Flex program, Vistana

[Baldy]

Sheraton Flex Program.Has any one signed up for this flex program? My son used our week at Broadway in Myrtle and during the usual had was given info on this new deal. He is not an owner. He made a small down payment and said he would think about it. Arrived home (Ohio) and we sent several questions by email and phone. As I suspect we received no reply. They never want any hard evidence to questions. Anyway he was busy with his business and missed the ten day cancellation period so now is stuck for 10,000. He called and was told they never received the calls or emails. Anyone else involved inthe program? He was told without it it will be more difficult to get desired dates for future vacations. Not sure if this program will be part of the Marriot venture when it takes over.

 

[Makai Guy]

Moving this to the Vistana forum.

 

[jabberwocky]

There are a number of people here who have bought the flex program. It is relatively expensive; however, it does give you access to a variety of resorts. The downside is that the package is now essentially worth $0 if he were to try reselling it today.

Based on the pricing I suspect he bought at 44,000 point package. It's pretty small and will be difficult to use but might be good to pair with a resale week to get a few extra days of vacation. The standard advice here is to rescind the deal and buy a resale week at a mandatory resort, but that isn't possible given he is past the deadline. Best strategy now would be to figure out the best way to use it. While $10k is a lot of money - it's not nearly the worst that some of us have seen here.

Why don't you have your son join TUG? It will probably be the best $15 he could spend to help learn how to best use the system.

 

[controller1]

I'm a former owner of Sheraton Flex purchased prior to discovering TUG. I say former because we traded it in for Westin Flex after staying at a couple of the Sheraton Flex resorts. It's too bad your son didn't look into what he owned prior to the expiration of the recission period.

 

[CPNY]

Sheraton Flex Program.Has any one signed up for this flex program? My son used our week at Broadway in Myrtle and during the usual had was given info on this new deal. He is not an owner. He made a small down payment and said he would think about it. Arrived home (Ohio) and we sent several questions by email and phone. As I suspect we received no reply. They never want any hard evidence to questions. Anyway he was busy with his business and missed the ten day cancellation period so now is stuck for 10,000. He called and was told they never received the calls or emails. Anyone else involved inthe program? He was told without it it will be more difficult to get desired dates for future vacations. Not sure if this program will be part of the Marriot venture when it takes over.

Maybe they will take it back and he can buy into Westin flex which has better properties. The good thing is he bought from them so at least he can use all of the star options at all of the vistana resorts. 44K is enough for a small one bedroom in certain resorts. He can make the most of it if he adds a mandatory resale to his ownership.

 

[celica7101]

Maybe they will take it back and he can buy into Westin flex which has better properties. The good thing is he bought from them so at least he can use all of the star options at all of the vistana resorts. 44K is enough for a small one bedroom in certain resorts. He can make the most of it if he adds a mandatory resale to his ownership.

I somehow think throwing even more more money at this situation is hardly the answer if the guy could barely afford the first one at $10k.



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[CPNY]

I somehow think throwing even more more money at this situation is hardly the answer if the guy could barely afford the first one at $10k.



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Picking up a resale mandatory SVV resale wouldn’t be throwing much more money at it. Might as well make it work for you since he’s now out 10K

 

[Mulege]

Maybe they will take it back and he can buy into Westin flex which has better properties. The good thing is he bought from them so at least he can use all of the star options at all of the vistana resorts. 44K is enough for a small one bedroom in certain resorts. He can make the most of it if he adds a mandatory resale to his ownership.

44,000=1 week in 1BR at WLR Gold season. Good use IMO.

 

[CPNY]

44,000=1 week in 1BR at WLR Gold season. Good use IMO.

True. What are the maint fees though? Get out of flex, pick up 81K star options on SVV mandatory better use

 

[celica7101]

True. What are the maint fees though? Get out of flex, pick up 81K star options on SVV mandatory better use

What you're saying makes sense for people who can afford it, and are at least moderately timeshare-savvy.

It sounds like the OP's son was (at the time of sales) probably neither. Given that he only put down a small deposit for a $10k ownership, I'm also inferring that he may not be in a position to plunk down more cash and pick up ANOTHER resale timeshare -- he would either have to buy it as a secondary purchase or somehow trade in to the developer for a different unit. In both cases, he's still out the $10k since he bought it from the developer and it's past the rescission period. Timeshares are not for everyone and we probably need to know more about his travel / vacation habits before suggesting that "resale is definitely the way to go" in this case.

 

[Mulege]

True. What are the maint fees though? Get out of flex, pick up 81K star options on SVV mandatory better use

I think about $740/ year

 

[Mulege]

Sorry. Closer to $550

I think about $740/ year[/QUOT

 

[CPNY]

O

Sorry. Closer to $550

ok. That’s not bad. Just stinks he paid 10K for it.

