• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

need advice [WKV - developer purchase]

burg1121

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
349
Reaction score
34
Points
388
Location
plainville ma.
Just bought eoy at WKV. Did it for the hotel certs 80000pts for $1550.00 we can buy 6 before end of 2013. Also got gold spg card. We have 7 days to regain sanity. I know we broke the golden rule. Please advise.
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
You should absolutely rescind - you can buy the same thing on the resale market for less than 50%. By paying more than double, you eliminated any value from the incentives - Don't do it!

Rescinding FAQ - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74493
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Here are the most recent ebay auctions for WKV:

Westin Kierland Villas - TIMESHARE
1 Bdm.
0 Bids
No reserve

WESTIN KIERLAND RESORT
1 Bdm.
3 Bids
Sold $5.00

Westin Kierland Villas
1 Bdm.
0 Bids
No reserve
 
Last edited:

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
I'm not sure where you got your figures, but this is how I would look at it-

(Is $16,000 what you paid + 6 x $1,550? - If so, I'm guessing you paid $6,700 for an EOY silver week? Did you finance?)

A nice Starwood hotel will cost you 13,000 Starpoints a night and up (as much as 25,000 per night at the high end.)

So that means for 500,000 Starpoints, which cost $16,000, you can reserve 38 nights at $421 a night....

Let's say you are super lucky and get every 5th night free - that would be 45 nights at $355 a night.
 
Last edited:

burg1121

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
349
Reaction score
34
Points
388
Location
plainville ma.
6900 EOY +9300 on spg pts book 4nts 5th nt free upgrades if available. Doesn't 12000 pts get most hotels. Thinking of going Italy so it would be 20000 but the rooms are $1000 plus a nt.j
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
6900 EOY +9300 on spg pts book 4nts 5th nt free upgrades if available. Doesn't 12000 pts get most hotels. Thinking of going Italy so it would be 20000 but the rooms are $1000 plus a nt.j

Did you include the yearly (increasing) maintenance fee and the mandatory yearly SVN fee and finance charges?

Here is what I'd do. Skip the timeshare and have $16,000 in my pocket for a trip to Italy - with no on-going obligation and no maintenance fees!

Also - it's hard to get upgraded with Gold SPG because it's so common.

Based on your figures:

Italy - 20,000 Starpoints a night with every 5th night free = $533 a night.

For some people that might be a good deal, but it seems like a lot to me, because I would never spend $533 a night for a hotel room out of pocket.
 
Last edited:

jarta

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
2,916
Reaction score
1
Points
273
Location
Chicago
Are 500,000 spg pts worth 16,000.00?

Actually, the answer is yes, in round numbers. However, that reason alone is not the reason to buy 480,000 Starpoints for $9,300.

Starwood would normally sell you (within yearly limits) Starpoints at 3.2 cents per Starpoint. 480,000 Starpoints would cost you $15,360.

So, the savings is $6,060.

The worth (as opposed to cost) of the Starpoints comes from your level of Starwood Elite membership, how you use the Starpoints and how effectively you can use the Starpoints to reduce the cost of how you would travel anyway. If are 4 or 5 Star Elite, if you make good use of Starpoints and if you travel first class a substantial portion of the time you travel, the worth can be far in excess of $16,000.

If you are not 4 or 5 Star Elite, if you make poor use of the Starpoints or if you do not travel first class often or at all, the Starpoints are not worth $15,360. But, with a little effort, you should at least get $9,300 of value in return for $9,300 expended.

It's like all things in life. Worth differs by each user and to each user. I'd explain how I use my Starpoints, but you might not use them like I would.

And, as I said at the beginning, the Starpoints alone are no reason to buy a timeshare from the developer.

You have to have a more developed-plan for total use of your timeshares than that. For example, Last Winter I bought a Plat WMH 2-br EY for $3,000 and retroed it as part of upgrading a Plat 2-br EOY at Lagunamar into a Plat OS 2-br EY at Lagunamar. I also got the 480,000 Starpoints for $9,300 included in the price along with the normal inclusion of 80,000 Starpoints for the OS buy. GLTY! ... eom
 

YYJMSP

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
2,518
Reaction score
177
Points
298
Location
BC, Canada
Starwood would normally sell you (within yearly limits) Starpoints at 3.2 cents per Starpoint.

Starwood is offering the 20% off sale again (Nov 1 to Dec 30), for purchases of up to 20,000 Starpoints at $14.00USD per 500 Starpoints.
 
Last edited:

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
I so enjoy reading discussions on how valuable StarPoints are when purchased from SPG. I view it this way: if the moon and all the planets line up just right, and you travel to a particular SPG property that has availability (or cash + points) which otherwise is very expensive (ie. Europe, but not always) then and only then can the cost of purchasing points save...some. If you travel often, then this will likely work out well for you. If not, then it's a luxury and should be very carefully considered. I obtain all my points from stays and credit card usage and so have a different view on the value of points.
 

burg1121

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
349
Reaction score
34
Points
388
Location
plainville ma.
I would like to again thank you for talking me off the ledge. We received our refund from the Westin and hopefully will remember to only attend presentations only for the gift and to buy resale.
 
Top