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As a Westgate Owner, you’ve chosen to live life to its fullest. You can enjoy a lifetime of extraordinary vacations. Luxury living. Exclusive amenities. A home away from home. A chance to see the world and share special memories. Vacation ownership takes your vacations to an entirely new level. Enjoy large, luxurious suites and resort-style amenities. Experience first-class getaways and Westgate Resort’s exemplary customer service.

Yet, those amazing vacations are just the beginning. You’re also eligible to receive an array of extra programs and benefits - from exclusive owner events to referral programs that let you earn cash rewards every time you refer friends or family who purchase vacations at Westgate.

You can combine the joy of vacationing with the excitement of an event. Our Westgate Events program features superstar concerts, sporting events and more. Westgate makes managing your ownership account simple and easy with convenient online account access from any computer, tablet or mobile device. Put additional buying power in your pocket with a Westgate Rewards Mastercard® credit card. You can also sign up for the World of Westgate Loyalty Program , a completely free option to earn benefits that make vacationing even more enjoyable!

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Our customer service representatives are always just a phone call away at 1-800-925-9999 . You can also open a customer service request just as quickly by filling out our online customer service form .

We understand that families grow or maybe you now have even more vacation time. And we can help you enhance your ownership to better meet those needs. Simply give us a call and ask about upgrading your villa or extending your vacation at Westgate Resorts.

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At Westgate, we offer the guaranteed best prices on a wide range of attractions and theme park tickets . We can save you time and money on tickets to Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and dozens of other popular attractions, live shows, dinner shows and more.

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Leisure Time Passport: Your One-Stop-Shop for Travel Inspiration and Trip Planning

Great news! You now have the freedom to travel how you want, when you want, with Leisure Time Passport ®. Take the entire family on a weeklong Getaway, enjoy big savings on hotel stays, and set sail on the world’s top cruise lines.

Call to Learn More!

US: 1-800-875-1817 INT'L: 1-407-355-1215

What to expect from your Leisure Time Passport membership:

Get Members Only Rates and Discounts on Travel. Enjoy special pricing on hotels, cruises, Getaways and more at exclusive rates not available to the general public.

Your One-Stop Travel Shop. Reserve flights, car rentals, and activities. You no longer need to shop around.

Getaways - 7 day stays at condo style accommodations at member only rates. Stay in high-quality accommodations in the world’s top destinations.

Dining & Leisure Discounts Powered by Entertainment® - Unbeatable discounts at thousands of restaurants, retail outlets, attractions, and more, including buy-one, get-one-free offers, and discounts of up to 50% off.

Earn Loyalty Points with completed travel and redeem them for future travel.

Easy and convenient – to contact a Leisure Time Passport representative: 800-875-1817 or 407-355-1215. Click here for details on how to access Leisure Time Passport benefits . Just follow the instructions under “How do I create a profile”.

Flexible Reservations with advance booking of up to a year, or just 24 hours prior to the desired travel date.

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* price subject to change

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Join the World of Westgate

The World of Westgate Loyalty Program has Five Membership Tiers: Member Tier, Silver Tier, Gold Tier, Platinum Tier and Elite Tier. Each Loyalty Tier offers its own exclusive rental rates, on-property discounts, unparalleled amenities, and extra benefits available only to Loyalty Members.

STEP ONE: Download the app STEP TWO: Activate Your Account STEP THREE: Experience the WOW!

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Please view the complete Terms & Conditions for full details.

Member Tier

FREE to join , take your vacation to the next level with up to 10% off direct bookings, exclusive offers, complimentary in-room Wi-Fi access, up to 50% off Resort & Destination Fees, 25% off Water Park admission. Make your dream vacations a reality!

Silver Tier

Westgate Owners in the Silver Tier enjoy perks like up to 25% off additional nights, complimentary in-room Wi-Fi access, 15% off on-property dining and spa visits, waived resort & destination fees, complimentary water park admission, and a 15% discount at Westgate Owned outlet stores!

Gold Tier Membership elevates Westgate Owners to another level with enhanced benefits like complimentary in-room ultra-high-speed WiFi in room, a $50 annual resort credit , early water park access with complimentary admission, up to 30% off additional nights, and insider perks like priority phone support ! Join today and go for the Gold!

Platinum Tier

Platinum Tier unlocks the next level of benefits including up to 35% off additional nights, an annual $100 resort credit , a 20% discount on resort dining, free enrollment in Westgate Travel Partners, 75% off pool cabana rentals, waived resort & destination fees, complimentary water park admission, priority tee times at Las Vegas Country Club...and star treatment with VIP check-in !

