MVC Nights count towards elite status

[aka Julie]

Could you please provide a link which explains the elite levels? All I can find are references to nights stayed. I'm glad I'm reviewing this because I found one stay DH was not credited for, but also this: according to marriott.com, he needs "1 more night to requalify for silver level." However, according to your statement, he should already qualify for gold, regardless of the number of nights because of "5 events." So having a link to this information would be more helpful.

Thank you.

Here's the link to the section on the Marriott site where I found the info for Elite levels.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-benefits.mi

Since you mentioned DH had 5 events, below is the T&C for a "qualifying event":

Terms & Conditions

• You must be a Marriott Rewards member to earn Marriott Rewards points or airline miles
• Participating brands: Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Marriott Vacation Club International locations worldwide
• A signed group contract with the hotel sales/marketing department is required. Provide your Marriott Rewards account number to your sales representative
• Qualified events must have a minimum of 10 room nights for at least one night of the event (with or without catering) or be a catered only event
• Qualifying Meeting Charges - room block revenue, food, beverages, meeting room rental, coffee breaks, audiovisual equipment, flowers, props and decorations
• Excluded Meeting Charges - taxes, gratuities and service fees
• Airline miles and Marriott Rewards points cannot be earned for the same meeting

Here's the link to the "events" section:

http://www.marriott.com/meetings/rewards/travel.mi

Does he have a Marriott Visa credit card? Depending on which card (Silver or Black), you automatically get credited with 10 or 15 nights, thus attain Silver Elite status without ever staying any actual nights.

 

[rsnash]

Thanks. I had found that and edited my previous post as well. I mistook "event" to mean a reservation, but now realize it generally means a catered party or meeting.

 

[aka Julie]

Thanks. I had found that and edited my previous post as well. I mistook "event" to mean a reservation, but now realize it generally means a catered party or meeting.

I just edited my reply also.

He should get the Marriott Visa credit card -- get 10 or 15 nights credit by just having the card.

There have been several threads on TUG and the Marriott section of Flyer Talk that discuss the Marriott Visa card.

Here's a link to the Marriott section on Flyer Talk:

http://flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=427

 

[jerseyfinn]

Actually, I think that MVC started doing this last year as we received credit for all of our 2007 MVC stays last year, which in our case, amounted to 35 days. We did not receive days for an Interval exchange we made trading from one MVC resort to another MVC resort.

This is a great perk for us because we also do some additional non-TS travel stayinig at Marriott hotels. This gets us Gold status which is a huge plus when staying in London where breakfast can run $38 a person and you can eat in the concierge lounge gratis.

Barry

 

[pwrshift]

Actually, I think that MVC started doing this last year as we received credit for all of our 2007 MVC stays last year, which in our case, amounted to 35 days. We did not receive days for an Interval exchange we made trading from one MVC resort to another MVC resort.
Barry

I suspect you were lucky Barry as I didn't get credit for my own week (not an exchange) stay this July 4th week at MMC, perhaps because it started June 28.

Brian

 

[icydog]

I have to get them to retro two stays at the MFV for July 4th this year. I had two weeks back to back and no points in my MR accounts for these stays. Wow, 14 days of MR points!!

 

[jancurious]

I have been following this thread with quite some interest because if this works with getting my four weeks from January - July 2008 posted (submitting paperwork tomorrow) and some of my exchanges this fall/winter post by using greglouck's method, I will have 70 nights for 2008. Add that to the 15 nights for the credit card and I'm in platinum territory.

However, reading through the Marriott site on the various elite levels, I don't really see that much benefit for someone like us that usually stays in MVC properties. We won't benefit from the concierge floor/free breakfast, room upgrade, etc. very often. (But I'm sure we will always be picking Marriott hotels when we do use them!) Are there coupons or other things that platinum members receive that isn't spelled out on the website?

Jan

P.S. Thanks Mike for posting this information & starting this thread!

