WKORV - current incentive for “owner update”

[Tucsonadventurer]

Since we've done about 12+ of these owner updates and many Teralani cruises I decided to push back on the point incentive, using the data you all provided here re: used to be 15,000 SPG so should be 45,000 MR now. I opened the conversation by telling the concierge/owner's update booking agent that I wanted to cancel my update because I was very annoyed that they were offering a lower value point incentive than in the past. The concierge/update booking agent who allegedly has been here since opening insisted they had always only offered 4,500 SPG or 5,000 SPG so that's now 13,500-15,000 MR and they were being generous now to offer 20,000 MR. I challenged her using data you all provided but she would not budge. She slightly relented and said "occasionally" in the past they had a special incentive for 7,500 or 8,500 SPG points so that's what I must be referencing. They stuck with their 20,000 MR incentive despite my insistence that it was downgraded from the past and I expressed my extreme disappointment at the lower value incentive. I even called her out on the fact their owner incentive visual aid says 15,000 SPG, not MR, but she waved her hands and mouth to try and convince me these were actually MR. So I caved and said I'll just take the $100 resort credit (to cover our nightly occupancy taxes). Please see the picture below that I took in Jan 2019 and maybe you will be able to use it to your advantage. Note the 2018 copyright on it which says 15,000 SPG points so it's clearly not MR.

Owner's update was actually entertaining due to Steve, the 6'3" Australian. He talks a mile a minute so I only got about 60% of his jokes. If you're going to do an update, I recommend you request Steve. I learned some Hawaiian language I didn't know, some interesting architecture and symbolism at Nanea I didn't know, and laughed every 90 seconds or more. It was a decent way to kill the time between moving rooms. It was pretty painless and at the end they realized they have nothing to offer us except maybe an Encore package. We declined and left in slightly less than 90 minutes.

My husband met and chatted with the owner of Trilogy while playing at the Royal Lahaina tennis ranch so we investigated taking a Trilogy sunset cruise vs Trilogy dinner cruise vs Teralani sunset cruise vs Teralani dinner cruise. FYI - there are several useful discounted gift cards for Teralani and other activities/restaurants available at Costco, pictures below. We did some research using my husband's more discriminating post-culinary school palate and he determined the best value would be the Trilogy sunset cruise, even though it is $12 more than the Teralani sunset cruise. We are a bit tired of the Teralani sunset cruise menu. After we take the Trilogy sunset cruise I will report back. Regardless, I still think the Teralani cruise for 2 is worth the pain and suffering of the 90 minute owner's update, especially if you get Steve the Australian/stand-up comedian, and if you haven't already been on too many Teralani sunset cruises.

Should you be interested in other freebies, we did choose to subject ourselves to the Marriott timeshare presentation in order to get $125 in restaurant coupons good for use at Roy's, Hula Grill, Lahaina Grill, Longhi's, Merriman's, Gannon's and many others. See attached picture of flyer. We also signed up for a Hyatt presentation to get a $150 Visa gift card. We scheduled that during another room move.

Sorry about the long post, just trying to share potentially useful info.



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Thanks for sharing all this info!

 

[controller1]

Well I could disproved that concierges theory by showing her my activity on my awards account. Definitely got 45,000 MR points as a VSE Tour Incentive. I’m not subjecting myself to a tour this trip but I almost want to stop by her desk next week while there to prove her wrong, lol! It really drives me nuts how they lie!


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I can too and now I plan on taking the following with me in a couple of weeks when I'm at WKORVN and Nanea.

The 3/12/18 45,000 Points is for the update at WKORVN/Nanea while the 7/11/18 30,000 Points is for the update at Westin Riverfront.

@cindylou if it makes you feel better, feel free to show this to the Concierge who told you a lie.

UPDATE: I forgot to add that I just returned from Westin Mission Hills where I declined an update because the highest incentive the concierge would offer was 20,000 points.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

I can too and now I plan on taking the following with me in a couple of weeks when I'm at WKORVN and Nanea.

The 3/12/18 45,000 Points is for the update at WKORVN/Nanea while the 7/11/18 30,000 Points is for the update at Westin Riverfront.

@cindylou if it makes you feel better, feel free to show this to the Concierge who told you a lie.

UPDATE: I forgot to add that I just returned from Westin Mission Hills where I declined an update because the highest incentive the concierge would offer was 20,000 points.

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We did an update at Poipu for 20,000. They were only selling Nanea . They offered a 2 bedroom for 25000 if we gave them our platinum week at Kierland. The encore package was for 1295 ,5 nights at Sheraton Poipu plus 100,000 Bonvoy pts. We asked too many questions so it was long but it was raining out and it was very low pressure

 

[cubigbird]

I’ve seen slightly variable offers as well. Don’t they offer incentives based on your profile and how bad they want you to tour?

 

[Ken555]

I’ve seen slightly variable offers as well. Don’t they offer incentives based on your profile and how bad they want you to tour?

I always suspected they adjusted the offer based on anticipated available sales slots for the week. After all, if they’re not meeting potential buyers then they’re wasting their time.


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[Tucsonadventurer]

At Marriott in Poipu they offered only 15000 Bonvoy points and claimed it was lower at Westin Princeviille. We declined although I am curious what Marriott has to say about future plans

 

[zentraveler]

Not members of Starwood/Vistana or Marriott, but we used to get a lot of offers from them to come to the new properties for $XX for 4-6 nights, sometimes with car. i expected we would get an offer like that when they had Nanea to sell, but have gotten nothing at all. Is Nanea sold out? Too many Owners who are interested? New ways of marketing now?

