Owners at SVR, what trades are you getting in II

[Lennyk325]

Hey SVR owners,

I just bought a 2bd LO plat floater to pull in another fixed week my brother gave me at SVR as well. So i dont have my II Membership yet because it is all still processing, they are paying for my II Membership. And im bitting at the bit to see what i will be able to trade into with my fixed week (45) @ svr and my plat 2 br LO in SVR. fellow owners help me out! Lol

 

[VacationForever]

Deleted....

 

[Sea Six]

Are you saying you bought a developer week at SVR to requalify a second SVR week, and are trading thru II?

 

[jarta]

I don't think so. At least, I hope not.

The post is not clear about what "pull in" means. "In" where (SVN; II)? "Pull in" is language I've heard used with SVN retros but never heard used with setting up an II account.

It is also unclear who the "they" are who are paying for the II account, Starwood (as part of the SVN fee), some other resale owner of the float SVR unit or the relatives/owners of the fixed week 45 SVR unit. ... eom

 

[VacationForever]

Looking at OP's older posts, it appears that both units are in SVN. OP will need to figure out when to use SO vs. trade through II, especially since SVR is not a strong II trader. I think I have it almost figured out.

 

[Lennyk325]

lol, yeah must have been on crack writing that. I'm just trying to figure out what I can do with this deal i walked into. my brother gave me a fixed week at SVR and used it this year, as I was there I got talked into buying a 2b LO floater and pulling in the week from my brother to SVN (retro) enabling me for Elite BS. I joined this board too late to cancel the deal. I'm basically trying to find out what i really can do with these weeks because the line they fed me was not what i'm seeing here. i cant login to II yet because the SVO membership i paid for with this deal is paying for my II membership. so i paid for something that i have the slightest idea how to use except to call the Elite number (per the sales guys at SVO) lol but really not.

 

[jarta]

Lennyk325, ... "I'm basically trying to find out what i really can do with these weeks because the line they fed me was not what i'm seeing here."

Buying from Starwood where you did for the retro of a fixed week at SVR was a mistake. But, now that you own 2 Starwood weeks in Orlando, let's try to make lemonade from the lemons.

You now have the ability to: 1. visit SVR in Orlando twice during your season(s); or 2. trade either week to visit another SVO resort based on resort availability and the number of StarOptions you have available; or 3. splitting and depositing either week in II to get, potentially, 4 weeks of timeshare use at a Starwood resort; or 4. banking of any StarOptions not otherwise used for use at Starwood resorts in a future year; or 5. converting the StarOptions to Starpoints for Starwood hotel use or further transfer to air miles.

Simply stated, only Number 1 is guaranteed to you without further expense and for 12-8 months (call early at 12 months) from arrival for your float week and, probably, 14-10 months from the fixed week mandatory arrival date. Number 2 is based on availability at the resort 8 months from your desired arrival date. Numbers 3-5 cost money and come with other limitations and, sometimes, other benefits.

What were you told that you would be able to do that you don't believe you will be able to do at all? Or, were you told that you would be able to do something, but now find it will not be easy, or as productive as you assumed, or that what you want to do will cost money in exchange for the flexibility you want to exercise?

Since you say you cannot now rescind, keep following the TUG threads about Starwood use. Read and re-read the stickys at the top of the Starwood forum opening page.

And, after your recent purchase and retro are complete, set up access to mystarcentral.com and go to "Using Your Ownership." A fairly exhaustive description of your options for use is set forth in that section of the Starwood owners web site.

You overpaid for what you got. You are not alone. The money is (mostly) gone.

However, if you bought all cash and can afford the yearly assessments for the 2 weeks you own, you can have 2-4 weeks of vacations in rather nice places each year - if you effectively use your timeshares. TUG will help you learn how to do that. But, you will not learn all you need to know from the replies to this post over the next couple of days. GLTY. ... eom

 

[Lennyk325]

Jarta, thank you for you reply. They told me i would be able to goto HRA, WKORV, WSJ and all i have to do is call the Elite number and they will set it all up. They also said that only 2% of the owners trade through II so i would not most likely use them but your membership is taken care of in the event you do use it. They also told me that i can convert into star point and use the point to fly. Now i knew the conversion would be a rip off but not as bad as it is. ...if i were to convert to points i can get 86k a year but that hardly gets my familly to FL from the east coast...lol

From what im reading on these threads is i wont be able to get into most of the good resorts and my trade power is poop in II. unless im missing something here. I guess im not seeing much about trading through SVN here but it looks like im screwed eith way.

I do love going to svr for disney but how much can we do that! My wife and i could never travel because my kids have bad food allergies and need a kitchen where ever we go, they made it seem that i have access to a kitchen around the world. I know now that is not true unless i trade throgh II by looking at the book i got, BUT if my trade power is not good in II ...there goes that idea.

