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Poll: What is maximum price would you be willing to pay ($) for StarPoints (cents/SP)?

What price would you be willing to pay ($) for StarPoints (cents/SP)?

  • 1.0 <1.3 c/SP

    Votes: 9 11.7%
  • 1.3 <1.6 c/SP

    Votes: 11 14.3%
  • 1.6 <1.9 c/SP

    Votes: 25 32.5%
  • 1.9 <2.2 c/SP

    Votes: 13 16.9%
  • 2.5 <2.8 c/SP

    Votes: 4 5.2%
  • 2.8+ c/SP

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Not interested

    Votes: 14 18.2%

  • Total voters
    77

okwiater

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Resorts Owned
WKV 2B Plat+ (x2)
WSJ 3B Plat+ (VGV/BV)
WLR 2B Plat+ Oceanside
SMV 2B Plat+
Sheraton Flex (x2)
VGV Plat+ can reach a conversion value of under 2 cents per point. Not an especially poor deal.

Also, anyone accumulating SPs on SPG AMEX is effectively valuing SPs at >=2 cents, since there are many 2% cash back cards, and a few even higher.
 

dioxide45

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I converted SP to AA miles with 20% bonus. For 80K SPs I got 100K AA miles and then flew SJC to EWR 1st class (RT/NS) for 50K each. If using 1% as standard CC amount (such as AMEX) - those flights were fuzzily $400 each (bargain). Then used SPs to stay at a Cat 6 in NYC (LPM) at 16K per nite ($160/nt no tax) that has an SPG discount rate of $450/nt (after tax). Not a great return on a SP value, but I would not pay $450 night so the SPs afforded us the ability to stay at a nice hotel in NYC.

We used up our SPs - so I bought more - for US usage - no ex-US plans. I may not have if we hadn't run low. We gave up AMEX SPG card so no way to accumulate - and conversion is often a poor deal (esp. WSJ-VGV).
You really should have considered a Marriott Travel Package instead. For your 80K StarPoints, you could have converted them to Marriott Reward Points and had 240K MR points. Marriott Travel Packages start at 270,000 for 120,000 AA miles plus a seven night hotel certificate in a category 1-5 property. Of course a category 5 certificate wouldn't get you anywhere in NYC with Marriott, but for only 10,000 more StarPoints you could have got at least 20,000 more AA miles. Not sure if the bonus would have also applied there, if it did, you would have had even more AA miles. You could have thrown the hotel certificate away or upgraded it to a higher level by converting more StarPoints.
 

VacationForever

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You really should have considered a Marriott Travel Package instead. For your 80K StarPoints, you could have converted them to Marriott Reward Points and had 240K MR points. Marriott Travel Packages start at 270,000 for 120,000 AA miles plus a seven night hotel certificate in a category 1-5 property. Of course a category 5 certificate wouldn't get you anywhere in NYC with Marriott, but for only 10,000 more StarPoints you could have got at least 20,000 more AA miles. Not sure if the bonus would have also applied there, if it did, you would have had even more AA miles. You could have thrown the hotel certificate away or upgraded it to a higher level by converting more StarPoints.
Agree. It also depends on whether DavidandRobin want to spend 7 nights at a hotel. I do not believe they own Marriott timeshare which means 5 nights package is out.
 

dioxide45

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Agree. It also depends on whether DavidandRobin want to spend 7 nights at a hotel. I do not believe they own Marriott timeshare which means 5 nights package is out.
Correct, five night packages are not available to non owners, but the 270K price quoted is for a seven night category 5, so this would have been available to DavidandRobin. For them though, the hotel cert could have been a throw away and they still would have come out ahead.
 

VacationForever

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Correct, five night packages are not available to non owners, but the 270K price quoted is for a seven night category 5, so this would have been available to DavidandRobin. For them though, the hotel cert could have been a throw away and they still would have come out ahead.
True!
 

DavidnRobin

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You really should have considered a Marriott Travel Package instead. For your 80K StarPoints, you could have converted them to Marriott Reward Points and had 240K MR points. Marriott Travel Packages start at 270,000 for 120,000 AA miles plus a seven night hotel certificate in a category 1-5 property. Of course a category 5 certificate wouldn't get you anywhere in NYC with Marriott, but for only 10,000 more StarPoints you could have got at least 20,000 more AA miles. Not sure if the bonus would have also applied there, if it did, you would have had even more AA miles. You could have thrown the hotel certificate away or upgraded it to a higher level by converting more StarPoints.