 

[jerseyfinn]

My own take on this move is that Marriott has recognized that over time, a relative devaluation has occurred within the MVC product as MR redemption requirements rise, and MVC MFs also rise. Both tend to work especially hard against a devloper purchaser who elects to exercise the MRP points option for their unit, but all MVC owners are adversely affected by this devaluation.

This new policy is not a save-all for all MVC owners, but it is indeed a nice perk for every MVC owner. Those who will benefit most are those MVC owners who are multiple week owners who occupy at their home resort. I'm especially curious about resorts such as Ocean Pointe where the average platinum season owner owns 5.5 weeks. Lets smooth that number out to six weeks and one could earn 42 nights credit. If I'm reading this staight up, these same owners who exercise their lock off option would earn 84 nights credit. Not a bad deal at all.

Of course this is a bit of a carrot and stick arrangement as your MR elite status is meaningless if you do not stay at Marriott hotel properties where you can reap the benefits of gold or platinum status. But hey, part of the MVC-Marriott paradigm has always involved integrating your timeshare travel into the Marriott hotel product. My wife and I recognized this fact long ago. We began traveling outside of our MVC ownership doing long weekend trips to places like London ( believe it or not, it's an easy trip from PHL to London ) and other destinations such as Arizona ( we're greying hikers ) or even Marriott.com off season stays at Ocean Pointe.

So we are folks who are definitely gonna run with this new policty and integrate our MVC ownership into non-TS travel to make gold and reap the benefits. My wife went out to San Diego on her own little run the other year and gold elite status gave her concierge access which made her trip easier and more enjoyable. Likewise myself when I take my dad to London a couple of years ago ( he's last there in WWII ) and we stay at the Marble Arch. Our concierge access was invaluable and our room UG to a double with just a bit more sitting space made that stay very special.

I don't expect handouts from Marriott as nothing is free in life, but I greatly appreciate the additional flexibility that they build into timeshare ownership rolled into the larger Marriott product.

I guess that the best advice is to sit down and plot out a travel strategy for 2009 where you can maximize your ownership benefits and meld it with your other travels. For some of us, it should not be too difficult since as MVC owners, we are inherently destination travel people.

Barry

 

[icydog]

Customer service at MR doesn't know anything about this new policy

Customer Service at the Marriott Rewards desk is telling me they do not know anything about this policy and that I should call Marriott Vacation Club to get it rectified. After insisting that this is a new policy she's put me on hold to determine if this is true. I don't believe she'll be coming back but I'll hold on for a few more minutes.

 

[elina]

Elite nights for exchange and AC

We exchanged back to our home resort June 27th - July 4th, we actually exchanged our studio for 1 bdr.
Also we used an AC for Marriott Ocean Club July 4th- July 11th.

We got 14 nights toward elite status and yesterday got our elite marriott rewards card on mail.

 

[Big Matt]

What did they say?

Customer Service at the Marriott Rewards desk is telling me they do not know anything about this policy and that I should call Marriott Vacation Club to get it rectified. After insisting that this is a new policy she's put me on hold to determine if this is true. I don't believe she'll be coming back but I'll hold on for a few more minutes.

 

[gregloucks]

LOL! I tried the approach that others suggested of submitting some retro stays to see if we would get lucky - one for Ko Olina and one for NCV. Not only did they not give me credit for the two stays I submitted, but they also removed seven nights credit for a different Ko olina stay in May that they had previously credited. I guess it serves me right for being greedy (all three were pre-June 30 exchanges)!

 

[dioxide45]

We just stayed on a getaway at Ocean Pointe and received elite night credit. We received 7 nights, even though we checked in a day late and left a day early.

 

[normab]

Just our experience over the past few years-

We seem to get credit about 75% of our stays--doesn't seem to matter if we are occupying or exchanging in. I always give the Marriott Reward number when we check in.

Not sure why some do, some don't!!