Need help - extremely confused new owners

[nlstravels]

Hello, please help us! We were gifted a timeshare and just closed escrow after 6 months of trying to transfer. We now own 1wk 2bedroom LO at the Westin Desert Willow Villas. We have 148100 star options or 3725 club points. We had an introduction/ sales call with Marriott to learn more about everything. The call was 3 hours and essentially ended in us being told we’re don’t have enough club points to truly utilize our ownership. It was expressed that the lowest level of member that MVC recognizes is Select which is a minimum 4000 club points. We need 275 points to reach the Select status and the lowest they will sell *if they get approval* is 500. Meaning we would have to pay close to 10k after closing costs etc.

My husband and I have NO idea what to do. We hardly understand timeshares in general. Are we doing the wrong thing by NOT investing in more club points? We don’t really want to spend the money especially not knowing how to utilize and book what we already have available.

We are big travelers and ultimately would like the options and flexibility to stay at more than just the select Westin/vistana properties.

Very much appreciate the education and insight as we are in way over our heads. Thanks…

*Edited to correct name of ownership

 

[Eric B]

We had an introduction/ sales call with Marriott to learn more about everything. The call was 3 hours and essentially ended in us being told we’re don’t have enough club points to truly utilize our ownership. It was expressed that the lowest level of member that MVC recognizes is Select which is a minimum 4000 club points.

What you had was essentially a sales call - their only reason for speaking with you was to try to sell you more of something. The idea that the lowest level of member MVC recognizes is Select is not really true - if you have less than 4,000 club points you are an Owner. While that does not have the same benefits as being Select, you are still able to make reservations, etc., to use your ownership. I've attached the list of what the benefits are for all the levels.

From you posting, I assume that the gift was from a family member and resulted in your week being enrolled in VSN and able to deposit in Abound. That should give you all the flexibility you really need, including the ability to book reservations on the Marriott side of things. If it were not, they would have pushed you to buy much more in order to enroll the week. In addition to being able to use your StarOptions in the VSN or convert them to Abound points and use them there, you have the option of splitting the week into the two sides of the lock off and deposit one or both of them in Interval International. Because the transfer just completed, your II account is probably not set up yet - once it is it will be worth looking there for availability as well. With an enrolled week, exchanges into Vistana or Marriott resorts in II are free, though you might have ancillary fees like upgrading to a larger unit from the week you exchange.

In any case, you came to the right place (TUG) to really learn how to use your timeshare. Take the time to read the information here - I would start out reading all the sticky threads at the top of this forum and the Marriott one to figure out how to use what you own efficiently. You may wind up wanting to purchase more but should keep in mind the differential costs between buying resale and buying from the developer. You will also have the option of renting Abound points from other owners instead - that won't raise your benefit level but is a much less expensive way to get points to make reservations if you want them.

 

[Eric B]

We now own 1wk 2bedroom LO at the Westin Desert Villas.

BTW, I believe it's Westin Desert Willow Villas where you own.

 

[rickandcindy23]

That's a significant number of Abound points. Don't fall for their sales' lies.

I am pretty sure my Palm Desert Marriott's Shadow Ridge Villages 2 bedrooms are only worth 3,000 points. I was told that was all I could get for mine. Your ownership is obviously more valuable, same area, same unit size. I wish my Desert Willow 2 bedroom EOY odd years had Abound points, but it doesn't even have SO's. You have something pretty valuable. The salespeople can just keep talking, but you don't have to believe anything they say.

Our last presentation was just plain stupid. The woman told me a bunch of lies right at the beginning. I called her on her lies.

Look at the Abound chart to see that what you have is not so bad. Even so, if you want to add more Marriott points to the windfall you already have, you can pay $7 per point resale. Still expensive, but you won't be wasting AS MUCH money. More vacations is a good thing, but there are other ways of doing it.

Congratulations on your ownership.

 

[nlstravels]

What you had was essentially a sales call - their only reason for speaking with you was to try to sell you more of something. The idea that the lowest level of member MVC recognizes is Select is not really true - if you have less than 4,000 club points you are an Owner. While that does not have the same benefits as being Select, you are still able to make reservations, etc., to use your ownership. I've attached the list of what the benefits are for all the levels.

