• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Westin St John [Master Thread] - Part 2 (June 2014 and forward)

Status
Not open for further replies.

carpie99

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
536
Reaction score
188
Points
253
Location
Charlotte, NC
You may want to check with Vistana about your reservation. I cancelled our reservation yesterday for the middle of October. As of mid day yesterday, they are allowing penalty-free cancellations.

What were you able to do with your options? I don't think I can reuse them this year at this point so if I can't bank them then it may not matter.
 

lizap

TUG Member
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
1,949
Reaction score
240
Points
173
Location
Louisiana
What were you able to do with your options? I don't think I can reuse them this year at this point so if I can't bank them then it may not matter.


They allowed me to bank the SOs, did not waive the banking fee, only the cancellation fee. My understanding is that 'officially' the resort is closed through the end of October. I imagine this will be extended...
 

carpie99

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
536
Reaction score
188
Points
253
Location
Charlotte, NC
They allowed me to bank the SOs, did not waive the banking fee, only the cancellation fee. My understanding is that 'officially' the resort is closed through the end of October. I imagine this will be extended...
Apparently yesterday I got a non-helpful agent after being on hold for 45 minutes ... I was told exactly "all reservations after 9/29 are still being honored and any changes would be according to standard procedures". I should have asked for a manager. :/
 

SandyPGravel

Guest
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
1,710
Reaction score
1,148
Points
223
Location
De Forest, Wisconsin
Resorts Owned
Westin St. John Plat+
2 BR-VGV
Westin St. John Plat
2 BR-BV
They allowed me to bank the SOs, did not waive the banking fee, only the cancellation fee. My understanding is that 'officially' the resort is closed through the end of October. I imagine this will be extended...

This is totally unfair. You aren't banking your SO because you didn't want to use them this year. What a money grab:mad:.
 

josh2268

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
4
Points
218
Apparently yesterday I got a non-helpful agent after being on hold for 45 minutes ... I was told exactly "all reservations after 9/29 are still being honored and any changes would be according to standard procedures". I should have asked for a manager. :/

I was told the same thing yesterday, asked for a manager and was able to bank, but still had to pay for the cancellation fee.
 

carpie99

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
536
Reaction score
188
Points
253
Location
Charlotte, NC
Got a more helpful agent this time ... free cancellation. 78,000 of my points were banked points and still good for use into next year. 95,700 for use this year but I have the option to bank them for the standard $99 fee before October 1.

I am trying to figure out what I can possibly do with them this year before deciding to bank them.

Now to call American Airlines .....
 

Dawnwrey

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
124
Reaction score
38
Points
138
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
Resorts Owned
WKORVN, WSJ-CV
We cancelled without penalty yesterday also. We had a 2 week reservation beginning October 28. We converted to starpoints since we don't have another opportunity to schedule additional time with options. Going to Kauai instead.
 

carpie99

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
536
Reaction score
188
Points
253
Location
Charlotte, NC
We cancelled without penalty yesterday also. We had a 2 week reservation beginning October 28. We converted to starpoints since we don't have another opportunity to schedule additional time with options. Going to Kauai instead.

I assume the reason there is no availability to use Staroptions is because the Westin has taken over the open availability in the 60 day window?
 

lizap

TUG Member
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
1,949
Reaction score
240
Points
173
Location
Louisiana
I was told the same thing yesterday, asked for a manager and was able to bank, but still had to pay for the cancellation fee.

What time did you call? You may have called before the descision to extend was made.
 

lizap

TUG Member
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
1,949
Reaction score
240
Points
173
Location
Louisiana
This is totally unfair. You aren't banking your SO because you didn't want to use them this year. What a money grab:mad:.

And I had already paid a banking fee earlier since I had previously banked SOs this year. I may try to see if I can be reimbursed through Chase's trip cancellation insurance. But I probably won't as I'm tired of fooling with it.
 

cubigbird

Tug Review Crew Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,725
Reaction score
634
Points
323
Location
Western US
Resorts Owned
Westin Lagunamar, Westin Kierland X2, Westin St John-Sunset Bay X2, Westin Desert Willow, Westin Aventuras
Just looked at the Villa Finder. The defaults starts in April but allows you to scroll backwards showing availability and allowing to book as early as November 6th and forward. Agreed with posts above, here's hoping we get a resort update soon.
 

NNerland

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
152
Reaction score
23
Points
128
Location
Arden Hills, MN
Caneel Bay Resort just posted on Facebook -- they announced they will be closed for the duration of 2017 and will provide updates for 2018 in the future. They are examining the extent of the damage to the property. Their immediate priority is with their employees and the community on the Island of St John at this time.

