Thread Dedicated to the Upcoming/Anticipated Integration of Vistana and Marriott Ownerships

[VacationForever]

Just thinking aloud, I wonder if we enroll a Vistana week into the MVC program, can we continue to use VSN when we decide not to elect DC club points for the year, or can we only be in one system? I like the simplicity of VSN's seasons as it provides better value. For instance, looking at the MVC chart, Thanksgiving week requires higher points and it runs until the weekend past Thanksgiving. On the other hand, the week before, during and after Thanksgiving require the same number of SOs. Since we usually travel during that period and varies by year, VSN gives us the flexibillity and not require significantly more points over Thanksgiving week.

 

[CPNY]

Just thinking aloud, I wonder if we enroll Vistana week into the MVC program, can we continue to use VSN when we not elect DC club points for the year, or can we only be in one system? I like the simplicity of VSN's seasons and provides better value and flexibility for how we might want to use the SOs. For instance, looking at the MVC chart, Thanksgiving week requires higher points use and it runs until the weekend past Thanksgiving. On the other hand, week before, during and after Thanksgiving require the same number of SOs. Since we usually travel before, during and after Thanksgiving, VSN gives us the flexibillity and not require significantly more points over Thanksgiving week.

The way the fine print reads on those photos being posted is that the vistana member has to elect to participate in the DC Exchange. I’m assuming that if we don’t elect, we continue using what we have. The same has been reported by many of those who have done updates in the past few days as well as the informant through Denise. Whether or not there is enough inventory in the VSN to satisfy our needs in the future is the question.

 

[VacationForever]

The way the fine print reads on those photos being posted is that the vistana member has to elect to participate in the DC Exchange. I’m assuming that if we don’t elect, we continue using what we have. The same has been reported by many of those who have done updates in the past few days as well as the informant through Denise. Whether or not there is enough inventory in the VSN to satisfy our needs in the future is the question.

There are 2 steps. First is enrollment. The moment you are enrolled, you are part of the MVC club and you pay MVC club dues. Since club dues cover free II account and free II trades, I am thinking once enrolled, you cannot go back to VSN. VSN will continue to exist and likely to work as it is. Second step is something that you decide each year, whether to elect DC points or you want to use your week as it is.

If enrollment means it is a one-way traffic, then thinking through the way we use SOs, we are likely to not enroll. Our Vistana ownership is "authorized/eligible".

 

[pchung6]

There are 2 steps. First is enrollment. The moment you are enrolled, you are part of the MVC club and you pay MVC club dues. Since club dues cover free II account and free II trades, I am thinking once enrolled, you cannot go back to VSN. VSN will continue to exist and likely to work as it is. Second step is something that you decide each year, whether to elect DC points or you want to use your week as it is.

If enrollment means it is a one-way traffic, then thinking through the way we use SOs, we are likely to not enroll. Our Vistana ownership is "authorized/eligible".

I hope this is not the case. I still don't see any reason/value to enroll. VSN is way better and easier to use. When I look at MVC pts chart, my head spins.

 

[CPNY]

There are 2 steps. First is enrollment. The moment you are enrolled, you are part of the MVC club and you pay MVC club dues. Since club dues cover free II account and free II trades, I am thinking once enrolled, you cannot go back to VSN. VSN will continue to exist and likely to work as it is. Second step is something that you decide each year, whether to elect DC points or you want to use your week as it is.

If enrollment means it is a one-way traffic, then thinking through the way we use SOs, we are likely to not enroll. Our Vistana ownership is "authorized/eligible".

If it’s a one and done forever then I would never do it. But I doubt it is only because they have to give you the option to book your deeded home resort week right? I think once you convert for that year then you can’t bring the options back into the VSN. In that case it’s a one way street.

I agree with you, the way I use my SO I wouldn’t enroll or convert. I’d likely have to convert all of my VOI’s to get one week somewhere. Where I can use the SO and get 3-5 weeks

 

[dioxide45]

There are 2 steps. First is enrollment. The moment you are enrolled, you are part of the MVC club and you pay MVC club dues. Since club dues cover free II account and free II trades, I am thinking once enrolled, you cannot go back to VSN. VSN will continue to exist and likely to work as it is. Second step is something that you decide each year, whether to elect DC points or you want to use your week as it is.

If enrollment means it is a one-way traffic, then thinking through the way we use SOs, we are likely to not enroll. Our Vistana ownership is "authorized/eligible".

This is not my understanding. Just like with Marriott weeks, you can continue to use what you own or elect Club Points every year. If you don't elect Club Points, then you can use your Home Resort, VSN or go through II.

 

[jabberwocky]

This is not my understanding. Just like with Marriott weeks, you can continue to use what you own or elect Club Points every year. If you don't elect Club Points, then you can use your Home Resort, VSN or go through II.

