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Name change for MVC Reservation

DavidnRobin

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Sorry, I am only subscribed to Vistana Forum via TapaTalk (knowing MVC Members are here).

How do I change the name on a MVC reservation that was made using CPs?
(used WKV P+ thru Abound)

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DanCali

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Good question....

Officially, for MVC owners, this has to be done now via the website. Unofficially, my understanding is that it can be done on marriott.com.

As for the website, here is how it works from the MVC side, but I couldn't see those same options going there from the Vistana website...


1683667940208.png



Once you go to the list of reservations you hold, you have to click on a reservation and then you have the option to fill out an online form to request a name change:

1683668110917.png



However, when I go to the MVC website from the Vistana Dashboard to the reservation booking page, I don't see all the options in the menu. No ability to look at point balances or current point reservations.

Is that normal or is my MVC/Vistana account messed up? For some reason I seem to remember that, previously, I could click on a link to view the point balance from this menu.

1683668278860.png
 
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DavidnRobin

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I am not a MVC Owner.
This is a Abound reservation via Club Points using WKV P+

I can see my points and reservations - and make reservations using CP via the MVC portal on Vistana site.

I made one using points won on Abound contest - and transferring to friend because they are checking in a day earlier.


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DanCali

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I am not a MVC Owner.
This is a Abound reservation via Club Points using WKV P+

I can see my points and reservations - and make reservations using CP via the MVC portal on Vistana site.

I made one using points won on Abound contest - and transferring to friend because they are checking in a day earlier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You can probably change on the marriott.com website like people have reported doing with Vistana reservations. But that's not how it's meant to be done.

If you go to the MVC website via the Dashboard ("Club Points / Search and Book Reservations") - what items do you see under the "Use Points" tab?
 

Sicnarf

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I have been making all the guest name changes in Marriott.com. I just checked, and I can do it for my Abound reservations as well.
 

dioxide45

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You can probably change on the marriott.com website like people have reported doing with Vistana reservations. But that's not how it's meant to be done.

If you go to the MVC website via the Dashboard ("Club Points / Search and Book Reservations") - what items do you see under the "Use Points" tab?
Not very many options;
1683691785536.png
 

dioxide45

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I suspect a call to owner services can also accomplish the name change.
 

DanCali

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Not very many options;
View attachment 76505


That's weird - it's what I see too.

So the only way to see your Abound point balance is to try to book something or keep track of it on your own? I seem to recall that when it first launched we could see point balances on that part of the website.
 

dioxide45

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That's weird - it's what I see too.

So the only way to see your Abound point balance is to try to book something or keep track of it on your own? I seem to recall that when it first launched we could see point balances on that part of the website.
You can see the Abound Point balance through the Account Balances tile on the Vistana Dashboard. Clicking on Club Points then on View Club Points balance.
1683743273946.png


It takes you to the My Marriott Vacation Club Portfolio page on MarriottVacationClub.com. It doesn't seem like a link to the guest change form is provided when you click on the "View Points Reservations" button like I see when viewing my Weeks Reservation History page directly with MarriottVacationClub.com. Perhaps if I had some point reservations the link to the new guest change form would be there. Not sure.
1683743339248.png
 

DanCali

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You can see the Abound Point balance through the Account Balances tile on the Vistana Dashboard. Clicking on Club Points then on View Club Points balance.
View attachment 76519

It takes you to the My Marriott Vacation Club Portfolio page on MarriottVacationClub.com. It doesn't seem like a link to the guest change form is provided when you click on the "View Points Reservations" button like I see when viewing my Weeks Reservation History page directly with MarriottVacationClub.com. Perhaps if I had some point reservations the link to the new guest change form would be there. Not sure.
View attachment 76520


Yes, that works!

When you click on "View Points Reservations" in your screenshot it gives you a list of all the points reservations you have (mine are all from MVC but it shouldn't matter I think - I see them when getting to the MVC website from vistana.com) and then you can get to the change name form as I described in Post #2.
 