 

[jabberwocky]

O

ok. That’s not bad. Just stinks he paid 10K for it.

$550 seems a bit low. I was quoted $1298/year for an 84,000 point Sheraton flex package at presentation last December. For a 44000 package that would be around $670/year MF.

Still pretty much a wash with a SVV mandatory MF.

 

[quhines]

I have a EOYO 51700 point Flex. The rate is 0.00773 for the VOI Assessment (MF) for $399.64 . Since this is EOY I think if you multiply it by 2 you should get the yearly fee. So I think it should be around 0.01546/point.

 

[jabberwocky]

I have a EOYO 51700 point Flex. The rate is 0.00773 for the VOI Assessment (MF) for $399.64 . Since this is EOY I think if you multiply it by 2 you should get the yearly fee. So I think it should be around 0.01546/point.

That sounds about right. EOY units usually have a slight premium but usually you can just double.

 

[DannyTS]

there is a 25,800 Sheraton Flex contract for sale on Ebay. I cannot believe Vistana actually sold such a small contract! The current owner is paying $595 a year for that number of points. I assume it includes the SVN fees.

 

[jabberwocky]

there is a 25,800 Sheraton Flex contract for sale on Ebay. I cannot believe Vistana actually sold such a small contract! The current owner is paying $595 a year for that number of points. I assume it includes the SVN fees.

I saw that as well. Only good for an off-season 1BR week (perhaps 1BR premium in some locations).

MF's are around $0.023/HO so that definitely must include the SVN fee otherwise is more expensive than WF?

My question is would they bother to ROFR this? If they didn't, would they give you the $10k credit for the developer purchase price to buy it back if you upgraded to a larger package with retro of a voluntary unit?

 

[DannyTS]

I saw that as well. Only good for an off-season 1BR week (perhaps 1BR premium in some locations).

MF's are around $0.023/HO so that definitely must include the SVN fee otherwise is more expensive than WF?

My question is would they bother to ROFR this? If they didn't, would they give you the $10k credit for the developer purchase price to buy it back if you upgraded to a larger package with retro of a voluntary unit?

I am not sure it was sold for $10k, I think a 44k contract is about that. This was probably 4k-6k. So the credit can be as low as 3k-5k. It is not worth the hassle IMO.
By the way, I do not even think that such a small contract can be deposited in Interval. I can only imagine what kind of lies the current owner might have been told when he bought.

 

[jabberwocky]

I am not sure it was sold for $10k, I think a 44k contract is about that. This was probably 4k-6k. So the credit can be as low as 3k-5k. It is not worth the hassle IMO.
By the way, I do not even think that such a small contract can be deposited in Interval. I can only imagine what kind of lies the current owner might have been told when he bought.

You're right - I was thinking some of the more undiscounted recent pricing plus closing costs and then rounding off (more proof I shouldn't do math in my head late at night).

Do they have a conversion chart for II and Flex? I seem to remember seeing one before. I'd be curious to see what our new Flex package would pull (not that I'm planning to on trading it in II which would defeat the purpose).

 

[DannyTS]

I think it is this one

 

[jabberwocky]

I think it is this one
View attachment 14424

Thanks.

 

[DannyTS]

It is unclear to me how to read this chart. Does it mean that if you own a 25800 Flex contract you may not get more than a 1 bedroom with the lowest TDI? Or maybe your deposit is worth that much but you can occasionally see a lot more based on Vistana preference, last minute discounted deals etc.

 

[jabberwocky]

It is unclear to me how to read this chart. Does it mean that if you own a 25800 Flex contract you may not get more than a 1 bedroom with the lowest TDI? Or maybe your deposit is worth that much but you can occasionally see a lot more based on Vistana preference, last minute discounted deals etc.

Good questions. My guess is that this is the best it would pull (perhaps you could get lucky.

As a secret confession I've never traded in Interval so the whole TDI is a bit of a mystery. My understanding is that TDI is given to a region. If I look at the resort chart in II I see for example that Orlando has a TDI of 5 and Maui has a TDI of 13. How does this interact with the II TDI chart showing specific demand weeks (scaled from 50 to 150)? Is there any way to find out the specific TDI for a resort?

 

[echino]

This is Hawaii TDI as an example:

You can see that it ranges from 100 for the lowest demand weeks 48 and 49 and up to 150 for highest demand weeks.

So if you want to use Flex points in II to book week 48, 49 or other weeks with TDI between 90-110, then you will need 44,000 for one bedroom or 67,100 for two bedroom. But if you want spring or summer high demand weeks with TDI between 135-150, that would cost you 70,000 for one bedroom or 110,000 for two bedroom.

There are no discounts for last minute exchanges. And if you want to ePlus to a unit that requires a higher number of points, you will need to pay the difference in points, even last minute. You cannot pay an upgrade fee in cash.