# Starwood Elite Program



## Larry315 (May 19, 2007)

For those who have experience with the Starwood Elite Program, do you think it is worth the cost, especially for the four and five star levels.


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## Negma (May 19, 2007)

Well, the word worth is an interesting word. I am glad we did it for several reasons. So far this year we have been upgraded 3 times from small 1 bedroom to large-which is an extra 30% of options. We have checked in and out earlier and later, have always gotten a nice welcome gift from the GM (we are at WMH for the weekend now because of the extra upgrades which gave us extra optons to use), and they have always made sure our room is basically where we want it.

The platinum with Starwood is too early to tell yet except I have been upgraded 2/2 on travel and gotten the extra points-so that is good. I will be in Europe in June and that is where I hope it pays off. Holding a reservation while I have one has not come into play yet.

Bottom line as I think about it, the quality of our vacations has been enhanced so we are spoiled just a little more. I also view this long term with all the new resorts to open soon we are already at the top level so it can only be a plus going forward. I do think it was worth it and I would do it again, especially if you like the little perks.

One last note, this is my 100 post, which for me is says I do enjoy my vacations, and Starwood always gives me something to look forward too.
We are spoiled


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## DeniseM (May 19, 2007)

I think there is some real value if you are willing to pay the big bucks to reach 5 star Elite, but I'm too cheap to spend that kind of money!    The way to do it would be to buy resales and requalify them with purchases from the developer, but it still wouldn't be cheap.

I don't think the 3 & 4 Star Elite levels have much real value, especially since you don't get SPG Platinum at the lower levels.

Have you looked at the Elite Chart?  Many of the "perks," have no real value.

ELITE PROGRAM

In 2005 Starwood introduced the Elite program, designed to encourage multiple week ownership. The idea being the more weeks you own, the better the additional benefits.  The three membership levels and their corresponding benefits are summarized here:  (Cut and pasted from TUG's Advice Board.)

*Three Star Member* - must own 2 or more weeks worth at least 159,000 StarOptions

Ability to convert to SPG points every year rather than every other year
Avis Preferred Membership
SVN Elite rate at TPC golf courses
Exclusive “Owner Services” team     
Can request a villa upgrade 30 days prior (based on availability)
StarPoint Referral of 30,000 StarPoints (if you refer someone who buys a week -  normal referral is 20,000 StarPoints)     

*Four Star Member* - must own weeks worth at least 359,000 StarOptions
All Three Star benefits above

$99 StarPoint conversion fee waived
2:00pm villa check-in
Welcome call
Can request a villa upgrade 60 days prior (based on availability)
StarPoint Referral of 35,000 StarPoints
Ability to “wait list” for another reservation without having to cancel a confirmed reservation

*Five Star Member* - must own weeks worth at least 559,000 StarOptions

All Four Star benefits above
Annual SVN membership fee waived ($129)
Automatic SPG Platinum membership
Late villa check out (noon)
Welcome letter from GM upon check in
StarPoint Referral of 40,000 StarPoints
Automatic villa upgrade 60 days prior (based on availability)

Starwood owners debate the merits of Elite benefits.  Almost all owners agree that the most valuable benefits are at the Five Star level:  automatic villa upgrade (size, view, floor) and SPG Platinum membership.


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## Henry M. (May 19, 2007)

"Worth the cost" is in the eyes of the one footing the bill. Is a BMW or Mercedes "worth the cost" over a similarly equipped Lexus? Cadillac? Buick? Chevy? Different people will have different views on the right answer.

Realizing this is a luxury purchase and not a real estate investment, it has certainly been worth it to me. I've had similar experiences to Negma plus I've been upgraded through SPG Platinum at several hotels, including suites at the Moana Surfrider and Sheraton Maui when I've had to stay a day or two extra to coordinate my timeshare stay with my flights obtained using frequent flyer miles. I've also gotten nice suite upgrades in Germany and Austria and during several Disney World stays. I've also gotten into hotels that were sold out because of my status. You could probably pay for some of the hotel upgrades with the money you save purchasing resale but if you travel often enough it can even out.


