Joe - phase one was sold as fixed/float. You have until the 10 month mark to hold your deeded week. At 10 months, you can theoretically float to another week in your season, but you absolutely cannot count on this as most people hold their weeks ... Maybe try to a get a different week ... But everyone is holding and it just doesn't work. I've owned for about ten years, and have read about one successful 10- month float reservation here on TUG.
Phase two was sold as pure float, but I've never seen anything in writing that says 100% of the weeks were sold as float. There have been a couple posts over the years where owners have successfully booked weeks 7, 51 and 52, but not enough IMO to make it a sure thing. At The Westin St John, where I also own, Starwood guaranteed (???) that at least 50% of phase two would be sold as float weeks. But, could that mean 100% of week 52s sold as fixed and 0% of week 39s sold as float? We don't really know.
Moral of the story - if you want week 7, 51 or 52 every year, buy a phase one fixed week. If you want to float (e.g. a spring break that falls around Easter), buy a phase two float and be prepared to call at 9am twelve months in advance.
At the 8-month mark, other Starwood owners can trade in and, although difficult at certain times of the year (mid-June to mid-August, prime spring break, holidays), it's possible ... But not an every year sure thing unless you're willing to go during hurricane season or Jan/Feb when the water is cold.
