StarOptions for Nightly Stays?

[longboarder39]

Can anyone give me advice on the availability of using options for 2-4 night stays?

I’m debating purchasing a Mandatory or Voluntary Starwood property…we are very flexible with travel dates so trading a Voluntary unit with II would not be an issue. However, if it truly is feasible, we really like the idea of using Options for long weekends.

We live in LA and could drive to Mission Hills or WKV and would also love to take shorter trips to other places on the west coast or Mex. Probably on an every other year basis (one year use a full week somewhere, the next take some short trips).

So it’s really coming down to how viable the nightly stay option is...here are some examples on what we would like to do.

Long Weekends
Palm Springs (Nov-Mar)
Mex (Anytime other than Hurricane season in Cancun)
Phx (Nov-Mar)
Ski Area (Any time with snow)

I do have a Starwood Amex card and some of these trips I can use Starpoints for, but in my investigations it seems like the starpoint value is not as good as other credit card incentives, SW airlines for example.

Many thanks and Happy Holidays,
Scott

 

[Cathyb]

I believe you will be charged housekeeping fees on partial week stays at Starwood. Suggest you talk with a counselor at Starwood for the rules.

 

[pointsjunkie]

the first year we owned. we had 95700 staroptions for the year and we did not go to our home resort, but i used them to go on mini vacations. we went to wmh, sbp, svr and pga all in 1 year. we were very flexible on dates and where we wanted to go. we went from sun-thurs many times. got the most days for our options. you can only book those 90 days out.i think i might have paid for housekeeping at 1 of the resorts. it was a great way to try out the sytem and the resorts.

we actually opened the wmh's resort. i can say we stayed at a new timeshare. the first ones in the beds.

 

[DeniseM]

If you haven't already done so, you will want to look at the Staroption chart in Owner Resources to get an idea of exactly how many Staroptions you need for the short stays you are interested in.

You said you are very flexible with travel dates, but the dates you listed that you want to travel are all high season. Those are high demand times and all the owners and one week exchangers will have an opportunity to make a reservation before you do. I think you will be disappointed if your goal is to get reservations during peak travel times.

If you want to do short trips, you should consider some of the pure point systems, because Starwood is really geared towards 1-week trips.

 

[longboarder39]

Thanks to All!

Denise,
Can you recommend some of the better "pure point system" resorts programs to look into?

Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

Thanks to All!

Denise,
Can you recommend some of the better "pure point system" resorts programs to look into?

Thanks!

I can't, because I don't own any, but we have a points board here and that would be the place to start doing your homework. Start with the stickies at the top of the board.

 

[zinger1457]

My experience is limited to WKV but the high (platinum) season is probably the easiest time to find a room available on short notice. I've stayed there during New Years and in Feb during the FBR open and there were always plenty of rooms available. Just got a call from SVO offering a special discount for any friends/family that reserve a week during my upcoming Feb stay. I'm sure there are some weeks during the platinum season that book early but I've found the gold season to be harder to get. My thinking is many platinum season owners reserve a week during the silver/gold season to enhance their staroptions. Very few silver/gold season owners reserve during the platinum season due to lack of available staroptions.

 

[Ken555]

I do have a Starwood Amex card and some of these trips I can use Starpoints for, but in my investigations it seems like the starpoint value is not as good as other credit card incentives, SW airlines for example.

Wow, really? I suggest you consider the long-term earning potential of Starwood AMEX compared to the airline cards and the value you would derive from the exchange of points for hotel rooms vs flights. When I made the switch a few years ago it was an obvious decision. I tend to stay at hotels that would cost $200-500/night and use 10k or so StarPoints per night. At the low end of $0.02/StarPoint (which is rare for me, I usually get ~$0.035 or so) that's still almost double the value of a typical flight award. Or have things changed recently?

 

[longboarder39]

Wow, really? I suggest you consider the long-term earning potential of Starwood AMEX compared to the airline cards and the value you would derive from the exchange of points for hotel rooms vs flights. When I made the switch a few years ago it was an obvious decision. I tend to stay at hotels that would cost $200-500/night and use 10k or so StarPoints per night. At the low end of $0.02/StarPoint (which is rare for me, I usually get ~$0.035 or so) that's still almost double the value of a typical flight award. Or have things changed recently?

Like everything it varies on what your needs or desires are. With my SW visa, on just normal purchases, I can get a free round trip ticket anywhere in the US (with virtually no restrictions) for spending $19,200. If I’m not mistaken, on my Starwood Amex that would be roughly like 1.6 nights at a Cat 5 hotel (mostly where I would prefer to stay using starpoints). For my needs I see more value in the round trip ticket. I’m periodically receiving offers from SPG to stay at Cat 5’s for under $200 per/night.

I know when you factor in other promotions with SW or Strawood to get extra points or the extra night free with Starwood, it changes the equation. If I had a lot of Starwood purchases that I often made, I would probably change my outlook.

Just my 2 cents…and what fits our needs the best. We like to have the flexibility to travel on short notice as well. A lot of times I find it much easier to get a good deal on lodging with shorter notice than airfare. Air travel was outrageous before the meltdown! However, if oil keeps taking a beating…I might need to reconsider.

All the best!!
Scott

As a side note: For us, the SW Airlines rewards program is the only one that would equate to this value. In my experience, most other programs require more miles to get tickets and are MUCH harder to redeem.

 

[Ken555]

I try to stay in cat 4 hotels for 5 nights at a time, but can't always do so. The value of that obviously depends on multiple variables, but I've been quite happy with the result. On the other hand, I don't really enjoy flying SW - though do on occasion - and when earning miles like the concept of using them to fly business/first internationally. Of late, I've been spending my miles on AA and elsewhere since I just have too many. If I'm staying in the US/Canada, I'd rather spend $200-400 for a flight and use points for the ~$1000+ hotel stay. I do need to reevaluate my credit cards and point programs.

 

[pointsjunkie]

I try to stay in cat 4 hotels for 5 nights at a time, but can't always do so. The value of that obviously depends on multiple variables, but I've been quite happy with the result. On the other hand, I don't really enjoy flying SW - though do on occasion - and when earning miles like the concept of using them to fly business/first internationally. Of late, I've been spending my miles on AA and elsewhere since I just have too many. If I'm staying in the US/Canada, I'd rather spend $200-400 for a flight and use points for the ~$1000+ hotel stay. I do need to reevaluate my credit cards and point programs.

with delta amex changing its program as of jan1, i will not be using it at gas stations, supermarkets,drug stores. so i will probably go back to starwood for for daily expenses.i have SW, AA,and the beloved jetblue card. we had 4 free flights this year from jetblue. 4 free flights from SW and 5 first class tickets with USair. and 1 coach flight with delta and NWA. so not used to paying for flights.

i haved learned to work my credit cards to my advantage and i am flying all over for free.

in 2009 i have 4 jetblue flights for free, 3 SW, 2 first class tickets to italy, 2 free tickets with AA, 1 first class ticket with USair and and still have 400000 more miles for the following year.

i am teaching a class in march at our local Y.