Elite Tier takes it another step beyond with up to 40% off additional nights, in-room ultra-high speed internet access, complimentary developer exchanges, exclusive VIP Phone Support, daily maid service, complimentary cabana and sports rentals, complimentary Las Vegas Airport car service, High-Roller Diamond VIP access to the Westgate Las Vegas Concierge Lounge, a 25% discount at Westgate Owned outlets, and Elite membership in the Westgate Cruise & Travel Collection . Enroll today to see if you qualify!

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? We've got answers! Read our handy Frequently Asked Questions and let us show you that the best things in life can be free, and they're waiting for you when you join the World of Westgate.

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Help! Our Cruise Operator Went Bankrupt and We Are Out $17,905.

A couple purchased an Arabian Sea voyage, but Vantage, the cruise company, went under. Their travel insurance was supposed to cover financial default, but the claim was repeatedly denied.

By Seth Kugel

Dear Tripped Up,

In September 2022, I booked a 17-day Arabian Sea cruise through Vantage Travel Services to celebrate my 80th birthday with my wife. The cruise was to set sail in October 2023. I used my credit card to leave a $2,000 deposit and paid the remaining $17,905 shortly afterward by bank transfer. I also bought the Worldwide Trip Protector plan from Travel Insured International (for $1,954), in part because it covered financial default and bankruptcy of cruise lines. Vantage then canceled the cruise and offered me an alternative date I could not make; I also declined their offer of credit and asked for a refund, which they agreed to. But no refund ever came, and they stopped answering the phone. My credit card returned the $2,000, and I filed an insurance claim for $17,905. It was denied, as was my first appeal. Then Vantage filed for bankruptcy, and my second appeal was denied too. The reasons given by the insurer were outrageous. They cited a vague parenthetical phrase in the policy’s bankruptcy clause, claiming I wasn’t covered because I purchased the cruise directly from the cruise line (rather than, say, through a travel adviser). Then they said my policy lapsed when I canceled the trip. But I did not cancel; Vantage did. I also filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Financial Services, which was rejected. Can you help? Michael, Smithtown, N.Y.

Dear Michael,

When Boston-based Vantage filed for bankruptcy last year, it owed thousands of customers a total of $108 million for cruises and other travel products they had paid for but never received. The company’s former owner is facing lawsuits in New York and Pennsylvania. But you had purchased an insurance policy to cover just such a risk, a smart move. Or so you thought until the insurance company, Travel Insured International, denied your claim and then used exasperating logic to fend off your two appeals, first interpreting the policy’s financial default and bankruptcy clause in a maddening way and then twisting the meaning of the word “cancel.”

You made a few mistakes as well — most notably, by making a claim based on a financial default that had not yet happened. But after speaking with law professors, insurance experts and competing insurance companies, I believe Travel Insured International was wrong, at least by the time of your second appeal, and should pay up.

What does it have to say for itself? For nearly five months, Travel Insured International and its parent company, Crum & Forster, did not respond to my detailed inquiries. Days before publication, however, a spokeswoman, Amy Whilldin, sent the following statement:

“The claim was properly considered, and the correct determination was made based on the facts of this claim, which was to the satisfaction of both the New York Department of Financial Services and the New York State attorney general.”

Ms. Whilldin is correct about the state’s financial services department . An examiner with the department, which regulates the insurance industry, rejected your complaint. “After a review of the policy language," he wrote, “we do not find they are acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner,” referring to Travel Insured International. I disagree with that determination, as we are about to get into.

But the attorney general’s office was not satisfied. You had complained to its Department of Consumer Frauds and Protection, and they did not receive a response from the company. “Despite our repeated efforts,” an employee wrote, “they have failed to respond.” The letter goes on to recommend you consider suing the company.

I have a better idea. You should file a formal grievance with Travel Insured International, which under your policy allows you to submit new evidence, and if that fails even argue your case in person. (You told me you are not interested in a third option, to accept travel credits under the conditions offered by the Australian company that bought Vantage’s assets.)

In the meantime, your story provides great lessons on how travelers should choose the appropriate travel insurance policy, and what can go wrong even when they do.

In your initial claim to Travel Insured International, filed in late 2022, you cited Vantage’s “very poor record” in refunding its customers and your “assumption that the company is in default in making payments.”

