Trading Power for a Floating All Year Unit [Starwood]

[margalita4]

First of all, THANK YOU so much for this website. I have learned so much from reading your forum and advice. Wish I found this 10 years ago when I was buying my timeshare.

So anyway, we have owned our timeshare for 10 years and we bought it from the developer. We have used our home resort in Orlando almost every year (exchanged 1 year and rented it out 1 year). After this recent vacation to our home resort, we say no more to Orlando as we're ready to go somewhere else. We seriously thought about selling it but we decided that we'll exchange for a few years and see how we like it.

We do not have a lot of experience with exchanging. Our exchange company would be Interval. The last time I exchanged 7 years ago, it was not easy as the timeshare that we wanted was not available at that time. But then again, I requested an exchange only 3 months before my desired travel week. Now I know from reading all the posts here that you must request or deposit many months or years ahead of your desired week.

We own a Starwood, 2 bathroom unit, floating all year, prime season, in Orlando. So my question is what kind of trading power do I have? Did not realize there was such a thing until I read up on it on the Internet. Our window to travel is pretty flexible (last 2 weeks in April, June - August, 2nd week in November). What are my chances of a successful trade?

 

[DeniseM]

Welcome!

In general, Florida resorts have low to medium trading power, because there is more supply than demand for Florida. However, you have a big advantage because Starwood owners have first priority for all Starwood deposits in II.

Also - If you bought from the developer, you should also have Staroptions, which will allow you to trade directly with Starwood.

I suggest that you read the Starwood FAQ, and the II FAQ at the top of the forum, and then come back and let us know what questions you have.

 

[margalita4]

Starwood

Thank you for the warm welcome. Starwood rolled out the Starwood Network years ago. We received a letter to join for $99 but we let the offer expire. We did not see a big advantage because there were only a few Starwood resorts that were IN the network at the time. We did not want to pay yet another fee. I inquired about it a year after the rollout and they said it would be $399/year to join the Network the first year. They would not give us a break even years later. So we did not join. We figure it would be cheaper to join Interval to exchange. I suppose I can convert my timeshare to StarOptions so I can use for Starwood hotel stays. I remember asking about that years ago but we figure that it was not worth it because our unit is not worth that many hotel points if converted. It's only worth about 2 or 3 hotel nights at a moderate Starwood hotel. It's more worth it to use as timeshare. I'm currently not a member of Interval but I will sign up so I can exchange. After I'm a member of Interval, do I need to contact Starwood to let them know I'll be exchanging next year even though I'm not in the Starwood Network?

 

[DavidnRobin]

Don't confuse StarOptions (SVN TS use) with StarPoints (SPG Hotel use).
If your week has enough SOs - it could be worth joining SVN because of the ability to get certain SVN resorts (WKORV/N), WSJ, HRA) using these SOs over II exchanges (Yes everyone - I realize that WKORV/N and HRA can be had using II, but has limitations...).
If not worth getting into SVN - then II is your best alternative (if you are in SVN you are automatically in II)

So... what resort do you own, and how many SOs would it be worth if you were in SVN. IMO, I may would consider if it is worth 81K SOs. Plus, you can bank SOs for future use.

Chances are your SVR resort has no resale value and would have to give away.

 

[VacationForever]

I believe the final offer to join SVN expired two years ago. I was one of those who did not see the point of being in SVN when offerred in the late 90s but finally joined when the final deadline was given.

 

[tomandrobin]

We own a Starwood, 2 bathroom unit, floating all year, prime season, in Orlando. So my question is what kind of trading power do I have? Did not realize there was such a thing until I read up on it on the Internet. Our window to travel is pretty flexible (last 2 weeks in April, June - August, 2nd week in November). What are my chances of a successful trade?

Welcome Aboard!

As mentioned already, your Vistana Unit/week will have low to medium exchange power in II. But you will have Starwood Priority if exchanging into other Starwood properties. The further out you plan and exchange, the better your chances of getting a match for your requested unit. You can search II with your unit to see what "instant" exchanges are available too.

Your travel dates could be a problem, since they fall during busy vacation times of the year. End of April is hitting the end of spring break and sometimes Easter, third busiest vacation time of the year. June-August is when all the kids are out of school and beach resorts are in full demand. Second week in November is a really good week for traveling off-peak times.

Don't be discourages by my "negatives" because you still have the Starwood priority and if you deposit far in advance, the more likely you'll get a match.

What kind of places do you want to put in requests for exchanges?

 

[PamMo]

A prime week Vistana Resort 2BR would give you 81K StarOptions if you can enroll it in SVN. That's enough to use for many resorts in the system (look at the chart in the sticky section of this forum: http://www.tug2.net/advice/svn_valuechart.pdf). You would have an annual SVN fee in addition to the MF's you're paying now, but it still would be cheaper trading in SVN than trading in Interval (annual fee + trading fee), and you'd be able to explore new vacation options. You'd also have the option to deposit your week in II.

If you are unable to enroll your week in SVN, you can still get great trades with your Sheraton unit in II. If you join TUG, you'll have access to the Sightings Board. Check that out and read what Starwood has bulk deposited in II this last week. Your unit will have Starwood-to-Starwood preference and you'd be able to book one of those weeks. (I'm betting they'll get you excited about keeping your unit to use as a trader in II!) Your chances of getting a good trade improve if you deposit early, plan your vacation well in advance, have flexibility on when you go, and you check Interval and the Sightings Board often.

