cyncyn1404
newbie
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2017
- Messages
- 7
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Hi - Newbie here. I'm the type of person who researches things to death, but I rather impulsively bought a timeshare a few days ago while visiting the Westin Kierland Villas. I'm in the recision period, and everything I read suggests that I should cancel and start over. But I'm still thinking I want to go ahead. Could some of you experienced folks give me the counterarguments for my reasoning, which I'll list below? I'm sure I'm missing important points.
First, the details: It looks like I have bought into Vistana Signature Experiences/Sheraton Flex program. My total cost is about $22K with annual maintenance of $1,067. I can pay for the purchase upfront from savings. With this, I get 67,100 points annually to use at a group of Villa resorts (main ones I intend to use will be in Scottsdale, Palm Springs and Hawaii). I'm a single mom and mostly plan to travel with my 13-year-old son or maybe a friend. The points are enough for at least a week in a one bedroom at peak seasons. I can book eight months in advance. I am also getting 250,000 SPG hotel points with lifetime gold status, and that's almost the most valuable part of the deal for me (free stays, additional free night for every 4 days stayed, guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout). In addition, I can buy next year a further 450,000 SPG points at 2.2 cents a point. There's also a membership in Interval International for cheap "getaway" weeks bought at short notice, but that's not factoring into my decision since I'm not sure how much use I'll make of it.
The reasons that I would like to go ahead are:
1)I've looked at the resale sites and nothing seems to match exactly the plan I have. I'd rather not be locked into specific weeks, and also the listings seem to be for older style programs that are more limiting on the resorts. I don't want to overpay, and I saw one resale listing for Westin Kierland with 81,000 points for around $5,000 with same maintenance fee, but the company did not respond to my email. So without more information, I can't tell if it gives me the same flexibility and value as what I bought. Are there resales of the program that I have bought into?
2)The points for use in hotels are a big attraction for me since I like to travel internationally, and there are a lot of great hotels accessible with the points (Westin, St. Regis, boutique hotels). These would not be available with a resale. I figure the points that I get with my deal equal about 30 hotel nights in Europe or a domestic ski resort in peak season at an average cost of $400-$600 a night. So that's a value of $12,000-$18,000 or so to me. There are no blackout dates on these. If my math is correct, then the cost of the villa timeshare after the value of points is deducted isn't that far off from the resale cost. While I don't want to waste good money, I can also live with not getting the absolute lowest price for the timeshare ("overpaying" by $1-$2K, though not more than that.)
My rational brain is telling me that I've probably been suckered, and I have a chance still to save myself. Can somebody please tell me what I've overlooked? Thank you in advance for any insights.
First, the details: It looks like I have bought into Vistana Signature Experiences/Sheraton Flex program. My total cost is about $22K with annual maintenance of $1,067. I can pay for the purchase upfront from savings. With this, I get 67,100 points annually to use at a group of Villa resorts (main ones I intend to use will be in Scottsdale, Palm Springs and Hawaii). I'm a single mom and mostly plan to travel with my 13-year-old son or maybe a friend. The points are enough for at least a week in a one bedroom at peak seasons. I can book eight months in advance. I am also getting 250,000 SPG hotel points with lifetime gold status, and that's almost the most valuable part of the deal for me (free stays, additional free night for every 4 days stayed, guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout). In addition, I can buy next year a further 450,000 SPG points at 2.2 cents a point. There's also a membership in Interval International for cheap "getaway" weeks bought at short notice, but that's not factoring into my decision since I'm not sure how much use I'll make of it.
The reasons that I would like to go ahead are:
1)I've looked at the resale sites and nothing seems to match exactly the plan I have. I'd rather not be locked into specific weeks, and also the listings seem to be for older style programs that are more limiting on the resorts. I don't want to overpay, and I saw one resale listing for Westin Kierland with 81,000 points for around $5,000 with same maintenance fee, but the company did not respond to my email. So without more information, I can't tell if it gives me the same flexibility and value as what I bought. Are there resales of the program that I have bought into?
2)The points for use in hotels are a big attraction for me since I like to travel internationally, and there are a lot of great hotels accessible with the points (Westin, St. Regis, boutique hotels). These would not be available with a resale. I figure the points that I get with my deal equal about 30 hotel nights in Europe or a domestic ski resort in peak season at an average cost of $400-$600 a night. So that's a value of $12,000-$18,000 or so to me. There are no blackout dates on these. If my math is correct, then the cost of the villa timeshare after the value of points is deducted isn't that far off from the resale cost. While I don't want to waste good money, I can also live with not getting the absolute lowest price for the timeshare ("overpaying" by $1-$2K, though not more than that.)
My rational brain is telling me that I've probably been suckered, and I have a chance still to save myself. Can somebody please tell me what I've overlooked? Thank you in advance for any insights.