New levels ocean pt tour

[dougp26364]

Never mind. I read the table wrong

 

[ljmiii]

(7) Luxury Cruise Access is not available for Chairman's Club...

Interesting that they took Luxury Cruise Access away from Chairman's Club.

There is one at Westin St John already; it's labeled as being an Elite Owner Lounge harking back to the Vistana elite program. I'm not sure use is limited to Chairman's Club right now so this would be a step back in service if they limit it as described....

When I was at the WSJ last year they told me the lounge was for those who had signed up for a presentation...perhaps a white lie since I am Chairman's Club but wanted to attend a presentation anyway to see what they had to sell and what it would cost to requalify my WSJ resale weeks.

 

[DanCali]

One odd thing about the listing of benefits from the photo's that @Dean uploaded is the footnote saying that "Only Club Points and Enrolled Weeks purchased from or through the Developer are counted toward Reserve and Pinnacle ownership status." It's not terribly obvious what it would mean for it to be a "purchase ... through the Developer" or whether that would leave out reauthorized weeks through either an additional trust point purchase or a VSN purchase. Time will tell what that really means. This was accompanied by the sales folks being told that they would no longer be reauthorizing Vistana weeks after May 1st, which could be an indicator that previously reauthorized weeks would count.

I'm disappointed but not surprised. MVC views Chairman and Presidential owners as the prime prospects to buy more in order to reach the new levels, so giving those new levels away for free (as they did in the past) would defeat the purpose of offering those levels.

I will be pretty surprised if large numbers of existing owners buy their way to Reserve or Pinnacle, but some people are really motivated by the idea of being at the top level I suppose.

I saw that printed in black and white on the posted sheet. But it doesn't make sense at all... If someone is Chairman and has 25K-29K points but got there with 3-4 pre-2010 resale weeks, and maybe a couple of Vistana weeks and maybe bought 2000 Abound resale they are Chairman for benefit purposes but the salespeople can't upsell to Reserve because they may have 0 points that qualify for Reserve status. I'm not saying all Chairman have no direct or requalified purchases but odds are that most of those close to 30K points or 50K points don't truly have 30K or 50K purchased through the developer (think of the expense required). It defeats the whole points of creating these benefit levels...How will that pitch go - "Yeah, you're at 28,000 points which is 2000 away from Reserve, but you need to buy 18,000 points to get to Reserve?" I don't think that will go over well.

 

[Eric B]

Interesting that they took Luxury Cruise Access away from Chairman’s Club.

Actually, that’s a new benefit separate from the Ritz-Carlton cruise benefit. No idea what it is.

When I was at the WSJ last year they told me the lounge was for those who had signed up for a presentation...perhaps a white lie since I am Chairman's Club but wanted to attend a presentation anyway to see what they had to sell and what it would cost to requalify my WSJ resale weeks.

We always go there before signing up for a presentation, if we do one.

 

[DRH90277]

Pinnacle level - I appreciate the written material but I don't see much here to even care about. A couple of things might be useful to us and include the last minute club rental discount at 50% and the holding account window at 120 days. For the rest, I see a continuing tendency for MVC to tout discounts on things that are likely already overpriced in relation to buying these services on the open market. It's a lot like their offer of 800 points for the $189 per year travel insurance - valuing points at $.24 should be an embarrassment to MVC. A few of us even prefer spending US dollars - rather than using a highly restricted currency for use only at the MVC store.

The next thing I would like to know is the annual fee for each level. Perhaps MVC could offer an election to pay the special maintenance fee for a lower level and forego these benefits.

I did get a call from MVC yesterday to schedule a video chat so they could share this new program. A 15 minute discussion should be sufficent - but they said to allow 90 minutes. It could be a long event unless there is much more to think about.

 

[Retired2025 aka AlmostRetired]

Increasing new levels is more of a sign of desperation than anything else. It does not matter what new benefits levels are added. The issue has and will always be the lack availability of premium weeks in the trust and a high reliance of legacy weeks to feed that inventory. Home, cruise and tour package usage can increase in choices for point owners but will always offer sub MF values in its usage. With the increase in oil prices, there are strong headwinds for all aspects for timeshare usage costs. There is limited time to implement and sell new levels with higher points before MF increases for 2027.

