The Vistana requals are getting cheaper and cheaper

[DannyTS]

I just spoke with a Vistana rep over the phone. Apparently she just received an email from the management, they are now allowed to offer discounted re-qualifications based on the number of contracts you want to bring in.

1) for one contract you have to buy $10k worth of Flex
2) for any additional contract you have to pay only $5k each. For example for 5 contracts you would need to buy $30k worth of flex

This is certainly better than before. A couple of months before I was told you had to spend $10k for every contract you wanted to bring in. Before that it was around $18k.

There are also some additional discounts of 10-15% if you buy "now".

This is only strengthening my feeling that the Vistana owners will be offered enrollment very soon.

 

[jabberwocky]

Interesting, sounds like they are wanting to get as much into the SO system as possible.

Too bad, an extra $2k and I could have retroed my WKORV-N!

 

[dioxide45]

Wasn't there someone here not long ago that traded in and requaled several weeks for only about $13K?

 

[DannyTS]

Wasn't there someone here not long ago that traded in and requaled several weeks for only about $13K?

I must have missed that

 

[DannyTS]

Wasn't there someone here not long ago that traded in and requaled several weeks for only about $13K?

I am actually trying to find the thread you are referring to. If I remember correctly, there was one that involved giving back deeds for a credit then buying Westin Flex or Sheraton Flex. That one also had an Explorer package involved and a calculation about buying Bonvoy points so it was not a straight conversion. In my case, I am not interested in giving them any Lagunamars for a credit because we would end up with significant higher MF for any of the Flex programs we would get instead.

By the way, buying Bonvoy points is also available for the deal I was proposed, 4 certificates of 330,000 Bonvoys for $2275 each If I am not mistaken.

@dioxide45 Can you please point to that thread thought?

 

[DavidnRobin]

Requalification and turning in an existing deed for Flex are really not the same thing.
With a Requalification, you keep your original deed.

 

[jabberwocky]

I think the questions comes down to is the $10/5k per VOI new money or would they still consider the trade-in towards the full purchase price?

I assume there is a minimum for new cash.

 

[DannyTS]

I think the questions comes down to is the $10/5k per VOI new money or would they still consider the trade-in towards the full purchase price?

I assume there is a minimum for new cash.

I would keep the existing contracts I own, they would just become "legit" in the Vistana network with all the benefits: StarOptions, conversion to Bonvoy, elite status etc. For that to happen I would have to spend and buy Flex points: $10k for the firsts contract to be converted and 5k for the additional ones.
I hope I am clear about how it would work.

 

[dioxide45]

I can't find that old thread. You could consider picking up a few cheapo voluntary weeks that you would be willing to trade in. I believe they give you 80% credit of the value they were when they originally sold the week.

 

[DannyTS]

I think the questions comes down to is the $10/5k per VOI new money or would they still consider the trade-in towards the full purchase price?

I assume there is a minimum for new cash.

By the way, according to the same rep, as of last week they would no longer take back any contracts, going forward re-qualifying will be the only option. I am not sure it is true or not.

 

[jabberwocky]

By the way, according to the same rep, as of last week they would no longer take back any contracts, going forward re-qualifying will be the only option. I am not sure it is true or not.

I'm sure that will be the official line for now - particularly if inventory is at the top of the range (according to the VAC Investor Presentation). I imagine there will be some exceptions made. I can't see them turning down someone who naively wants to trade in a WKV Plat unit.

If I eventually did do another requal (starting to think a Lagunamar might not be a bad one to do) then I would make them take back my small WF EOY 67k and exchange for a larger flex package as part of the deal. Better to have one larger one (up to 148k I think) as these would probably be easier to get rid of down the road as they tend to give good usage flexibility.

As an interesting side note - I just noticed a couple of new Sheraton Flex packages hit eBay. One for 67k (EOY) and another 81k (annual). Other than the crazy MF's they wouldn't be too bad to pick up if Vistana was willing to give trade credit at 80%.

 

[jabberwocky]

A person sitting on a as few as 4 Plat units worth 148,100 (WDW, WMH, SDO, Lagunamar etc.) could now get 5* by buying a single annual 81k Westin Flex package for $27k (even assuming a standard 15% discount).

So if I think back to some of the classic "how-to" retro threads I am wondering how those who dropped $90k+ to retro their voluntary units and make 5* elite with developer purchases would feel right now.

Amazing. They are definitely wanting to get deeds into the system.

 

[grgs]

Requalification and turning in an existing deed for Flex are really not the same thing.
With a Requalification, you keep your original deed.

A person sitting on a as few as 4 Plat units worth 148,100 (WDW, WMH, SDO, Lagunamar etc.) could now get 5* by buying a single annual 81k Westin Flex package for $27k (even assuming a standard 15% discount).

Amazing. They are definitely wanting to get deeds into the system.

