MVC/Sheraton: Completely Lost Newbie

[Venter]

Lastly you can trade Abound points or Home Options through II. Your club fee includes the membership fees which resale weeks/points do not. Abound points will not be a good idea as you will not be able to trade into Marriott or Vistana properties.

Read the Flex point section for details on trading Home Options and seeing a chart of how many points needed for a trade. Here is the link: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/updated-flex-faq.309193/
If you plan a big special holiday you can deposit your 44 000 Home options at the end of the year(they are good to use for 2 years), then the next year deposit again and borrow from the following year. You now have 132 000 points in interval you can use. You can just deposit the amount you need to get up to 110 000 points and be able to trade into a 2 bedroom peak season and high demand area such as Hawaii. Your costs will probably be close to identical to those owning in Hawaii. Make sure to request a year out with some flexibility.

You bought developer as many of us did at first. Now go and learn how to use your ownership the best way it works for you and enjoy.

 

[TheKrizzz]

@Venter These posts are fantastic and explain a lot of the things I have been struggling to understand. I really appreciate you taking the time do these writeups!

 

[TheKrizzz]

@Venter - Thank you for the very detailed write up. (And everyone else who has contributed, of course!) This information is extremely helpful. At least I have a better undetstanding of what I have and what I can do with it. Since I couldn't really find anything that would work for my family for this year, I banked my StarOptions and I'm pretty sure I converted them to Club Points (which, if I am following you, are the same as Abound Points?). So next year, if I convert them again, I will have roughly 2,500 Abound Points and that should get me a pretty solid trip (most likely not to Hawaii, but no biggie there). And I can book that one year out, as long as I am staying for a week or more, or 10 months out for a shorter trip. Really appreciate all the help, and I'm open to any other thought or advice on how to best use this.

Couple of other questions:
1. I'm not sure if loading my points into Interval (probably not the correct terminology) is a good idea. Or how/why I would do that.
2. If there is a primer on how to buy/rent other people's points to supplement mine, that would be good to understand as well.

 

[DeniseM]

Banking and converting to Abound points (Marriott points) is not the same thing. When you bank your Vistana Home Options/Staroptions, you are simply extending their usage for 2 more years, in the Vistana system. Which is a good thing, but it doesn't sound like you converted to Abound. Again - I recommend that you learn how to use the Vistana system first.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Most of us have made a similar bad decision when it comes to TSing - moving forward, maximize your ownership. And do not buy more from Developer!

One of the biggest vacation bargains was buying certain Mandatory VOIs (pre-8/22) on the resale market, and a bonus if bought back in the SVO days.
TY TUG.

 

[frytard]

Hi @DeniseM - our goal was to travel internationally and stay at nice places with our kids. Another thing I've found is that the properties only seem to be beach type places, not cities, so if doesn't really help. Much for going to Rome or Frankfurt, unless I'm missing something.

Only Marriot's I can think of is Thailand Bangkok, Phuket and Bali for Asian Marriot resorts and Costa Rica for Central America. I do see Australia listed as well as MVC but have never seen it pop on on Interval International. I am not sure how star options work or if they are interval tradeable so someone can elaborate on that if its possible.

 

[dioxide45]

Only Marriot's I can think of is Thailand Bangkok, Phuket and Bali for Asian Marriot resorts and Costa Rica for Central America. I do see Australia listed as well as MVC but have never seen it pop on on Interval International. I am not sure how star options work or if they are interval tradeable so someone can elaborate on that if its possible.

StarOptions can't be traded in II. One can trade their underlying owned VOI. If one has qualified StarOptions (meaning bought prior to August 2022), then the VOI can be converted to Abound Club Points and used to make reservations at Marriott properties.

 

[TheKrizzz]

Again - I recommend that you learn how to use the Vistana system first.

@DeniseM - This is exactly what I am trying to do, but it seems exceptionally convoluted to me.

I am having the hardest time figuring out how these are all interrelated and exchanged.

• Home Options
• Star Options
• Club Points
• Abound Points

• When or why I would want to change them from one to the other?
• Do I use all of these within Vistana?
• How would I use these via Interval? I've tried searching for Exchanges in there and found virtually nothing.

I'm not trying to waste anyone's time here, but I just can't seem to get this stuff straight and I can't find a good primer that explains all of it. I have some bits and pieces from the other posts, but still don't have a clear picture.

 

[DeniseM]

Home Options - This is what you bought. It represents the point value of your timeshare ownership. It doesn't change from year to year, unless you add more points by buying them.