Sorry for late response. Catching up. Okw... Re: WSJ Plat+ conversion to SPs - it does come out at a good price (after the recent increase), but not as good as the SO that are associated (per normal MF cost). Our Gold+ 2Bd TH went from 20K to 40K SPs (?) - for $2400 MF. No thanks. Also - this is for us (YMMV and likely does...) 80% of our AMEX SPG usage was at 1% (Costco) - I use other cards for other things when the incentive is better, but that was relatively low %-wise. So I use 1% for basis in making comparison.

As to my conversion being discussed... This had nothing to do with the recent WSJ 1.65c/SP offer, and before the recent Marriott offer.

To be clearer - I made this SP conversion to AA FF miles (w/ 20% bonus) in summer of 2016 following the AA promotion announcement - the AA reservations were made at the 331 day opening (iirc) for the recent Nov 2017 NYC trip. At this point I reserved two 1st class seats for 50K each (100K total for the 80K SP conversion). Regardless, 100K miles is excellent for two 1st class tickets (RT) from SF Bay Area to NYC (SJC-EWR) nonstop - including at excellent departure/arrival times. btw - the NJ Transit is an excellent and quick way to get to Penn Station. $13pp

This NYC trip was to use up our SPs that were sitting around unused, and didn't want them to devalue. We also had enough (all from AMEX SPG) to use to stay in NYC at Le Parker Meridian (SPG Cat 6) at 20K/nite - 5th nite free - we stayed 6 notes actually, but that was because of the AA flight above. I made this reservation right after AA FF mileage reservation. We wanted to stay close to Central Park - loved the location on 56th (6-7th). In looking at the SPG rate - it would be about $450/nite for same room.

The recently purchased SPs through the WSJ offer (1.65c/SP) was separate from our NYC trip. We had used up our SPs on the NYC trip - so wanted enough for 5 nites at a 'big-city' quality hotel. We may go back to NYC - we had a great time. Not sure if I can find bargain on 1st class flight again like that....

Bottom-line... for around 180K SPs - 6 nites in Cat 6 NYC hotel and two 1st class NS RT SJC-EWR tickets (bonus: the flight was converted to Alaskan Air) - I am happy with that. I have had better SP conversion for hotels (as many have...), but mostly ex-US stays. We wanted to get rid of our SPs because our local stay (Westin Verasa Napa) had a large increase in SPs needed. Most of our travel is to our TSs, and local hotel stays. Now that I am retired, that will probably change. We also have a large amount of CSR points (whatever they are called).

I will take a look at what Marriott offers with our newly acquired SPs. Thanks for the suggestion.
 

DavidnRobin

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So...

Now that SPs will be changed to MR points (@3:1) - does your opinion change on the value of a SP?

I bought the SPs offered for WSJ Owners at 1.65 c/SP. My vote doesn’t change.

How about yours?
 

DonnaJ123

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We own 2 weeks (bought resale for 18.5K and 20K resale) 2bdrm Of at WKORVN a couple years ago.
Today, We have gone thru a presentation at wdw. We purchased a eoy flex for 1 Bdrm premium for $10,450. The only reason we purchased this is for the star points. They gave us 120K on tour hotel points along with 165K explorer points for a total of 285K star points for free. They have offered us the option to buy 6 certificates for $2275 each giving us an additional 330,000 points per certificate. This would give us 1,980,000 certificate points for $13650 plus the free 285,000 points for a total of 2,265,000 starpoints. We have plans to do extensive travel to Europe on the next 10 years and they said the points don’t expire. My head is spinning..was this a good buy?
 

vacationtime1

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My head is spinning..was this a good buy?

No.

It is an okay deal for the hotel points purchase -- if you are diligent about squeezing maximum value from them and if Marriott doesn't devalue them (again) before you use them.

It is an absolutely terrible deal for the Flex purchase. Because Flex is voluntary, it is essentially valueless for resale purposes. If you want StarOptions, buy a mandatory resort such as Kierland or Vistana Villages; you can get 81000 StarOptions for a small fraction of what you paid and your VOI will have some value when it's time to sell.
 
