Using Fewer Nights - St John 2016

[DAisy333]

Hi,

I will be using my St John USVI timeshare for the first time in 2016 but don't want to use all 7 nights. I have a 2 BR in a fixed week over Memorial Day weekdend and I already confirmed.

I was told that if I call 8 months ahead of time, I could get a 2 Bedroom for 5 nights instead of 7 and bank the additional points to use at a U.S. based resort. I'm a little concerned because I have to cancel my existing reservation and then re-book.

How realistic is my plan? Would it work? Is there any advantage to doing this online? I'm worried about cancelling my existing reservation, but would prefer to stay for only 5 nights.

Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

What you would be doing is canceling your home resort reservation, and making a Staroption reservation (no home resort priority.)

*This assumes that you have Staroptions.

Don't do it online - You don't want to cancel it yourself and take the risk of losing BOTH reservations - Call, and let a Rep. cancel and rebook for you - if it's available.

If you cancel it yourself, online, and then can't get the 5 night reservation, you won't have any reservation at all, because you won't be able to get your 7 night reservation back.

You will have a few leftover Staroptions, which can be used in the SVN system to book something else.

Have you thought about what a 5 night reservation really is?

Day 1 - Travel all day
Day 2 - WSJ
Day 3 - WSJ
Day 4 - WSJ
Day 5 - WSJ
Day 6 - Travel all day

You are paying big bucks for a 4 day vacation - I'd find a way to stay 7 nights. YMMV

 

[SMHarman]

I had a similar problem.
I had a two bed SO I wanted to turn into a 1 bed reside but booked on line.
I called and they made the fix over the phone.
But as Denise said that's a lot of schlepping for 4 days on the island.

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

 

[DavidnRobin]

A few things - you want to bank 2 days of SOs - remember that there is a fee for banking.
I agree with Denise - 5 days is way too short (we own 2 weeks and even that is too short (for us).

You are taking a risk to give up your villa, and relying on a 2Bd being available during your time (it will unlikely be the same villa, or even resort phase - could be BV or CV) since this is a SVN exchange and you are competing with others.

one upside is that 2Bds are in every phase
If this were off-season (Sept-Nov) - you might have better chance.
Also, by phone - there are people doing online requests the night before.

Good luck - let us know how it turns out (if you are able to rebook 5days)

 

[blondietink]

We found out a long time ago that it is best to book the longest stay you possibly can, no matter where you are going. As others have said, you lose one day on each end of your trip. So knock off 2 days from any trip you plan. Also depending on how far you are going and how much airfare costs could also factor in. We tend to get mid-week travel whenever possible, so perhaps flying in on a Tuesday and flying out on a Thursday. Or, flying in on a Saturday and flying out 11 days later on a Wednesday for those resorts that only have weekend check-ins. The cost savings on flights can be substantial when flying a family of 4 or more.

As others have said, if you cancel what you have now to book a maybe, you very well be out of luck at a high demand resort.

 

[lizap]

Really depends on where you live. For us, from MSY (short flight to MIA and to STT), a five day trip to St. John would work fine (although longer is always preferable). Much, much easier for us to get there than to Hawaii. We're going during Mardi Gras for 5 nights..

 

[LisaRex]

Are you in the Coral Bay phase?

Regardless, I agree that your best bet is to keep your current week reservation and then check inventory at the 8 month window. If 5 nights are available, only then would I drop my 7 day reservation.

Note that if/when you do this, it's not a home resort reservation. It's a StarOption exchange. That means that you lose your fixed unit and can be placed in any phase. And, of course, it's subject to availability, and I honestly don't know how popular Memorial Day week is. My gut says it's not as popular as other holidays because many schools are still in session or it's too early in the season for families to go on holiday. But you won't know until you try. Just realize that whenever you release a reservation, it's fair game for everyone, so any method your try (online or with an agent) does come with some risk.

What confuses me is that you say with the leftover two nights, you can stay in "a U.S. based resort." Whether you're talking leftover StarOptions or converting your leftover FlexOptions into StarPoints to use at hotels (if that's possible), then you're allowed to use those points to stay at any resort that participates in that network, not just the U.S.

 

[okwiater]

Are you in the Coral Bay phase?

You mean the Coral Vista phase -- the Coral Bay phase is located much, much further from the pool.

 

[LisaRex]

You mean the Coral Vista phase -- the Coral Bay phase is located much, much further from the pool.

Yes, thank you. I'm mixing Coral Vista with Bay Vista.