 

[Sea Six]

From what im reading on these threads is i wont be able to get into most of the good resorts and my trade power is poop in II. unless im missing something here. I guess im not seeing much about trading through SVN here but it looks like im screwed eith way.

Don't feel that way. I'm at Westin St John right now using StarOptions and spent 2 weeks at Harborside back in May. We're also spending 2 weeks at Kaanapali in January/February to see the whales. Your StarOptions are as good as anyone else's, and you stand a better chance of getting into the good resorts using StarOptions than anyone else using II. I think the reason you read about the difficulty of getting good trades here is because so many of the people are not SVN owners, and depend on II trades. You don't have that problem. You paid a premium for SVN membership, but there are advantages to that when it comes time to plan your vacation. You can even add days to your weeks using Options, which you can't do with II.

 

[DeniseM]

To get started, I suggest that you read the Starwood FAQ at the top of the forum, and the Starwood and II FAQ at the top of the forum.

Then come back and tell us what questions you have.

Many owners here are SVN members - and many of us also own voluntary Starwood weeks.

The reason you see fewer discussion about Staroptions exchanges, is that it is relatively straightforward - you call up and ask for the request - if it's available, you get it, if not you don't.

With II trades there is a lot more strategy involved - thus more discussion.

 

[VacationForever]

Lenny,
All Staroptions are equal in SVN. If you like to vacation at Starwood resorts, using Staroptions is king.

While SVR does not have the best trading power in II, it still does trade to hundreds (thousands?) of resorts worldwide with kitchen. While SVR's trading power in II is not as good as some of the other Starwood properties, SVR's trading power remains superior to most resorts in II.

As long as you have time and money to vacation, options are limitless out there, both in SVN and II.

If one locks off, you can get 3 weeks out of it. However there are extra vacations through 2-for-1 exchange (aka XYZ) for under-demand/over-supply weeks for just the exchange fee and in addition to that you can pay for getaway vacations which are often lower than maintenance fees for the units.

 

[alexadeparis]

Lenny,

I bought 2 2 bdrm units at Vistana Resort, every other year. For that, I get 152,000 Staroptions on my use year. I was able to book a 2 bedroom at Westin St John for the upcoming spring break. I had to call exactly at 8 months out when the phone lines opened, and I had to call 3 days in a row, but that's not such a huge obstacle.

At the time I bought my units, the option to bank staroptions was not available. If it were available at the time, I probably would have just bought one annual 2 bedroom. Regardless, I still feel that I did ok.

Another poster indicated that SVN trades will be easier than II trades if you want Harborside, WKORV(/N) and WSJ. I agree. Take the time to learn how you can use what you have, it really doesn't take that much effort.

For me, $ is the motivator. If I can book WSJ once in a while with my $1600 worth of MF per use, and 3 phone calls, that is much better than paying double those MF's for a WSJ unit and having a guaranteed reservation at WSJ that I wouldn't want to return to each year.

I can always find someone in my circle of friends willing to pay me $800 to use my unit in Orlando, I don't think I would always find someone willing to pay me $3200 to use my unit at WSJ (if I owned there) without being aggressive with my rental ad. Sure if you ever try to sell your Vistana units, they will be worthless, but you can find value in their use.

 

[jarta]

Lenny, ... "Now i knew the conversion would be a rip off but not as bad as it is."

86,000 Starpoints, when they are transferred out, can net you 100,000 air miles most places because Starwood gives you a 5,000 (25%) bonus for each 20,000 Starpoint block transferred.

100,000 air miles in the US Airways program will get you a "free" round trip business class ticket from the US to Europe (as far east as Istanbul is still Europe). The cost saving depends on the annual MF at the resorts you own, the number of StarOptions you have which are converted and the conversion ratio of the resort.

My example is based upon my conversion of a 148,100 StarOption week at Lagunamar where the annual MF was about $1,250 for 2010 to 100,000 Starpoints (I get a 10% bonus converting from my Elite status). I consider a business class round trip ticket from Chicago to Istanbul for a $1,250 investment of money to be a great deal since the normal cost (depending on the season you travel) is $5-7K.

It depends on how you use the StarOptions converted to Starpoints and how you would ordinarily travel. I don't consider using Starpoints to reserve at Category 3 (and under) Starwood hotels or to convert to air miles for purchase of economy flight tickets an economical use of Starpoints. ... eom

 

[Lennyk325]

Hey guys, thank you very much for talking me off the cliff. To Denise's point i did read all the stickys and asked questions and that is what put me on the cliff. There is a ton i still have to learn with my new TS weeks and how to use them. I was getting lost in the II path because i guess that is what is talked about most on this board...lol im glad i still have the SVN! And i will be able to get good properties to goto. I had no idea that was a transfer into the miles clubs of each carrier and you get 5k bonus...that is awesome, i knew i could fly and i thought it was that travel services link on spg.com. Thank you guys a bunch. Ill try to stop being a pest untill i get all my accounts

 

[DeniseM]

Ill try to stop being a pest untill i get all my accounts

Please don't stop! Feel free to let us know what questions you have!