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YYJMSP

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We purchased a eoy flex for 1 Bdrm premium for $10,450. ... They have offered us the option to buy 6 certificates for $2275 each giving us an additional 330,000 points per certificate. This would give us 1,980,000 certificate points for $13650 plus the free 285,000 points for a total of 2,265,000 starpoints. … was this a good buy?

there is no such thing as starpoints any more, just Marriott rewards points

if those points are worth the general consensus of 1c each, they have a value of $22650. you will have paid $10450+13650 = $24100 for them, so you're already behind, and you still have committed to pay your additional yearly MFs on top of that...
 

Sicnarf

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there is no such thing as starpoints any more, just Marriott rewards points

if those points are worth the general consensus of 1c each, they have a value of $22650. you will have paid $10450+13650 = $24100 for them, so you're already behind, and you still have committed to pay your additional yearly MFs on top of that...

You need to add the value of 1wk in a 1br premium which is about $2000, thus bringing the total value of the transaction to >$24100. The value of MRPs though varies greatly depending on how it is utilized. I just used MRPs for my daughter's honeymoon for 10 nights at St Regis Maldives flying business class from Chicago. This single transaction saved me $13000+ compared to paying cash! I've also saved a family $10000+ for a 10-night stay at Ritz Carlton Kapalua over Xmas and New Year.

So DonnaJ123, DO NOT be dismayed from the responses from this thread since you'll get 2x or more value from your purchase if you use your 2M+ MRPs wisely (even with the recent devaluation).

Sicnarf
 

DonnaJ123

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Thank you for your kind and prompt replies. I am still not sure if this is a great deal. The only reason we bought was for these star point certificates. Based on the deal they will cost .006c/starpoints. We figured the 2+ million points would allow us to travel 5 times to Europe (we are based in Western Canada) flying business class with each trip giving us 14 nights in a 4star hotel. We most likely won’t start using them until my husband retires in 4 years.

I’m not worried about that eoy ts purchase at WDW as we will utilize this and the mf’s are $400 per year. We know we will have to give it away I. 20 years but will sacrifice this in order to save on the Europe travel...if the Europe is a good deal with these certificates.

I was sold star points but someone mentioned they are Marriott points which are valued less. That is making me nervous. Thanks for any forthcoming input you can contribute.
 

controller1

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We have plans to do extensive travel to Europe on the next 10 years and they said the points don’t expire.

They lied. The points will expire in 6 years. All points received from Vistana, including purchased points, expire in six years. When you look at the certificate allowing the purchase of the 330,000 points you will see in the T&C that they do expire.

The 6-year expiration is also noted in the T&C of the Marriott loyalty program.
 

DonnaJ123

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Thank you for the valuable information! I am concerned about the certificates expiring. If my husband was retiring this year I would feel more comfortable but with the merger and the point values being unstable I will recind the offer. I guess we just have to fax a sheet advising we are cancelling the offer with the agreement number on it? If unsure I think it’s better to reconsider...there will always be another deal!

Do I need to return the Kindle they gave me to the sales office?
 

controller1

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Thank you for the valuable information! I am concerned about the certificates expiring. If my husband was retiring this year I would feel more comfortable but with the merger and the point values being unstable I will recind the offer. I guess we just have to fax a sheet advising we are cancelling the offer with the agreement number on it? If unsure I think it’s better to reconsider...there will always be another deal!

Do I need to return the Kindle they gave me to the sales office?

Follow the rescission directions exactly as outlined in the sales agreement. Exactly!
 

vacationtime1

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Follow the rescission directions exactly as outlined in the sales agreement. Exactly!

Very important that you follow those instructions exactly; read them carefully. Everyone who signed the contract must sign the rescission letter. Use the method of delivery required (which may be a fax). But additionally, send the rescission letter by a method that generates a receipt so you can prove when you sent it. Time is of the essence.
 

YYJMSP

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Thank you for your kind and prompt replies. I am still not sure if this is a great deal. The only reason we bought was for these star point certificates. Based on the deal they will cost .006c/starpoints. We figured the 2+ million points would allow us to travel 5 times to Europe (we are based in Western Canada) flying business class with each trip giving us 14 nights in a 4star hotel. We most likely won’t start using them until my husband retires in 4 years.