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## duke (May 19, 2007)

Dt. Chicago said:


> For those who have experience with the Starwood Elite Program, do you think it is worth the cost, especially for the four and five star levels.



YES (5*)!  AND, you will be 5* ELITE for Life and SPG Platinum for life!


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## DeniseM (May 19, 2007)

It would really be interesting if the 5 Star Elite owners told us how much it cost them to reach 5 Star.  I know some of you have gotten far better deals by requalifying resale weeks.  Anybody care to tell us what they bought and the price?  I know Duke and others have posted about how they requalified resales  to get enought points, but I don't know if anyone has ever spelled out the total cost.


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## Henry M. (May 19, 2007)

For those visiting TUG, the cost should be the price of two resale 148,100 Staroption weeks plus two such weeks from the developer. I'd buy alternating resale and developer weeks.

I didn't have to requalify due to special circumstances but that is what I would do if I had to do it over. What happened to me is that a couple of years ago I put down a deposit at WMH for the new section they were going to build. They were sold out of platinum weeks at the current location. They ended up running into permit problems and about a year later they basically gave up on the property they had set aside (this is before Desert Willow was ever mentioned). At that time they offered those that had put down deposits a large discount on WKORV-N IV. Can't remember the exact price but by the time you factored in the Starpoints (I believe it was over 100K/week, maybe 130K) and the 5 Star Elite benefits it was better than buying resale in Maui. 

I travel enough to other places where the SPG Platinum benefits really make a difference to me. I get suite upgrades perhaps 2/3 of the time and 100% of the time when it has really mattered (I don't care for a suite for an overnight business trip, but they make a difference when I'm on vacation). I also take advantage of the executive lounges at various Starwood properties. I would still buy in Maui because that is where I really like to go and I don't want to worry about trying to exchange in at 8 months out.


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## pointsjunkie (May 19, 2007)

hi, i am trying to get there for under 130,000. it is a plan that is starting to fall into place.


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## RoverJohn (May 19, 2007)

What happens to one's Elite Status, either 3, 4 or 5, if that owner sells one of his weeks and no longer has a point total to qualfy for that level? Does he either fall down to a lower level or out of the Elite Status.

John


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## Pedro (May 19, 2007)

RoverJohn said:


> What happens to one's Elite Status, either 3, 4 or 5, if that owner sells one of his weeks and no longer has a point total to qualfy for that level? Does he either fall down to a lower level or out of the Elite Status.
> 
> John


You drop to the elite level corresponding to the number of StarOptions you have after selling.


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## Pedro (May 19, 2007)

DeniseM said:


> Anybody care to tell us what they bought and the price?


 
$113k to reach 5-star. The most expensive purchase was WKORV at $40.9k. Among the 5-star benefits, platinum status is the best with upgrades to suites most of the times even at Starwoods' category 4 and 5 hotels. I also like the upgrades to larger rooms and better view at most SVN properties, and not to forget the earlier check-in and late check-out. In my opinion, worth every penny!


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## zeke013 (May 20, 2007)

Good for you Pedro!  That was a deal.  I wish I'd have found TUG earlier!


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## califgal (May 20, 2007)

Question for Pedro...Do you own an ocean view at WKORV? If so, have you been upgraded to oceanfront as 5*, if so , at peak times?  It's a dream of mine to be 5*.. difficult to convince my husband!


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## mesamirage (May 20, 2007)

We plan to start our quest for Elite tommorrow. We check into WKV in Scottsdale for a week... our plans are to try and follow somewhat the trail blazed by David towards requal'ing our existing weeks and maybe pick up a Lagunamar or something as part of the Developer purchase needed for requal. As much as we like Starwood, if we don't see a fairly economic path to Elite (does that exist with Timeshares??) we will likely sell all our Starwood and reinvest in more resales with Hyatt. So far Hyatt has really been our network of choice/vacations.. but I think thats mainly due to being early on in our ownership with Starwood.