From you posting, I assume that the gift was from a family member and resulted in your week being enrolled in VSN and able to deposit in Abound. That should give you all the flexibility you really need, including the ability to book reservations on the Marriott side of things. If it were not, they would have pushed you to buy much more in order to enroll the week. In addition to being able to use your StarOptions in the VSN or convert them to Abound points and use them there, you have the option of splitting the week into the two sides of the lock off and deposit one or both of them in Interval International. Because the transfer just completed, your II account is probably not set up yet - once it is it will be worth looking there for availability as well. With an enrolled week, exchanges into Vistana or Marriott resorts in II are free, though you might have ancillary fees like upgrading to a larger unit from the week you exchange.

In any case, you came to the right place (TUG) to really learn how to use your timeshare. Take the time to read the information here - I would start out reading all the sticky threads at the top of this forum and the Marriott one to figure out how to use what you own efficiently. You may wind up wanting to purchase more but should keep in mind the differential costs between buying resale and buying from the developer. You will also have the option of renting Abound points from other owners instead - that won't raise your benefit level but is a much less expensive way to get points to make reservations if you want them.

You are correct it is Desert Willow Villas! Thank you for taking the time to write out such a thoughtful response. And you are also correct our ll account is not set up and won’t be for another 45 days according to the call we had last night. We were really hoping for an education and instead felt like we were trying to get sucked into something.

We were told because we aren’t in the select tier we basically have no options and flexibility when it comes to using our week.

I also am just not understanding the value that was assessed and how/why the conversion is set as far as club points go.

Regardless I appreciate your time and response greatly

 

[nlstravels]

That's a significant number of Abound points. Don't fall for their sales' lies.

Thank you! Appreciate it

 

[tamu_bu]

There is no urgency to buy any more points. NONE. That was a sales person talking. I suggest using what you have and learning the in's and outs of using it. There will always be opportunities to buy later if it's right for you.

As an example, we own a Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, small one bedroom, platinum season. It is worth less than half the star options that you have. We are considered to have the most basic ownership level within three system.

This year, we converted home season usage into star options and used it for off season usage at Westin Kierland and got 2, small one bedroom reservations for 6 nights.

In 2025, we converted home use into Marriott points. I believe that amounted to 2,150 points. We currently have 2 reservations. 4 nights at Marriott Mountainside in Park City in August (large one bedroom) and 7 nights during Thanksgiving week at Marriott Willow Ridge (2 bedroom).

Get comfortable with what you have and how it works. If you need more later, buy with full understanding and consider buying resale instead of directly from Marriott.

 

[Eric B]

We were told because we aren’t in the select tier we basically have no options and flexibility when it comes to using our week.

You've got lots of options and flexibility. Wait until you have started using the week and figure out whether you need anything more before you consider picking up anything more, even resale.

I also am just not understanding the value that was assessed and how/why the conversion is set as far as club points go.

Marriott set the value for conversion of the variety of weeks out there based on their assessment of the demand for weeks in the season you own. One thing to keep in mind is that all of the different participants do that and the value they are willing to give you varies depending on how you use it. The number of StarOptions you get is enough to get you some very good bookings in VSN and you have enough Club Points if you convert the week to do well in Abound. I've found that it's also possible to do quite well by learning all of the different usage options and what the "exchange rates" between them are - it opens up possibilities for timeshare arbitrage. Knowledge is power in this area.

 

[nlstravels]

That's a significant number of Abound points. Don't fall for their sales' lies.

I am pretty sure my Palm Desert Marriott's Shadow Ridge Villages 2 bedrooms are only worth 3,000 points. I was told that was all I could get for mine. Your ownership is obviously more valuable, same area, same unit size. I wish my Desert Willow 2 bedroom EOY odd years had Abound points, but it doesn't even have SO's. You have something pretty valuable. The salespeople can just keep talking, but you don't have to believe anything they say.

Our last presentation was just plain stupid. The woman told me a bunch of lies right at the beginning. I called her on her lies.

Look at the Abound chart to see that what you have is not so bad. Even so, if you want to add more Marriott points to the windfall you already have, you can pay $7 per point resale. Still expensive, but you won't be wasting AS MUCH money. More vacations is a good thing, but there are other ways of doing it.

Congratulations on your ownership.

I also called them out directly last night. I was very disappointed as it was supposed to be an introduction call because we are owners and instead it was 3 hours of me feeling like I had to pay 10k! I didn’t sleep all night because I was so upset/stressed from the call.

