowed to change reservation names on Marriott reservations. They sent my call over to Marriott and they confirmed they received the form but that guest name changes are done manually and that it can take a day or two before they actually get changes. You have to have name, address and phone number of the guest to make the change. Personally, I think there are still lots of bugs that need to be worked out between the two systems. The 30 day window may catch errors in name changes that might not get made manually.

 

[Docsdrillers]

This policy has to be illegal..you are already into a penalty withing 60 days if you haven't deposited yet.
Secondly,when covid hit us as Canadians i had to cancel my 3 weeks at Xmas within 5 days of my first arrival.Thankfully through Redweek i was able to rent out all 3 units.
Another year we had to cancel since i had Kidney stone surgery that prevented me from flying..if i'm paying 2900.00 in MF's for my deeded week i'd be beyond pissed if i couldn't rent it out last minute.

 

[KarenP]

What immediately came to mind after reading the policy change is interval’s use of guest certificates. If I have a reservation at a Marriott through interval, I can add a guest certificate up to the check in date. So why not just go through ii if you want to be able to change the reservation name up to the last minute? And what are the rules if you book a hotel room? Can you change the reservation name at the last minute still?

 

[AbelowDS]

This is an awesome thread! I never received this notification from Vistana or Marriott. If not for TUG, I'd have found this out the hard way Thank you.

I am curious to find out how this affects trades on interval International, both as the trader and as someone in receipt of a guest certificate.

 

[Hindsite]

I am curious to find out how this affects trades on interval International, both as the trader and as someone in receipt of a guest certificate.

No impact detected on II so far, given its been in place for a few months for MVC it is reasonable to assume it won't have an impact, but time will tell.
The problems MVC has with misuse of the reservation process are different from the problems II have with misuse of their reservation process, so the solutions will be different.
If you haven't picked up II have cut the point where you can do an e-plus retrade to 14 days before check-in, though full fee retrades still seem to work upto the day before check-in.

 

[Pink_Warrior]

That is correct, search a resort using the minimum amount of guests so you will be able to see what is available, then re-search using the maximum amount of guests and add names to the additional guest field when booking so you won't have to use the change guest form later. Something I learned in the past, kind of an unwritten rule.

So I just tried this and added my daughter under other guests. When I first tried to check out I got the red box not allowing the state again. This reservation is for next year so it wasn't the 30 day restriction. The reservation was still being held so I tried to check out again exactly as I had just done. It went right through.

 

[gwenkl]

This policy has to be illegal..you are already into a penalty withing 60 days if you haven't deposited yet.
Secondly,when covid hit us as Canadians i had to cancel my 3 weeks at Xmas within 5 days of my first arrival.Thankfully through Redweek i was able to rent out all 3 units.
Another year we had to cancel since i had Kidney stone surgery that prevented me from flying..if i'm paying 2900.00 in MF's for my deeded week i'd be beyond pissed if i couldn't rent it out last minute.

I so agree. I have 6 1/2 deeded weeks with Marriott (only 1 week was resale!). I also have a ton of destination points in addition to over 2 1/2 million Bonvoy points.
I have been an owner for over 20 years, so you know I pay/and have paid Marriott a lot of money over the years. In the last couple of years, I have had several medical problems pop up, preventing me from traveling. Most of the time I have been able to have friends use my weeks far in advance.
At my last purchase of Marriott points, the salesman pushed the rental aspect and had a full binder of lists for rental income and where and how to rent. The wall computer monitor also had a presentation for renting.
Recently, my health problems have made me need to use a rental company (first time!) to try and recoup some of the fees Marriott charges for 2 separate deeded weeks. WOW! Talk about jumping through hoops!
I also agree, that talking to someone on the phone can be a potluck as to the answer you get to almost any question you may have.
I didn't like it when they started with the FORM and I do not like the new enforcement of the 30 DAY rule!

 

[daviator]

Since the email from MVC references a benefit of the change being “streamlines…villa assignment procedures”, I am hoping that means if a unit is being occupied by a guest of the owner without the owner present, the guest-occupied units will be prioritized lower in specific unit assignment as they do with exchanges. This may help owners occupying their reservation get better unit assignments at places like Maui Ocean Club that have a lot of owner rental activity. If that is indeed the case that guests of owners won’t be treated as owners for room assignment purposes, that could be a big plus for owners who always occupy as we do.

I could not disagree more. When you reserve a week as an owner, the room location you get should not have anything to do with who is staying in the room.

I am all for cracking down on the commercial renters but room assignment on owner reservations is not and should not be related to who is staying in the room. Not sure how one would justify that.

 

[dioxide45]

I could not disagree more. When you reserve a week as an owner, the room location you get should not have anything to do with who is staying in the room.

I am all for cracking down on the commercial renters but room assignment on owner reservations is not and should not be related to room assignment. Not sure how one would justify that.

I would agree. If I opt to send a family member on my timeshare week, they should be treated just the same as I am.

 

[Wanderlustgrl]

I would agree. If I opt to send a family member on my timeshare week, they should be treated just the same as I am.

Yes! And we paid more to own rooms with a view or use more pts to guarantee a specific unit type or view. Our kids and now grandkids have been spoiled and know what to expect