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Scheduled Presentation 8/11/2019 - Grande Ocean

StevenTing

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Was offered one of the following.
  • 500 Destination Points, good for 2 years
  • 40,000 Bonvoy Points
  • $300 + $50 bonus Marriott Experience Dollars
Experience dollars list attached. We switched to the Bonvoy points.

Based on the subject line of the email, it looks the $50 bonus dollars is for all choices. I’ll wait till check-in to confirm.

Please make sure you swing by our Lobby Concierge desk right after you have checked in to get your incentive of an additional $50 in Marriott Certificates for Pre Gifting right when you check in. We will only be able to gift you the additional $50 in Marriott Certificates if you Pre Register a full day in advance of your presentation. I recommend doing it right as you check in the lobby. Make sure you bring your credit card to register.

I will ask my usual set of questions but if there is anything specific that hasn’t been asked by another Tugger, let me know.
 

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  • MVC Experience Dollar List 5.19.19.pdf
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BocaBoy

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Was offered one of the following.
  • 500 Destination Points, good for 2 years
  • 40,000 Bonvoy Points
  • $300 + $50 Marriott Experience Dollars
We’re opting for the experience dollars right now to do many of the kids activities. Waiting to see the list of activities available to use. I’ll upload a list of activities once I receive them.

I will ask my usual set of questions but if there is anything specific that hasn’t been asked by another Tugger, let me know.
This is a very good set of offerings.
 

JIMinNC

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Could you find out if their summer post-2010 enrollment promotion is still active, and if so, for how long? When the promo started back in March, it was set to end on July 7, but has supposedly been extended, but I'm not sure for how long. The OP in this thread (https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...-at-sales-presentation-pulse-san-fran.293623/) said they were just offered the promo in San Francisco at the Pulse.

If it's still going on, I would also love to know if Feb 28, 2019 is still the cut-off for when the week had to be owned by. We have a EOY MOC week which meets the cut-off criteria, but didn't close on our EOY Waiohai until May, so it doesn't qualify for the promo based on that Feb cut-off. I'm still not sure if it makes sense for us to spend $30K+ to enroll those two EOY units, but would be interested to know if it might be an option now if the cut-off date has changed.

It might also be interesting to ask if a local sales office can sell an enrolled Aruba week as an alternative to the 3000 DP purchase requirement. Central sales apparently can substitute a $25K to $36K Aruba week as the qualifying purchase to enroll post-2010 resale weeks, but others have posted that the local sales offices can't do that, and you have to buy the points to qualify. It might be nice to ask them that to see how they respond. Seems like an advantage Central Sales has that they might not like.

I agree those are good incentives. Last time we were there, I think it was just 15,000 points or $150.
 

Fasttr

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StevenTing

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Thanks Fasttr. The current document goes until August 9th. Likely very similar so we’ll plan off that.

JIMinNC, I’ll be sure to ask about the extension and Aruba sales by local offices.

And based on the experience document they sent us and the age of the kids, we’re going to switch to the Bonvoy points. The zip line requires age 10 and 80 pounds. My daughter is 9 and only 51 pounds. And Parasailing doesn’t qualify which is a bummer.

Made some updates to the original post.
 
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Fasttr

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Thanks Fasttr. The current document goes until August 9th. Likely very similar so we’ll plan off that.
That QR Scan approach works great. Once you have it scanned, you can bring it up any week of the year and it will always show the current weeks activity schedule. I wish more resorts used it.
 

downtownrb

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I just did a presentation on Hilton Head on July 30th (last day of the month for Marriott) and was only offered 10k Bonvoy points. All the Hilton Head presentations are now done at the sales center across the street from Grande Ocean.

They extended the offer to at least July 30 - the paper work they showed me stated July 30 and I bought 4k points to enroll two post 2010 weeks. They kept telling me the offer would not be extended to August but I have heard of other people enrolling post July 30th.

I specifically asked them about Tahoe Grand Residences, Aruba, and St Kitts and they said that only the telephone sales group or Aruba/St Kitts can sell those weeks. The Hilton Head office was not able to sell them.
 

sparty

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Interesting experience dollars. Hinchey's Chicago Bar and Grill is on the list and I met some of the Hinchey's once at Grand Ocean, they are MGO owners. If you like Chicago, be sure to visit Hinchey's.
 

Dean

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Was offered one of the following.
  • 500 Destination Points, good for 2 years
  • 40,000 Bonvoy Points
  • $300 + $50 bonus Marriott Experience Dollars
Experience dollars list attached. We switched to the Bonvoy points.

Based on the subject line of the email, it looks the $50 bonus dollars is for all choices. I’ll wait till check-in to confirm.



I will ask my usual set of questions but if there is anything specific that hasn’t been asked by another Tugger, let me know.
Yes, the $50 if for all choices if you schedule ahead of time. We took the $350 plus used some holding account points turned into resort credits and sent 4 ladies to the spa.
 

