What Marriott’s New Abound Program Means For Vistana Owners

If you are an existing or prospective Vistana owner, then you have probably heard about Marriott’s new Abound program. This new program is designed to offer more benefits to Vistana owners, and it is definitely something that you should be aware of. In this article, we will discuss the Abound program in detail and tell you what you can expect from it. We will also provide some tips on how to take advantage of the Abound program’s benefits. So if you are an existing or prospective Vistana timeshare owner, be sure to read this article!

Abound Members Will Use Club Points For Reservations

As of now on, Club Points will be the name for vacation currency that is used to book vacations for Marriott Destinations Club owners and Vistana owners who are electing to exchange their weeks / points in the new Abound program. Later in this article, we will share some preliminary conversion rates for Vistana owners who elect to turn their StarOptions into Club Points.

Abound Program Launch Date

Reservations will be available for Vistana owners using the Abound exchange program to book at any of the Marriott Vacation Club resorts starting in the 2023 calendar year, but starting in October 2022, Vistana owners can start electing to exchange their StarOptions for Club Points.

Eligibility Requirements

Vistana owners who were a member of Vistana Signature Network (VSN) prior to August 9th, 2022 will be eligible to use the Abound exchange program, even if they had purchased at a Voluntary resort on the resale market. Vistana owners who are eligible will be automatically enrolled into the Abound program.

Abound Owner Benefit Levels

Owners who are eligible for Abound and do not opt-out will receive updated Ownership Benefit levels that are comparable to those offered by Marriott Vacation Club. There are two ways to determine the Ownership Benefit Level for Vistana owners. Vistana owners can qualify based on their existing Elite level within the system, or the amount of Club Points that they are able to elect. The Owner Benefit Level is determined by the greater of the two factors, so whichever factor places you in the highest benefit level will be the determining factor.

Electing Club Points

Owners of one of the Flex timeshare products will be able to elect for Club Points in increments of 20,000 Home Options.

Owners of any other Vistana timeshare product must choose to receive Club Points for the whole ownership in order to participate. Owners won’t be able to elect for Club Points using one side of a lock-off, or a portion of your StarOptions.

Updated Banking Rules – Vistana Owners Enrolled In Abound

Vistana owners who are enrolled in the Abound program will have their banking deadlines changed to June 30th of each year, and banked StarOptions will expire after 1 year for Abound members at the owner, select, and executive membership levels. If you have the presidential membership level, you bank you StarOptions for up to 18 months, and if you have the chairman’s club membership level you can bank for up to 2 years.

This change means that the banking rules for Vistana owners who are enrolled in the Abound program now match those for Marriott Vacation Club owners.

All Encompassing Annual Fee For Vistana Abound Members

Vistana owners who become a member of the Abound program will be required to pay the same the annual Club Fee that Marriott owners pay each year, which is based on membership level.

Opting-Out Of Abound

Eligible Vistana owners are automatically opted-in to the Abound Program, but owners can choose to opt-out of the Abound program. Although Vistana owners can avoid paying the annual Club Fee by opting-out, owners would continue paying individual fees such as housekeeping and cancellation fees will remain the same as they have before.

Even when opting-out of the Abound program, much of the new rule changes will still apply, like updated banking rules being changed to 1 year.

Using Interval International With Club Points

Vistana owners who are enrolled in the Abound program, and elect to exchange their StarOptions into Club Points will be prohibited to use those Club Points to make reservations at Marriott, Westin and Sheraton properties by exchanging through Interval International.

This restriction is of little consequence to Abound owners as they can simply booking those resorts through the new Abound system with no fees, but Marriott wants to ensure resort inventory stays within the Abound program, and is not traded into Interval International.

Conversion Rates For StarOptions To Abound Club Points

Although we don’t have exact numbers from Marriott or Vistana directly, we’ve gathered data that gives us an idea of how many Club Points Vistana owners can elect to receive based on what timeshare interest they currently own. Please note that these numbers are sourced from owners who have attended sales presentations and were quoted these conversion figures. The conversion numbers below are not official and are subject to change.

Check Back For More News

Be sure to check back on the Selling Timeshares, Inc. blog to stay updated on the rollout of the new Abound program. We will be covering the topic in greater detail as more news becomes available.