Usage of Staroptions current year upon transfer of ownership.

[DannyTS]

Hypothetical question, it may help me with a purchase.

If I buy a mandatory resort, usage 2018 (no intention to book a week at the resort), upon transfer, can i use the 2018 Staroptions to make reservations for 2018 or 2019? Even if i can, i am afraid that by the time the week is in my name, there will be no availability for the end of this year (plans for late October) or for the spring of 2019.

I understand that the banked Staroptions do not transfer so i cannot ask the current owner to bank them, right?

Thanks a lot

 

[VacationForever]

You may not bank SOs into the following year when it closes past June 30th. You can use it to book something for the current year or deposit into II which will extend it for an extra 2 years through II exchange.

Current owner cannot bank it for you.

 

[DannyTS]

You may not bank SOs into the following year when it closes past June 30th. You can use it to book something for the current year or deposit into II which will extend it for an extra 2 years through II exchange.

Current owner cannot bank it for you.

Do i get a lower trading power in II for depositing late in the year (probably July-August by the time it transfers)?

 

[needvaca]

you can ask the seller to make a reservation for your requested dates, and then change the reservation to your name (it has to match the exact name you are using to acquire your timeshare.) This should carry over when the sale eventually closes.

I bought a Vistana timeshare this year resale, and did this, and the reservation for me stayed in place.

 

[VacationForever]

Do i get a lower trading power in II for depositing late in the year (probably July-August by the time it transfers)?

Possibly but probably not noticeable. Lots of people wait until close to year end to deposit. I prefer to deposit a year before, but then I am OCD.

 

[DannyTS]

thank you. Is there a chance I would not be able to book on SOs Lagunamar in August for October? It is one of the lowest seasons possible, i do not see a reason not to be able to do it but I am so new to SVN, maybe there is something I am missing.

 

[DannyTS]

you can ask the seller to make a reservation for your requested dates, and then change the reservation to your name (it has to match the exact name you are using to acquire your timeshare.) This should carry over when the sale eventually closes.

I bought a Vistana timeshare this year resale, and did this, and the reservation for me stayed in place.

i did that too, the week reservation did transfer. I was not sure about a Staroption reservation, if it transfers as well.

 

[dioxide45]

Do i get a lower trading power in II for depositing late in the year (probably July-August by the time it transfers)?

Not really, with Vistana you actually have until the end of the year (12/31/2018) to deposit your 2018 use year in to II. Vistana deposits and provides a unit with blended trade power. You don't make the reservation yourself and deposit that week. So the actual week that is deposited is one that Vistana picked out and probably already deposited long ago.

 

[VacationForever]

thank you. Is there a chance I would not be able to book on SOs Lagunamar in August for October? It is one of the lowest seasons possible, i do not see a reason not to be able to do it but I am so new to SVN, maybe there is something I am missing.

I do not know as I tend to book everything a year or 8 months before. Others who pay close attention to WLR may chime in.

 

[DannyTS]

Not really, with Vistana you actually have until the end of the year (12/31/2018) to deposit your 2018 use year in to II. Vistana deposits and provides a unit with blended trade power. You don't make the reservation yourself and deposit that week. So the actual week that is deposited is one that Vistana picked out and probably already deposited long ago.

it seems counter intuitive that II would give the same trading power even if deposited the last day of the year. When would they have time to match it? Better than i thought.

 

[VacationForever]

it seems counter intuitive that II would give the same trading power even if deposited the last day of the year. When would they have time to match it? Better than i thought.

2 separate processes. Deposit first means the week is gone regardless of when you get your requests matched. The large timeshare groups like Marriott and Vistana make predictions as to how many weeks at each resort will be given up by owners for exchange and as such make bulk deposits way ahead of when owners actually decide to deposit. Throughout the year adjustments will be make to either drop a week into II or through mini bulk deposits.

 

[DannyTS]

2 separate processes. Deposit first means the week is gone regardless of when you get your requests matched. The large timeshare groups like Marriott and Vistana make predictions as to how many weeks at each resort will be given up by owners for exchange and as such make bulk deposits way ahead of when owners actually decide to deposit. Throughout the year adjustments will be make to either drop a week into II or through mini bulk deposits.

thank you, it sounds great.

Maybe this is why (allegedly) they set aside more 51-52 weeks (some report more problems booking them at 12 months), knowing that some people will deposit late.

 

[VacationForever]

thank you, it sounds great.

Maybe this is why (allegedly) they set aside more 51-52 weeks (some report more problems booking them at 12 months), knowing that some people will deposit late.

I do not think the latter has anything to do with bulk deposits. Being able to grab a week 51/52 literally means you have to beat others trying to book the same weeks by fraction of a second when booking opens up and that is the nature of floating weeks.

 

[DannyTS]

I do not think the latter has anything to do with bulk deposits. Being able to grab a week 51/52 literally means you have to beat others trying to book the same weeks by fraction of a second when booking opens up and that is the nature of floating weeks.

I admit I still do not understand how this works.

Say December 1st 2018 you deposit in II your platinum SDO week . The only platinum weeks in December are 51 and 52. If there is no 51 or 52 available (and it should not be at that date), does it not mean that the week deposited is worth exactly zero?

 

[VacationForever]

Vistana has already deposited say, 45 percent of SDO weeks with various check in dates in 2017 for 2018 weeks. Throughout the year, Vistana continues to make adjustments if they projeect that more than 45 percent of SDO owners want to deposit their SDO weeks into II.