In my opinion a struggling business forced the transition from weeks to points in 2010. It will be interesting to see if MVCI is again at the point where the business model needs to change to try and move forward. Just as an FYI, this insight is coming from someone who owned Lehman Brothers

 

[Eric B]

In my view there are a number of different elements to the introduction of the new levels. One of them is the addition of the curated luxury residences collection (St Regis) and the preferred Ritz-Carlton waitlisting. Fractionals in the Ritz-Carlton and St Regis aren't really being sold by MVCI anymore because there isn't much of a market for them; right now there are seven different Ritz-Carlton fractionals you could pick up for $1 if you want one on the resale market and I've heard of similar sales of St Regis NY fractionals. I had heard a rumor a month or so ago about MVCI obtaining more inventory at the NYC St Regis, which lines up fairly well with the move to make it available to Reserve and Pinnacle owners. I believe they also own about 50% of the 2 BR Suite inventory at the Ritz on St Thomas. They didn't have a lot of success in selling those previously as stand alone ownership; this could be a repackaging of getting some use out of them as part of the incentives for sales to a larger audience. I do find myself wondering how the costs for them will get covered as neither would be going into the trust without being made available to the masses below Reserve and I don't see anyone owning there wanting to trade down to Abound vacations. Unless the annual fees for Reserve and Pinnacle are astronomical, I don't see them covering much of the costs.

There's also a quite visible contrast between MVCI and HGV. HGV went pretty far down market with the purchases of DRI and BW, though they've been doing a fair amount of decent up market stuff with the Hilton Club properties. The addition of the happy hours and lounges for Chairman's Club and up in MVCI would be the only thing that might get me interested in staying in the city collection properties; otherwise they seem like just hotels. The only move down market I see in all this by MVCI is shortening the minimum reservations for lower tiers. I'm not sure how well that will interact with minimum stay requirements for booking some of the resorts at 12 months, though.

 

[PhoenixCanuck]

I think my biggest surprise in all of this is the degree to which they have increased the discounts for last minute reservations up to as high as 50% and have also made that benefit available to a lower ownership level (select). A far more valuable benefit to reserve and pinnacle owners would have been to extend for them the booking window for last-minute reservations, say to 75 days and 90 days prior to arrival respectively, rather than to keep ratcheting up the discount by 5% per level. What they are actually doing in fact hurts reserve and pinnacle, because there's going to be more competition with other owners to book into the limited amount of last-minute inventory that remains at 60 (and 30) days.

 

[mjm1]

I'm surprised and disappointed chairman/presidential club owners aren't grandfathered or granted into the top tiers respectively as they have been in the past when levels were added and points requirements changed.

I thought the same thing, since sales reps have almost always said we would be grandfathered into the highest levels if created. Of course we knew what they said was meaningless, since it wasn’t in writing and their lips were moving.

 

[DanCali]

In my view there are a number of different elements to the introduction of the new levels. One of them is the addition of the curated luxury residences collection (St Regis) and the preferred Ritz-Carlton waitlisting.

But what's the Value for St. Regis? Will it be a separate table in the points chart and booking with Abound points directly at what could be very good value (like some of the Ritz Club properties)? Or will it be like the Hotels, Cruises, Resort Credit, Insurance, Third Home, and the Pay MFs with Points where you get a value of around $0.30-$0.40 per point, give or take?

As for RC waitlisting - I haven't tried waitlisting in a while, but it seems to me that not a lot of people do it. What are the odds of competing with another person for exactly the same dates, and same unit type/view? Moreover, there's absolutely no transparency on inventory issues, so you could have priority for something that had zero probability to materialize to begin with.

IMO, it would have been more potentially attractive to some people to offer tangible things like early checkin and late checkout (similar to tghe benefits they eliminated from Vistana 5-Stars).

 

[Eric B]

But what's the Value for St. Regis? Will it be a separate table in the points chart and booking with Abound points directly at what could be very good value (like some of the Ritz Club properties)? Or will it be like the Hotels, Cruises, Resort Credit, Insurance, Third Home, and the Pay MFs with Points where you get a value of around $0.30-$0.40 per point, give or take?

As for RC waitlisting - I haven't tried waitlisting in a while, but it seems to me that not a lot of people do it. What are the odds of competing with another person for exactly the same dates, and same unit type/view? Moreover, there's absolutely no transparency on inventory issues, so you could have priority for something that had zero probability to materialize to begin with.

IMO, it would have been more potentially attractive to some people to offer tangible things like early checkin and late checkout (similar to tghe benefits they eliminated from Vistana 5-Stars).

The St Regis availability would be in the St Regis Residence Club units, so should have a points allocation rather than the poor value for booking a hotel. Will see what really happens.

No idea how the waitlisting will work out.

They did include early check in (2 pm, when available). Seems silly to me because they typically give us access to our room if it’s available when we show up at a resort anyway - around 11:30 am last time we were at WSJ.

