mig1
Guest
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2008
- Messages
- 49
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Resorts Owned
- WKORV
DVC Animal Kingdom Lodge
Hoping the community may be able to help me or guide me in the proper direction as no one on the Marriott or Vistana side can answer my question.
We own a 2 bedroom WKORV Floating Week. Living in SoCal it's often easier to simply use the 2 properties here in the desert then going to Hawaii. Because of the change in lifestyle with kids growing up etc we often convert half the ownership each year to Marriott Bonvoy points and bank the other half. We have found that allows us closer to 2 weeks at WDW in the summer (we like the heat!) for a nominal amount of StarOptions and for the past few years this has worked well.
Most likely because I wasn't paying full attention on previous conversions I learned that StarOptions converted to Marriott Bonvoy points have a 6 year expiration from their date of conversion. Here's where the fun begins.....
No one on the Vistana side can tell me how many points are at "risk" for expiration. They claim that once the conversion occurs the points belong to Marriott and Bonvoy has control over them. Bonvoy tells me that as long as there is account activity the points never expire. OR.......depending on the CSR you get tells me that points accruing from Credit Card Usage, Hotel Stays, Bonus Points etc never expire but they are UNABLE to tell me which converted points are due to expire or how many of them risk expiration if ANY truly do expire. Moreover, the last agent I spoke to told me that Marriott has put a total "pause" on expiration for ALL points until February of 2023 because of the past 2 years of COVID related delays. However, they couldn't tell me if that pause applies to my converted points that supposedly have an expiration regardless of all of this.
I have spoken to Vistana multiple times in the past week. Same with Bonvoy--it seems that each side points the finger at the other. I have asked both sides if neither side can tell me which points are at the expiration deadline and when, how can I effectively manage my account?
I have also asked that if when I make hotel reservations and use Bonvoy points as the method of payment, does the system automatically know to take the aging points first? No one seems to be able to answer these questions. Moreover, no one could answer my question regarding pre Starwood/Marriott merger converted points and their expiration or if they are also "paused" due to Covid.
As I explained to both sides......I am PAYING for the luxury of obsolescence. Whereas conversion was gratis, once Westin discovered it could take a clerical function and monetize it, they did. So now I am paying money for points that supposedly expire and for a system that hides their expiration date from the owners/users rendering it nearly impossible to strategize the most efficient use of their membership.
It occurs to me that if this is happening to me, it must be happening to others as well. It would also seem to me that Vistana, Westin Vacation Club, Marriott Vacation Club etc are opening themselves up for a potential class action suit as they are withholding expiration details from members.
I have probably spent 3 or 4 hours over the past week on the phone with Bonvoy, or Vistana and each time the story changes and no one seems to know the correct answer or is able to point me in the direction fo who might be able to provide some account clarity.
I'm sure some will flame me and point out that this isn't a good use of the vacation ownership to begin with, but that's a totally different conversation. Has anyone else experienced something similar and if so are you able to guide me in the direction of clarity. It's impossible to know whether its best to use hotel points to vacation or StarOptions when you have no idea if your points are expiring or when,
We own a 2 bedroom WKORV Floating Week. Living in SoCal it's often easier to simply use the 2 properties here in the desert then going to Hawaii. Because of the change in lifestyle with kids growing up etc we often convert half the ownership each year to Marriott Bonvoy points and bank the other half. We have found that allows us closer to 2 weeks at WDW in the summer (we like the heat!) for a nominal amount of StarOptions and for the past few years this has worked well.
Most likely because I wasn't paying full attention on previous conversions I learned that StarOptions converted to Marriott Bonvoy points have a 6 year expiration from their date of conversion. Here's where the fun begins.....
No one on the Vistana side can tell me how many points are at "risk" for expiration. They claim that once the conversion occurs the points belong to Marriott and Bonvoy has control over them. Bonvoy tells me that as long as there is account activity the points never expire. OR.......depending on the CSR you get tells me that points accruing from Credit Card Usage, Hotel Stays, Bonus Points etc never expire but they are UNABLE to tell me which converted points are due to expire or how many of them risk expiration if ANY truly do expire. Moreover, the last agent I spoke to told me that Marriott has put a total "pause" on expiration for ALL points until February of 2023 because of the past 2 years of COVID related delays. However, they couldn't tell me if that pause applies to my converted points that supposedly have an expiration regardless of all of this.
I have spoken to Vistana multiple times in the past week. Same with Bonvoy--it seems that each side points the finger at the other. I have asked both sides if neither side can tell me which points are at the expiration deadline and when, how can I effectively manage my account?
I have also asked that if when I make hotel reservations and use Bonvoy points as the method of payment, does the system automatically know to take the aging points first? No one seems to be able to answer these questions. Moreover, no one could answer my question regarding pre Starwood/Marriott merger converted points and their expiration or if they are also "paused" due to Covid.
As I explained to both sides......I am PAYING for the luxury of obsolescence. Whereas conversion was gratis, once Westin discovered it could take a clerical function and monetize it, they did. So now I am paying money for points that supposedly expire and for a system that hides their expiration date from the owners/users rendering it nearly impossible to strategize the most efficient use of their membership.
It occurs to me that if this is happening to me, it must be happening to others as well. It would also seem to me that Vistana, Westin Vacation Club, Marriott Vacation Club etc are opening themselves up for a potential class action suit as they are withholding expiration details from members.
I have probably spent 3 or 4 hours over the past week on the phone with Bonvoy, or Vistana and each time the story changes and no one seems to know the correct answer or is able to point me in the direction fo who might be able to provide some account clarity.
I'm sure some will flame me and point out that this isn't a good use of the vacation ownership to begin with, but that's a totally different conversation. Has anyone else experienced something similar and if so are you able to guide me in the direction of clarity. It's impossible to know whether its best to use hotel points to vacation or StarOptions when you have no idea if your points are expiring or when,