David is correct. How do they get more deeds into the system with requals?

 

[grgs]

Wasn't there someone here not long ago that traded in and requaled several weeks for only about $13K?

I am actually trying to find the thread you are referring to.

@dioxide45 Can you please point to that thread thought?

Is it this thread?

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/westin-flex-eoy-purchase.294168/

 

[dioxide45]

Is it this thread?

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/westin-flex-eoy-purchase.294168/

Not that one. It was long before that one.

 

[jabberwocky]

David is correct. How do they get more deeds into the system with requals?

A voluntary resale unit is outside of VSN - it does not receive SO's. My understanding is that a unit not in VSN cannot be booked via VSN from someone wanting to use SO's. By requalifying a voluntary deed those units are brought back into VSN.

 

[jabberwocky]

Not that one. It was long before that one.

I remember it was a massive transaction that took place around May? A whole bunch of units were traded in, I think three voluntary units were retro'd at the same time for around $6-8k/unit in new cash IIRC.

 

[grgs]

How about this post?:

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/buy-both-resale-and-westin-flex.279184/#post-2190947

 

[grgs]

A voluntary resale unit is outside of VSN - it does not receive SO's. My understanding is that a unit not in VSN cannot be booked via VSN from someone wanting to use SO's. By requalifying a voluntary deed those units are brought back into VSN.

Ok, I was thinking the goal for Vistana/MVC would be to add them to one of the flex trusts. Would they really care that much about SO availability at this point?

 

[jabberwocky]

I suspect it has to do with preparing for an eventual DC Point/SO Exchange mechanism; however that is pure speculation on my part.

It could just be that over time the availability of prime deeds available for exchange within VSN has diminished as more resales have taken voluntary weeks out of the system. Allowing them to requalify increases availability via SO's and hence customer satisfaction with both the Flex and VSN the products (think about SFlex or WFlex owners with developer purchases who would like to use SO's to book into Mexico on occasion - it would have to be done via VSN).

I doubt people will be spending money to retro a 1BR desert week 30. OTOH a Platinum Lagunamar 2BR can make sense to bring back in at these levels.

Of course all of the above could be wrong and they just want to identify which owners are suckers who are willing to spend a lot on their vacations when the roll out the new MVC "currency"!

 

[DannyTS]

A person sitting on a as few as 4 Plat units worth 148,100 (WDW, WMH, SDO, Lagunamar etc.) could now get 5* by buying a single annual 81k Westin Flex package for $27k (even assuming a standard 15% discount).

So if I think back to some of the classic "how-to" retro threads I am wondering how those who dropped $90k+ to retro their voluntary units and make 5* elite with developer purchases would feel right now.

Amazing. They are definitely wanting to get deeds into the system.

some people believe that only Flex will be part of the new overlay Vistana-MVC (I do not think so, I think it will be much more inclusive).
How would one feel though if he spent $27k to re-qualify 4X148,100 contracts only to find out soon that only the newly acquired Flex is included in the MVC-Vistana exchange?

 

[dioxide45]

I remember it was a massive transaction that took place around May? A whole bunch of units were traded in, I think three voluntary units were retro'd at the same time for around $6-8k/unit in new cash IIRC.

Here is one, not the one I remember, that looks like it required $10000 for the first week and $5000 for the other three requalified weeks. They did use utilize mandatory and voluntary weeks for trade in.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/sheraton-flex-retro-proposal.294045/

 

[jabberwocky]

some people believe that only Flex will be part of the new overlay Vistana-MVC (I do not think so, I think it will be much more inclusive).
How would one feel though if he spent $27k to re-qualify 4X148,100 contracts only to find out soon that only the newly acquired Flex is included in the MVC-Vistana exchange?

I agree - SO's are more likely to be the currency on the Vistana side rather than Flex as it allows a much broader base of customers to be sold to. Think about the vast majority of those Maui weeks - if they limited it to Flex they would be excluding a huge portion of the availability at WKORV and WKORV-N (particularly oceanfront) which could not be available via MVC points. The more options there are in a network the more valuable it becomes.

They may give Flex owners a few more options (i.e., you can convert your Flex ownership directly to being a DC owner while weeks owners with SO's would be treated similarly to enrolled weeks in MVC).

 

[jabberwocky]

Here is one, not the one I remember, that looks like it required $10000 for the first week and $5000 for the other three requalified weeks. They did use utilize mandatory and voluntary weeks for trade in.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/sheraton-flex-retro-proposal.294045/

That is one good example, I thought the other one was for Westin Flex though. It's times like this I wish the TUG search feature was a bit more robust.

 

[bizaro86]

I think their motivation is likely more short term - we need to sell stuff now and this helps us do it.

They probably care less about the precedent give it is very likely they'll be selling a different conversion option of some kind in a year or two.