You've got lots of options and flexibility. Wait until you have started using the week and figure out whether you need anything more before you consider picking up anything more, even resale.


Marriott set the value for conversion of the variety of weeks out there based on their assessment of the demand for weeks in the season you own. One thing to keep in mind is that all of the different participants do that and the value they are willing to give you varies depending on how you use it. The number of StarOptions you get is enough to get you some very good bookings in VSN and you have enough Club Points if you convert the week to do well in Abound. I've found that it's also possible to do quite well by learning all of the different usage options and what the "exchange rates" between them are - it opens up possibilities for timeshare arbitrage. Knowledge is power in this area.

how do we become better educated, what is your advice. My husband and I are in our late 20s and truly extremely confused

 

[alwysonvac]

My husband and I have NO idea what to do. We hardly understand timeshares in general. Are we doing the wrong thing by NOT investing in more club points? We don’t really want to spend the money especially not knowing how to utilize and book what we already have available.

As Eric stated above, the sales team is trying to make a sale.

Avoid the so called "owner updates" (aka sales presentations) where they stretch the truth and use scare tactics in order to pressure folks to constantly spend more $$$ for various reasons (need more points, higher status, etc)

Vistana Star Options chart (link)
Abound Ownership Levels (link)
Abound Point Chart (link).

Welcome to TUG

 

[Eric B]

how do we become better educated

Read what you can here and elsewhere. Try out using what you own in the different systems, VSN, Abound, and II. You will get some fabulous vacations doing that; you'll also get some that aren't fabulous but are good enough. I would have started out saying "make mistakes" because that's one way to learn things, but you're on a better path trying to get education from the mistakes other people make and share here.

 

[nlstravels]

Read what you can here and elsewhere. Try out using what you own in the different systems, VSN, Abound, and II. You will get some fabulous vacations doing that; you'll also get some that aren't fabulous but are good enough. I would have started out saying "make mistakes" because that's one way to learn things, but you're on a better path trying to get education from the mistakes other people make and share here.

Thank you!! Really appreciate it

 

[nlstravels]

As Eric stated above, the sales team is trying to make a sale.

Avoid the so called "owner updates" (aka sales presentations) where they stretch the truth and use scare tactics in order to pressure folks to constantly spend more $$$ for various reasons (need more points, higher status, etc)

Abound Ownership Levels (link)
Abound Point Chart (link).

Welcome to TUG

Thank you! Will check out the links!

 

[Eric B]

One other plug - becoming a member of TUG costs just $15 and helps support the conversations here. It also gets you access to the private forum where people post sightings of exchange availability in II, etc. I've managed to snag some great exchanges because of that. You also get the ability to post rental ads or offers for direct exchanges with other TUG members. I highly recommend it, though you can still learn a lot as a guest.

 

[Eric B]

Avoid the so called "owner updates" (aka sales presentations) where they stretch the truth and use scare tactics in order to pressure folks to constantly spend more $$$ for various reasons (need more points, higher status, etc)

@nlstravels, they will offer you incentives to attend the owner updates @alwysonvac mentioned. Sometimes they're nice to have things - we attend a fair number of them when the incentive is high enough and we have free time. As I mentioned before, knowledge is power - it's worth learning about what sales techniques they will throw at you and understanding that they are shading the truths (or lying) in order to get you to spend money. Fear of missing out is a big one - there will be many times they tell you that you have to decide to buy what they are selling right then and there in order to get the great deal they are offering. That might be the case some day but I've always found that the same or better deal was available the next day, week, month, or year. If you do go to any, be willing to say no and stick to it.

 

[Henry M.]

If you look at the attachment from Eric B, the only difference between Owner and Select is the elite level in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel program. An owner gets Gold, while a select owner gets Platinum. That difference is only a minor perk when you stay at a hotel and doesn't make any difference to your use of the timeshare.

You can see what you can get for your Club Points here: https://vacationpointexchange.com/mdc-point-charts/ Or https://sellingtimeshares.net/resorts/marriott-vacation-club/points-charts/. 3,725 points can get you a lot of nice stays. 148,100 Staroptions are also nice within the Vistana network. Enough for 1 week in a 2 bedroom unit in Hawaii. Or you can stay longer in a 1BR or a studio. There's a Staroptions chart here on TUG: https://tug2.net/svn_valuechart.pdf.