StevenTing

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Had a fantastic presentation and with a very personable sales person. We were there for 3.5 hours as I had lots of questions. They brought in a second guy that seems to know a lot more about what’s going on in the background. Looked younger but seemed like he had be there a while.

I’m still trying to process my thoughts of the meeting and will write more tonight. The main thing I’m trying to decide on is the Encore package. This was a new offer they threw at me and it’s tempting.

$3299 for 4 Days/3 Nights at Grande Ocean with 200k Bonvoy points and 2300 Destination Plus points good for 2 years. This was a new Encore offering that was recently approved. They have a couple other ones that were lower but this one caught my eye, especially if one is contemplating purchasing more points in the future and if you did it in conjunction with a bundle/hybrid purchase.

However bundles are supposedly going away by the end of the year. Also, the “Amnesty” program is gone as of 7/31.
 

StevenTing

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The 2nd rep said that there is going to be a big change between presidential and chairman. This was one of my biggest reasons not to upgrade. He said that there are changes and he knows what they are but he can’t tell me at this time.

He doesn’t believe there will be a level above Chairman. They will just raise the amount to get to Chairman, which accomplishes the same thing.

He said Chairman is about too 5% and that Presidential contains about the top 15% of owners.

He mentioned something about a “Presidential Reserve” status level and something about 3 guaranteed reservations. I didn’t press him on it. Sounds like it was possibly a status level for a few RCC owners.
 

StevenTing

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Customer Service and Website will eventually be handed over to the Ritz Carlton team. The IT challenges I mentioned about MVC website he says does not exist with RC and that it will be much better. Supposedly their existing reservation system is better.

If this is true, that would be awesome.
 

StevenTing

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I asked him what he anticipates will be new next year besides what we already know. He doesn’t believe anything new will come because there’s so much going on right now. He does believe something will be coming for the 10 year of the points program.

2020 program launch assumptions (mine and the salesperson). Not official.
Q1 - Cruise Line. I believe this is the RC yacht collection.
Q2 - ILG integration details
Q3 - Marriott All Inclusives (Hotel Side).
Q4 - 10 year Points promotions.
 
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StevenTing

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I asked about the possibility of making monthly payments for MF’s. He said that’s something they’re looking into. They have someone from either the Sheraton board or someone from Sheraton leading this.

It makes sense because it eases the burden of making the payment plus it reduces the possibility of bad debt.

Also, the salesperson told me that not having the monthly payment kills sales in December because as people are sitting in presentations, they’re thinking of their MF payment they’ll have to make in January plus the MF or the new purchase.

This makes sense to me.
 

StevenTing

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I asked about a resale buyback program. No near term plans for one. We talked about ROFR.

He said that they look at an owners portfolio. He said I’d they’ve purchases from the developer before that they’d let some go through. However if they did not, they’re less likely to go through.

I don’t believe it and I don’t believe the data supports it either.

I also asked about if he knew any owners that bought resale points but did not pay the reinitiation fee. Mixed answer. No he didn’t but then he said that MVC will usually buy them out.

The idea being that someone that doesn’t pay the initiation fee doesn’t understand the program and that they are limited to 60 days. They get upset because they struggle to use their points and then that damages the brand. He said in some cases those individual buy points from the developer and then their restricted points are made whole and they can use like regular points.

The Exchange procedures document supports what he is saying in that MVC can waive the initiation fee. However I doubt the part about MVC buying out an owner that doesn’t pay the initiation. I kinda want to try it myself.
 

StevenTing

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I asked him what is happening with Star Options. Didn’t know.

Asked about Hyatt RC. Didn’t know. I told him they should sell it back to Hyatt. He said he’s heard that from other owners. Also sound like some in a management had similar thoughts but it’s all speculation.

Maybe keep Puerto Rico and Key West locations and sell the rest.
 

StevenTing

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Back to resale and the initiation fee, I asked why charge it. His answer was acceptable and makes sense.

With resale weeks, owners can use their week and that’s it. They can’t trade for points or any other thing. I don’t even know if you can split your week.

However, when points are sold, you can do much more. You can book rooms like normal, but you can also book homes, excursions, trade for Bonvoy Points, air fare, cruises, Collette Tours, etc. All of these programs have costs to them and to continue to make them available, resale buyers have to pay these fees in order to have access to all of these other features.

This was acceptable to me.

Otherwise, you can skip paying the initiation fee and just book within 60 days. It sucks but the answer above is one I can accept. While it looks like pure profit for MvC (it likely is) I understand that programs with 3rd parties have costs.
 

Prooney1

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Hi Steve,
I’m relatively new here on TUG....

I appreciate the insights you’re sharing here. I’ve been learning a lot over the last few months on these forums

HHI is our favorite summer destination. I hope you enjoy the week. Surfwatch is our favorite resort down there. Check it out if you have a chance. We like Grand Ocean’s proximity to sea pines, as well as how close it is to the beach. But we fell in love with surfwatch as has a bit of a more upscale and more intimate vibe. Curious about your thought if you have a chance to check it out.