 

[DanCali]

The St Regis availability would be in the St Regis Residence Club units, so should have a points allocation rather than the poor value for booking a hotel. Will see what really happens.

No idea how the waitlisting will work out.

They did include early check in (2 pm, when available). Seems silly to me because they typically give us access to our room if it’s available when we show up at a resort anyway - around 11:30 am last time we were at WSJ.

I agree that it’s kind of pointless, especially with the asterisk that says “when available”. But it’s something tangible people can relate to, so I suspect it sells better in a presentation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigDawgTUG]

The "Owner Benefit Levels" page is now coming up blank for me. Maybe they are finally loading the new benefits??

 

[Eric B]

Here's what I see at https://owners.marriottvacationclub.com/timeshare/mvco/benefits (apologies for the crappy formatting):

Boost Your Benefits​

Great vacations are even better with enriching Owner benefits.
The more you own, the more you can enjoy — all using your Club Points.

Your Vacations, Elevated​

Discover the world of inspiring vacation choices waiting for you, based on your Owner benefit level.

Owner​

up to 3,999 Points
View Benefits

Select​

4,000–6,999 Points
View Benefits

Executive​

7,000–9,999 Points
View Benefits

Presidential​

10,000–14,999 Points
View Benefits

Chairman's Club​

15,000+ Points
View Benefits

Benefits at a Glance​

See all the places your Club Points can take you.
Then select your current level of ownership to explore even more.
Print

Benefits	Owner up to 3,999 Points	Select 4,000–6,999 Points	Executive 7,000–9,999 Points	Presidential 10,000–14,999 Points	Chairman's Club 15,000+ Points
Reservation Flexibility
13-Month Booking Window *With a Club Points premium	7+ night stays*	7+ night stays	1+ night stays	1+ night stays	1+ night stays
Luxury Resorts Booking Window Reservation window	6 months prior	6 months prior	13 months prior	13 months prior	13 months prior
Banking Points Banking deadline prior to end of current Use Year (for use in subsequent Use Year/s)	6 months (1 year)	6 months (1 year)	4 months (1 year)	4 months (1.5 years)	2 months (2 years)
Points Election Window Complete election by this date the year prior (Applies to Enrolled Weeks only)	Sept. 30	Sept. 30	Sept. 30	Oct. 31	Oct. 31
Last-Minute Points Reservation Discount			25% off 30 days prior to arrival	30% off 60 days prior to arrival	30% off 60 days prior to arrival
Marriott Vacation Club® Rental Discount	25% Off	25% Off	30% off	35% off	35% off

Marriott Bonvoy
Elite Status For as long as you own, with no annual qualification	Gold Elite	Platinum Elite	Platinum Elite	Titanium Elite	Titanium Elite
Trade for Marriott Bonvoy™ Points Trading deadline prior to end of current Use Year (portion of Club Points eligible to trade)	6 Months (up to 50%)	6 Months (up to 50%)	4 Months (up to 65%)	4 Months (up to 65%)	2 Months (up to 75%)

Vacation Experience Credits
Vacation Homes Destination Dollars through Villas of Distinction®			up to $100	up to $175	up to $250
Vacation Tours Credit per couple through Collette			up to $200	up to $300	up to $400
Cruises Onshore excursion credit per sailing	$100	$100	$125	$125	$200

More Great Vacation Options
Hotels & Luxury Residences
Vacation Tours Including cultural, adventure, and culinary experiences
Golf Play & Instruction
Outdoor Experiences Including rafting, biking, and hiking
Premier Events
Collette Chairman's Club Tours Special access to cruising, culinary, and adventure tours.
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Discover an unparalleled ocean voyage with The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.

Travel Planning
Resort Credit
Car Rentals
Airline Miles
Travel Insurance

Owner Resources
Dedicated Owner Servicing Team Via award-winning global call centers			VIP	VIP	VIP
Vacation Life Digital magazine filled with Owner inspiration

Great Discounts
Exclusive Owner Event Discounts Club Point discounts on select Exclusive Owner Events. **		Up to 100 Club Points off	Up to 150 Club Points off	Up to 200 Club Points off	Up to 250 Club Points off
Car Rental Discounts *Perks include complimentary extra driver	up to 35% off	up to 35% off	up to 35% off*	up to 35% off*	up to 35% off*

All Benefits subject to change. For full details, please see
Program Terms & Conditions.
**Starting with December 2025 Exclusive Owner Event (EOE) offerings. Owner Benefit Level (OBL) discounts not available for all EOEs. Events offered at 1,000 Club Points or less, and other select EOEs may not be eligible for OBL discounts. Exclusive Owner Event are subject to certain restrictions, as detailed in each offer, and are not available to residents in all states.