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I changed the name on a reservation just yesterday. Reservation names can no longer be changed via BonVoy app. The last reservation I was able to change the guest name via BonVoy was in early March. The new online form asks for more information than was previously required (Guest name, phone number, email address, and physical address). There is also a list of statements the MVC owner must agree to. The Owner Services agent explained that Marriott will send the usual pre-arrival email to the guest, there is a list of statements for the renter to agree to as well.
It makes me wonder why MVC is becoming involved in an Owners right to rent a property.
 

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It makes me wonder why MVC is becoming involved in an Owners right to rent a property.
Because, per the documents and contracts people sign when purchasing from MVC, it is not an unlimited right. I say this as someone who is fine with renting, but to a certain extent. I think they're especially worried about the ones who are doing so on a large commercial scale, to the point that it hurts the ability of regular owners to get certain weeks at certain resorts that instead regularly show up on Redweek and elsewhere en masse for rent to non-owners. Sadly, the measures that get taken to curtail that bad behavior always ends up inconveniencing (or worse) people on the periphery who aren't really doing those things.
 

DanCali

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Because, per the documents and contracts people sign when purchasing from MVC, it is not an unlimited right. I say this as someone who is fine with renting, but to a certain extent. I think they're especially worried about the ones who are doing so on a large commercial scale, to the point that it hurts the ability of regular owners to get certain weeks at certain resorts that instead regularly show up on Redweek and elsewhere en masse for rent to non-owners. Sadly, the measures that get taken to curtail that bad behavior always ends up inconveniencing (or worse) people on the periphery who aren't really doing those things.

That's all great, but every single term I highlighted in bold in your answer is subjective and requires a definition in order to have a meaningful discussion.

The only thing that MVC has done that probably makes sense from the perspective of 99.99% percent of owners is to limit inbound transfers of points to 20,000 per use year per owner account because there are indeed real commercial enterprises (not owners who own a handful of weeks) that buy tens or hundreds of thousands of points a year in order to generate a profit from that activity. Anyone who needs more than 20,000 points a year regularly should probably find a different way to plan vacations (they do have a waiver to allow up to a 40,000 inbound point transfer for those who have one-time events/gatherings). You may argue 20,000 is too low or too high, but they picked a number and drew a line in the sand.

Asking owners to fill out a form to change a guest name is something Vistana has also done. But that was more as a convenience which allowed you to do it online any time of the day instead of calling in. Vistana did the name change instantaneously and didn't tell you it will take up to 30 days...

I have a 4th of July rental that I am still trying to rent out - it's an owned MVC week, so the Vistana form does not apply. What if it rents on June 25 and, according to that MVC form, it can take up to 30 days to change the name? Am I supposed to travel to the resort to greet the renter and check him in? Putting aside concerns re excessive rentals, the management company is supposed to help individual owners, not find new ways to inconvenience them...
 

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Putting aside concerns re excessive rentals, the management company is supposed to help individual owners, not find new ways to inconvenience them...
I'm not saying I agree with how MVC is handling it, just what many have speculated as reasons for their actions. Please read the last sentence of my post. It pretty much agrees with your point above that I quoted.
 

dioxide45

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The main problem is that timeshare developers never define "commercial activity". Even in all of wyndham's actions against mega renters, they haven't defined what it is. THis leaves the interpretation up to the developer. One can certainly challenge it in court, but most will settle for something rather than to fight in order to keep renting. Perhaps the developer agrees to take back the ownership or offer some other kind of buyout. Even if you were sold with the premise of renting for profit and were somehow shut down by the developer, your only option is to file a lawsuit, something rather expensive and any class would be so small that it would be hard to get a lawyer to pick it up. The reality is that the developer holds all the cards and makes the rules, we can agree and live within the rules or choose not to. The good times usually only last so long...
 

sponger76

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The main problem is that timeshare developers never define "commercial activity". Even in all of wyndham's actions against mega renters, they haven't defined what it is. THis leaves the interpretation up to the developer.
I agree, that is a huge problem, especially as it leaves wiggle room for salespeople to entice prospects to buy more on the premise that they can rent to cover costs or even make money. I do have to say Marriott goes a *little* in the right direction when they do state examples such as a "pattern of rental activity," but even that is not clearly delineated, and of course the salespeople don't even mention that prohibition. And what constitutes a pattern?

