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Upset with Vistana

caterina25

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I am an owner of two weeks at Harborside and two Marriott weeks.I had reservations at Harborside for July 3-10,2020 and called Harborside May 23,2020 to see if everything was operational.They told me they were closed and were not sure when they would open so I canceled my reservations.I saw my star options returned as regular points,which was fine.Today when I looked into my account I saw my star options have become restricted because of the 60 day rule.I am really upset.I didn't want to cancel they were closed.The only three options I would accept would be cash back or cash used for the next maintenance fees or a least unrestricted points.What has others done.They will not get away with this.
 

Fletcher921

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I am annoyed as well. Same scenario for my points that were returned after cancelling our Hawaii stay due to the closure in Maui. I don't feel that WESTIN would have handled this way. Seems more like Marriott..

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DeniseM

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The only three options I would accept would be cash back or cash used for the next maintenance fees or a least unrestricted points.What has others done.They will not get away with this.

This is what everyone is getting - including Hawaii owners, where the state is under quarantine. To my knowledge, timeshare companies do not have the ability to give cash refunds, because your maintenance fees provide for the ongoing maintenance of the resort.

To get unrestricted Staroptions, you had to cancel 61 or more days before check-in - this has always been the rule, and many people did that.

The new Coronavirus cancellation rules came out in March and were widely discussed here on TUG, so by May 23rd, it was common knowledge.
 

emeryjre

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You will not find a lot of sympathy for your position. Most of the members here have experienced loss of week use, loss of rental income, cancelled family events and vacations. The resorts have been generally closed for most of us since Mid March. The reopening of the resorts has varied from locality to locality. The Bahamas is going to try a reopening of Atlantis on July 7. I have not heard any update at this point on when Harborside will reopen. We are all waiting for the news. Even when Harborside reopens, there is the issue of air travel and how many flights there will be.

Your should check with Vistana to get the exact situation with your points. Generally point are restricted to 120 days good until the end of 2021 under the latest Covid-19 rules.
 

Cornell

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Can someone explain what "restricted" Star Options are , mentioned in the OP? Thank you.
 

dioxide45

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Can someone explain what "restricted" Star Options are , mentioned in the OP? Thank you.
Valid for reservations checking in 120 days in advance and expire in December 2021.
 

Fletcher921

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By the time the 120 day window opens availability is BLAGH!

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DeniseM

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Here's another thing some people don't realize:

Once you are within 60 days of your check-in date, it makes no difference whether you cancel your reservation the day before check-in, or 60 days before check-in: the results are the same. So if you want to wait to see if a resort will open, or quarantine will be dropped, you have 60 days to wait and see what happens. Of course, transportation and a lots of other factors impact when you cancel, but as far at your Vistana reservation goes, the Staroption refund is exactly the same from 60 to 1 day before check-in:

Restricted Staroptions can be used until the end of 2021.
Reservations can be made 120 days before check-in.

On the other hand, if you haven't reached the 61 day deadline, and have doubts and concerns about your trip. Follow your gut and cancel before the deadline. It is FAR better to have the use of unrestricted Staroptions until the end of 2022, and to be able to make reservations 8 months before check-in.

Unrestricted Staroptions can be used until the end of 2022.
Reservations can be made 8 months before check-in.
 

caterina25

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This is what everyone is getting - including Hawaii owners, where the state is under quarantine. To my knowledge, timeshare companies do not have the ability to give cash refunds, because your maintenance fees provide for the ongoing maintenance of the resort.

To get unrestricted Staroptions, you had to cancel 61 or more days before check-in - this has always been the rule, and many people did that.

The new Coronavirus cancellation rules came out in March and were widely discussed here on TUG, so by May 23rd, it was common knowledge.
Common knowledge or not, this is not how it should have been handle.People did not choose to cancel,the resorts were closed.I think at any point when people had to cancel, the options should have been given back as unrestricted.People have died ,others in financial ruins.That would have gone a long way with owners who pay incredibly high fees.
 

DeniseM

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caterina25 - Just one question: Previous to this, were you aware that Vistana has always had a 61 day cancellation deadline to recover unrestricted Staroptions?
 

caterina25

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Here's another thing some people don't realize:

Once you are within 60 days of your check-in date, it makes no difference whether you cancel your reservation the day before check-in, or 60 days before check-in: the results are the same. So if you want to wait to see if a resort will open, or quarantine will be dropped, you have 60 days to wait and see what happens. Of course, transportation and a lots of other factors impact when you cancel, but as far at your Vistana reservation goes, the Staroption refund is exactly the same from 60 to 1 day before check-in:

Restricted Staroptions can be used until the end of 2021.
Reservations can be made 120 days before check-in.

On the other hand, if you haven't reached the 61 day deadline, and have doubts and concerns about your trip. Follow your gut and cancel before the deadline. It is FAR better to have the use of unrestricted Staroptions until the end of 2022, and to be able to make reservations 8 months before check-in.

