Need some quick Starwood answers

[tlsbooks]

Hi ...need some quick advice. We went to a presentation this morning and have a few hours to research and decide.

First - we already own Grand Pacific Palisades which includes RCI membership and 15,000 Diamond points which includes II. My parents own 12,000 Worldmark which I can use anytime for payment of their maintenance fees and plan to buy outright from them because they don't utilize it/are having financial reversals. In addition, dh's goes on at least yearly business trips (accommodations at very nice resorts) that we can tag along with. In 2005, the whole family added 2 more weeks in GB to a work week in London. This summer it could have been Maui but it didn't work. Next summer, 4 Seasons in Chicago.

So...we were offered EOY deeded Cancun studio - 37,000 SO (I know...hardly anything) for $9900 which can exchange to 22,000 SP. As "today only incentive" they are offering a additional 65,000 SP plus the option to load our account 3 times in the next 2 years: 40,000 SP for $775 or 80,000 SP for $1550.

What seems to be attractive to dh is the large number of Star Points available for a potential 25th anniversary trip to Europe in 2 years. And I am assuming that once we have the account, I can add resale points to bring the SO to a level that can actually be used for something.

MF are $361. Rep said Starwood hasn't had Special Assessments.

What am I missing/need to know/how does this sound to all you experts.

Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

Rescind! You can buy the exact same thing on the resale market for half the price or less. Being about to convert to Starpoints is not worth thousands of dollars and the conversion rate is a poor value anyway.

Just so you know 22,000 Starpoints will only get you about 2 nights, in a standard room, in the nicer hotels. Save the money you would spend on this and use it for your trip to Europe, and then if you still want a TS, buy one for less than half the price.

Please read this article about rescinding.

 

[tlsbooks]

Oh, we actually didn't buy..I'm too TUG savvy for that.

We collected all the info, said we needed to crunch some numbers and made an appointment to come back in a few hours.

 

[RoshiGuy]

What am I missing/need to know/how does this sound to all you experts.

I'm hardly an expert compared to others here on TUG ... but here's my POV. Generally, it doesn't pay off to buy a timeshare to convert into SPs. However, as the people on flyer talk say, in specific situations YMVV - your mileage may vary.

It really depends on how much value you extract from the SPs. Used carefully, it is possible to get 3.5c per SP which is what Starwood sells these for. Some on flyertalk report averaging well over this. For an upcoming trip I have planned for Feb., I'm getting over 5c per SP. Of course if room rates drop a lot over the next few months my realized rate reduces.

Anyway, if you can get 3.5c, the bonus Starpoints (65,000) are worth $2000. Assuming you buy the max 80,000 three times (240,000) you'll save $3600 so the SP benefit they're offering you is worth $5600. Also, converting into 22,000 SP (for the $360 MF) saves you approx. $300/year.

Is this worth it to you?

 

[Ken555]

I have a hard time believing WLR is ever the right place to buy if you're considering trading/converting. If you want to go there (and a Studio is sufficient for your needs for many years) then it might make sense, depending on the season purchased (Fall reservations this year were plentiful on II Getaway's at significantly less than MFs for 1&2 beds).

If you don't have an AMEX Starwood card yet, apply for that. It's a great way to increase your SPs and not "spend" thousands for the benefit to convert.

For full disclosure, I'm also one of those who can't ever see the financial benefit to converting ~ there are extremely rare situations where it may work. Lots of other threads on TUG on this topic so I suggest you search for those.

And, since you're buying in part to convert, even if you decide to buy direct there are probably better purchases than a Studio WLR week.

What seems to be attractive to dh is the large number of Star Points available for a potential 25th anniversary trip to Europe in 2 years. And I am assuming that once we have the account, I can add resale points to bring the SO to a level that can actually be used for something.

FYI, the ability to combine SOs with multiple resale weeks is not guaranteed. It's possible at the moment based on anecdotal reports, but it's definitely not guaranteed in writing by Starwood. I'd be cautious if this is key to your strategy over the long-term, and why I tend to prefer 81,000 SO weeks minimum (via resale) and 148,100 ideally. If you purchase those, then you know you'll always be able to reserve a 1 or 2-bed unit in Hawaii or other main properties regardless of minor policy changes at Starwood.

Good luck!

 

[tlsbooks]

Thanks for all the great advice...it pretty much confirmed our decision to let this wonderful opportunity pass us by for now.

@Ken - No, a studio purchase in Cancun to use would never be sufficient...we're in Arizona and have 5 kids!

PS - Why I love this board!