Mandatory Resorts and Flex Program

Then why didn't Starwood (SVN/VSE/etc.) require different numbers of points for different weeks of usage at Nanea? Clearly week 7 is more desirable than weeks 48-50 and logically should be more expensive to use.

Marriott did this and sells points in buckets of 250 (ie. 1500, 2000, 3750, etc) rather than trying to match the number of Destination Points to the number of points necessary to reserve any particular unit for any particular week.

I think Starwood is still trying to sell the concept of "a week at Nanea" rather than the pure points product Marriott now pushes.

Starwood considers Hawaii to be Plat season year round. There are no off-season weeks according to SW.

DeniseM said:

It is almost never a good value to convert a timeshare to StarPOINTS (hotel points.)

If you factor in your upfront cost and your maintenance fees, you will find that when you convert to StarPOINTS, you are paying far more than you would if you just paid for the hotel rooms.

I do NOT think you are a good candidate to buy more timeshares or Flexoptions.

Are you aware that you can get virtually free Starpoints by signing up for a Starwood AMEX and using it for all your spending?

We use ours for every cent we spend, pay it off every month (no interest) and accumulate a significant number of Starpoints - the only cost is our yearly credit card fee of around $90.

Timesharing works best and is the most cost effective, when you use it for timeshare stays.

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Even better when you use what you own.
Sorry for the earlier distracting comments. I'm going to bow out of this discussion...I don't want to distract from the OP's thread.

Having said that, think Denise gave very sound advice (above and throughout). SVN has some wonderful resorts, great traders and very desirable locations. Some come with hefty MF's and some steep acquisition costs as well; choose carefully. Because the Vistana/SVN/Westin/Flex brand-system seems to be in a state of change right now, I personally wouldn't invest until the dust settles. Again, Samuel and Seth's group are great to work with...and the others are respected on TUG as well. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

I think Starwood is still trying to sell the concept of "a week at Nanea" rather than the pure points product Marriott now pushes.

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I agree. Marriott is much more about getting someone in the door at the $25,000-$35,000 threshold with a MF in the $600 range with the idea of borrowing and banking to take the dream Hawaii vacation some years and taking a 5 day beach vacation or a 10 day Orlando trip. They aren't trying to sell to the $75,000+ for a full week ocean front annually. I guess Starwood has this too with the Sheraton flex so that when they say no to Nanea then can pick it up with the Flex.

taterhed said:

Noted: I had visions of Bella/Key West in my head.

Don't forget: somebody just gave away a WKV for free this month in bargains. It was generous, but it was there. So were the MF's.

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Did something change with Bella/Key? They were listed as mandatory in the FAQs but the broker I was working with just said the Bella seller I was targeting doesn't have star options associated with the unit. I'm all confused.


Robert

Nothing changed. The owner doesn't know what he has- he has Bella and SO's or he has another section and does not have SO's.

serendip7 said:

Did something change with Bella/Key? They were listed as mandatory in the FAQs but the broker I was working with just said the Bella seller I was targeting doesn't have star options associated with the unit. I'm all confused.





Robert

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My point was that Bella and Key and not usually brokered anymore, they have too little value. They have been drifting into the bargain page. Along with a less than desirable WKV. sic.


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