 

[Eric B]

I hadn't seen the Airline Miles one before. Looks like redeeming Club Points this way would value them at ~$0.192 using a value of $0.012 per United mile.

Airline Miles​

TAKE FLIGHT WITH THIS NEW OWNER OFFERING​

As an Owner, you can now exchange your Club Points for airline miles with Hawaiian® Airlines, United®, and Singapore Airlines, giving you more travel options.

You can exchange starting at 500 Club Points for 8,000 airline miles. Additional miles can be purchased in increments of 250 Club Points for 4,000 airline miles.​

 

[jeffox]

Whenever a benefit is "when available", it has never been available to me.

 

[DanCali]

I hadn't seen the Airline Miles one before.

Airline Miles​

TAKE FLIGHT WITH THIS NEW OWNER OFFERING​

As an Owner, you can now exchange your Club Points for airline miles with Hawaiian® Airlines, United®, and Singapore Airlines, giving you more travel options.

You can exchange starting at 500 Club Points for 8,000 airline miles. Additional miles can be purchased in increments of 250 Club Points for 4,000 airline miles.​

Who comes up with this stuff?

I can justify 60,000 Bonvoy points for 30,000 United miles if I need the miles...

But 500 Abound club points for this?

United Miles Value Calculator - NerdWallet

Determine the value of United miles using our data-backed calculator. This value can help you decide which award flights are high-value redemptions.

www.nerdwallet.com

 

[dougp26364]

Interesting that they took Luxury Cruise Access away from Chairman's Club.


When I was at the WSJ last year they told me the lounge was for those who had signed up for a presentation...perhaps a white lie since I am Chairman's Club but wanted to attend a presentation anyway to see what they had to sell and what it would cost to requalify my WSJ resale weeks.

They may also be taking 1 night reservations at 13 months away.

If they are removing benefits from what was once the top level, it stands to reason you shouldn’t make a purchased based solely on the benefits.

 

[kimbapooch]

I doin't see anything so far about paying your maintenance fees with Club Points.

Page 3 under Planning Flexibility

 

[Hindsite]

They may also be taking 1 night reservations at 13 months away.

Doesn't look like it from the info people have seen so far. Looks like the points premium is going from Owner level, which is sensible.

 

[dougp26364]

From a previous post under the heading reservation flexibility there is a “one night stays” line that contradicts the “13 months booking window” line above it.
So, can chairman continue to book 1+ nights at 13 months this as is in the first line or, will it change Tommy months as stated 2 lines below it?

 

[BigDawgTUG]

I hadn't seen the Airline Miles one before. Looks like redeeming Club Points this way would value them at ~$0.192 using a value of $0.12 per United mile.

Airline Miles​

TAKE FLIGHT WITH THIS NEW OWNER OFFERING​

As an Owner, you can now exchange your Club Points for airline miles with Hawaiian® Airlines, United®, and Singapore Airlines, giving you more travel options.

You can exchange starting at 500 Club Points for 8,000 airline miles. Additional miles can be purchased in increments of 250 Club Points for 4,000 airline miles.​

Not new. It's been around for years. It used to include exchanges to Hawaiian Airlines, but that went away after the merger with Alaska.

 

[Eric B]

From a previous post under the heading reservation flexibility there is a “one night stays” line that contradicts the “13 months booking window” line above it.
So, can chairman continue to book 1+ nights at 13 months this as is in the first line or, will it change Tommy months as stated 2 lines below it?

That was an AI developed table that @Wahoo posted. There were some other issues with it that have already been fixed. IMHO, neither that nor the original pictures posted by @Dean should be understood to be definitive; we’ll see what the actual benefits will be when they are officially announced.

 

[Eric B]

Not new. It's been around for years. It used to include exchanges to Hawaiian Airlines, but that went away after the merger with Alaska.

Interesting. They list it as a "new owner offering."

 

[daviator]

I hadn't seen the Airline Miles one before. Looks like redeeming Club Points this way would value them at ~$0.192 using a value of $0.12 per United mile.

Airline Miles​

TAKE FLIGHT WITH THIS NEW OWNER OFFERING​

As an Owner, you can now exchange your Club Points for airline miles with Hawaiian® Airlines, United®, and Singapore Airlines, giving you more travel options.

You can exchange starting at 500 Club Points for 8,000 airline miles. Additional miles can be purchased in increments of 250 Club Points for 4,000 airline miles.​

I think you're off by a factor of 10. United miles are worth more like $.012 each.