New Owner Questions - SDO & II

[Gordgeous]

Hi All - firstly thanks all for all the great info over the last 2 years since I discovered TUG.

I was at the Westin Kierland approx 2 years ago and was enticed to attend my first TS presentation with an offer of 10,000 (SPG at the time) points.

Out of curiosity I googled what the Vistana program was all about and quickly stumbled upon this site. After only a day and a half of reading here and there while sitting poolside, I came armed with some pretty good info during the presentation.

Between the inconsolable 11-month old we brought with us and the meaningful/direct questions I was able to ask, the salesman quickly had us out of there in about 45 minutes armed with 2 free coffees, 2 free bananas, 10k SPG points and zero timeshares.

Here we are 2 years later and have finally dipped my toe in the water with an annual SDO 2BR 1-52 Float which closed this week (free with seller paid closing costs and a quick/smooth transaction via LT Transfers).

So again thank you all for your tremendous help thus far. I'm not sure what the exact ROI is for my $15/yr TUG membership fee but I can confidently say any Wall St hedge fund manager would be impressed.

Thanks to the group here I even knew to have Vistana remove (after a short debate over the phone) the $50 VSN fee from the maintenance fee invoice that was a legacy from the previous owners

So a few questions now that I am in the system and chomping at the bit to get things moving:

1) I have already secured the Sun-Sun (Feb 7-14, 2021) at SDO as a backup in case we cannot find other options during the WMO next year (actually the week after but staying elsewhere for Fri and Sat of the tournament). Can I use an II ongoing search via the "request first" option utilizing my booked 2021 VOI and hold the above reservation until I find something suitable? And if not then cancel the search and keep the reso? Or does the 2021 usage need to be unencumbered/unbooked to be able to search in II? I am aware that I cannot actually deposit that specific reserved week into II since my ownership is flex and Vistana chooses the week.

2) I am about to "deposit first" the 2020 usage (as two 1BRs) with the intention of upgrading each to a 2BR, likely in the shoulder season. Are these "generally" available if dates and location are left very broad in the search parameters these days if searching for other LO units? Or should I revise my expectations to likely end up in a 1BR since everyone splits their LOs up to deposit? I would imagine that proper 2BRs w/o the ability to lock-off would come up from time to time. If that is the case then might focus my efforts more on the resorts that have indivisable 2BR units only.

3) For the purposes of Bonvoy Elite qualifying, if I reserve 2 separate 1BR units at SDO for the same week (using Home Options), what are the odds of having these booked adjacent to each other upon request, either in advance or at check-in? I guess the more important question is, would this additional effort and risk even accomplish the goal of getting 14 Bonvoy elite night credits (vs 7 nights credit booking as a 2BR)?

4) When running an OGS within II, does it automatically match you up with the first "match" that pops up unless you decline within XX timeperiod? Or is more that it will skip you if you don't confirm within XX time and the search will continue running? The point of my question is that I have seen in a few posts that running an OGS covering all resorts within multiple TS systems for a very wide range of dates is the best strategy. Does this result in many suboptimal hits coming in fast and furious that you have to stay on top of and decline (such as a 1BR when you want a 2BR, a week at your favourite resort but that particular week doesn't work, etc.)?

Thanks again and looking forward to helping others in a few years once I get some mileage on this (and possible other) units.

Ryan

 

[SteelerGal]

Congratulations on you first TS. SDO is a gem.
1. You would have to deposit and add OGS. Are you looking to stay for WMO at another TS?
2. For 2020 usage, you will be able to upgrade to 2bdrm. I do it all the time. I don’t use OGS however manually search. My 2019 free week, I was able to pull Marriott Desert for Xmas. (SoCal natives)
4. I manually search. I actually had a bad experience w/ RCI so vowed to manually search since then. Others can give you better guidance.