Enjoy the week
 

StevenTing

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I asked about the property in Cancun. He said they are going to start building on it again. I asked if the Lagunamar will go All-Inclusive. He said that the Hotel side is doing all inclusive. No idea about this resort. I mentioned that pretty much all places in Cancun are.

I asked about development of new properties. Future will likely be more purchase and convert and more Pulse locations.

He mentioned that MVC will added homes and hotels to the Excursion list to test the market. If they get high utilization they look at it as a possible resort or pulse location. Makes sense to me.

I asked about 4th tower of Ko Olina. Said it was supposed to start next year, but you never know. Also asked about 4th wing of Grand Chateau. He didn’t know as well.
 

StevenTing

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SP1 said price will go to $20 in 3-4 years. I asked him to bring in the guy to talk to me about numbers. SP2 said that it’s mostly because of property values and development costs. I called him on it. He conceded it may not be 3-4 years but that it will eventually get there. I agree.

It took 9 years for the price to go from $9.20 to 14.26. I figure 8-12 years to get to $20.

However he did say at the beginning of the program, they didn’t have any acquisition costs for property and that’s why $9.20. But as they brought Ritz in, that also causes the price to rise.

I don’t buy it but do agree that as general real estate prices continue to rise, so will the the price of Points. I think our disagreement is on the rate of increase.
 

CPNY

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I asked about the property in Cancun. He said they are going to start building on it again. I asked if the Lagunamar will go All-Inclusive. He said that the Hotel side is doing all inclusive. No idea about this resort. I mentioned that pretty much all places in Cancun are.

I asked about development of new properties. Future will likely be more purchase and convert and more Pulse locations.

He mentioned that MVC will added homes and hotels to the Excursion list to test the market. If they get high utilization they look at it as a possible resort or pulse location. Makes sense to me.

I asked about 4th tower of Ko Olina. Said it was supposed to start next year, but you never know. Also asked about 4th wing of Grand Chateau. He didn’t know as well.
Wow. Thanks. This was an informative session. It seems they gave you great info with no bull. They saw you as informed and didn’t want to give you the “I can’t say but something big is coming, buy these extra points for 50k or you’ll regret it” story. Thanks for putting all, the work in to get all this info to us.

Side note. I Hope lagunamar doesn’t go AI.
 

CPNY

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$3299 for 4 Days/3 Nights at Grande Ocean with 200k Bonvoy points and 2300 Destination Plus points good for 2 years. This was a new Encore offering that was recently approved. They have a couple other ones that were lower but this one caught my eye, especially if one is contemplating purchasing more points in the future and if you did it in conjunction with a bundle/hybrid purchase.

However bundles are supposedly going away by the end of the year. Also, the “Amnesty” program is gone as of 7/31.

Don’t know much about DC, really only what I’ve kearned from everyone here. Which is a lot now but, what is the encore offering? That sounds like a good deal to me. With that amount of bonvoy points plus 2300 DC points, you could convert 2300 of your existing DC to bonvoy (assuming you can do that) then use the encore DC that year. Use all those bonvoy for at least a week in a great location, plus the 4 days/3 nights. I’m assuming that is a separate thing you can just buy?
 

Dean

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I asked about 4th tower of Ko Olina. Said it was supposed to start next year, but you never know. Also asked about 4th wing of Grand Chateau. He didn’t know as well.
This is c/w what I heard from upper management when we were there last summer but until we get an announcement or see construction, it's difficult to know for certain.
 

StevenTing

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Wow. Thanks. This was an informative session. It seems they gave you great info with no bull. They saw you as informed and didn’t want to give you the “I can’t say but something big is coming, buy these extra points for 50k or you’ll regret it” story. Thanks for putting all, the work in to get all this info to us.

Side note. I Hope lagunamar doesn’t go AI.


I should clarify that when I say all inclusive, I don’t mean that Lagunamar will be offering it. Just that Marriott Hotels is starting into it.

Don’t know much about DC, really only what I’ve kearned from everyone here. Which is a lot now but, what is the encore offering? That sounds like a good deal to me. With that amount of bonvoy points plus 2300 DC points, you could convert 2300 of your existing DC to bonvoy (assuming you can do that) then use the encore DC that year. Use all those bonvoy for at least a week in a great location, plus the 4 days/3 nights. I’m assuming that is a separate thing you can just buy?

Encore program is where they offer you a package to go to a certain location for 3, 4, 5 nights for a certain fee. You usually get 50,000 points included with it and you attend another presentation when you get there. They lock in the purchase price for you when you go back to visit. If you end up purchasing points, they apply the Encore price toward your purchase.

So in this case, You so the $3299 package. IF you end up buying them you take $3299 off your price. If you don’t buy, you’re still coming out a little head as well. That’s what makes this offer fascinating to me.
 
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