Starwood preference using II

[gmarine]

I spoke to Starwood VP of Owner Services today. According to her there is supposed to be a 30 day period in which owners have preference in trading back into their home resort or into another Starwood resort. This previously used to be 3 days and one of the enhancements of the new system was to extend the preference to 30 days.

I explained that many times it seems that there is no preference and that owners of other resorts are able to exchange into Starwood resorts when Starwood owners are unable to do so. She said she is going to look into the issue.

Just an FYI.

 

[Ken555]

Thanks for the update, George! If it's really 30 days, then that is a great improvement (and they should announce it publicly).

 

[krj9999]

gmarine, the question is whether the preference is only for "request first" or whether it also applies to "instant exchange". Obviously in the past few days, the "instant exchange" preference hasn't existed.

 

[gmarine]

gmarine, the question is whether the preference is only for "request first" or whether it also applies to "instant exchange". Obviously in the past few days, the "instant exchange" preference hasn't existed.

The preference means that for the first 30 days after a Starwood deposit is received it is only available to other Starwood owners. The method of exchange doesnt matter.

 

[James1975NY]

The preference means that for the first 30 days after a Starwood deposit is received it is only available to other Starwood owners. The method of exchange doesnt matter.

Agreed here. Once a deposit is made it is (should) only be visible by SVO owners with a trade value that qualifies for the deposited inventory until the "priority" has expired. 30-days is a great improvement if that change has taken place.

 

[DeniseM]

That is great news! Hopefully, they will get the bugs out and apply it consistently!

 

[krj9999]

Well, this is the BS answer I got to a message I submitted on mystarcentral. I will be sending a follow-up reply.

"Your priority with Interval International (II), as a Starwood Vacation owner, is only available to you when two owners (such as a Marriot and Starwood owner) try to confirm the same reservation, on the same day and there is only one reservation available for the dates and villa size requested. A Starwood Owner would be confirmed in the reservation over a non-Starwood owner even if the non-starwood owner submitted their request earlier during that business day. This priority does not apply to requests made on different days or if there is no availability. There is also not a priority to view or request availability before another owner or force a cancellation of a non-Starwood owner's reservation that is already confirmed. Also, the Trading Power for ownership week exchanges are determined by II; therefore, a Marriott owner, or other non-Starwood owner, could own a Prime Season week that allows them to trade into a Two Bedroom Lockoff using their One Bedroom."

The preference means that for the first 30 days after a Starwood deposit is received it is only available to other Starwood owners. The method of exchange doesnt matter.

 

[l2trade]

Well, this is the BS answer I got to a message I submitted on mystarcentral. I will be sending a follow-up reply.

"Your priority with Interval International (II), as a Starwood Vacation owner, is only available to you when two owners (such as a Marriot and Starwood owner) try to confirm the same reservation, on the same day and there is only one reservation available for the dates and villa size requested. A Starwood Owner would be confirmed in the reservation over a non-Starwood owner even if the non-starwood owner submitted their request earlier during that business day. This priority does not apply to requests made on different days or if there is no availability. There is also not a priority to view or request availability before another owner or force a cancellation of a non-Starwood owner's reservation that is already confirmed. Also, the Trading Power for ownership week exchanges are determined by II; therefore, a Marriott owner, or other non-Starwood owner, could own a Prime Season week that allows them to trade into a Two Bedroom Lockoff using their One Bedroom."

So, if I understand correctly, Starwood lowered owner trading values with the generic, average seasonal week valuations, such that any non-Starwood owner who offers up a specific prime week reservation can easily trump any new Starwood priority we've supposedly been given.

Well, that answers that... Starwood sucks!

 

[DeniseM]

Well, this is the BS answer I got to a message I submitted on mystarcentral. I will be sending a follow-up reply.

Good luck with that! Who knows who responds to questions at MSC! If you want a definitive answer, you have to go higher up the food chain.

 

[mlsmn]

Just in the past week- 3x checking Westin Kierland there were no deposits past early Sept 2010
I cleared cash and history and went back -same result.

Went over to 2 other non Starwood deposits and they pulled units thru mid Dec. 2010 - all within the space of 2-3 min.