They took a pretty big hit, not as protected as St John; however probably a good indication of the true aftermath. We are to go in January, but I just have a feeling this isn't going to be possible. I really hope the Westin is transparent and forthright. People also have decisions to make as airlines have restrictions and you can't just change at the last minute if you need to make alternate plans. We are kind of in a bind as our airline tickets are with Sun Country; which has fewer options for us in the winter to change our plans.

I understand the enormity of the situation for Vistana and the Westin --- however we are all owners and in this together. They need to be honest and transparent. It will be interesting to see in the coming days and weeks what we hear.
 

dsmrp

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Messages
2,527
Reaction score
1,847
Points
398
Location
MI Washington
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Vistana, Waikoloa Bay Club, Hyatt Pinon Pt

Thank you for the link. So sad, but glad they finally got some help with enforcement and transportation off island(s). From the article it did seem to take awhile, and the grass roots effort from Puerto Rico was awesome.
Can anyone recommend a reputable organization that will direct contributions to USVI relief efforts?
I should go find that GoFundMe page of the guy from Puerto Rico in the article.

BTW, I heard on Good Morning America this morning about a cruise ship which Marriott chartered to pick up guests from St Thomas.
But only Marriott guests were allowed to board, in spite of many other tourists needing to leave St Thomas.
Marriott responded it was because the St Thomas port staff-officials only allowed those named on the manifest to leave. OMG!
 

Jamie4Maui

newbie
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
1
Reaction score
5
Points
3
Resorts Owned
WKORV
We had a trip scheduled for St. John arriving October 7th. I called today to cancel and was able to bank my Star Options without a cancellation fee and also without the $99 banking fee. She almost charged me the $99 fee, but had put me on hold to talk with another department, who informed her that as of today a new policy had been issued that they were not going to charge the banking fee for those having to cancel at St. John. If you were charged this fee I would call back to get it refunded.
 

canesfan

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
576
Reaction score
130
Points
254
Location
Chicago Suburbs & Tucson
Resorts Owned
WKORVN x2
WSJ-BV
WLR
I'm glad that Vistana finally made the right decision and is waiving the banking fee. It's definitely the right thing to do at this time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

lizap

TUG Member
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
1,949
Reaction score
240
Points
173
Location
Louisiana
We had a trip scheduled for St. John arriving October 7th. I called today to cancel and was able to bank my Star Options without a cancellation fee and also without the $99 banking fee. She almost charged me the $99 fee, but had put me on hold to talk with another department, who informed her that as of today a new policy had been issued that they were not going to charge the banking fee for those having to cancel at St. John. If you were charged this fee I would call back to get it refunded.

Thanks for letting us know. I'm calling now to try to get it refunded.
 

josh2268

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
4
Points
218
We had a trip scheduled for St. John arriving October 7th. I called today to cancel and was able to bank my Star Options without a cancellation fee and also without the $99 banking fee. She almost charged me the $99 fee, but had put me on hold to talk with another department, who informed her that as of today a new policy had been issued that they were not going to charge the banking fee for those having to cancel at St. John. If you were charged this fee I would call back to get it refunded.

awesome tip, i just called and got refunded my banking and cancellation fees
 

letsgomets

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
81
Reaction score
18
Points
218
So upset to see what's happened to St. John but looking forward to returning. Since BV is not a mandatory resort and we bought a # of years ago via resale, I wonder if there are any options that are available to us if the resort is closed for our upcoming arrival dates or if we just lose out since we aren't allowed in the Vistana exchange program. Would love any insights.
 

Helios

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,297
Reaction score
134
Points
173
The repairs will be funded by insurance ... I can only say that for the three units I own there I will pay the required SAs and MFs until I can continue visits to the property. That is the inherent risk of property ownership. They only owe you what you agreed to when you purchased, nothing more or less. I haven't reviewed my documents yet to see what guarantees of use I have. What I can tell you is that I have a nine day reservation in 29 days that use 168,000 star options ($4000+ in MFs) and have been told that my reservation is still valid. So I have plenty of skin in the game and still feel fortunate that I have the backing of Vistana rather than having to somehow deal with insurance and repairs by myself.
Sorry, I didn't realize you owned at WSJ.

Good luck with the reservations. Please post pictures once you get there.
 

amycurl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
3,071
Reaction score
3,117
Points
449
Location
Greensboro, NC
Thankfully, things have improved, but is is still very unfortunate that these things happened. My heart breaks for her reading this account. We are planning to donate to relief efforts. Any recommendations?

Can anyone recommend a reputable organization that will direct contributions to USVI relief efforts?

I would recommend the Community Foundation of the USVI.
 

dsmrp

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Messages
2,527
Reaction score
1,847
Points
398
Location
MI Washington
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Vistana, Waikoloa Bay Club, Hyatt Pinon Pt
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top