Unrestricted Staroptions can be used until the end of 2022.
Reservations can be made 8 months before check-in.
caterina25 - Just one question: Previous to this, were you aware that Vistana has always had a 61 day cancellation deadline to recover unrestricted Staroptions?
Yes ,I did.My son lives in Florida and wanted to go .He thought they would be open by July 4th ,so we waited.When I called earlier they said they would be having phased opening very soon but the last time I called ,they said they didn't know anything.When they said they didn't know,I canceled.
 

CalGalTraveler

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It is for this reason that I am relieved we have an EOY odd not an annual or EOY even. We don't have to worry about this until next year.
 

DeniseM

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That's too bad. I think if you had come to TUG before the deadline, we would have advised you to cancel before 61 days. That being said, if you are flexible about your resort and dates, I absolutely think you can use the restricted Staroptions, but you will have to get really organized in planning and reserving to make it happen.
 

Cornell

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@DeniseM (any any other Vistana experts who want to chime in). Would love your thoughts on an upcoming reservation I have.

I have a reservation at WKV at end of Sept . Purpose of the trip is college visits . WKV is open now. However, I just contacted the colleges she's interested in seeing this week and they said they might not be open for college visits in September yet.

I know that the banking date is July 1.

I was planning on keeping this reservation even if I don't know by July 1 if college tours are available, because if we DO wind up wanting to go, I can't used those banked options in 2020.

Let's presume that I decide at 61+ days out NOT to use this reservation, what happens with those SOs then?

I appreciate all your expertise. Grateful.
 

caterina25

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That's too bad. I think if you had come to TUG before the deadline, we would have advised you to cancel before 61 days. That being said, if you are flexible about your resort and dates, I absolutely think you can use the restricted Staroptions, but you will have to get really organized in planning and reserving to make it happen.
I didn't have the time.I live in NJ ,the second hardest hit state.My brother died of this virus.My sister-in-law,nephew and cousin were deathly ill and almost died.My head was just not focused.I still think they should make some concessions for these extraordinary circumstances.
 

DeniseM

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Let's presume that I decide at 61+ days out NOT to use this reservation, what happens with those SOs then?

If you cancelled before the deadline, you would get your home week back, and you would be able to make a home resort reservation or Staroption reservation until the end of 2020.

But unless you are an Elite Owner, it would be too late to bank it for 21/22.

Another option would be to deposit it in Interval - which can be done until the end of the year - then you'd have 2 years to use for an exchange.

You could also try to rent it, although fall is slow season.
 

DeniseM

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I didn't have the time.I live in NJ ,the second hardest hit state.My brother died of this virus.My sister-in-law,nephew and cousin were deathly ill and almost died.My head was just not focused.I still think they should make some concessions for these extraordinary circumstances.

That makes sense, but I'm surprised you weren't afraid to fly to a foreign country during the pandemic.
 

caterina25

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That makes sense, but I'm surprised you weren't afraid to fly to a foreign country during the pandemic.
We were going by boat from Florida..Short trip from my sons area.He was driving to get me because Tampa was doing much better than NJ but all this stuff happened to my family and I just couldn't leave them.He was going to go with his family.
 

tschwa2

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If you cancelled before the deadline, you would get your home week back, and you would be able to make a home resort reservation or Staroption reservation until the end of 2020.

But unless you are an Elite Owner, it would be too late to bank it for 21/22.

Another option would be to deposit it in Interval - which can be done until the end of the year - then you'd have 2 years to use for an exchange.

You could also try to rent it, although fall is slow season.
I think you have until the end of June even if you aren't elite. I had a late July rental and cancelled it before 60 days and have unrestricted options that I can still bank for $109.
 

JohnPaul

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You will not find a lot of sympathy for your position. Most of the members here have experienced loss of week use, loss of rental income, cancelled family events and vacations. The resorts have been generally closed for most of us since Mid March. The reopening of the resorts has varied from locality to locality.

Not to mention the loss of people in our lives to Covid19.
 

DeniseM

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I think you have until the end of June even if you aren't elite. I had a late July rental and cancelled it before 60 days and have unrestricted options that I can still bank for $109.
That's true - everyone has until the end of June, but it sounded like the OP wasn't going to be ready to make a decision by the end of June - maybe I misinterpreted her post.
I have a reservation at WKV at end of Sept. Let's presume that I decide at 61+ days out NOT to use this reservation, what happens with those SOs then?

Let's say her reservation is Sept. 19th, that means that 61 days before check-in would be July 20th - past the June 30th deadline.
 

Fletcher921

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Our reservation was for mid May... the resort we were booked at wasn't completely closed until nearly that time. We didnt have any reason to cancel 61 days or earlier. It is a bummer to have our staroptions restricted as a result. We would have much rather been on Maui quarantining there!

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DeniseM

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I guess I just have a lower tolerance for risk - with the conditions as they were, I definitely would have cancelled at 61 days to make sure my Staroptions were not restricted. Then, if Hawaii unexpectedly dropped the quarantine, I'd still be fine with it, because I think traveling is too risky for my risk tolerance right now. YMMV
 

Fletcher921

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One of our concerns was that our unit in Maui at the Whaler was going to sit empty if we didnt go... We could not offer it to Interval to trade. So if we didn't go, we lost the whole maintenance fee for the year. We booked a few weeks using our Vistana to extend our time there so that we could have a but of time after the quarantine!

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