This has occurred with other Starwood locations
Cancun,Rancho Mirage and SDO

It's happened so many times in the last 6 weeks or so that it seems the "3" day exclusive is no more.

They can say what they want 3 days /30 days I'm not seeing it.

 

[Cathyb]

James...

Agreed here. Once a deposit is made it is (should) only be visible by SVO owners with a trade value that qualifies for the deposited inventory until the "priority" has expired. 30-days is a great improvement if that change has taken place.

re your 'trade value that qualifies': Does that mean a Starwood resort that isn't one of the top ones could not 'see' a top one even though it is visible to other top resort owners?

 

[Fredm]

re your 'trade value that qualifies': Does that mean a Starwood resort that isn't one of the top ones could not 'see' a top one even though it is visible to other top resort owners?

That's what it means. The deposit must have sufficient exchange clout to pull what may be available.

I.I. determines the exchange value.

 

[James1975NY]

That's what it means. The deposit must have sufficient exchange clout to pull what may be available.

I.I. determines the exchange value.

As in a Myrtle Beach silver week not having access to Maui.

 

[lily28]

does the starwood preference still present for starwood owners using request first? In another word, if I, a starwood owner and another II member like a marriot owner both have request first for the same starwood resort, will I get it before the other member? If no starwood owner has a request for that week, will the marriot owner on request first then get the unit or will II keep the unit under starwood preference till 3 or 30 days out?
I ask this because at another thread, a marriot owner mentions that it took only 1 day for her to get a westin maui villa on request first in II. thanks

 

[ricki999]

does the starwood preference still present for starwood owners using request first? In another word, if I, a starwood owner and another II member like a marriot owner both have request first for the same starwood resort, will I get it before the other member? If no starwood owner has a request for that week, will the marriot owner on request first then get the unit or will II keep the unit under starwood preference till 3 or 30 days out?
I ask this because at another thread, a marriot owner mentions that it took only 1 day for her to get a westin maui villa on request first in II. thanks

According to this earlier post by krj9999,

"Your priority with Interval International (II), as a Starwood Vacation owner, is only available to you when two owners (such as a Marriot and Starwood owner) try to confirm the same reservation, on the same day and there is only one reservation available for the dates and villa size requested. A Starwood Owner would be confirmed in the reservation over a non-Starwood owner even if the non-starwood owner submitted their request earlier during that business day. This priority does not apply to requests made on different days or if there is no availability. There is also not a priority to view or request availability before another owner or force a cancellation of a non-Starwood owner's reservation that is already confirmed. Also, the Trading Power for ownership week exchanges are determined by II; therefore, a Marriott owner, or other non-Starwood owner, could own a Prime Season week that allows them to trade into a Two Bedroom Lockoff using their One Bedroom."

Based on the response from Starcentral.com,

Yes, it appears the Starwood preference is still present for Starwood owners using request first.

Yes, it appears that if a Starwood owner has a request first for the same week at a Starwood resort as a non-Starwood owner, the Starwood owner would get the confirmation.

Yes, it appears that a non-Starwood owner with sufficient trading power would get that week if no Starwood owner had a request for that same week and the week would not go back to II.

But according to the info received from Starwood in this post by gmarine,

According to her (Starwood) there is supposed to be a 30 day period in which owners have preference in trading back into their home resort or into another Starwood resort. This previously used to be 3 days and one of the enhancements of the new system was to extend the preference to 30 days.

Based upon this information,

Yes, according to Starwood, II will keep the unit under Starwood preference for 30 days, and unavailable to non-Starwood owners until after the 30 day preference.

According to another post by gmarine in a different thread,

The following is quoted from Starwood's system "enhancements".

"Enhanced priority in Interval International's confirmation process over a non-SVO owner to be confirmed into your home resort or another SVO resort".

Thus the confusion between the information provided by Starcentral and Starwood and need for clarification.

 

[Stefa]

Anytime you get Starwood and Interval together you are bound to have problems, IMO.

I have also noticed that the Marriott preference isn't always applied evenly either. I was able to trade into a Marriott resort using my starwood week without having to wait out the Marriott preference.

 

[cdn_traveler]

Just in the past week- 3x checking Westin Kierland there were no deposits past early Sept 2010
I cleared cash and history and went back -same result.