There are two ways to exchange with other Marriott properties with what you have. One is to use the system of Staroptions that covers many properties formerly part of Starwood. Marriott acquired them a while back. The other is to use Club Points in the Marriott Abound system that covers all Marriott resorts, including the Vistana properties. You can deposit your villa in Abound the prior usage year, by June 30. You can only trade in one or the other system at a time. The default, if you don't do anything, is to stay in the Staroptions system. Availability of a given resort varies between the systems. Sometimes you find openings in one network and not the other. Sometimes one point system currency gets you better deals than the other. It will take some time to figure out all the nuances. Points are points, and you dont get many privileges at various ownership levels. You just get more points to use. Your points will get you the same units as the same amount of points will get the highest elite level. They may just be able to bank them later in the year or get a higher hotel elite level. There are some properties that require more points than you have for a full week stay in high season, but what you have is not bad or less flexible.

Timesharing can be a very nice way to travel. I find what I get for my maintenance fees are nice accommodations in many interesting destinations, at a more affordable price than renting equivalent hotel rooms at those locations. The tradeoff is that you need to p,an ahead if you want go someplace in a high season. At some locations you have to be making reservations exactly when the reservation window opens.

 

[Hindsite]

There are two ways to exchange with other Marriott properties with what you have.

Let me add a third: Interval International. VSN and Abound are exchanges that you have included access too, and so is Interval International
Some properties have better availability in II than either VSN or Abound, and often II can be a less expensive use of your ownership than you would get using Abound. e.g You can exchange your week in II and get a week at another resort that would have cost you more club points than you can get by electing your week.

In addition you have a lock-off, so you can deposit the 2 sides of the LO separately to II and then get 2 weeks in exchange, often to larger unit sizes by paying a modest upgrade fee or to better seasons, sometimes both!

As others have said, take your time, the hardest bit is working out how timeshares fit within your overall travel patterns. What you own is great value and you can look forward to some excellent vacations, if you give yourself some time to understand and play around with the systems you have access too.

As you experiment, make sure that you check out any resorts that you exchange into, don't rely on IIs rating system to ensure you get what you want, it can be hit and miss.

All the best

 

[rcv82]

I recommend first either using at WDW or exchanging via StarOptions to other Westin and Sheraton properties. That system is simpler to use, ownership benefit level doesn’t really make any difference, and 148100 StarOptions is enough to get at least a week at any property in the system, usually a two bedroom in high season, more in off seasons. That is a great ownership to be gifted, even if it won’t be worth much if you wanted to sell it. Changing to Abound is more complicated as the point values vary all over the place, and the website for that sucks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[vacationtime1]

I recommend first either using at WDW or exchanging via StarOptions to other Westin and Sheraton properties. That system is simpler to use, ownership benefit level doesn’t really make any difference, and 148100 StarOptions is enough to get at least a week at any property in the system, usually a two bedroom in high season, more in off seasons. That is a great ownership to be gifted, even if it won’t be worth much if you wanted to sell it. Changing to Abound is more complicated as the point values vary all over the place, and the website for that sucks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

+1

You have 148100 StarOptions with your WDW unit and you don't need to buy anything additional to use them. 148100 SO's will get you almost anything in the Westin system (much more than 3725 Abound points will get in most situations). Start there, and don't buy anything additional, at least in the short term.

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

Listen to people on here is probably the best advice you can be given.

The Westin (Star Options) system is great if you are centered around US/Mexico/Caribbean travel. If you want to step outside those locales the Marriott (Abound) system has some great choices.

For example in 2025 we have 2 weeks in Maui in January using the SO system and 2x2 bedroom (a big family trip) for a week in France in September using the Abound system with points we banked from 2024.

 

[iowaguy09]

Although it is still quite young, this is one of the finest threads on TUG BBS I have seen in a while!

Not much I can add to the above, but welcome to the Vistana owner “family”. Cannot agree more with spending the $15 on an annual TUG membership, and also cannot agree more with reading all of the red stickies in both the Vistana and MVC forums here on the BBS.

I also read all of the daily postings in both of these forums (my daily ritual). Valuable ongoing insight to the timeshare (oops, “vacation ownership”!) world.