Not sure how this will play out at the resort this next week, but we currently own the following:

Kierland Plat. EOY 2brm 148,000 (resale) so it could count at 74,000 towards Elite
SDO Plat EOY 2brm worth 81,000 (resale) so it could count as 40,500 towards Elite
SDO EOY 1brm worth 37,000 (resale) so another 18,500 towards elite

SO thats 133,000 currently on an EY basis towards elite... I think it has been mentioned that you can get 30,000 in credit towards elite from owning other resorts.... Plus the points from the week we would have to purchase to get this whole thing rolling. 

Seems like a tough road to get there... we'll see. If not send me those offers for my Starwood weeks  They all have SuperBowl reservations :whoopie: 

Steve


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## Ken555 (May 20, 2007)

Pedro said:


> You drop to the elite level corresponding to the number of StarOptions you have after selling.



A related question. What if one re-quals a resale week by buying direct (say, an inexpensive EOY, etc), then sells the developer purchased week. While those Options won't be counted toward Elite, the requalified week should still be, correct?

I'm thinking back to when I was at WKV last year, and they tried to get me to purchase a Silver 1-Bed (EOY, I think) as a way to requal a week. Had I done that - I think it was $7k or so (maybe it was EY?), I might have turned around and sold it for a 50% loss, but then it would only have cost $3.5k or so to qual a 148,100 week. If this is true - and while it sounds like a pain to do - couldn't this method be an "inexpensive" way of requalifying weeks?

Buying those SDO Plats (real Plats, not the 1-52 weeks which are only 81,000 after conversion) might be the least expensive way to do this - or other Sheraton weeks. Opinions?


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## Ken555 (May 20, 2007)

Another question...

I know it's been reported here that resale ownerships cannot combine StarOptions together for one reservation. Once an ownership is requalified, I assume that restriction goes away, since they are considered to be "developer purchased" (or with "developer purchased" benefits), correct?


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## Negma (May 20, 2007)

The resales we bought direct are viewed in the system as full fledged use as you would any other purchase. Keep in mind we did pay 599/per property to do this, but when you call or when they look it up all they see are the properties, now how you bought them.

I think Mesa's "mission" of around 113K seems right. The range is probably 113 to 130 to get to 5* using all the lessons on this board. We could have done it for less-we are on the high end, if we had purchsaed one more retail than developer unit. But we did at least get pre-construction on two of ours so the extra was not terrible.

Good luck and if this is finacially doable, and this is what you are into go for it.


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## Ken555 (May 20, 2007)

Negma said:


> The resales we bought direct are viewed in the system as full fledged use as you would any other purchase. Keep in mind we did pay 599/per property to do this, but when you call or when they look it up all they see are the properties, now how you bought them.



Those must be Sheraton properties, right?


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## steve1000 (May 20, 2007)

If you buy a developer week to re-qualify a resale week - for elite qualification purposes does the resale week receive 100% credit for its SO value or only 50% credit? I read Mesa's message to indicate that it only receives 50% credit - is that right? I am 3* elite and am trying to figure what it would take to get to 5*.
Thanks.


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## mesamirage (May 20, 2007)

I believe I only receive 50% credit towards elite on my existing weeks because they are all EOY weeks... ELITE is calculated on an EY points basis.

Please let me know if I misunderstand this.. Thanks!!


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## steve1000 (May 20, 2007)

I think I answered my own question. In re-reading Mesa's post I see his weeks are EOY - that's why he was only showing half the SO credits for elite. So my previous understanding was correct that a EY requal does provide 100% of the SO value for elite qualification.


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## steve1000 (May 20, 2007)

Mesa- Thanks for your response. Your understanding is correct.


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## Negma (May 20, 2007)

Ken555 said:


> Those must be Sheraton properties, right?



they were Vistana properties, correct.


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## duke (May 20, 2007)

DeniseM said:


> It would really be interesting if the 5 Star Elite owners told us how much it cost them to reach 5 Star.  I know some of you have gotten far better deals by requalifying resale weeks.  Anybody care to tell us what they bought and the price?  I know Duke and others have posted about how they requalified resales  to get enought points, but I don't know if anyone has ever spelled out the total cost.



