Gatorlaw230
TUG Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2016
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 113
Hi fellow Tuggers,
I just bought Westin Flex (which covers 7 resorts in West coast including 3 Hawaiis and WKV) while I attended WDW owner’s update 2 days ago. I have 8 more days to rescind, so I am seeking veterans’ advice before it is too late.
I DID read thread regarding Westin Flex here before owner’s update but I still bought it...eek!
Summary for what I bought:
Three sets of 81,000 Westin Flex Points: 243,000 FOs/SOs (with one time 70,000 SPG points)
Price: about $87,500 (Annual MF: about $4,600)
Trade-in credits: about $70K (see below)
Out of pocket cost: $18K
Below is my timeshares they bought back from me for $70K
-SVR 2BR annual
-SVV St. Augustine 2BR LO annual
-SDO 2BR LO 1-52 float EOY
-SMV 1BR Ski season EOY
-WKV 2BR LO Gold Plus EOY (81,000 SOs)
Reasons to buy Flex:
- 81,000 SOs EOY was not enough for us. I need more SOs. (Then buy SVV mandatory, right?)
- Total cost to acquire above timeshares was less than $4K for me via resale. As you see, it is all voluntary resorts except WKV. They made me feel good that I made money by selling back to them. Also, SVR and SVV (non-mandatory) are hard to unload it.
- Total MFs for these 5 timeshares is similar to Flex I bought. (which about $4500 per year)
I normally rent out for all except WKV and recover more than MFs. But I am tired of managing it.
- We seldom stay at resort for entire week. It has been always 3,4,5 days. Westin Flex seems very flexible. (However, I can use my SOs at 8 mos mark for short stay as well. So, still buying SVV mandatory wins..)
- I was not be able to secure Hawaii at 8 mos mark with my SOs. With Flex, I can do it at 12 mos mark. (However, it depends on availability…!)
- Westin Flex let me transfer unused points to SPG/Marriott. Get me 3 star Elite (although not much benefit to me), Gold for SPG/Marriott/Ritz (again it is not a big deal to me)
-They showed me that the rental value for one-week peak season at Hawaii being close to $5000 for 1BR. (turned out it is not true after I researched afterwards. It seems that only around $1500-2000 for 1BR) Also, they showed us that rental value for 3 days Coachella weekend exceeds $4,000. (for 3 days!) It seems that this is not true either. (read from other thread here)
They said that by using only one 81,000 Flex, I can recoup the MFs already and I still have 2 more 81K to use. (I found that this is not realistic at all.)
Reasons to cancel this:
-243,000 FOs/SOs is too much for us (I asked less amount FOs like 162,000 FOs, but then they said that I cannot trade-in all of my 5 timeshares in that case because credits exceed purchase price.)
- Based on research here, it will be the best to buy SVV Mandatory 2BR or 2BR LO for under $2,000 which will come with 81,000 SOs or 95,700 SOs.
-----
I challenged salespersons that I rather will buy SVV mandatory resort for $1500 for 81,000 SOs. So, if I buy 3 of those, I will spend less than $5K vs $18K.
They said that it is illegal to rent it (in case I need to rent) if I own SVV but rent other resorts after securing it by using SOs. (true?) But I will most likely use all SOs if I buy SVV. (no need to rent out. But for 243,000 SOs, I need to rent out sometimes.)
They also said that it is nearly impossible to book Hawaii with SVV mandatory because I can only do it at 8 months out while I can do it at 12 months out with Flex.
I then challenged them that pool is separate from week deeded ownership and maybe there is very limited availability for Flex owners at this point. They said that they are heavily selling Flex now, so it shouldn't be an issue after 2019. Basically, they admitted that it has limited availability as of now, so I might not be able to get peak season (when schools break) for Hawaii at 12 mos mark with Flex.
I again challenged them by saying that Sheraton Flex already doesn't hold the value and it is almost free now at resale market. (because Buyer will not get SOs.) They said that having 3 Hawaii properties and WKV, Westin flex will hold the value even if buyers don't get SOs. (because they still have 7 home resorts.)
QUESTION:
Should I definitely rescind this or is this not too bad deal? I was looking to buy Hawaii timeshare, but it seems that it is over $10K anyway and MF is very expensive. (in fact, more expensive than Flex)
Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks for your time!