 

[MommaBear]

II trades I have gotten for my SVR resorts:

Cascades 2 BR l/o traded to:
small side- 2 bedroom at Sheraton Desert Oasis (SDO) Thanksgiving
large side- Celebrity Cruise for 4 nights , oceanview for $160 per person (plus trade fees obviously)
small side: one bedroom at Riverpoint Napa September
large bedroom: 2 bedroom Sheraton Broadway Plantation May

Courts fixed week 42 2 br traded to:
Westin Lagunamar 2 bedroom in January

I think I have done really really well for my trades. I think for the maintenance fees and the fact I got both for $1 (and sold the Courts for $10) that I have really gotten great value.

I think you will be very happy with your units as traders either through your StarOptions or through II.

 

[abdibile]

Using your potentially 3 (As one is a lockoff) weeks in II can easily get you into very nice Starwood resorts if you put in ongoing searches, manually search online frequently and watch the sightings board on TUG for bulk deposits.

If you are a little flexible in when to travel and you put in some work, you can get 3 weeks in nice 2 BR units in the Starwood system as you have the Starwood priority in II.

All these II exchanges could be had for a way cheaper upfront cost (just write it down mentally and enjoy what you have), but in terms of ongoing maintenance fees SVR is a really cheap resort compared to what you can get out of it.

The only resort II does not work for is WSJ, all the others can be gotten into if you are patient and can travel in shoulder season.

The high upfront cost brought you into SVN which is a good deal if you know how to use it.

The same number of StarOptions would have required a Westin Kierland mandatory on the resale market which costs >10,000 resale and which has only a slightly lower maintenance fee than your two untis.

There are good deals to be had in SVN in shoulder/off-season, like your StarOptions could get you close to three weeks in a 1 BR unit at WSJ weeks 16-20, 43-50 or a 2 Bedroom at HRA weeks 1-17, 50-52 which more than 20.000 Staroptions left over.

As soon as you get acess to the StarOptios chart (I think it is aly linked in the sticky), look at it and find the value. And wathc the Sightings board here on TUG and search II frequently.

As long as you do not cry about the wasted money upfront (it is gone! You can not get it back any way! Just accept it!) you have a great ownership wich relatively low ongoing maintenance fees and should just enjoy it!

 

[Antonio 8069]

II exchanges

Thanks, Lenny, for your question! It's a good one!

For 2012, we traded a 2-bedroom @ SVR for the equivalent at AQV (Puerto Rico) during March Break.

ps Its our 1st exchange via II

 

[amanven]

2BR SVR (Fountains) float week traded in II for 2BD lockoff at WKORV

 

[lorenmd]

That's what i want. I can't do too much with 76k so or 40k sp but i hope my 2 bedroom fountains can get me 2 bedroom wkorv in II. I can't even get a 1 bedroom there with so.

 

[VacationForever]

A word of caution. Starwood adjusted II trading power of their resorts recently. II trading history may not be applicable to the new trading power. You need to test trade based on current inventory to see what your units can trade for now.

 

[DeniseM]

sptung- No offense, but just to be clear on what you are saying, there was no announcement of a trading power adjustment. sptung feels like some of their timeshares are trading differently now, but not everyone has had that experience.

This just my opinion, but there may or may not have been an adjustment - the trading power in questions was for Harborside, and what we found out was that TS's that will pull Hawaii, may not have the trading power for Harborside. I think Harborside is just a more difficult trade and we didn't have enough data to know that before - I don't necessarily think there has been a change.

Here is a really important points - Your timeshare will trade better if you have an on-going search in place - even if it's just a token search. See the Starwood and II FAQ for more details.

 

[VacationForever]

sptung- No offense, but just to be clear on what you are saying, there was no announcement of a trading power adjustment. sptung feels like some of their timeshares are trading differently now, but not everyone has had that experience.

This just my opinion, but there may or may not have been an adjustment - the trading power in questions was for Harborside, and what we found out was that TS's that will pull Hawaii, may not have the trading power for Harborside. I think Harborside is just a more difficult trade and we didn't have enough data to know that before - I don't necessarily think there has been a change.

Yes, there was no announcement of trading power change. My results are purely based on my testing and results of what others reported in sightings board. In my trade test I am finding a change in trade power of a floating SVR week into Hawaii as well. The change of trading power happened around Nov of this year.