$89,000 total price.
Never paid $599 to register resales.
Got closing costs waived on last developer purchase also.

duke


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## sharktzu (May 20, 2007)

$89,000! Wow, that is unbelievable! I can't believe anyone will be able to top that!


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## TheUnitrep (May 20, 2007)

duke said:


> $89,000 total price.
> Never paid $599 to register resales.
> Got closing costs waived on last developer purchase also.
> 
> duke




Duke --

You da man! 

Jerry


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## califgal (May 20, 2007)

Ditto that!  Duke, that is very inspiring!


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## DavidnRobin (May 20, 2007)

califgal said:


> Ditto that!  Duke, that is very inspiring!


Especially considering that $24K of the $89K (~30%) came from EOY WPORV SVO purchase that accounts for only 74K SOs of the 559K SOs needed for 5* Elite.  Meaning the remaining 485K SOs needed (>3 weeks at 148.1K SOs per week) cost $65K.

We were offered 5*Elite (Plat for Life) for about $75K of VV-Amelia VOIs with a requal of our 3 resale VOIs before we bought EOY WPORV (as discussed ad naseum) and settled for 3*.  

Part of the price discussed here must be the value of the VOIs that one ends up owning in getting to 5* - and that value of that is different for different people based on their needs.  We would have never bought VV-A (or any TS in FLA) to get to 5*, but may eventually buy the other half of WPORV or Poipu or even something like Lagunamar to do so - of course at a greater cost - and if needed would buy resale WKV/WKORV Mandatory for the requals part.

If getting to 5* and buying premium VOIs is the goal - I would put the price around $130K.


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## zeke013 (May 20, 2007)

duke said:


> $89,000 total price.
> Never paid $599 to register resales.
> Got closing costs waived on last developer purchase also.
> 
> duke



Now I *REALLY* wish I'd found TUG before purchasing at WKORV-N!     

That's stunning - good for you!


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## califgal (May 20, 2007)

Zeke..well you do have to have  some developer purchaes somewehere, don't feel bad.  I too wish we bought WKORV resale first .  Next you can buy a resale, and so on...

Like David says you have to buy where you will go and I don't think we would go to Florida either.  So for us to eventually get to 5* it will cost us more than Duke. Living in CA we love Hawaii, so it will probably cost us more like what David quoted. 

I keep telling my husband that it's much cheaper to get to 5* than buying a condo at the Westin Residences in St. Lucia like we had considered...which was BTW a very CRAZY idea for us....all that $$ and all the way in St. Lucia!!)  We are sooo glad we snapped out ot it!! At first he thought going for 5* was a great idea , and now he has cold feet even buying another week at WKORV resale!!


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## Negma (May 20, 2007)

One advantage to S.California is it is generally easy to get weekends in WMH ( an 2.5 hour drive)or at Kierland (5.5 hour drive) if you are just a little flexible. I doubt I will ever use my Florida options in Florida; but we just used them to get a long weekend two bedroom in Kierland for my wife and her buddies, and we just came back from WMH for the weekend.

Duke is the man though, wish I had met him 25K ago!


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## califgal (May 20, 2007)

I wish we had a drive to location for us in the SF bayarea!  Tack on 5-6 hrs to Negmas times for getting to WMH and beyond!


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## oneohana (May 20, 2007)

DavidnRobin said:


> Especially considering that $24K of the $89K (~30%) came from EOY WPORV SVO purchase that accounts for only 74K SOs of the 559K SOs needed for 5* Elite.  Meaning the remaining 485K SOs needed (>3 weeks at 148.1K SOs per week) cost $65K.
> 
> We were offered 5*Elite (Plat for Life) for about $75K of VV-Amelia VOIs with a requal of our 3 resale VOIs before we bought EOY WPORV (as discussed ad naseum) and settled for 3*.
> 
> ...