I agree, and it’s my understanding as well based on my owners presentation today (Vistana side). VSN will continue to exist and units within VSN can still book as normal. What is changing is that there will now be an extra option where you can choose to put your Vistana week/points into the DC Exchange.

I think of it as being just like depositing a week into II. It’s only for that particular year and I can use VSN in a future year.

 

[VacationForever]

If it’s a one and done forever then I would never do it. But I doubt it is only because they have to give you the option to book your deeded home resort week right? I think once you convert for that year then you can’t bring the options back into the VSN. In that case it’s a one way street.

I agree with you, the way I use my SO I wouldn’t enroll or convert. I’d likely have to convert all of my VOI’s to get one week somewhere. Where I can use the SO and get 3-5 weeks

In MVC, each year you elect to turn your MVC week into DC points or not. If you don't, you use your MVC deeded week to book whatever it is in the season. The elephant in the room is VSN. Since you essentially should only pay one club fee and you enroll, wouldn't you now be in MVC DC instead of VSN? It will be great if you can continue to use both VSN and DC systems.

 

[alexadeparis]

It seems we really can't take the word of a salesperson on what or which VOIs will be able to be enrolled. Denise's contact says one thing, a rep at an owner update says another. It seems we can't rely on them for information because they may not know, or make it up as they go. We won't really know until Marriott announcement the damn thing and lets us go in and actually look at stuff for ourselves.

I agree with this, it may be something that hasn’t been made clear to them. They did tell me I had to make a purchase to allow it, but when I asked them outright if an amnesty enrollment might be offered as it was in 2010 for Marriott resale weeks, they said anything is possible in the future but have been told no for now. I replied that there are too many uncertainties for me to buy anything for now, and they didn’t push any further. The look on their face made me feel that there is a strong possibility down the road that we may be offered some type of enrollment for a fee, but that is not what they said.

 

[CPNY]

In MVC, each year you elect to turn your MVC week into DC points or not. If you don't, you use your MVC deeded week to book whatever it is in the season. The elephant in the room is VSN. Since you essentially should only pay one club fee and you enroll, wouldn't you now be in MVC DC instead of VSN? It will be great if you can continue to use both VSN and DC systems.

I was under the impression they are increasing the VSN fee for Enrolled units to be in line with the fee DC members pay. The real question is, will there be two different VSN fees? The current fee for those who cannot book in the DC and a higher one for those who can? Or will they just raise the price for all of us regardless of ability to convert. If they raise the VSN fee without the ability to convert, that will make for a lot of unhappy owners. The other question is around multiple ownership. You pay on the first two in the VSN, would that continue or just one fee for all? As much as I can’t wait for this to roll out, I wish it wasn’t happening for years lol.

 

[VacationForever]

I was under the impression they are increasing the VSN fee for Enrolled units to be in line with the fee DC members pay. The real question is, will there be two different VSN fees? The current fee for those who cannot book in the DC and a higher one for those who can? Or will they just raise the price for all of us regardless of ability to convert. If they raise the VSN fee without the ability to convert, that will make for a lot of unhappy owners. The other question is around multiple ownership. You pay on the first two in the VSN, would that continue or just one fee for all? As much as I can’t wait for this to roll out, I wish it wasn’t happening for years lol.

MVC DC fees are by ownership level. Obviously, the more you own, the higher the fees.

• $215 Owners and Select Members
• $255 Executive and Presidential Members
• $280 Chairman's Club Members

 

[alexadeparis]

To add to what I was told regarding the enrollment and election, all fully authorized enrolled weeks will automatically be enrolled, no action required and no choice really. Then each year we will have to select whether to use home resort use, elect for VSN SOs, or elect for MVC DC points. Once that choice is made for that year, you must use it that way for that year, no take backs. So I could decide to get MVC DC points for 3 units and keep the other 3 in SOs, it’s really going to come down to knowing what we want to do that year and then maximizing the respective points charts. Obviously for Hawaii, St John and HRA, that wouldn’t make sense, but converting to DC points might work if I don’t care where I stay in say Orlando or Palm desert, etc and can use the MVC chart fluctuations to my advantage.

 

[CPNY]

MVC DC fees are by ownership level. Obviously, the more you own, the higher the fees.

• $215 Owners and Select Members
• $255 Executive and Presidential Members
• $280 Chairman's Club Members

So a non elite May pay $215 which is more for someone with one ownership but the same amount as someone with 2+ in the VSN. If the increase in fees gets free Marriott exchanges, I wouldn’t be upset.

