WLR Retro Question/Scenario

[dordrex]

Hi all, first time caller long time listener. I've purchased two gold resale weeks at WLR for next to nothing and so far to date these have worked for me. The season fits my schedule, fees are low in my mind for what I get. We took an encore package with the idea of possibly buying from them next time and retroing these weeks to mostly add the ability to bank some points/start bringing friends/family.

I know the normal route/encouraged path would be to buy WKV and I'm considering that to fill the gap here. The upside in my mind to the WLR is I would mostly be going there, having the ability to bank points could be useful some years. Maybe we will get burnt out and eventually/some years want to swap into club points and book something else?

Curious to hear some wisdom from those more seasoned. Maybe it's a better, "wait and see situation" or this makes sense (still have 2 years to figure it out all so not rushing anything) - even if not the most bang for the buck, this adds some ease of use.

Or would my best route still be WKV? Given I have two separate weeks, last I knew i'd have to spend at least 15k to retro both. Which I could easily get a KVW platinum 2 bedroom, use those to subsidize the extra weeks I might want to book. But then the maintenance fee would be a bit more from what I see vs retroing via WLR. Especially in the event I only end up using all my points at WLR where I could have a bit lower of a fee.

 

[Ken555]

Gold weeks wont get you much.

 

[dordrex]

Ah, so the retro to the 44k options you are saying probably isn't worth it long term?

 

[iftravel]

Hi all, first time caller long time listener. I've purchased two gold resale weeks at WLR for next to nothing and so far to date these have worked for me. The season fits my schedule, fees are low in my mind for what I get. We took an encore package with the idea of possibly buying from them next time and retroing these weeks to mostly add the ability to bank some points/start bringing friends/family.

I know the normal route/encouraged path would be to buy WKV and I'm considering that to fill the gap here. The upside in my mind to the WLR is I would mostly be going there, having the ability to bank points could be useful some years. Maybe we will get burnt out and eventually/some years want to swap into club points and book something else?

Curious to hear some wisdom from those more seasoned. Maybe it's a better, "wait and see situation" or this makes sense (still have 2 years to figure it out all so not rushing anything) - even if not the most bang for the buck, this adds some ease of use.

Or would my best route still be WKV? Given I have two separate weeks, last I knew i'd have to spend at least 15k to retro both. Which I could easily get a KVW platinum 2 bedroom, use those to subsidize the extra weeks I might want to book. But then the maintenance fee would be a bit more from what I see vs retroing via WLR. Especially in the event I only end up using all my points at WLR where I could have a bit lower of a fee.

If you use WLR most of time and simply want to try something else occasionally, I would just sign up II and see how well Gold WLR trades. If you own 2-bed you could lock off and get two weeks for trading and you have vistana preference and many times you will “trade up”. This is likely most cost effective.

If you spend say 15k and your Gold weeks won’t give you enough points to “trade up” but you have to “trade down” (way off season or smaller size) in Abound if that’s what you want. Likely not worth it.

 

[Ken555]

Ah, so the retro to the 44k options you are saying probably isn't worth it long term?

Exactly. Look at the SO chart and figure out how you would use your StarOptions, then calculate the nightly cost based on current MFs (knowing they will increase over time) and decide for yourself if its a worthwhile investment. Then, compare that to the value of a Platinum week for the same MF. This is why most of us buy the most valuable weeks when we intend to use their StarOptions.

 

[Ken555]

Also, your initial investment of a resale week usually is less important than the on going maintenance fees on a per StarOption basis.

 

[dordrex]

I see, thanks Ken! That's helpful to think about. I should have focused a bit harder on the star-options they were trying to sell but they did try to keep throwing in club points instead to make it more confusing. Given I'd bought resale I think I missed how few options a gold week actually nets you compared to the platinum.

 

[dioxide45]

Had you known all that you do now, the better option would have been Platinum + WLR 2BR weeks. Plat+ comes with more StarOptions and way more Abound Club points for the same maintenance fees. If you only own 1BR or smaller, I wouldn't bother retroing these and just exchange through II as previously noted. You could always work toward acquiring two 2BR Plat+ WLR weeks and unload the other two then spend the $15K to retro the two weeks.