David and Robin,
Was starwood going to requalify your 3 resales with an amelia purchase? The most I could get from them was 1 resale requalified with 1 developer purchase. In a perfect world one could get there for a cheap as $52,000 as I see it. Trying to find those "platinum sdo 2 bdrm l/o were too hard to find for the price I was willing to pay. Finally gave in and purchased a smv platinum 2 bdrm l/o. That will bring the total to around $83K to reach 5*


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## DavidnRobin (May 21, 2007)

oneohana said:


> David and Robin,
> Was starwood going to requalify your 3 resales with an amelia purchase? The most I could get from them was 1 resale requalified with 1 developer purchase. In a perfect world one could get there for a cheap as $52,000 as I see it. Trying to find those "platinum sdo 2 bdrm l/o were too hard to find for the price I was willing to pay. Finally gave in and purchased a smv platinum 2 bdrm l/o. That will bring the total to around $83K to reach 5*



Yes, all of our resales (of course) - not worth it - we don't need WSJ requaled anyway.


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## pointsjunkie (May 21, 2007)

how can you get to 5* for under $60,000? what would a sdo platinum 2br l/o be worth,148100 or 81000.and what would be a good price for sdo 2br l/o?

i bought 4 units from the developer and then found TUG. now i am buying resale and then developer. toooo bad i didn't know about TUG in september would have done things differently.


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## Negma (May 21, 2007)

pointsjunkie said:


> how can you get to 5* for under $60,000? what would a sdo platinum 2br l/o be worth,148100 or 81000.and what would be a good price for sdo 2br l/o?
> 
> i bought 4 units from the developer and then found TUG. now i am buying resale and then developer. toooo bad i didn't know about TUG in september would have done things differently.



You felt good about it when you purchesed them, don't get caught up in in now, we did and learned the same thing. We clearly can not turn back the clock, be happy and enjoy your properties.


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## Pedro (May 21, 2007)

califgal said:


> Question for Pedro...Do you own an ocean view at WKORV? If so, have you been upgraded to oceanfront as 5*, if so , at peak times? It's a dream of mine to be 5*.. difficult to convince my husband!


We own ocean view at WKORV, and the last couple of years we've got high floor, pool view, and as close to the ocean as possible without being ocean front.  We'll see if this year we have better luck and get an ocean front .   ... 16 days and counting ....


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## DavidnRobin (May 21, 2007)

Pedro said:


> We own ocean view at WKORV, and the last couple of years we've got high floor, pool view, and as close to the ocean as possible without being ocean front.  We'll see if this year we have better luck and get an ocean front .   ... 16 days and counting ....



Yes - let us know how it goes.  I wonder how the room assignment would be if you didn't own there and exchanged into WKORV using SOs?  Was it the 1Bd that you were in?  These are next to the OF units - or the 2Bd LO that are next to them?

We are off the WSJ in 24 days!!!


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## Pedro (May 21, 2007)

DavidnRobin said:


> Yes - let us know how it goes. I wonder how the room assignment would be if you didn't own there and exchanged into WKORV using SOs? Was it the 1Bd that you were in? These are next to the OF units - or the 2Bd LO that are next to them?
> 
> We are off the WSJ in 24 days!!!


 
We've been on the 2BD LO for two of the last 3 years, and on the 1-bd the other year.  Last year we had some friends who own at SMV and they reserved at the 8-month mark using Staroptions during the same week we were there. They ended up at building 4, but towards the end where you can see the ocean. It is better than the other end of the building where your view is of the side of building 3. It definitely helps to own there since you can reserve earlier and end up higher in the pecking order for preferred views.


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## duke (May 22, 2007)

DavidnRobin said:


> I wonder how the room assignment would be if you didn't own there and exchanged into WKORV using SOs?  Was it the 1Bd that you were in?  These are next to the OF units - or the 2Bd LO that are next to them?



We are at WKORV now and exchanged from WMH using SO's.  We are in the large 1br next to the OF.  Great view.

This is perfect time of year for Maui.  Not crowded.  Great weather.  Pool temp is perfect.


