Annual Float Package - Westin Aventuras

[pgads]

Hi there—this is my first post. I will start by saying that I got caught up in a magical solo trip in 2023 and made the mistake of purchasing the smallest package that would allow me (so they said) one week in a studio yearly with Westin Aventuras.

The fine print I missed was that it is off-season when I specifically stated what months I plan to travel. I was an uneducated buyer and had no business signing up. Starpoints value is 37,000.

I finally figured out why I could never make a reservation—I didn't have enough points yearly to book the ocean-view studio they showed me. I now have 74,000 banked points, but I still don't have enough to book anything.

MVC reached out to see if I would be interested in supplementing my package with them (another small package costing 20K, giving me an additional 1250 points yearly with some extra incentives). I was put off when they told me they acquired Vistana to expand their properties, and I was part of the Marriott family. Still, they couldn't do anything to help me because I purchased out of the Country (Mexico) unless I purchased a second contract with MVC - it seemed fishy. I didn't want two contracts, so I walked away.

My question: I need to upgrade to get the points I need. I don't care much about all of the Marriott Vacation Clubs. Frankly, the ones I would want to stay in are out of my reach or much larger than I need. I travel internationally often and stay where I want, but this small Westin package was my close-to-home yearly solo getaway.

Can I buy points from someone to supplement without increasing my contract? Should I double down and get what I need through Vistana?

I know what I did was foolish, but now I need to sort it out and try to make the best of my mistakes. My goal is to become a TUG expert.

Thank you kindly for any advice.

 

[Ckhawaii]

I believe you can still book a full week in a studio right now at Lagunamar for a full week or six nights in a one bedroom. I can’t remember if platinum season starts this Friday or yesterday. Regardless, a lot of gold season at Lagunamar, falls in great months (January!). If you want to go high season it’s like 4 nights in a studio.

 

[vacationtime1]

Whatever you do, don't buy anything additional from Marriott/Westin. One pays an absurd premium to buy from the developer. There is a secondary market where units are re-sold at a fraction of the developer price. See the TUG Marketkplace: https://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace or www.Redweek.com Your 37000 point package can be had for $500.

You should do some research before buying anything. Start with https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/v...w-to-timesharing-or-vistana-start-here.63224/

 

[DavidnRobin]

74K banked WA FlexOptions is plenty enough to book. 81K seems to be the sweet spot.

Either.
Buy similar points (WA FlexOptions) on the resale market - enough to combine with your existing points for your needs locally (as intended).
Or.
Give away your existing FlexOptions and get away from the annual burden.

 

[Markus]

If you can travel in gold season at Lagunamar, you can get a full week in a Studio with your 37,000 star options.

markus

 

[WorldT]

Here is a link to the star options chart. As have already been mentioned, there are a couple of options for your 37k points one of which is my favorite: a January trip to Westin Lagunamar in Cancun.

Also mentioned, there are different ways to handle this going forward.
To help you better, it might be useful to know where and when you are trying to travel to. And what room size you need. How often?
The link below pretty much tells your how many staroptions you will need.

https://vistana-web-static.s3.amazonaws.com/vistana-web/assets/pdf/charts/staroptions_value_chart.pdf