• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $23,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $23 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

CLOSED: Thread Dedicated to the Upcoming/Anticipated Integration of Vistana & Marriott Ownerships (Marriott Link + Vistana Discussion)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Red elephant

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
969
Reaction score
334
Location
Georgia
Resorts Owned
WSJ
Harborside
Nanea
SDO
SVV
SBP
I got the impression from our last sales presentation that they were nearly out of Westin Flex. THey seemed to be scraping bottom. They will transition over to selling Abound Club Points and talk those up like they are the greatest thing and how Flex plain sucks...
Haha so true . Today they said club points was too expensive and requires too many points to go anywhere. Sheraton flex was it.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
Hmmmm...From the MVC points chart for Westin Lagunamar, it looks like Marriott is trying to do away with Vistana's Gold week designation for the first 4 weeks of January. I think I'm going to hang onto our Star Options & Home Options.
When Marriott created the DC program way back in 2010, they did realign the values of weeks by allocating more DC points required to book them. In reality, January is more gold season than Platinum IMO. Weather can be iffy. But this is a good reason to have options and still being able to use StarOptions is a great benefit.
 

kozykritter

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
1,293
Reaction score
1,141
Location
Here, There and Everywhere
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Flex, MVC Points, Worldmark
That's a good point. Vistana, MVC and Interval have slightly different seasonality for most MVC and Vistana properties, particularly for low and shoulder seasons and where they overlap with each other and with high seasons. By having Flex options and MVC points and access to II through both systems, I can do all kind of gymnastics back and forth to save significant options or points and stretch my vacations out further. That includes even converting to Abound points and then booking backwards to Vistana in certain circumstances, inventory pending. It's a new world of opportunities!
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
That's a good point. Vistana, MVC and Interval have slightly different seasonality for various MVc and Vistana properties, particularly for low and shoulder seasons and where they overlap with each other and with high seasons. By having Flex options and MVC points and access to II through both systems, I can do all kind of gymnastics back and forth to save significant options or points and stretch my vacations out further. That includes even converting to Abound points and then booking backwards to Vistana in certain circumstances, inventory pending. It's a new world of opportunities!
Another good thing, is if II exhcnage fees go away for Vistana to Vistana or Vistana to Marriott HomeOption based trades, it would always be good to look at II to see if there is inventory there before just doing an Abound or StarOption reservation. In quite a few cases, the amount of HomeOptions needed for an II trade are less than the number of StarOptions through VSN. Right now there is a $164 fee, but in the future that should be $0.
 

jabberwocky

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
2,829
Reaction score
2,591
Resorts Owned
SVR, SDO, WKORV-N, Westin Flex, HGVC (BLVD)
Another good thing, is if II exhcnage fees go away for Vistana to Vistana or Vistana to Marriott HomeOption based trades, it would always be good to look at II to see if there is inventory there before just doing an Abound or StarOption reservation. In quite a few cases, the amount of HomeOptions needed for an II trade are less than the number of StarOptions through VSN. Right now there is a $164 fee, but in the future that should be $0.
I wonder if they would restrict that possibility? Maybe I misunderstood it, but I thought you couldn’t use DP to book Marriott through II. I wonder if they will extend this restriction to Vistana resorts given the $0 exchange fee. Otherwise it seems to be a loophole.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
I wonder if they would restrict that possibility? Maybe I misunderstood it, but I thought you couldn’t use DP to book Marriott through II. I wonder if they will extend this restriction to Vistana resorts given the $0 exchange fee. Otherwise it seems to be a loophole.
Well, you can't use DC/Abound points to trade through II into Marriott, but that restriction doesn't exist for the underlying week. Or in the case of VSN, it might not for the underlying VOI. Adding the restriction on the VOI would be taking away something we have already. I can see them restricting all Marriott and Vistana from booking with Abound points in II to other Marriott and Vistana properties, but I would think they would leave VOIs alone. Who knows.
 

kozykritter

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
1,293
Reaction score
1,141
Location
Here, There and Everywhere
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Flex, MVC Points, Worldmark
They treat Flex VOIs like weeks rather than points since they are home options so you can use them to book anything. I don't think I've ever tried booking a Vistana week with them but I believe that you can. My brain tells me there's something that you can't book if you are a Vistana owner but I can't remember!
 