I have ZERO objection to someone with a fixed week renting it out. Have at it, you own that specific time and therefore no other owners are competing with you for it, whether you rent it, stay in it, or let it sit empty.

I also have no problem with someone who books a prime week/location with truly every intention of staying, and then something comes up, so as a one-off they rent it out to at least recover some of the MFs rather than let the unit sit vacant. But how do you prove they really intended to stay, and how frequently can it happen before it's no longer considered a one-off for that particular owner? I don't have an answer for that.

But for those who book prime inventory with either floating weeks or points specifically intending only to rent, I have a lot less sympathy. Timeshare are set up for people to purchase recurring vacations for themselves and their families, not to facilitate vacation rental-lite companies. Those who suck up prime weeks strictly for profit are doing so while having everyone else subsidize their business, because they get to rent out prime real estate at prime times but don't have to carry the costs of the property all by themselves, specifically times they wouldn't be able to find renters. If someone wants to run a vacation rental business, go out and buy (or build) entire properties themselves and carry all the associated risks and costs themselves. Otherwise, owners fully intending to stay themselves (or gift to friends/family) should have first dibs. But the problem arises of how do you sort out who is who, and at what point do you say it's ok for the profiteers to go ahead and reserve? Of course it's all rhetorical, we all know it's never going to happen.

It's a very complex issue with no easy solution. Go too far in either direction, whether completely permissive or totally locked down, and you're going to upset somebody.
 

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Owners are not allowed to rent as a commercial activity, but there is an exception for the developer and related entities. Those are also owners, but are allowed to rent as a commercial activity. This is the problem. Not the actual owners renting. Even "mega-renters" are much smaller than developer renting. The developer sees owner rentals as competition and attempts to shut them down, or at least limit - for their own commercial gain. These limits have nothing to do with benefiting anyone other than the developer.
 

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I changed the name on a reservation just yesterday. Reservation names can no longer be changed via BonVoy app. The last reservation I was able to change the guest name via BonVoy was in early March. The new online form asks for more information than was previously required (Guest name, phone number, email address, and physical address). There is also a list of statements the MVC owner must agree to. The Owner Services agent explained that Marriott will send the usual pre-arrival email to the guest, there is a list of statements for the renter to agree to as well.
It makes me wonder why MVC is becoming involved in an Owners right to rent a property.
I have never been able to change a guest name on the Bonvoy app but never had a problem on Marriott.com. The app has less functionality compared to the website.
 

Sicnarf

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Owners are not allowed to rent as a commercial activity, but there is an exception for the developer and related entities. Those are also owners, but are allowed to rent as a commercial activity. This is the problem. Not the actual owners renting. Even "mega-renters" are much smaller than developer renting. The developer sees owner rentals as competition and attempts to shut them down, or at least limit - for their own commercial gain. These limits have nothing to do with benefiting anyone other than the developer.
Absolutely! And with the lack of transparency, who knows if those entities get 1st pick of high demand weeks.
 

sponger76

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Owners are not allowed to rent as a commercial activity, but there is an exception for the developer and related entities. Those are also owners, but are allowed to rent as a commercial activity. This is the problem. Not the actual owners renting. Even "mega-renters" are much smaller than developer renting. The developer sees owner rentals as competition and attempts to shut them down, or at least limit - for their own commercial gain. These limits have nothing to do with benefiting anyone other than the developer.
And you don't think , as the ones who actually built the resorts, which therefore wouldn't even exist without them, that they shouldn't have some additional rights that you won't have? They spent the money to develop these properties. The thing is, you purchase a timeshare knowing that they make the rules, and yet you somehow think you are (or should be) on completely even ground with them? That I don't understand.
 

