Upgrading [Requalifying] Rules

[Politico]

I read SDKath's guide to 5* elite. I'm still confused about upgrading rules. Do you have to spend at least $20K in the purchase through Starwood? Or does the list price of the upgrade unit have to be at least $20k (although you can spend out of pocket less than $20k)?

For instance, if I bought an SVV 2 bedroom for $4,000 for which I know the original owner paid $19,000, and now I want to upgrade to a 2 BR LO from Starwood which is selling for $30k, can I spend $15K out of pocket and get this upgrade (since the 2BR LO is selling for more than $20K)? I would also retro another unit at the same time. Thoughts?

 

[SDKath]

YES! Your scenario works (for now). The upgrade unit's price has to be over $20,000 but for the time being, you don't actually have to pay $20,000. This can change at any second though (and I am told it probably will, just not sure when). So you are going to try to do this, get it recorded along with your retro ASAP because they give no notice to rule changes and you could be left out in the cold.

Katherine

 

[Politico]

Great, understood. So, a couple other question, then.

First, is there currently any requirement for how much you must spend out of pocket to upgrade?

Second, how do EOYs count toward the SOs necessary for elite status? For instance, I have one EOY, will it count toward SOs necessary for elite status?

 

[pointsjunkie]

so for eoy will be half value. also i see that you own at SDO, is that a 1-52 ownership or 1-21, 51 &52 ownership? that will also effect how many staroptions you have.

 

[Politico]

so for eoy will be half value. also i see that you own at SDO, is that a 1-52 ownership or 1-21, 51 &52 ownership? that will also effect how many staroptions you have.

OK, I got it. My SDO is 2BR 1-52, so I believe it will come in at 81,000 since its not a true plat week, right? But, another question, if I retro the SDO week, does it still continue to float weeks 1-52 or do the floating weeks change according to Starwood's week values (in this case, I think weeks 22-27, 36-49)? That would be a gamechanger for me.

 

[pointsjunkie]

still floats 1-52. do you own it EY, you mentioned an EOY?

 

[Politico]

I own it EOY.

 

[pointsjunkie]

so the staroptions are half 40500 per year towards elite. so you have a long way to go.if you buy another resale try to get one that has 148100 staroptions and then requalify that one, so you get the most for your money.

 

[TomH]

Great, understood. So, a couple other question, then.

First, is there currently any requirement for how much you must spend out of pocket to upgrade?

For most resorts, the current upgrade margin is 10,000. For Florida upgrades, it is 8K and for SVV to SVV it is 7K. But this could change at anytime. The price of the unit being upgraded to must be >20K

Tom