I’m not worried about that eoy ts purchase at WDW as we will utilize this and the mf’s are $400 per year. We know we will have to give it away I. 20 years but will sacrifice this in order to save on the Europe travel...if the Europe is a good deal with these certificates.

I was sold star points but someone mentioned they are Marriott points which are valued less. That is making me nervous. Thanks for any forthcoming input you can contribute.

Hi neighbour, I'm in Victoria, and have just booked out another Europe trip on points for next year, so I am uniquely qualified to tell you that you are severely overestimating what those points will get.

first, you were sold Marriott points. Starpoints ceased to exist on Aug 18. All existing balances were converted at 1:3 to Marriott points. if these were 2 million StarPoints, we'd be saying something completely different...

second, you need to look at the hotel properties you anticipate staying in and price them out, along with the Aeroplan tickets.

Each Aeroplan ticket will run you 250,000 MR to convert to 100,000 Aeroplan (3:1 plus 20% effective bonus if transferred in the right amounts). assuming 2 people for 15 nights (best use of 5th night free) and 200,000+ MR per 5 night stay at nice hotels (the top hotels are capped at 240,000 MR per 5 nights right now, but will increase to as much as 400,000 MR per 5 nights starting with bookings made sometime in 2019 as they remove the cap and introduce Category 8 and peak pricing), you're easily up to 1,100,000+ MR per trip, so i'm not sure where you are getting 5 trips from

I think you'll be lucky to get 2x 2week trips with the 2 million MR

our trip is 26 nights for 1 million MR, plus the business class Aeroplan tickets at the equivalent of 250,000 MR each...
 
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DavidnRobin

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No.
And watch out for fuzzy math when putting a value on the points (SP or MRP).
Also, points devaluate quickly - so use them as they accumulate.
Do not hold onto them.
Rescind what you can - otherwise optimize.
Happy Thanksgiving


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TravelTime

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Good point that points devalue and better to use them upfront. I have been accumulating Marriott Reward points but I should use them.
 

DonnaJ123

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Thanks again everyone for your valuable input. A shout out to Victoria...we are from Edmonton. Tomorrow we are sending a fax as well as a letter to ensure that we are communicating timely that we wish to recind. We got caught up in the excitement of the starpoints and well...you all know the rest of the story. We will continue to enjoy our WKORVN weeks and am happy and relieved that by doing our research ahead of time we purchased resale and enjoy the benefit of a wonderful locale! This site is such a great resource for us to gain insight. I felt nervous over our purchase yesterday and by reaching out to my fellow tuggers got the information I needed to make a better decision. Thanks again everyone...and to our US tuggers...Happy Thanksgiving!
 

hintok

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I'm confused. I received this offer Dec 6th from Vistana -- because of my recent purchase of The Westin Desert Willow Villas, Palm Desert, I am eligible to purchase 330,000 points for $2,275, 150,000 points for $1,075, 90,000 points for $675. I have until Dec 15 to say yes to this deal. Is this a good price to pay?
 

rickandcindy23

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The value of "starpoints" is not what it used to be. Just as an example of my old use of Starpoints, it used to be 12K Starpoints for a night's stay at Swan or Dolphin, which is connected with Epcot and gets the same benefits as staying on an official Disney property. Now those Marriott points are not just X 3, which would be 36K, they are 50K for the same stay. Per night! That is a horrible deal.

If I pay my MF's for Marriott and Vistana resorts with my Chase Sapphire Reserve, I get 3X points. A hotel room at the Swan or Dolphin is less than $300 per night. That is 20K points per night (Chase Sapphire Reserve points are worth 1.5X), so a 6,700 spend on my CSR earns enough points to book the hotel through the CSR Portal.

People report getting 6X points for their MF's with the Amex cards. It would take a lot more spend for that same stay. You need 50K points, so $8,333 spend to get the same night.

There are times when the hotel costs more than $300 for the night (with taxes/fees), and then it might make sense.

I have a huge number of Marriott Points after the merger. Our plan was also to use them in Europe because as SPG points, they were valuable to me. Now they are just points I have to figure out how to use wisely. I think some Disneyland Marriott hotels might work for just the two of us.
 

Maui_ed

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I have a huge number of Marriott Points after the merger. Our plan was also to use them in Europe because as SPG points, they were valuable to me.
Are you saying the the points are no longer usable in Europe?
 
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