 

[jabberwocky]

For #3 - I'm not sure what you mean by "Home Options". SDO is a voluntary resort so there are no Home Options or StarOptions on resale unless requalified (I guess if it was a SFlex purchase then you could use Home Options). Do you mean "Home Resort" reservation rather than "Home Option".

Note that unlike SPG, Bonvoy will only give Elite night credit per night stayed, regardless of how many units you have reserved so you would only get seven nights either way. If you will be using both sides at the same time just book as a 2BR and then you don't have to worry about being potentially split up..

 

[Gordgeous]

Thanks for the responses, very helpful.

Congratulations on you first TS. SDO is a gem.
1. You would have to deposit and add OGS. Are you looking to stay for WMO at another TS?

Thanks for the above - I am in the process of depositing my 2020 usage so will use one of my two deposits for this search while keeping my 2021 reservation at SDO.

And yes to getting into a TS for that week. The ideal plan would be to get into WKV in a 2BR for the week after WMO. That should be a much quieter week but realize it is still a prime week being in the winter months. I will consider renting off another owner in the likely event that the search doesn't produce any results.

For #3 - I'm not sure what you mean by "Home Options". SDO is a voluntary resort so there are no Home Options or StarOptions on resale unless requalified (I guess if it was a SFlex purchase then you could use Home Options). Do you mean "Home Resort" reservation rather than "Home Option".

Note that unlike SPG, Bonvoy will only give Elite night credit per night stayed, regardless of how many units you have reserved so you would only get seven nights either way. If you will be using both sides at the same time just book as a 2BR and then you don't have to worry about being potentially split up..

Thanks, Home Resort reservation is what I was referring to, I thought that was interchangeable with Home Options (voluntary or not) but noted for future posts.

I also didnt realize the SPG perk of double elite night credit for 2+ rooms didn't carry over to Bonvoy. I looked it up in the Marriott T&Cs and you are indeed correct. If incurring TS charges or during hotel stays you do earn all the points (for up to 3 rooms in one location) but as you point out only get nightly credit for the one room you occupy.

From Vistana's side I have already deposited the weeks with II. I am now just waiting for my newly created II account to pickup the ownership and two 1BR deposits.

Ryan

 

[SteelerGal]

WKV is rarely exchanged into II. It would have to be a rental especially for a 2bdrm.

 

[ocdb8r]

1) My experience does not match that of SteelerGal - I have been able to keep my existing reservation and set up a "Request First" search in II. If the request is matched, within 24 hours you must call Vistana, cancel your existing reservation and pay your maintenance fee (if not already paid). If II cannot confirm availability of your unit within 24 hours, they will cancel the exchange. In addition, you can do live/manual searches with your 2021 unit as well, confirm them online and then call Vistana to cancel your existing reservation so the unit is available to II.

2) My experience is the same as above - with SDO you should have no trouble finding a 2bed in most seasons. Other resorts are hit and miss.

3) This will not work. Marriott Bonvoy only awards elite night credits for a maximum of one unit/reservation concurrently. You can indeed get Bonvoy points for any spend charged to both units/reservations, but not elite credits (sorry, I see this is now covered above by subsequent posts, but leaving it here in my overall reply).

4) It automatically matches you with the first "match" that comes available. You may call and cancel a match within 24 hours and reinstate the search.

One note - there is a discount for exchanging into any other Vistana (and as of this year, Marriott) property. If you add ANY non-Vistana/Marriott property to your ongoing search, you will lose that discount (even if your eventual match is at a Vistana or Marriott property). With my SDO, my strategy has been to set up one search with only Vistana/Marriott properties with one "side" of the 2 bed and another will all non-Marriott/Vistana units with the other side. Once I have a "match" I'm happy with, I modify the other ongoing search for something else I'm looking for...or cancel it.

Finally, I'll also note that I have had success trading into WKV year-round (I just looked and it appears weeks for January through September 2020 were deposited into II in August 2019 - however, all 1 bedrooms), although much easier in the off season (and we quite like it in the hot summer with the nice lazy river available to us at the adjacent Westin hotel).