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## Negma (May 22, 2007)

duke said:


> We are at WKORV now and exchanged from WMH using SO's.  We are in the large 1br next to the OF.  Great view.
> 
> This is perfect time of year for Maui.  Not crowded.  Great weather.  Pool temp is perfect.



Sounds great. How far out did you reserve the unit? It sounds like being 5* paid off.


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## DavidnRobin (May 22, 2007)

Negma said:


> Sounds great. How far out did you reserve the unit? It sounds like being 5* paid off.



Which floor did you end up on?  I wish we were there now...
23 days till WSJ


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## Negma (May 22, 2007)

It's funny, but listening to everyone on or planning to go on their next vacation makes me happy. It sometimes feels like I get a few extra days on the beach.


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## duke (May 22, 2007)

Negma said:


> Sounds great. How far out did you reserve the unit? It sounds like being 5* paid off.



8 months, did it when we were 4* elite....now we are 5*.

We are on 3rd floor, bldg 2, OV, large 1br (not L/O), next to OF.

Seems that your status is recorded when you make the reservation (so it shows we were 4*).  It does not update higher elite status after the reservation is made.

We called front desk and they looked up the new 5* and then sent up the gift with a bottle of wine too.

Oh, also is nice that we got 20% discount on spa services at the Westin hotel.  Mrs. Duke got a massage and nails done there.


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## pointsjunkie (May 22, 2007)

Negma said:


> It's funny, but listening to everyone on or planning to go on their next vacation makes me happy. It sometimes feels like I get a few extra days on the beach.



i agree with you. we are leaving for puerto rico saturday using points and spg50 for 7 glorious days. can't wait. hotel is no longer in the *wood system . hope everything goes smoothly and they honor the rates and reservations using *points. 
just love to travel.


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## skim118 (May 22, 2007)

Does the "SPG Platinum for life" perk for 5 Star SVO Elites transfer to the spouse in case of an untimely death ?


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## duke (May 22, 2007)

skim118 said:


> Does the "SPG Platinum for life" perk for 5 Star SVO Elites transfer to the spouse in case of an untimely death ?



Yes, transfers to whomever owns the required number of staroptions.


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## saluki (May 22, 2007)

skim118 said:


> Does the "SPG Platinum for life" perk for 5 Star SVO Elites transfer to the spouse in case of an untimely death ?



You don''t have anything in mind there, do you skim?


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## skim118 (May 22, 2007)

saluki said:


> You don''t have anything in mind there, do you skim?



:rofl: 

Not yet; still in the planning stage      

It's actually pretty decent of SVN to allow Platinum status transferability in such cases.


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## Time2Ponder (May 22, 2007)

duke said:


> We are on 3rd floor, bldg 2, OV, large 1br (not L/O), next to OF.



Hey, Duke --

We are at WKORV now as well. Looks like you're our neighbor: We're in Bldg 2, 4th Flr (pool side), OF studio. (Next week, we'll have the 1BR OF.) Small world!!

Kim


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## mesamirage (May 23, 2007)

On our quest for ELITE...

We just attended the "Owners Update" yesterday at WKV and the rep we got was VERY good. She answered every question with solid answers, no BS at all... (short of how good my 5 Star Elite customers service would be). If I was ever going to make a developer purchase, she could have won my business. Actually I was pleased with the entire Staff that we dealt with at WKV. That being said... we did not purchase anything. Main reason, we were not properly staged with resales to take full advantage of what we could have done.... 

They offered to sell us a 2 bedroom Plat at Lagunamar and to split deed the weeks (give us 2 odd years... which we need to balance out our 3 even EOYs we own) for $37,900. The kicker here is that the would let us bring in a deeded week for each of the split weeks deeds. Meaning if I had 2 EY 148,100 deeded resale weeks I could have brought both of those into SVN. Instead they were going to bring in my EOY Plat Kierland.. and my EOY SDO (81,000) with the 2nd "half". We were going to combine this with the explorer package to bump the bonus points another 80,000 to a total of 180,000. (I guess Lagunamar is now down to 100,000 incentives from 140,000 just a few weeks ago). We would have been halfway between 3 and 4 Star... that was very tempting.. properly staged with resales already...we could have obtained 4 Star.. and MAYBE reach 5 star since they were ready to give us "30,000" credit for EACH Hyatt we owned towards ELITE.... 

