Can I just say that I love the flexibility!

[readyalready]

We bought a VV resale this year. We had a week reserved at Atlantis for our fall break but could never choke down the cost of airfare to get there. I cancelled it the week before and took a week to deposit in II.

Since we got gun shy once on airfare I booked spring break at Kierland with 2009 points and when Southwest came out high we were going to drive (14 hours with an impatient 8 year old, blech). This week I happened to check FF tickets to Maui around our break and actually found 5 seats on the non-stop on days I could live with. Called Starwood and cancelled Kierland and booked WKORV, my absolute favorite.

Since we're skipping WKV in the spring I decided to put in a request for next fall with my II VV week. Got matched to a 2 bedroom the next day. (I know II will nail us if I try to change it so will have to keep that one.)

I love how I can change our plans at whim or when near miraculous FF seats come through without any significant penalty! Plus the Starwood reps are always very pleasant and seem to know what they are doing on the phone, what are the odds?

I will admit to wishing I had more Staroptions for a bigger unit and the extra day we'll need, but am pretty happy so far.

 

[califgal]

I wish our school district had a fall break! Good for you! I guess during non peak times it's flexible, expecially with the bad economy.

 

[LisaRex]

I will admit to wishing I had more Staroptions for a bigger unit and the extra day we'll need, but am pretty happy so far.

FYI, Starwood recently changed their policy to allow resale owners to combine their StarOptions from mandatory resorts. So, as long as Starwood doesn't change back to their old policy (of not allowing resale owners to combine StarOptions), you might only need a silver week or a 1 bdrm to give you all the StarOptions you need.

I'm so happy that you're finding good results in Starwood. You're one of the smart people who bought a cheaper unit with lower MFs and use SVN/II to trade up into more expensive resorts. I would have done the same if I wasn't such a view snob.

 

[readyalready]

FYI, Starwood recently changed their policy to allow resale owners to combine their StarOptions from mandatory resorts. So, as long as Starwood doesn't change back to their old policy (of not allowing resale owners to combine StarOptions), you might only need a silver week or a 1 bdrm to give you all the StarOptions you need.

I'm so happy that you're finding good results in Starwood. You're one of the smart people who bought a cheaper unit with lower MFs and use SVN/II to trade up into more expensive resorts. I would have done the same if I wasn't such a view snob.

I just read about combining on here last week. I'll have to keep it in mind if I ever feel like we can buy another.

I'd be a view snob if I could afford to be. We rented a 2bd OF and ended up in a deluxe unit in building two this past spring break. It was amazing, I'm not sure a one bedroom parking lot view will be quite the same, but we'll give it a try.

 

[rsonc]

If you combine then to get more star options does that mean they will be that way always or if down the road they change it to where you can't combine them then you would have 2 different accounts again?

Susan

 

[DeniseM]

If you combine then to get more star options does that mean they will be that way always or if down the road they change it to where you can't combine them then you would have 2 different accounts again?

Susan

Each timeshare week is always on a separate deed and is listed separately on mystarcentral.com - so everything related to that deed stays separate as well.

You only combine Staroptions to make a reservation. You have to call up Starwood and tell them you want to use the Staroptions from 2 different timeshares, to make a reservation, and then make the reservation.

Staroptions do not roll over to the next year, so if you don't use the combined Staroptions by the end of the year, they simply disappear.

So no, they do not stay combined. Staroptions are a yearly thing - only.

 

[calgarygary]

If you combine then to get more star options does that mean they will be that way always or if down the road they change it to where you can't combine them then you would have 2 different accounts again?

Susan

Susan, as with much of Starwood's mgt. of SVN, it can change in a whim. As the ability to combine options is not contractual with resales, I would not make any decisions based on this alone.