VacationForever

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
16,991
Reaction score
12,033
Location
Somewhere Out There
They treat Flex VOIs like weeks rather than points since they are home options so you can use them to book anything. I don't think I've ever tried booking a Vistana week with them but I believe that you can. It's SOs that you can't use to book Vistana properties in II, right?
You cannot deposit SOs into II, you have to deposit the original week for one or 2 lockoff sides. I guess what Jeremy meant originally is that if you find a Vistana/Marriott week in II, then you use a Vistana week to exchange in II. Since SOs is not an election, unlike in MVC DC/Abound system, where election is done the year before, you can do that with a Vistana week.
 

Red elephant

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
969
Reaction score
334
Location
Georgia
Resorts Owned
WSJ
Harborside
Nanea
SDO
SVV
SBP
You cannot deposit SOs into II, you have to deposit the original week for one or 2 lockoff sides. I guess what Jeremy meant originally is that if you find a Vistana/Marriott week in II, then you use a Vistana week to exchange in II. Since SOs is not an election, unlike in MVC DC/Abound system, where election is done the year before, you can do that with a Vistana week.
I am now understanding that if you have flex options (Westin, Sheraton, homeoptions) you can book directly thru interval for any resort and the points required are usually less than if you booked using staroptions thru VSN or DPs thru Marriott.
 

timsi

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
Messages
1,427
Reaction score
494
Hmmmm...From the MVC points chart for Westin Lagunamar, it looks like Marriott is trying to do away with Vistana's Gold week designation for the first 4 weeks of January. I think I'm going to hang onto our Star Options & Home Options.
I think January 2023 at Lagunamar was very hard to book compared to other years. Abound did not even start yet and odd things are happening already. I am very curious to see in October if those weeks show up miraculously in Abound and of course much more expensive than in VSN.
 

kozykritter

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
1,293
Reaction score
1,141
Location
Here, There and Everywhere
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Flex, MVC Points, Worldmark
I am now understanding that if you have flex options (Westin, Sheraton, homeoptions) you can book directly thru interval for any resort and the points required are usually less than if you booked using staroptions thru VSN or DPs thru Marriott.
Sometimes the case, sometimes not. There are some crossovers in seasonality that make it advantageous to book in your home systems rather than through II and sometimes the reverse. You just have to do all the investigating which is sort of the fun part!
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
I am now understanding that if you have flex options (Westin, Sheraton, homeoptions) you can book directly thru interval for any resort and the points required are usually less than if you booked using staroptions thru VSN or DPs thru Marriott.
But you pay an exchange fee currently. So you get to keep some points, but you pay for it with cash.
 

kozykritter

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
1,293
Reaction score
1,141
Location
Here, There and Everywhere
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Flex, MVC Points, Worldmark
But you pay an exchange fee currently. So you get to keep some points, but you pay for it with cash.
I add up all costs on both sides of the transaction and then if it's a significant difference I don't mind spending cash if it saves me points I've paid cash for or would pay cash for to rent. For example I wanted to book a holiday week that was 2900 DP. Due to seasonality differences in II, I could book that same unit with 44,000 SFlex options which would have converted to only 1,286 DP in Abound. Renting 2900 DP would have cost me $2,030 as I've used all my 2023 points for other reservations. Using Flex through II cost me $1091 including $838 option MF and $253 exchange fee/e-plus (I need flexibility for my 2023 plans due to some ongoing family situations). For me that's a big win because the bulk of the cost comes from MF that I already had to pay and I've saved about half of the cost.
 
Last edited:

dlca1

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
197
Reaction score
42
Location
Northern California
Do we know how timestamp/room assignment priority will work?

Something like this?

1) Owners of deeded weeks
2) Exchange via staroptions
2) Exchange via Abound
3) Interval

(I don’t understand flex, so don’t even know where that fits in)
 

Jimmyboy

Guest
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
33
Reaction score
18
Resorts Owned
Westin kierland villas
Pretty complicated trying to merge these operations and still honor the contractual obligations and make some money for themselves at the same time which can be as expected.
Overall adding more options and flexibility for owners is a good thing if priced resonably. I swear Universities should offer courses or even a degree in Timeshare ownership. There are so many in and outs and pitfalls at every step. This Forum is very helpful and understanding and sharing knowledge helping people make the right decisions on these things.
 