Went over to 2 other non Starwood deposits and they pulled units thru mid Dec. 2010 - all within the space of 2-3 min.

This has occurred with other Starwood locations
Cancun,Rancho Mirage and SDO

It's happened so many times in the last 6 weeks or so that it seems the "3" day exclusive is no more.

They can say what they want 3 days /30 days I'm not seeing it.

I was checking last night with my SVR unit and I could see availability at Kierland until December 2010 and when I checked just now, I can only see availability until August 2010. But this is not just with Starwood resorts, this is also the case with resorts in Australia that I had checked. Last night I could see availabilty all the way to December and now, weeks showing up to June 2010 only.

 

[jkrischt]

I was checking last night with my SVR unit and I could see availability at Kierland until December 2010 and when I checked just now, I can only see availability until August 2010. But this is not just with Starwood resorts, this is also the case with resorts in Australia that I had checked. Last night I could see availabilty all the way to December and now, weeks showing up to June 2010 only.

I have the same problems with my SVR unit. But I find that if I search a few times in a row or refresh my screen a few times then more units sometimes appear. It's annoying, but its become a habit now to make sure I see everything.

Brad

 

[amanven]

For months now I've been reading about exchanging Starwood through II on this forum and the more I read the more I am becoming convinced the whole exercise is a colosal waste of time.
Between all the "if, and's and but's" in regards to resale owners or developer owners, fixed week or float week owners, the can't do a request without losing your home resort reservation, the II says this SVO says that "who is right" fiasco, the do we really have priority questions, and the "now you see it now you don't" when you search, is there any real value in being in enrolled with II? It sounds more and more like it will be a crap shoot to get anything decent, you will spend an inordinate amount of time searching and unless you own Harbourside or Hawaii you won't get much even when you do (no disrespect intended to other SVO owners). Maybe I am being too critical of the whole system because I don't have the travel flexibility to deal with all those "maybe's" but on the surface it looks like a person is better off trying to rent out to cover your maintenance fees and then go looking for good travel deal instead. I didn't see that much in II's getaways to set it apart from the myriad of other travel providers out there either. Is II really worth the trouble/effort?
Maybe this post belongs in another thread. Feel free to move it if it does Denise.

 

[DeniseM]

Hi amanven - Many of us agree with you, but we already own Starwood exchangers, so we are trying to figure out the new system. It is frustrating and disappointing...

However, most people would never deposit Harborside or Hawaii, because they are just too expensive to be cost-effective traders. Depositing Harborside with II is like trading your Mercedes for a pool of Chevys!

 

[amanven]

Hi amanven - Many of us agree with you, but we already own Starwood exchangers, so we are trying to figure out the new system. It is frustrating and disappointing...

However, most people would never deposit Harborside or Hawaii, because they are just too expensive to be cost-effective traders. Depositing Harborside with II is like trading your Mercedes for a pool of Chevys!

I like my Chevy (the one in my driveway too)!

 

[DeniseM]

I like my Chevy (the one in my driveway too)!

Only one of my TS weeks is a Mercedes, and the other 6 are Chevys that I'm real happy with. In fact, I wish I owned 7 Chevy weeks!

 

[Captron]

The maintenance on the Chevys seems to be a LOT less than the Mercedes or Porsche or.....

Just FYI: for the people who are doing the "clear cache" thing: have you tried using the "Google Chrome" browser? I use it and find it much better than IE (but not without minor issues) One strength is the "incognito window". If you go into the settings (wrench icon) in the upper right corner you can open an "incognito window" which is supposed to leave no cookies or history and be anonymous. (I am assuming designed for those "naughty" porn sites for teenagers (and others) who do not want to be caught)

Has anybody tried this on II? I have used it on airline and other sites that track similarly to II and had success. Anyone tried? Anyone want to try and report back? I can try as well and see what I find.

 

[thinze3]

That's what it means. The deposit must have sufficient exchange clout to pull what may be available.

I.I. determines the exchange value.

I agree with this totally. I have Marriotts that can see further out than others. Different reservation dates at the same resort even change ths search.

If a Starwood week doesn't have the power to see past September at a particular resort, but another developer's week does, it appears that Starwood is allowing the other developer's week to trade into that Starwood beyond September.