 

[CPNY]

To add to what I was told regarding the enrollment and election, all fully authorized enrolled weeks will automatically be enrolled, no action required and no choice really. Then each year we will have to select whether to use home resort use, elect for VSN SOs, or elect for MVC DC points. Once that choice is made for that year, you must use it that way for that year, no take backs. So I could decide to get MVC DC points for 3 units and keep the other 3 in SOs, it’s really going to come down to knowing what we want to do that year and then maximizing the respective points charts. Obviously for Hawaii, St John and HRA, that wouldn’t make sense, but converting to DC points might work if I don’t care where I stay in say Orlando or Palm desert, etc and can use the MVC chart fluctuations to my advantage.

When you say elect for VSN SO, is that going to be new? As in you have to give up your home resort usage or just continue on the way it is now, either book your home resort, or wait and book something at 8 months? The way it’s written makes it look like you have to choose one of the three options in the beginning of the year.

 

[alexadeparis]

When you say elect for VSN SO, is that going to be new? As in you have to give up your home resort usage or just continue on the way it is now, either book your home resort, or wait and book something at 8 months? The way it’s written makes it look like you have to choose one of the three options in the beginning of the year.

VSN usage will be exactly the same, you don’t have to choose ahead of the use year, but once you break the home usage it goes to SOs. Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Nothing is changing on the VSN side, we will just get one more choice of points currency to use if we break home use.

 

[dioxide45]

I was under the impression they are increasing the VSN fee for Enrolled units to be in line with the fee DC members pay. The real question is, will there be two different VSN fees? The current fee for those who cannot book in the DC and a higher one for those who can? Or will they just raise the price for all of us regardless of ability to convert. If they raise the VSN fee without the ability to convert, that will make for a lot of unhappy owners. The other question is around multiple ownership. You pay on the first two in the VSN, would that continue or just one fee for all? As much as I can’t wait for this to roll out, I wish it wasn’t happening for years lol.

I think what is really happening is that the VSN fee isn't changing (other than perhaps some annual increases). What will change is if you opt to enroll in the program (I think this has to happen just like Marriott weeks), you take on a new DC Club Fee. That fee is a fee that covers all the other fees involved in your ownership and all the other fees now go to $0. So if you are paying a DC Club Fee, the VSN fee is now $0. This way, mandatory owners that could be shut out still pay the same VSN fee and perhaps some that simply never want to participate aren't forced into what could be a higher fee. Just a theory and not sure the contact worded it correctly or not.

 

[daviator]

When you say elect for VSN SO, is that going to be new? As in you have to give up your home resort usage or just continue on the way it is now, either book your home resort, or wait and book something at 8 months? The way it’s written makes it look like you have to choose one of the three options in the beginning of the year.

If I have to decide at the beginning of each calendar year which trading network I’m going to use for the following year (presumably, right?) — now I’m basically being asked to plan my travel up to 24 months in advance. That’s a bridge too far and would result in me ALWAYS choosing VSN.

If the decision to be made is about which network I will use THIS year, well that decision has often been made before this year even began, since I probably needed to make reservations last year for this year.

So I am a little confused about the timing of the annual election.

 

[dioxide45]

If I have to decide at the beginning of each calendar year which trading network I’m going to use for the following year (presumably, right?) — now I’m basically being asked to plan my travel up to 24 months in advance. That’s a bridge too far and would result in me ALWAYS choosing VSN.

If the decision to be made is about which network I will use THIS year, well that decision has often been made before this year even began, since I probably needed to make reservations last year for this year.

So I am a little confused about the timing of the annual election.

When electing Club Points, you have up to Sept 30 or Oct 31 (depends on status) of the year prior to the use year to decide. So you technically could make a home resort reservation in the first 3/4 of the use year, cancel it and elect Club Points by the deadline. We don't know if a StarOption reservation in the first 3/4 of the use year that is later cancelled would break the ability to convert to Club Points like it breaks the ability to make Home Resort reservations or II deposits in Vistana today. This is stuff they probably haven't even thought of.

 

[daviator]

When electing Club Points, you have up to Sept 30 or Oct 31 (depends on status) of the year prior to the use year to decide. So you technically could make a home resort reservation in the first 3/4 of the use year, cancel it and elect Club Points by the deadline. We don't know if a StarOption reservation in the first 3/4 of the use year that is later cancelled would break the ability to convert to Club Points like it breaks the ability to make Home Resort reservations or II deposits in Vistana today. This is stuff they probably haven't even thought of.

Ok, so it’s similar to the banking deadlines. That makes more sense. For some reason i was reading it as “you have to decide by the beginning of the (calendar) year” which didn’t seem like it worked. Thanks for explaining.

 

[alexadeparis]

Ok, so it’s similar to the banking deadlines. That makes more sense. For some reason i was reading it as “you have to decide by the beginning of the (calendar) year” which didn’t seem like it worked. Thanks for explaining.