Star Options - Similar to Home options. In the past, before they developed Home Options, Vistana owners had Staroptions - and we still do. For example, I own a 2 bdm. Oceanview at Westin Ka'anapali and it is worth 148,100 Staroptions. If you wanted to make a Vistana reservation for WKORV, you would need 148,100 Home Options. So they are very similar. The difference is that you bought "pure points," and I bought a deeded week at WKORV that has Staroptions.

Club Points - I think this is a Marriott term, so I will let someone else define it.

Abound Points - A few years ago, Marriott bought out [the parent company, of] Vistana's management company. The two systems are not completely integrated - they are still more separate than together. If you are a Vistana owner with Home Options or Staroptions, you can convert to Abound points, and make reservations in the Marriott system. Some people like that - some people don't. Put me on the "don't" side. I think that your Vistana ownership has more value if you leave it in the Vistana system. YMMV

Interval International: II is an exchange company that many resorts and owners are affiliated with. It is completely separate from Vistana and Marriott. Common wisdom is that your Home Options have more value in Vistana, than they do in Interval. I do use Interval, but I deposit and exchange my timeshares that have no Staroptions - so I can't use them in Vistana. For example - I own a 2 bdm. Sheraton Desert Oasis (a Vistana resort.) It has no Staroptions - it's just a deeded week, that I can reserve at SDO. However, it is a strong exchanger in Interval, and has a low maintenance fee, so it works very well for Interval Exchanges.

Three things about Interval:
1) The best exchanges are made 12 or more months before check-in.
2) The best way to make an exchange is to put in an ongoing search, which is like waitlisting for the dates and resorts you want. These requests are filled first, before any inventory goes on line. So when you only look at the online availability, you only see the LEFTOVERS.
3) You don't own very many Home Options - with the number you have, you are most likely to see availability for studios and hotel units.

Using Vistana, Abound, and Interval International are 3 different options, with different rules. That's why I recommended that you get comfortable with Vistana first, and don't even worry about Abound or Interval, yet.

Keep reading this article and ask questions about what you don't understand - it's a lot to absorb: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/updated-flex-faq.309193/

Also, forget everything the sales person told you - they lie to make a sale.

 

[dioxide45]

Club Points - I think this is a Marriott term, so I will let someone else define it.

Club Points = Abound Points

They are one in the same.

 

[LeslieDet]

Club Points - I think this is a Marriott term, so I will let someone else define it.

Abound Points - A few years ago, Marriott bought out Vistana as the management company of all of the Vistana resorts. The two systems are not completely integrated - they are still more separate than together. If you are a Vistana owner with Home Options or Staroptions, you can convert to Abound points, and make reservations in the Marriott system. Some people like that - some people don't. Put me on the "don't" side. I think that your Vistana ownership has more value if you leave it in the Vistana system. YMMV

The cross brand access that allows owners to cross over from one brand to another, ie MVC to Westin, is called "Abound". The points one uses in the Abound program are called "Club Points".

No, Marriott Vacations Worldwide did not "buy out" Vistana as the management company, rather, MVW acquired the company, ILG, which was the parent corporation of Vistana. As part of that acquisition, MVW became the parent corporation of different entities, including Vistana and Interval International. There were other companies too, but they are not relevant for this discussion. The brands known as Westin Vacation Club and Sheraton Vacation Club remain in existence, as do the VOIs that Westin VC and Sheraton VC sold, and their ownership systems work just as before the acquisition, however, as of August 2022, the cross brand access program named Abound was rolled out. The cross brand access created a common currency for owners of the three types of timeshares to use to exchange usage. That currency is the Club Points. Owners of Westin and Sheraton VOIs were enrolled in the Abound program, and their VOIs were given a Club Point value. Owners have the ability to elect Club Points in lieu of using their owned VOI, and within the exchange that exists internally for MVC, Westin VC and Sheraton VC timeshare owners, then those Club Points can be used to book available inventory. .

 

[DeniseM]

I'm sure the OP will find your very detailed description of the corporate structure helpful in her quest to learn how to use her new timeshare.

 

[LeslieDet]

I'm sure the OP will find your very detailed description of the corporate structure helpful in her quest to learn how to use her new timeshare.

At least it is accurate. I would hope as well as expect that as a moderator you would strive for accurate information.

 

[dioxide45]

Here is an article on TUG about Vistana;

>Vistana Signature Experiences VSE Timeshare Points Guide and Information

Vistana Signature Experiences VSE Timeshare Overview and Guide for owners

tug2.net