Abound, by Marriott Vacations — We’re Getting Closer to What Marriott Has Been Promising!!!

We’ve been told for months now that things are progressing towards the new Abound by Marriott Vacations without any visible signs of changes being made to Marriott Owners. Today, we can SEE a difference on the MVC Website. Though we as owners still don’t have access to reserve Vistana properties, the changes that were made are fresh and more user friendly.  Options of ways to use Club Points are grouped and organized in a much more logical and streamlined fashion.  Let me cut to the chase and show you what I mean.  Here are some of the changes on the website that I found so far.

• Owner Events – BEST change to the website, in my opinion!  Before Owner Events were listed in an awkward location under Affiliates on the landing page – difficult to find even for seasoned owners. Now you can access them under the Use Points tab, where you will see “Exclusive Owner Events” as an option listed under Exchange Options.  I show the screenshot below.

• Explorer Collection options have been divided into groups – another GREAT improvement! Now instead of all the Explorer Collection listed only in one location, you can access various options in logical areas. Insurance is under the Manage tab in both Use Weeks and Use Points menu. You can also find Insurance listed as shown below under the Travel Essential column in the Destinations drop down menu.

Cruises, Hotels, and More as shown above is where you would go to use your Club Points for your tours, and Villas of Distinction rentals, etc. – all under the Destinations tab, Points Column. Other Explorer Collection options are grouped together under the Travel Essentials column.  LOVE THIS!! 

• Two selections were a bit confusing to me initially.  Under the Use Points Tab, under the Exchange Options column you will see the options “Interval International”, and underneath it the option “Interval World” – you can refer to the first screen shot at the beginning of this post to see what I am referring to.  Aren’t those two options referring to one and the same?  I reached out to an Owner Advisor where I was told they ARE the same, but the two options take you to two different links. The Interval International selection takes you to resources that can be found on the Interval website, such as High Travel Demand Index charts.  The Interval World selection takes you directly to the Interval website. I like the convenience of checking out the Travel Demand Index without having to go to the website. I just wish the labels for the selections would be a little more explanatory.

All in all, things look better on the Marriott website. Abound is one step closer to becoming a new norm for Marriott owners!