I didn’t ask if it would change, and it wasn’t mentioned, so I think that nothing will change with respect to banking, borrowing or any other VSN deadlines or timelines. Whether the MVC election timelines will differ, I didn’t think to ask that either,

 

[VacationForever]

So a non elite May pay $215 which is more for someone with one ownership but the same amount as someone with 2+ in the VSN. If the increase in fees gets free Marriott exchanges, I wouldn’t be upset.

Yes, free II trade. I use II to trade my MVC weeks more so than using DC points. Sometimes I use DC points to extend my II exchange by adding in lower point days (Sun-Thu), making it a 10 to 11 days stay.

 

[rthib]

Yes, free II trade. I use II to trade my MVC weeks more so than using DC points. Sometimes I use DC points to extend my II exchange by adding in lower point days (Sun-Thu), making it a 10 to 11 days stay.

And free unlimited retrades. Since some resorts honor the II view code you can keep retrading until you get what you want. Or take a Sunday-Sunday and keep looking for a Saturday-Saturday etc..
And for lock-off no lock-off fee and also even for reserving your week, no cancellation fee.

 

[VacationForever]

And free unlimited retrades. Since some resorts honor the II view code you can keep retrading until you get what you want. Or take a Sunday-Sunday and keep looking for a Saturday-Saturday etc..
And for lock-off no lock-off fee and also even for reserving your week, no cancellation fee.

Agree. When we first bought MVC weeks, we were surprised that the weeks had a lockoff fee because Vistana does not have lockoff fee. With Vistana, whether you buy a 2BR or a 2BR LO, it is stated in the deed and you can just book each side of the 2BR LO. With Vistana, you can deposit one side of the 2BR LO into II and use the other side for SO booking or even turn one side in for Bonvoy points. The free retrades are nice too. I can keep retrading until I find something that I like.

 

[dioxide45]

Agree. When we first bought MVC weeks, we were surprised that the weeks had a lockoff fee because Vistana does not have lockoff fee. With Vistana, whether you buy a 2BR or a 2BR LO, it is stated in the deed and you can just book each side of the 2BR LO. With Vistana, you can deposit one side of the 2BR LO into II and use the other side for SO booking or even turn one side in for Bonvoy points. The free retrades are nice too. I can keep retrading until I find something that I like.

Yeah, Vistana is a little different as each side of the lock off unit is technically a separate VOI. So nothing really to lock off. It is more akin to locking together when you make a full 2BR reservation.

 

[KS2beach]

Westin Flex owner here that just attended a Marriott Vacation Club presentation. They told me that the merger will take place by July 1st and I can continue to use my Westin Flex as it currently exists after the merger. However, if I want to ever reserve any of the 73 properties currently in the MVC Trust, I will need to purchase four 250 point intervals (1,000 MVC points) to "join" the MVC Trust. Now when we bought the Westin Flex plan the salesman told me that once the merger was completed I would have access to all the Marriott properties. I guess he didn't lie, he just didn't tell me I would have to pay more money to buy more points in order to access the MVC properties!

So I need to buy 1,000 MVC points to be a part of the MVC Trust but of course they are only selling a minimum of 1,500 points so I would need to buy that to have access to the current MVC Trust properties. My Westin points will exchange to MVC points at a 28.824 to 1 ratio, so my current 150,000 Westin points will get me 5,204 MVC points. They will sell me 1,500 MVC points so I can be part of the Trust for $19,360 or $0.12907 per point. They also have said that with the 1,500 MVC points I am buying plus the 5,204 MVC points I will have from the Westin conversion, I will have a total 6,704 MVC points. The salesman said with that many MVC points, I should buy the little bit more needed to get to the MVC VIP Executive level of 7,000 MVC points so that I will not only get into the MVC Trust but also get VIP Executive level which means I can reserve at 13 months instead of 12 months.

So please provide feedback as what here is the truth, what is false, and what would you do?

We own 2 Westin properties and in 2020 thought buying 1,500 DP with Marriott would help bridge our ownerships. We just went to Marriott update last week and they tried to convince us we should buy 1500 more DP points to jump to next level the break down they offered us 4500 one time points- 1500 yearly DP after discounts etc. for $17,640. Bottom line we turned it down.
Our WKV 81,000- is 2,850 marriott- our WRF 95,700 is 2,250 marriott- our Sheraton 44,000 is 900 Marriott- i doubt we would ever change over to use the marriott properties with those- We have however enjoyed using our Marriott DP for 5 night get aways (Hilton Head- Myrtle Beach- going to Frenchman's cove in Nov) Everyone's travel needs are different, Good Luck with your decision.