5 Star

[ValleyGirl]

I just looked at MSC and it shows 5 Star at 649,000 vs 559,000 - When did this happen??:

 

[pointsjunkie]

about 2 months ago without any warning. quite a few tuggers are very upset. are you close to 5*?if you are already 5* you are grandfathered in at the old staroption value.

 

[ValleyGirl]

Was working towards 5 Star

Not so sure it is worth it - probably will look for some really great resales

 

[DeniseM]

We first found out about it here on TUG on Sept. 17th - here is the thread. -
Starwood Changes 5* Qualification Without Notice

 

[LisaRex]

Not so sure it is worth it - probably will look for some really great resales

I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for, ValleyGirl. It's a buyer's market!

So there's one owner who would have bought more TSs from the developer who is now looking instead for resales because of their revised policy. Honestly, what did they expect?

 

[SDKath]

Not so sure it is worth it - probably will look for some really great resales

Same here. I was caught right in the middle of the change and I am still very bitter. I am now 4* with 559,200 SOs!! UGH. I still have not bought anything else to get me to 5* because 1) the economy is bad and I don't want to spend more money on TSs 2) I am so mad at how they treated us, giving us basically "retroactive" notice. They didn't even bother to change their website until a week later and STILL didn't honor the previous 5* SO requirement. As a matter of fact, a fellow TUGger discovered the error in the website and Starwood within hours made the change.

Tells you they are reading our board -- even if it gets us absolutately no respect or better customer service.

Katherine

 

[NerdAlert]

Starwood Elite--Really?

We were 5* for one week, but when they eliminated the villa upgrades, that's what made us cancel our contract. We're a happy 3* now. We're not sure we would ever buy any Starwood for the sake of getting any Elite level. Don't forget, none of that Elite stuff is guaranteed, permanent, or in writing. Starwood could eliminate the whole program in a heartbeat.

 

[ValleyGirl]

5*

We really would have liked to get to 5* for the Platinum level on AMEX and the extra 50% point award. We use our AMEX for everything and just booked Westin Riverfront Mountain Resort (Just the Hotel - not the Villas)during very high season and got 2 rooms for 5 days each using the 5th night free and used 150,000 SP's for a room rate of $1,009 per night so 2 X 5 X $1,000 is $10,000 or 6.66% return on SP's and even higher if you count the 150% points to dollars spent!
It does bother me that these programs keep changing for the worse! In any sales organization the focus will always be on new sales; but lets face it the existing owners if happy are a big part of potential new sales! If we believe they are treating us shabbily (Is that a word??); we are much less likely to purchase retail and go for resale? I already find myself telling fiends not to make their first purchase retail without checking with me or TUG first!!!

 

[NerdAlert]

We were also pretty sold on the Platinum idea as a great feature of 5*, but when we actually sat down to sign the 5* papers, the lady made it clear that the Platinum Card was NOT a guaranteed thing, contrary to the sales pitch we heard one hour earlier.....