 

[DavidnRobin]

Not members of Starwood/Vistana or Marriott, but we used to get a lot of offers from them to come to the new properties for $XX for 4-6 nights, sometimes with car. i expected we would get an offer like that when they had Nanea to sell, but have gotten nothing at all. Is Nanea sold out? Too many Owners who are interested? New ways of marketing now?

We did a 5-nite Nanea Promo in Sept - had car and other incentives. Bargain...


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[DavidnRobin]

Duplicate

 

[zentraveler]

We did a 5-nite Nanea Promo in Sept - had car and other incentives. Bargain...
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Would do it in a heartbeat, but we didn't get one when we used to get them all the time. Anyone have any ideas if they are targeting a particular group? Looks from the responders like it may only be offered to owners....

 

[DavidnRobin]

Would do it in a heartbeat, but we didn't get one when we used to get them all the time. Anyone have any ideas if they are targeting a particular group? Looks from the responders like it may only be offered to owners....

It is not supposed to be for Owners (stated on Invite), but they do not care.



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[canesfan]

We just checked into WKORVN and they are now holding the towel cards hostage at the concierge desk. Not cool.


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[controller1]

We just checked into WKORVN and they are now holding the towel cards hostage at the concierge desk. Not cool.

Wow. Not good at all.

 

[Ken555]

We just checked into WKORVN and they are now holding the towel cards hostage at the concierge desk. Not cool.


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What is this, Wyndham? This won’t work at Westin.


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[The Haileys]

What does that mean? You have to get towels at the front desk now?

We check in on the 23rd.

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[canesfan]

What does that mean? You have to get towels at the front desk now?

We check in on the 23rd.

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No. When you check in you don’t get your towel cards at the front desk. You have to go to the concierge to get your towel cards and be subjected to the pressure to attend an owner update. I guess they figured out we could careless about their free tote bag and weekly activities list. Now our towel cards are held hostage!


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[Tucsonadventurer]

No. When you check in you don’t get your towel cards at the front desk. You have to go to the concierge to get your towel cards and be subjected to the pressure to attend an owner update. I guess they figured out we could careless about their free tote bag and weekly activities list. Now our towel cards are held hostage!


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I must be easy. I cant pass on a tote bag! That however makes me not want to attend an update. At Princeville the concierge was extremely helpful and fun and offered an update but was not pushy at all. Refreshing

 

[controller1]

Datapoint: Checked into WKORV-N yesterday afternoon. Was offered 30,000 Bonvoy points for the owner's update.

 

[blahblah18]

We stayed at both Nanea and Princeville last month. Here's what we were offered if we were to do the Owner's Update:

At Nanea, we were offered 15,000 "Bonvoy" points -- immediately upped to 20,000 points before the concierge guy could even finish his sentence.

At Princeville, we were offered 20,000 points.

We said NO to both. I keep doing the exchange to Starwood points, and cannot at all get excited about the equivalent of 6,500 SPG points. My time is worth far more than that. (And I seem to recall frequently being offered more than that in the past.)

The regular points devaluation that happens over time, plus all of the disappointments of the Bonvoy program that's replaced SPG, mean that IMHO they need to up their offers to get people in those "update" presentations. They seem to be lowering them instead.

At Nanea, I was also disappointed that the Owners Discount card given to us by the concierge really had no value. Just a couple of nominal discounts, but nothing like the broad discount program that I've seen and enjoyed before at both WKORV and Kierland.

And I was also disappointed that the "points bonus" program seems to have disappeared. The last time we were at WKORV, I recall we got 10,000 bonus SPG points just for making a purchase (and getting a stamp) at each of the food outlets plus the spa. We've done similar SPG points bonus programs at Kierland. But, at Nanea, none was offered. (I don't know if this is Nanea management being cheap, or if it's another side effect of being Bonvoyed. Regardless, it was disappointing.)

 

[controller1]

We stayed at both Nanea and Princeville last month. Here's what we were offered if we were to do the Owner's Update:

At Nanea, we were offered 15,000 "Bonvoy" points -- immediately upped to 20,000 points before the concierge guy could even finish his sentence.

At Princeville, we were offered 20,000 points.

I'm at Nanea now. While at WKORVN I signed up for the Owner's Update to be done at Nanea and was offered 30,000 points. Not sure how they decide what to offer different people.

At Nanea, I was also disappointed that the Owners Discount card given to us by the concierge really had no value. Just a couple of nominal discounts, but nothing like the broad discount program that I've seen and enjoyed before at both WKORV and Kierland.

Are you 3-, 4-, or 5-Star Elite? The 5-Star Elite card I was given at Nanea is identical to the one I received last week at WKORVN.

And I was also disappointed that the "points bonus" program seems to have disappeared. The last time we were at WKORV, I recall we got 10,000 bonus SPG points just for making a purchase (and getting a stamp) at each of the food outlets plus the spa. We've done similar SPG points bonus programs at Kierland. But, at Nanea, none was offered. (I don't know if this is Nanea management being cheap, or if it's another side effect of being Bonvoyed. Regardless, it was disappointing.)

I also miss that program but that program has been gone from WKORV for at least 4-5 years.

 

[kobidobi]

We were also offered 30K points for the update at WKORV. We were in and out in 45 minutes.

 

[SeattleJohn2]

Just did the Owners Update in Westin Los Cabos (actually at Baja Point). They teased a new Westin timeshare in Costa Rica. News was not "official" according to the salesperson, but she was confident it would happen soon. Then they pitched the Aventuras program... I figured the Costa Rica rumor was some thinly veiled BS to incent us to buy into the program (of course we declined).

The incentive for the Update was $125 resort credit.