Welcome to TUG!

 

[margalita4]

I was wrong about the Starwood Vacation Network membership fee. It's $599/year and $119 exchange fee to join. I looked back at my emails and this was a few years ago. I don't even know if they'll allow you to join now even if you pay the hefty fee. Thanks for posting the chart about the value of my unit and StarOptions. My unit is Sheraton Vistana in Orlando. So what can I do with my StarOptions now that I know what it's worth?

We're interested in going to San Antonio, TX; San Francisco, CA; Miami, FL. Pretty much anywhere where the airfare is cheap departing from the Northeast as there are 5 of us!

 

[VacationForever]

I was wrong about the Starwood Vacation Network membership fee. It's $599/year and $119 exchange fee to join. I looked back at my emails and this was a few years ago. I don't even know if they'll allow you to join now even if you pay the hefty fee. Thanks for posting the chart about the value of my unit and StarOptions. My unit is Sheraton Vistana in Orlando. So what can I do with my StarOptions now that I know what it's worth?

We're interested in going to San Antonio, TX; San Francisco, CA; Miami, FL. Pretty much anywhere where the airfare is cheap departing from the Northeast as there are 5 of us!

If you bought from the developer it was like $99 back then. It did go up to $599 in the final offer a couple of years ago. You can call them if they will allow you to join... But the places that you want to go to are not in SVN so you really don't lose out by not being in SVN.

 

[PamMo]

Sptung is right in that internal SVN trades won't get you into the areas you mentioned, so joining SVN may not be worth it to you. Hopefully, someone will chime in on how well Sheraton Vistana Resort weeks trade in Interval or RCI (isn't it dual affiliated?). Generally, Orlando resorts don't have a lot of trade value because there's a huge surplus of timeshares there. (True Disney resorts being the exception.)

Added: The $599 was a one-time fee to enroll your week in SVN. After that, you pay $119/yr SVN fee, in addition to your annual MF's, not $599/yr. Internal trades in SVN would not cost anything extra. But that doesn't matter if you don't want to go to any of the resorts in SVN.

 

[DeniseM]

I'm currently not a member of Interval but I will sign up so I can exchange. After I'm a member of Interval, do I need to contact Starwood to let them know I'll be exchanging next year even though I'm not in the Starwood Network?

At the top of the forum there is a walk-through for how to join II, register your week, and "deposit" your week - start there.

 

[Ken555]

Chances are your SVR resort has no resale value and would have to give away.

Exactly correct. I just gave away two 2-bed SVR weeks, though I didn't even try selling them (given the time it took to find buyers for free weeks I can only imagine what it would take to get buyers who would pay $$ for them). That said, these are great units to trade in II for other Starwood resorts, and other high quality resorts such as Marriott. But, given the OP's travel date and location restrictions I doubt this would be a good solution for their family. If they're done with Orlando and won't use the week to travel to other Starwood resorts, it might be time for them to get rid of the deed (and the annual fees) and figure out a different travel solution altogether - different timeshare, rental, hotels, etc.


Sent from my iPad

 

[margalita4]

I thought my travel window was flexible--just not in a timeshare world, I suppose.

Good to hear that Starwood will somewhat trade well. We'll have to sign up with Interval. Too bad they're not running the 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 deal anymore. Last year, I kept getting their promo deals but wasn't interested in signing up. Now that I'm ready, they're not running it anymore. I've even called Interval's customer service and they said no promo at this time.

So it would be hard to sell it when we're ready to sell. I see on this website that people are selling their timeshare for $1.00! How can you compete with that?? Also, the resale price range is so broad. I see that the Hyatt and Marriott timeshare resale price is generally higher than the other brands.

 

[DeniseM]

Many Starwood resorts sell for a high resale price too - but not in Florida. Florida has too many timeshares.

 

[tomandrobin]

Many Starwood resorts sell for a high resale price too - but not in Florida. Florida has too many timeshares.

Except for Disney Vacation Club. Not only are their resale prices high, but this year they have been actively trending up.

I bought a 150pt contract three years ago for $60pp and recently sold it for $80pp.

This is an example of location, location, location.

 

[DeniseM]

I don't think it's location at all - it's the Disney brand. The same resort without the brand would be selling for $1

 

[tomandrobin]

I don't think it's location at all - it's the Disney brand. The same resort without the brand would be selling for $1

I'll disagree....its location.

The resorts themselves are meh at best. Almost every timeshare in Orlando is better.....bigger rooms, more amenities, nicer pools, etc. But only DVC is only Disney property and gives you direct access to Disney.

The off property DVC resorts....Hilton Head and Vero Beach are cheap to buy. The only thing that props up the little value they have is the ability to internally trade into the other Disney Resorts.

 

[sjsharkie]

DVC's draw is brand, benefits and ROFR in my opinion.

There's the draw of it being branded as Disney. This means all sorts of things to different people, but at the end of the day, people generally price this brand higher than say a Marriott in Orlando.

Benefits -- there are early entrance benefits and other things which people place a premium on.

And finally, Disney exercises ROFR which helps to keep prices above a certain level. I've even bid on a few DIS foreclosures which can bypass ROFR -- they are always there to outbid you (at least above what a reasonable person would pay for a resell).

-ryan