Publisher1953
newbie
We took up the offer for four nights for $349 at Westin Kierland Villas. Added to that, the $75 resort credit and $100 gift card (in lieu of Starwood points), and the free bottle of champagne they threw in on check-in, and the deal has been pretty good.
Of course, we also had to accept the mandatory sales interview process, which as I count it through the process involved three separate individuals, trying to get into our "mind" and then of course buy into the plan.
We (wife and I) had agreed that we weren't going to be rushed into anything here, and as I expected, the process moved along to the final "offer" on close, -- "The Westin Kierland Villas Explorer Program" at $1944 for a return four night visit and 50,000 spg points. That's not too bad a deal, I think, (assuming we want to come back here) allowing for direct transfer to airline points, for example, which would buy me an Air Canada business class ticket in NA. However, it certainly isn't a super great deal -- nothing like the deal we had on check-in, and I suppose, "might" be available again if we wait a year or two and then receive another sales offer.
However, I enjoyed the way the salesperson played around with my objections. "There's an active resale market -- why shouldn't I buy -- or rent -- units as I need them?" I said.
The sales rep asserted that resale rentals points would not be transferrable, and I suppose that is true, to the extent of the SPG "Hotel" points that are thrown into the package for full-paying users, but as I read it here, this is a "Mandatory" resort, meaning that the resort point allocations could indeed be used anywhere in the system (including the international brokerage options) and it seems there are many Westin Kierland Villas units/weeks on offer resale at much lower cost than we would pay if we purchased directly.
This leads to a few questions:
Is the "Explorer" program really worth signing up for or, is it, as I perceive, a marginal value?
If we buy resale in Westin Kierland, do I need to be aware of restrictions/limitations -- or am I looking at the number of vacation unit "points" available and should I simply focus on the most points for resale dollar? I see some units have fixed weeks and others are floating -- assuming we don't want to stay here that often, and simply wish to use the Starwood resort points for other options, is there a reasonable price per point or other considerations to follow?
I've read other posts on this forum, but don't claim to be an expert here, other than to have enough prudence not to buy what the sales reps are pitching.
Of course, we also had to accept the mandatory sales interview process, which as I count it through the process involved three separate individuals, trying to get into our "mind" and then of course buy into the plan.
We (wife and I) had agreed that we weren't going to be rushed into anything here, and as I expected, the process moved along to the final "offer" on close, -- "The Westin Kierland Villas Explorer Program" at $1944 for a return four night visit and 50,000 spg points. That's not too bad a deal, I think, (assuming we want to come back here) allowing for direct transfer to airline points, for example, which would buy me an Air Canada business class ticket in NA. However, it certainly isn't a super great deal -- nothing like the deal we had on check-in, and I suppose, "might" be available again if we wait a year or two and then receive another sales offer.
However, I enjoyed the way the salesperson played around with my objections. "There's an active resale market -- why shouldn't I buy -- or rent -- units as I need them?" I said.
The sales rep asserted that resale rentals points would not be transferrable, and I suppose that is true, to the extent of the SPG "Hotel" points that are thrown into the package for full-paying users, but as I read it here, this is a "Mandatory" resort, meaning that the resort point allocations could indeed be used anywhere in the system (including the international brokerage options) and it seems there are many Westin Kierland Villas units/weeks on offer resale at much lower cost than we would pay if we purchased directly.
This leads to a few questions:
Is the "Explorer" program really worth signing up for or, is it, as I perceive, a marginal value?
If we buy resale in Westin Kierland, do I need to be aware of restrictions/limitations -- or am I looking at the number of vacation unit "points" available and should I simply focus on the most points for resale dollar? I see some units have fixed weeks and others are floating -- assuming we don't want to stay here that often, and simply wish to use the Starwood resort points for other options, is there a reasonable price per point or other considerations to follow?
I've read other posts on this forum, but don't claim to be an expert here, other than to have enough prudence not to buy what the sales reps are pitching.
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