Jimmyboy

Guest
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
33
Reaction score
18
Resorts Owned
Westin kierland villas
Do we know how timestamp/room assignment priority will work?

Something like this?

1) Owners of deeded weeks
2) Exchange via staroptions
2) Exchange via Abound
3) Interval

(I don’t understand flex, so don’t even know where that fits in)

If Abound traders can access properties with a 12 month window I would assume they have priority of a 8 month VSN exchange.
 

jabberwocky

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
2,829
Reaction score
2,591
Resorts Owned
SVR, SDO, WKORV-N, Westin Flex, HGVC (BLVD)
Do we know how timestamp/room assignment priority will work?

Something like this?

1) Owners of deeded weeks
2) Exchange via staroptions
2) Exchange via Abound
3) Interval

(I don’t understand flex, so don’t even know where that fits in)
Flex and Abound will both be booking at The 12 month mark and are essentially another form of weeks ownership (just the trust/exchange holds the week).

SO come in at the 8 month mark and then external (II exchanges) would come after. So my guess is:

1) weeks owners/Flex/Abound
2) SO reservations
3) II or other external exchanges
 

remowidget

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2017
Messages
484
Reaction score
211
Resorts Owned
Westin Lagunamar X3
When Marriott created the DC program way back in 2010, they did realign the values of weeks by allocating more DC points required to book them. In reality, January is more gold season than Platinum IMO. Weather can be iffy. But this is a good reason to have options and still being able to use StarOptions is a great benefit.
They messed up by making January Gold Season, IMHO. Cabo isn't Gold in January. The average high temperature in Cancun only varies by 2 degrees from November to March. Lagunamar is uber popular in January because it takes so many fewer Staroptions. The worst weather for a whole trip we ever experienced was the one time we went in February. We go in January almost every year.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2022-08-23 174948.jpg
    Screenshot 2022-08-23 174948.jpg
    33.3 KB · Views: 28

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
They messed up by making January Gold Season, IMHO. Cabo isn't Gold in January. The average high temperature in Cancun only varies by 2 degrees from November to March. Lagunamar is uber popular in January because it takes so many fewer Staroptions. The worst weather for a whole trip we ever experienced was the one time we went in February. We go in January almost every year.
But if January had Platinum Plus SO pricing, it would be a lot less popular.

Generally timeshare developers manipulate the points charts so they can get more points from a room to then be able to sell more points and make more revenue. I suspect this is why Cabo has higher point pricing as it was sold as pure points, Aventuras.
 
Last edited:

remowidget

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2017
Messages
484
Reaction score
211
Resorts Owned
Westin Lagunamar X3
But if January had Platinum Plus SO pricing, it would be a lot less popular.

Generally timeshare developers manipulate the points charts so they can get more points from a room to then be able to sell more points and make more revenue. I suspect this is why Cabo has higher point pricing as it was sold as pure points, Aventuras.
Maybe... I just checked and Abound values Cabo above Lagunamar across the board. Weird.
 

Palmtreelady1

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2015
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Is there a chart on what our weeks are worth in the Marriott world. I own Sheraton Vistana in February and will I be able to ever use any of the Marriott properties? It is all very confusing.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
Is there a chart on what our weeks are worth in the Marriott world. I own Sheraton Vistana in February and will I be able to ever use any of the Marriott properties? It is all very confusing.
THis is the best we have so far.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,462
Reaction score
21,915
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
Benefit chart attached from my sales guy.
It looks like the only major changes are to banking and converting to Bonvoy. It also looks like they are staying Bonvoy will never expire where currently they had a 6 year expiration that was never really enforced.

It looks like they will cut down the two year banking to only one year and 1.5 years for Presidential and below. This is a pretty big hit to lower tier owners.

I know it is a bad value, and we still are not 100% sure how mandatory will be able to actually enroll, but I wonder if the ability to convert to Bonvoy will be there for those Abound enrolled (but unqualified) mandatory VOIs. IN 2010, MVC resale weeks that enrolled in DC could start to elect Bonvoy points where they couldn't previously.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top