On Dec 1st 2018 you initiate a deposit of a 2018 SDO week and it will show in II that your week is now ready for exchange. Vistana may or may not need to deposit another week into II. It depends on how many weeks Vistana has already deposited into II in anticipation of owners wanting to deposit their weeks. Hence, you are able to deposit your SDO week into II on Dec 31st 2018. It is a contract that II has with Vistana on how deposit works.

 

[DannyTS]

Vistana has already deposited say, 45 percent of SDO weeks with various check in dates in 2017 for 2018 weeks. Throughout the year, Vistana continues to make adjustments if they projeect that more than 45 percent of SDO owners want to deposit their SDO weeks into II.

On Dec 1st 2018 you initiate a deposit of a 2018 SDO week and it will show in II that your week is now ready for exchange. Vistana may or may not need to deposit anotther week into II. It depends on how many weeks Vistana has already deposited into II in anticipation of owners wanting to deposit their weeks. Hence, you are able to deposit your SDO week into II on Dec 31st 2018. It is a contract that II has with Vistana on how deposit works.

So it is possible that Vistana might keep a high number of 51-52 weeks in anticipation of people depositing them. The irony is, the more high demand weeks they keep, the more owners will deposit which feeds back their pool and fulfilling their prediction. They can say: see, we actually had those weeks in the end! Can they rent those good weeks and just give for exchange less desirable resorts/weeks? I bet nobody knows for sure, owners will be split on this matter.

If i understood correctly DeniseM's argument (another thread), not being able to deposit a precise booked week only helps Interval and Vistana.

 

[VacationForever]

So it is possible that Vistana might keep a high number of 51-52 weeks in anticipation of people depositing them. The irony is, the more high demand weeks they keep, the more owners will deposit which feeds back their pool and fulfilling their prediction. They can say: see, we actually had those weeks in the end! Can they rent those good weeks and just give for exchange less desirable resorts/weeks for exchanges? I bet nobody knows for sure, owners will be split on this matter.

If i understood correctly DeniseM's argument (another thread), you not being able to deposit a precise booked week only helps Interval and Vistana.

You are muddling the inventories. Firstly, we are talking about weeks inventory. Weeks owners can deposit or use their weeks. I am very familiar with SDO, both the 1-52 Gold Plus and true platinum weeks. I have not had problem reserving the highest demand weeks which are during March for Spring Training. I have also seen those weeks in II. I have also seen Christmas and New Year weeks in II.

Secondly, whatever weeks that are owned by Vistana / Starwood belong to them and they can rent them out.

As much as people may be suspicious about how inventories are allocated, such suspicion is unfounded.

I love blended weeks deposits. It takes the stress out of trying to compete with other owners for the most demanded weeks. In case you wonder, SDO trading power is very strong in II.

 

[DannyTS]

I love blended weeks deposits. It takes the stress out of trying to compete with other owners for the most demanded weeks. In case you wonder, SDO trading power is very strong in II.

I agree with you that it makes the deposits much less stressful.

 

[DannyTS]

You are muddling the inventories. Firstly, we are talking about weeks inventory. Weeks owners can deposit or use their weeks. I am very familiar with SDO, both the 1-52 Gold Plus and true platinum weeks. I have not had problem reserving the highest demand weeks which are during March for Spring Training. I have also seen those weeks in II. I have also seen Christmas and New Year weeks in II.

Secondly, whatever weeks that are owned by Vistana / Starwood belong to them and they can rent them out.

As much as people may be suspicious about how inventories are allocated, such suspicion is unfounded.

I love blended weeks deposits. It takes the stress out of trying to compete with other owners for the most demanded weeks. In case you wonder, SDO trading power is very strong in II.

How do we know that there is no cross contamination between the 2 inventories? A simple internal agreement between Vistana and Interval would do without anyone noticing or able to prove it.

 

[VacationForever]

How do we know that there is no cross contamination between the 2 inventories? A simple internal agreement between Vistana and Interval would do without anyone noticing or able to prove it.

This has been hashed and rehashed in other threads. Vistana and Interval are large companies that would stand much to lose if they engage in unethical practices. If you don't trust them, don't buy Vistana timeshare and do not use II. End of story.

 

[DannyTS]

This has been hashed and rehashed in other threads. Vistana and Interval are large companies that would stand much to lose if they engage in unethical practices. If you don't trust them, don't buy Vistana timeshare and do not use II. End of story.

Trust but verify. Let's not forget, these are companies that employ (or at the very least tolerate) very pushy, at times dishonest sales tactics so I am not sure why they would deserve blind trust.

 

[controller1]

Trust but verify. Let's not forget, these are companies that employ (or at the very least tolerate) very pushy, at times dishonest sales tactics so I am not sure why they would deserve blind trust.

Yet, these companies are also not going to be so transparent that proprietary information or trade secrets would be seen. I believe some are asking for a little too much information in the guise of transparency.

Having owned within Vistana (and its predecessors) for eleven years, outside of the sales tactics, I've felt the company has been very fair. As to the sales tactics, as others have said, oral representations are not enforceable. If it is not in the written documentation then forget it and let the sales person know that you will only be relying on what is written.

 

[taterhed]

Gee, reading this thread gives me deja vu....