We didn't do it... again just felt like we were leaving to much opportunity on the table vs if we already owned to 148,100 EY resales that we could have brought into the network. 

Bottom line... not sure we will ever reach Elite due to being such "value" orientated buyers and how much we already like Hyatt.

Thanks to everyone (specifically David and Duke) for all the info upfront that let me go into the update presentation, fully armed with all the knowledge I needed to get it done should we have gone that route.

Steve 
__________________


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## Westin5Star (May 23, 2007)

*New Starwood Policy For Requals???*



mesamirage said:


> We just attended the "Owners Update" yesterday .... They offered to sell us a 2 bedroom Plat at Lagunamar and to split deed the weeks (give us 2 odd years... which we need to balance out our 3 even EOYs we own) for $37,900. The kicker here is that the would let us bring in a deeded week for each of the split weeks deeds. Meaning if I had 2 EY 148,100 deeded resale weeks I could have brought both of those into SVN.
> Steve
> __________________



I just had a call from a direct Starwood rep at a new office in Scottsdale (not at Kierland).  He told me that this was a new office opened to handle direct sales of all Starwood properties for potential clients west of the Mississippi.  He was offerring me prices of all active resorts as well as telling me that Aruba was coming soon.  *He told me that as of May 4th the new Starwood policy required an equal purchase to requalify.  The examples that he used were that there would be no more EOY purchase to requalify an EY (like David and Robin did) or buying a 1BR to requalify a 2BR. * I didn't get into too many details as I was playing my daily round of golf and he was disturbing me.  He obviously wanted to sell me a unit so I have a hard time believing that he was wrong and that the policy had not changed (although many timeshare salespeople have obviously been wrong in the past).  That said, I am only reporting what was told to me today which is in direct conflict of what Steve was offerred yesterday.  If the person that I spoke with today was correct then the sticky and many potential buyers strategies must change.  I look forward to someone verifying (or not) what I was told today.


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## Westin5Star (May 23, 2007)

*New Starwood Policy For Requals???*

I decided to be the guinea pig.  I called Starwood this evening and put in an offer for WPORV which I was considering buying anyway.  They are going to try to get the approvals tomorrow so I will post the details once I hear back.


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## DavidnRobin (May 24, 2007)

Westin5Star said:


> I decided to be the guinea pig.  I called Starwood this evening and put in an offer for WPORV which I was considering buying anyway.  They are going to try to get the approvals tomorrow so I will post the details once I hear back.



Guinea pig for what - trying to do an EOY-EY requal, or a 1Bd for 2Bd requal?

From Mesa's post (a EOY-EY requal)- it seem like they were making a fantasy offer - I say that becuase what they offred he didn't have for requal anyway - thus, not an actually offer - so they were actually offering an EOY-EOY requal (what he does have).  Anyway, perhaps I read that worng.

I could see an instance where SVO sales was seeing inconsistancy in policy that wanted to align the conditions to create a level playing field for the sales reps - if that is the case and true - I am glad we made it under the wire.

See you at WPORV in 2009...
WSJ - just 21 days away...


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## mesamirage (May 24, 2007)

David that is a good point, in that they "said" its deed for deed regardless of EOY/EY, 1 bdrm for 2 bedroom, etc... but since I didn't have the deeded inventory to get that to a point of an actual offer I don't know if we really know where they/policy stands. They did offer to let us purchase a small-side (67,000) of an EOY Lagunamar to requal our 2 bdrm EOY Kierland..... sooo.. that is pointing to its still open to maximize bringing in requals with smaller non-matching developer purchases.

I know going forward I will buy resale weeks that I am comfortable owning regardless if they get requal'd or not... BUT I will likely target an EY 148,100 week and then possibly bring that back to the table on my next owner update to see if I can get it done at that time. 

