From the MSC website
Rules and Terms of Use
Starwood Vacation NetworkSM members must be current in their maintenance fees, taxes and Network dues at the time the Starpoint® conversion is requested. When requesting Starpoint conversion of a future Use Year, pre-payment of estimated maintenance fees, taxes and Network dues associated with the future Use Year is also required.
Starpoint conversion can be requested as early as the Use Year prior to the Use Year being converted and no later than March 31 of the Use Year being converted. Starpoints will be credited to the Starwood Preferred Guest account within approximately 72 hours of the conversion request unless conversion is requested prior to October 1 prior to the Use Year being converted, in which instance Starpoints will be credited on Oct 1 prior to the Use Year being converted.
Starpoint conversion can be requested in non-consecutive Use Years. (Lockoff purchasers may request conversion of individual lockoff components or the entire lockoff. Please see links at left for more details on conversion options available to lockoff purchasers).
If you are holding an existing reservation and wish to cancel that reservation and convert to Starpoints, you must do so at least 60 days prior to the existing reservation and request conversion prior to the conversion deadline of March 31.
Only full weeks of ownership may be converted to Starpoints (no partial-week conversions).
Any Starpoints issued from Starwood Vacation Ownership expire 6 years from the date of issue.
A fee will be charged at the time of the conversion request.
Conversion into Starpoints is a final transaction and cannot be reversed for use in the Starwood Vacation Network program.
To effectively manage the inventory of your Home Resort, and to ensure that there is sufficient reservation available for Starwood Vacation Network members, allotments for Starpoints conversion are set according to Season and Villa Type at each resort. If the total allotment number has been reached, or if it is determined that the Starwood Vacation Network program does not have the ability to rent the week to recover the costs associated with the conversion, a request may be denied.
As a Starwood Vacation Network purchaser, you will retain active Gold Preferred status in the Starwood Preferred Guest program as long as you own your week and remain a member in good standing.