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Absolutely! And with the lack of transparency, who knows if those entities get 1st pick of high demand weeks.
Well, seeing how a lot of people are able to book those high demand weeks (as evidenced by those bookings then appearing on places like Redweek or TUG Marketplace, which the developers don't use to rent out bookings), I'd say the developers not locking everyone out of those weeks.
 

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Well, seeing how a lot of people are able to book those high demand weeks (as evidenced by those bookings then appearing on places like Redweek or TUG Marketplace, which the developers don't use to rent out bookings), I'd say the developers not locking everyone out of those weeks.
I agree that the developers are not locking out individual owners. The fact that owners are able to book these weeks for rentals means they are also available to owners seeking to book for personal use.

I haven’t really had any issues not being able to book what I want/need - this includes peak weeks at high demand resorts. Yes - I have to plan it out and book right at the 12 or 8 month mark. But those blaming owners who rent because you can’t book 4th of July 90 days in advance just seem silly to me.
 

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I agree that the developers are not locking out individual owners. The fact that owners are able to book these weeks for rentals means they are also available to owners seeking to book for personal use.

I haven’t really had any issues not being able to book what I want/need - this includes peak weeks at high demand resorts. Yes - I have to plan it out and book right at the 12 or 8 month mark. But those blaming owners who rent because you can’t book 4th of July 90 days in advance just seem silly to me.
I agree, 90 days or even six months out, you only have yourself to blame. But there are reported instances where high demand weeks get booked up within an hour, sometimes even minutes, of becoming available - and then those dates show up very quickly on rental sites. THAT is a problem.
 

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I agree, 90 days or even six months out, you only have yourself to blame. But there are reported instances where high demand weeks get booked up within an hour, sometimes even minutes, of becoming available - and then those dates show up very quickly on rental sites. THAT is a problem.
I do not see it as a problem as everyone has equal opportunity to book that week regardless I rent or use it for myself.
 

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I agree, 90 days or even six months out, you only have yourself to blame. But there are reported instances where high demand weeks get booked up within an hour, sometimes even minutes, of becoming available - and then those dates show up very quickly on rental sites. THAT is a problem.

I do not see it as a problem as everyone has equal opportunity to book that week regardless I rent or use it for myself.

(Warning - conspiracy theory alert!)

It's hardly "equal opportunity" when you compete against a computer that also controls hundreds of weeks at the same resort and books them all consecutively or concurrently in a fraction of a second. The problem may routinely be the Abound system booking instantaneously at 13, 14, 15, 16 or 18 months out and locking out owners. Then MVC can conveniently blame the "mega-renters".

I obviously only have circumstantial evidence, but I routinely have problems getting a Saturday checkin for some weeks when I try to book them at 14-15 months out. Given that half the weeks inventory is supposed to be available at 13+ months out, I always find it very hard to believe that so many other owners (it's a very big resort) are that diligent.

Since this is the Vistana board, I'll just elaborate that MVC weeks reservation rules allow owners to book 2+ week consecutively or concurrently at 13 months out (they do not have to be at the same resort). An owner who owns multiple weeks can book the first at 13 months out, the second at 13 months + 1 week, the third 13 months + 2 weeks etc and can also book multiple weeks concurrently at the same time. So, an owner (or Real Estate Trust) owning 10 weeks for example, would be booking the 10th week at 15+ months out. I annual personal experience is booking several weeks in a row with a Saturday checkin and then when I get to the 4th or 5th they tell me "sorry, I only have Sunday or Friday". I obviously always call at 9am at 13 months out to book the first week, and booking via phone is the only method for owners to book at 13+ months out. While those are competitive weeks to get, I've always suspected the lack of Saturday checkins that far out has to do with Abound eating up that inventory somehow. I find that more credible than the explanation that hundreds of owners beat me to it.

Now imagine that you are a real estate trust that owns thousands of weeks at multiple resorts, or maybe it's exchange inventory from owners who deposited weeks way in advance, and you get to use the 13-month rule to book all the weeks you control consecutively and concurrently (remember that to use this rule the weeks don't even have to be at the same resort). What can possibly go wrong for other individual owners?
 
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