Resort..................................Unit.............View.............Season..........StarOptions.....Ciub Points
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanside........Platinum Plus...148,100.........4,950
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanside........Platinum Plus....81,000.........3,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanside........Platinum Plus....67,100.........2,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanview........Platinum Plus...148,100.........4,950
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanview........Platinum Plus....81,000.........3,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanview........Platinum Plus....67,100.........2,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanside........Gold Plus........81,000.........3,400
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanside........Gold Plus........44,000.........2,275
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanside........Gold Plus........37,000.........1,525
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanview........Gold Plus........81,000.........3,400
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanview........Gold Plus........44,000.........2,275
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanview........Gold Plus........37,000.........1,525

 

[dordrex]

Had you known all that you do now, the better option would have been Platinum + WLR 2BR weeks. Plat+ comes with more StarOptions and way more Abound Club points for the same maintenance fees. If you only own 1BR or smaller, I wouldn't bother retroing these and just exchange through II as previously noted. You could always work toward acquiring two 2BR Plat+ WLR weeks and unload the other two then spend the $15K to retro the two weeks.

Resort..................................Unit.............View.............Season..........StarOptions.....Ciub Points
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanside........Platinum Plus...148,100.........4,950
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanside........Platinum Plus....81,000.........3,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanside........Platinum Plus....67,100.........2,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanview........Platinum Plus...148,100.........4,950
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanview........Platinum Plus....81,000.........3,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanview........Platinum Plus....67,100.........2,250
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanside........Gold Plus........81,000.........3,400
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanside........Gold Plus........44,000.........2,275
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanside........Gold Plus........37,000.........1,525
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......2BR Lockoff......Oceanview........Gold Plus........81,000.........3,400
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......1BR Premium......Oceanview........Gold Plus........44,000.........2,275
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort.......Studio Premium...Oceanview........Gold Plus........37,000.........1,525

Oh that's a helpful chart, thank you! I paid about 250 + transfer for the gold weeks and we use them so I am overall not unhappy to have them. They still fit our schedule and I get my monies worth. But yes, seeing all this, retroing them and spending 15k seems foolish/won't get me enough to justify it. The club points wouldn't go very far which I think they showed us all platinum based things in our presentation to try and convince us to buy from them and retro the weeks.

 

[Ken555]

Oh that's a helpful chart, thank you! I paid about 250 + transfer for the gold weeks and we use them so I am overall not unhappy to have them. They still fit our schedule and I get my monies worth. But yes, seeing all this, retroing them and spending 15k seems foolish/won't get me enough to justify it. The club points wouldn't go very far which I think they showed us all platinum based things in our presentation to try and convince us to buy from them and retro the weeks.

I'd suggest keeping them as long as they work for you as is, and as others have suggested you can always try exchanging via Interval. I have SDO weeks I use like this, and exclusively trade them via Interval, and use my WKV for StarOptions. You might find something similar more valuable than retro'ing any weeks at all, paying the cost and then the high MFs for whichever ownership you need to purchase in order to retro. A WKV P+ 148k week can be found for less than $15k.

 

[Ckhawaii]

If you own gold week 2 bedrooms it’s worth doing if you want to use abound. Your total buy in if you paid next to nothing would be 15k for 8000 club points (a 37,000 option purchase would do it). While you are not getting two 5k point platinum weeks, your mf per club point ratio will still be below .80 cents.
However if you own studio or 1 bedroom gold weeks, probably best to stick with II

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

If you own gold week 2 bedrooms it’s worth doing if you want to use abound. Your total buy in if you paid next to nothing would be 15k for 8000 club points (a 37,000 option purchase would do it). While you are not getting two 5k point platinum weeks, your mf per club point ratio will still be below .80 cents.
However if you own studio or 1 bedroom gold weeks, probably best to stick with II

True. Trades of 1BR Gold at WLR for 2BR at all 3 Maui properties are available in II if you are prepared to accept late booking windows.

 

[dordrex]

Thanks all, I see/understand much better now. During the discussion/presentation the underwriting was that my week would retro in at a platinum level. He either didnt know I was gold or was just fibbing a bit I suppose. Appreciate the responses!

 

[jeremyaed]

It's very unlikely. If you retro one of your week it will just give it the same benefits as if you had purchased your week directly from the developer. A gold week will still be a gold week and you will receive staroptions for a gold week. It's definitely worth it for the platinum weeks at WLR but not so much for the other seasons in my opinion.