I just bought Westin Flex (which covers 7 resorts in West coast including 3 Hawaiis and WKV) while I attended WDW owner’s update 2 days ago. I have 8 more days to rescind, so I am seeking veterans’ advice before it is too late.
I DID read thread regarding Westin Flex here before owner’s update but I still bought it...eek!
Summary for what I bought:
Three sets of 81,000 Westin Flex Points: 243,000 FOs/SOs (with one time 70,000 SPG points)
Price: about $87,500 (Annual MF: about $4,600)
Trade-in credits: about $70K (see below)
Out of pocket cost: $18K
Below is my timeshares they bought back from me for $70K
-SVR 2BR annual
-SVV St. Augustine 2BR LO annual
-SDO 2BR LO 1-52 float EOY
-SMV 1BR Ski season EOY
-WKV 2BR LO Gold Plus EOY (81,000 SOs)
Reasons to buy Flex:
- 81,000 SOs EOY was not enough for us. I need more SOs. (Then buy SVV mandatory, right?)
- Total cost to acquire above timeshares was less than $4K for me via resale. As you see, it is all voluntary resorts except WKV. They made me feel good that I made money by selling back to them. Also, SVR and SVV (non-mandatory) are hard to unload it.
- Total MFs for these 5 timeshares is similar to Flex I bought. (which about $4500 per year)
I normally rent out for all except WKV and recover more than MFs. But I am tired of managing it.
- We seldom stay at resort for entire week. It has been always 3,4,5 days. Westin Flex seems very flexible. (However, I can use my SOs at 8 mos mark for short stay as well. So, still buying SVV mandatory wins..)
- I was not be able to secure Hawaii at 8 mos mark with my SOs. With Flex, I can do it at 12 mos mark. (However, it depends on availability…!)
- Westin Flex let me transfer unused points to SPG/Marriott. Get me 3 star Elite (although not much benefit to me), Gold for SPG/Marriott/Ritz (again it is not a big deal to me)
-They showed me that the rental value for one-week peak season at Hawaii being close to $5000 for 1BR. (turned out it is not true after I researched afterwards. It seems that only around $1500-2000 for 1BR) Also, they showed us that rental value for 3 days Coachella weekend exceeds $4,000. (for 3 days!) It seems that this is not true either. (read from other thread here)
They said that by using only one 81,000 Flex, I can recoup the MFs already and I still have 2 more 81K to use. (I found that this is not realistic at all.)
Reasons to cancel this:
-243,000 FOs/SOs is too much for us (I asked less amount FOs like 162,000 FOs, but then they said that I cannot trade-in all of my 5 timeshares in that case because credits exceed purchase price.)
- Based on research here, it will be the best to buy SVV Mandatory 2BR or 2BR LO for under $2,000 which will come with 81,000 SOs or 95,700 SOs.
-----
I challenged salespersons that I rather will buy SVV mandatory resort for $1500 for 81,000 SOs. So, if I buy 3 of those, I will spend less than $5K vs $18K.
They said that it is illegal to rent it (in case I need to rent) if I own SVV but rent other resorts after securing it by using SOs. (true?) But I will most likely use all SOs if I buy SVV. (no need to rent out. But for 243,000 SOs, I need to rent out sometimes.)
They also said that it is nearly impossible to book Hawaii with SVV mandatory because I can only do it at 8 months out while I can do it at 12 months out with Flex.
I then challenged them that pool is separate from week deeded ownership and maybe there is very limited availability for Flex owners at this point. They said that they are heavily selling Flex now, so it shouldn't be an issue after 2019. Basically, they admitted that it has limited availability as of now, so I might not be able to get peak season (when schools break) for Hawaii at 12 mos mark with Flex.
I again challenged them by saying that Sheraton Flex already doesn't hold the value and it is almost free now at resale market. (because Buyer will not get SOs.) They said that having 3 Hawaii properties and WKV, Westin flex will hold the value even if buyers don't get SOs. (because they still have 7 home resorts.)
QUESTION:
Should I definitely rescind this or is this not too bad deal? I was looking to buy Hawaii timeshare, but it seems that it is over $10K anyway and MF is very expensive. (in fact, more expensive than Flex)
Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks for your time!
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