Just don't purchase EY 148,110 point resale weeks "planning" on bringing them into SVN with a cheaper developer requal.. you could be disappointed.

Steve

PS: David I did have to drop your name with things got alittle difficult when we were trying to figure things out... the staff behind the scenes seem to know who you were and recalled your purchase.


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## DavidnRobin (May 24, 2007)

mesamirage said:


> David that is a good point, in that they "said" its deed for deed regardless of EOY/EY, 1 bdrm for 2 bedroom, etc... but since I didn't have the deeded inventory to get that to a point of an actual offer I don't know if we really know where they/policy stands. They did offer to let us purchase a small-side (67,000) of an EOY Lagunamar to requal our 2 bdrm EOY Kierland..... sooo.. that is pointing to its still open to maximize bringing in requals with smaller non-matching developer purchases.
> 
> I know going forward I will buy resale weeks that I am comfortable owning regardless if they get requal'd or not... BUT I will likely target an EY 148,100 week and then possibly bring that back to the table on my next owner update to see if I can get it done at that time.
> 
> ...



I totally agree about buying resale weeks (or even SVO-purchase weeks) where one is are comfortable owning - policies can and do shift.

I can believe they remember me - we spent >4 hours of our vacation with them - heck, I could even imagine that we were cause (in part) of a policy change - if it really exists.

They really do this to themselves because of the TS sales mentality.  e.g. they may not worry about consistancy in policy because the saleman and ExpPkg person are trying to make a sales goal that they set for themselves - or trying to compete with other resorts.  Then another salesgroup cries foul becuase one resort is allowing an EY-EOY and another cannot.  Then it gets kicked up to management for policy alignment.  I can easily see how this could be the case.

Overall - a sale is a sale - and they should be focused on that and keeping owners happy.  In the grand scope - requal of resales is just a small blip in their overall sales/revenue and really doesn't impact them.  If it were left up to me - I would have salespeople doing anything they could to make a sale.

Afterall - SVO Elite/Good/Plat people are the ones that consistantly bring the money in by using their hotels and TSs.  Perhaps at a bargain compared to the 'little folk', but the money always flows in Starwood's direction regardless if someone requaled an EY for an EOY - or whatever.


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## grgs (May 24, 2007)

DavidnRobin said:


> Overall - a sale is a sale - and they should be focused on that and keeping owners happy.  In the grand scope - requal of resales is just a small blip in their overall sales/revenue and really doesn't impact them.  If it were left up to me - I would have salespeople doing anything they could to make a sale.



I agree--as long as they make another sale, I don't see why it's not in Starwood's best interests to be liberal on requalifying.  I would guess that the number of people of who know about requalifying wouldn't be that great.  (It would be interesting to know how many there, though!).  I think it just provides Starwood another market for sales, they would not likely make otherwise.  The prices have gone up so much since we originally bought, I seriously doubt I would consider another Starwood purchase without the requalifying option.

Glorian


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## mesamirage (May 24, 2007)

grgs said:


> I agree--as long as they make another sale, I don't see why it's not in Starwood's best interests to be liberal on requalifying. I would guess that the number of people of who know about requalifying wouldn't be that great. (It would be interesting to know how many there, though!). I think it just provides Starwood another market for sales, they would not likely make otherwise. The prices have gone up so much since we originally bought, I seriously doubt I would consider another Starwood purchase without the requalifying option.
> 
> Glorian


 
I know it can't be many that do the requal route, since my sales rep had been around 3+ years and had never done one... and she knew her stuff, I think that just shows how uncommon they are.... or that David and Duke just haven't been their enough times  

I know personally for me... I would *NEVER* do a developer purchase without a full pop requal... I mean I have to be pulling in an EY Plat 148,100 for me to even CONSIDER. If Starwood was smart and considered the angle on this, a correct policy gives them access to sales to the TUGGER type buyers like us, else they never see us make purchases other than resale and then they do STUPID policies like voluntary resorts to try and control the resale market.

Steve

PS Not being able to pull in a full requal (148,100 EY) is really the only reason we didn't do the developer purchase on this visit.


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