This was an error: Your policy defines financial default as “the total cessation of operations,” and Vantage at the time was running at least some cruises. Travel Insured International’s response simply said that “your travel supplier canceling your trip is not a covered reason.” True.

When you first appealed in April, Vantage was two months short of declaring bankruptcy outright, and was not yet in financial default as defined by the policy. But it was teetering. (That one of its cruises left at all made headlines in The Boston Globe .) This time, Travel Insured International denied your claim, citing the bankruptcy clause, which protects policy holders in case of “Bankruptcy or default of an airline, cruise line, tour operator or other travel provider (other than the Travel Supplier, tour operator, travel agency, organization or firm from whom you purchased your travel arrangements).”

That parenthetical says you are not covered if the organization that sold you the cruise goes bankrupt. You purchased the cruise directly from Vantage, so you are not covered, according to the claims adjuster’s reasoning. (Why the company even cited this clause, if the cruise line was not yet in default, remains a mystery.)

Similar clauses appear in many travel policies, but that’s not what they’re supposed to mean, said Loretta Worters, vice president for media relations at the Insurance Information Institute , an industry group.

Such provisions, she explained, are intended to exclude coverage for an unscrupulous or financially flailing middleman that goes belly-up after collecting your money but before passing it along to the actual travel provider.

“Some of these are fly-by-night, travel-agencies-in-their-kitchen kinds of things,” Ms. Worters said. ( We encountered one such agency in a previous Tripped Up column .)

Guess who agreed with Ms. Worters: The agent who answered the phone when I called Travel Insured International’s customer care line as a potential customer. I asked about the clause and she agreed it was ambiguous, checking with a supervisor before saying: “If you are booking directly with the company and the company itself goes under default or bankruptcy, you would be able to file a claim for the nonrefundable portion of your trip.”

Ms. Whilldin, the spokeswoman for Travel Insured International, did not specifically answer my question about this apparent conflict. But it seems their claims adjuster made a mistake, aided by the ambiguous language of the underwriter who wrote the policy. (That’s United States Fire Insurance, another Crum & Forster company.)

Now, let’s discuss the second appeal. “Once you cancel your trip, the coverage under the plan ends,” Travel Insured International said. Your argument is that you did not cancel; Vantage did.

I think almost anyone who isn’t a lawyer would agree with you. But Oren Bar-Gill , a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of “Seduction by Contract: Law, Economics and Psychology in Consumer Markets,” explained to me the opposing argument. Vantage was contractually allowed to change the dates or offer credit, and you refused, the equivalent of canceling.

But, he added, when Vantage agreed to refund your cruise, it could be “considered a waiver of their contractual rights,” weakening the argument that you canceled your contract.

In a lawsuit New York State filed against the now-defunct Vantage and its former owner, Henry Lewis, the issue also comes up: The suit says Vantage “deceptively” mislabeled cancellations as “postponements.”

Even Travel Insured International admitted that Vantage had canceled, in its original letter rejecting your claim. “It is our understanding that your travel supplier, Vantage, canceled your cruise,” the claims adjuster wrote. Somehow, however, by the third response you had gone from cancelee to canceler.

You also missed a red flag when you chose your policy. Suzanne Morrow, the chief executive of InsureMyTrip , where you found your plan, told me you called the company within minutes of your purchase and asked an agent to point you to the bankruptcy clause. (You confirmed this to me.)

That means you’re not the typical insurance customer blindsided by small print you never read. If you were so concerned about the cruise line’s solvency, you could have canceled your plan during the insurer’s “free look” period and chosen one with more straightforward language — I found several on the InsureMyTrip website.

What lessons can we take away from your debacle?

To begin with, pay for everything with a credit card when your credit limit allows. Because of an odd quirk in a 1974 law , card issuers are required to reimburse you if the company you interacted with goes bankrupt.

Beyond that, the basic advice for travel insurance remains unchanged: Shop for a plan separately through a provider you trust or an aggregator like InsureMyTrip, rather than adding trip protection by checking a box just before you purchase a big-ticket item. Read the policy summaries fully and click through to the actual policy document to read fine print on issues that concern you most (say, bankruptcy protection or medical coverage for pre-existing conditions).

If you don’t understand anything, call the company. If it cannot answer satisfactorily and follow up in writing, choose another provider.

If you need advice about a best-laid travel plan that went awry, send an email to [email protected] .

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Seth Kugel is the columnist for “ Tripped Up ,” an advice column that helps readers navigate the often confusing world of travel. More about Seth Kugel

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