 

[ScarletD]

For 148100 Star Options you can stay in a two bedroom on Maui for a week, which is what we own (WKORVN) and love. Congratulations! I recommend reserving at Nanea if you can, but all three of the properties on the island are fantastic.

 

[LeslieDet]

f you look at the attachment from Eric B, the only difference between Owner and Select is the elite level in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel program. An owner gets Gold, while a select owner gets Platinum. That difference is only a minor perk when you stay at a hotel and doesn't make any difference to your use of the timeshare.

That is not entirely accurate. There is a difference in booking rights between the two levels. The banking rules are the same.

Here is the info from the owner website:
Owner:
Use Your Club Points to reserve up to 10 months prior to your planned stays of 1+ nights — or opt for a waitlist.
Use Your Club Points to reserve up to 12 months prior to your planned stays of 7+ nights — or opt for a waitlist.
Use your Club Points (with a 20% Points premium) to reserve up to 13 months prior to your planned stays of 7+ nights.

Select:
Use Your Club Points to reserve up to 10 months prior to your planned stays of 1+ nights — or opt for a waitlist.
Use Your Club Points to reserve up to 13 months prior to your planned stays of 7+ nights — with no Points premium.

 

[LeslieDet]

Hello, please help us! We were gifted a timeshare and just closed escrow after 6 months of trying to transfer. We now own 1wk 2bedroom LO at the Westin Desert Villas. We have 148100 star options or 3725 club points. We had an introduction/ sales call with Marriott to learn more about everything. The call was 3 hours and essentially ended in us being told we’re don’t have enough club points to truly utilize our ownership. It was expressed that the lowest level of member that MVC recognizes is Select which is a minimum 4000 club points. We need 275 points to reach the Select status and the lowest they will sell *if they get approval* is 500. Meaning we would have to pay close to 10k after closing costs etc.

My husband and I have NO idea what to do. We hardly understand timeshares in general. Are we doing the wrong thing by NOT investing in more club points? We don’t really want to spend the money especially not knowing how to utilize and book what we already have available.

We are big travelers and ultimately would like the options and flexibility to stay at more than just the select Westin/vistana properties.

Very much appreciate the education and insight as we are in way over our heads. Thanks…

You do not need to elect Club Points each year, and there is no requirement that you achieve "select" level in order to be able to use Club Points or to elect them. That is simply a lie. But note, if you do elect Club Points, your booking rights are the lowest level. That means you're probably going to have a difficult time booking any "prime" location because the owner level can only book 7 nights at 12 months, and if you want fewer than 7 nights, you can only book 10 months out. If you want to try for a prime location at 13 months, then you pay a 20% point premium.

It sounds like you have received a Flex ownership, IDK if it is Westin or Sheraton Flex. Book your usage within your existing program. You'll be fine. You'll have StarOptions to book somewhere else within the VSN at 8 months if you want to go outside the "home" resorts. Don't fall for the sales pitch.

BTW - you do not need to purchase any MVC Trust Points whatsoever to use your ownership, or to elect Club Points. If you did buy Trust Points, you'd end up needing to elect Club Points each year with the Flex product, because 500 or 1000 points won't get you much of anything. It is a waste of money to buy such a small quantity because you'll only be disappointed.

 

[Eric B]

It sounds like you have received a Flex ownership, IDK if it is Westin or Sheraton Flex.

Way more likely to be Westin Desert Willow based on the reported StarOptions and conversion rate to Abound. If it were Westin Flex, 148,100 SOs at 28.86 SOs/CP would get 5,130 CPs. If it were Sheraton Flex it would be 4,325 CPs (34.24 SOs/CP). OP identified it as Westin Desert Villas, likely a typo, and the conversion matches Westin Desert Willow.

The other point I mentioned to OP earlier in the thread would be that there really is no actual need to convert to CPs because they can be rented from other owners.

That means you're probably going to have a difficult time booking any "prime" location because the owner level can only book 7 nights at 12 months

While true, I wouldn't put too much weight on it unless they were trying to get the very peak weeks at a prime location. As a matter of fact, I think that with the valuation Marriott places on those weeks it would be more likely that OP wouldn't have enough points for them anyway. I don't have a problem with pointing out that the booking eligibility does improve with higher benefit levels but would emphasize that OP should get some experience using what they own now before considering whether it's desirable or necessary to buy more and move up the benefit chain.