Using StarOptions for Resort Credit - New Feature

[dioxide45]

I noticed this in the newsletter we received today.

 

[buzglyd]

I saw that too. You have to call for an explanation which probably has sales attached to it.

 

[DannyTS]

To me it sounds like one can pay resort bills with StarOptions. That would be a good idea especially for SO that would otherwise expire or not enough to be worth banking. I expect of course the exchange $ - MF - SO - resort credit to be terrible.

@buzglyd you are probably right, it may be related to sales, why would they want owners to call instead of just posting the rules online?

 

[JIMinNC]

To me it sounds like one can pay resort bills with StarOptions. That would be a good idea especially for SO that would otherwise expire or not enough to be worth banking. I expect of course the exchange $ - MF - SO - resort credit to be terrible.

That's been an option for MVC owners in the DC program at most, but maybe not all resorts. Sounds like perhaps something MVW is bringing to the VSN system. It's certainly not a "good" use of points, but if you wind up with some small number of unbankable points in your account, it is better than losing them. See screen shot below from MVC site:

 

[DannyTS]

That's been an option for MVC owners in the DP program at some, but not all resorts. Sounds like perhaps something MVW is bringing to the VSN system. It's certainly not a "good" use of points, but if you wind up with some small number of unbankable points in your account, it is better than losing them.

I guess they would want to promote the resorts with lower average occupancy rate?

 

[JIMinNC]

I guess they would want to promote the resorts with lower average occupancy rate?

Not really limited to that. In MVC, it's available at Maui Ocean Club, other Hawaii resorts, the bigger Hilton Head resorts, Aruba, Newport Coast, Palm Desert, etc. All the major resorts. Looks like maybe all of the resorts that have amenities like bars/restaurants etc. The smaller resorts without those amenities look like they aren't listed, so maybe it's everywhere with meaningful resort-charging options.

 

[Grandma2016]

Just called and found out they give you 110 dollar credit for every 9000 options to be used on specific resorts. All Hawaii resorts were listed

 

[VacationForever]

Just called and found out they give you 110 dollar credit for every 9000 options to be used on specific resorts. All Hawaii resorts were listed

This is alot more generous conversion as compared to MVC DC to resort credit conversion.

 

[DannyTS]

It is a smart move if they want people to buy more Options. Probably this is a common objection, why would you buy more when some go to waste?

 

[DannyTS]

This is alot more generous conversion as compared to MVC DC to resort credit conversion.

What is the MVC DC conversion?

Within Vistana, some platinum weeks seem to gain when converting to the resort credit. Of course, the gold and silver owners lose quite a bit. Another benefit for Vistana MVC is that owners may deposit more weeks and not be too stressed they have to rent out or lose the week. They will also spend more at the Vistana resorts since they may have a credit to use up. It is really a win-win

 

[JIMinNC]

What is the MVC DC conversion?

Within Vistana, some platinum weeks seem to gain when converting to the resort credit. Of course, the gold and silver owners lose quite a bit. Another benefit for Vistana MVC is that owners may deposit more weeks and not be too stressed they have to rent out or lose the week. They will also spend more at the Vistana resorts since they may have a credit to use up. It is really a win-win

See the attached screen shot above - 325 DC Points for $110 of resort credit

 

[GregT]

This is really interesting -- 325 DC points for $110 or 9,000 StarOptions for $110.

So......is 325 DC points equal to 9,000 StarOptions?

Does that suggest an exchange ratio of 27.XX StarOptions to 1 DC points?

Interesting.

Best,

Greg

 

[dioxide45]

This is really interesting -- 325 DC points for $110 or 9,000 StarOptions for $110.

So......is 325 DC points equal to 9,000 StarOptions?

Does that suggest an exchange ratio of 27.XX StarOptions to 1 DC points?

Interesting.

Best,

Greg

I was wondering the same...

It would mean my 1BR SVV Prime KW week is worth 1,625 DC Points. Perhaps about right as the 1BR at Grande Vista is 1,850 and has a full kitchen and larger unit.

 

[JIMinNC]

I was wondering the same...

It would mean my 1BR SVV Prime KW week is worth 1,625 DC Points. Perhaps about right as the 1BR at Grande Vista is 1,850 and has a full kitchen and larger unit.

Might a 1BR Harbour Lake be a better comparison? I assume those are all lock-offs since the points spreadsheet only lists 2BR. But if you apply a typical skim to the points required to book a 1BR in the higher seasons (1575 to 1775), that would suggest a 1BR might, in theory, be worth around 1500 to 1685 points.

 

[Sicnarf]

This is alot more generous conversion as compared to MVC DC to resort credit conversion.

Yes, it is very generous as it only cost me $62 to buy 9000 points.

 

[VacationForever]

I gave 25K expiring points away last year by reserving 5 nights at WMH for our neighbors last year. Now I won't need to do that anymore.

 

[dioxide45]

Might a 1BR Harbour Lake be a better comparison? I assume those are all lock-offs since the points spreadsheet only lists 2BR. But if you apply a typical skim to the points required to book a 1BR in the higher seasons (1575 to 1775), that would suggest a 1BR might, in theory, be worth around 1500 to 1685 points.

The 1BR at Harbour Lake is comparable in amenities to the 1BR at Grande Vista. Most (both) are part of the 2BR lock off. THe only difference is a few dedicated 1BR units at Grande Vista. I was comparing to the chart maintained by @StevenTing. There is no 1BR sold at Harbour Lake to compare this to.

 

[JIMinNC]

Yes, it is very generous as it only cost me $62 to buy 9000 points.

The more relevant measure is not purchase cost, but is the ongoing annual maintenance fee on those points, since purchase cost is one time and can vary depending on whether you bought retail or resale. Maintenance fees are the same either way, and are the true annual cost of those points you are using for the resort credit. For the 325 DC points required to get the $110 of resort credit, if it's Trust points, the maintenance fee cost is about $189, so the $110 is not a great deal, but better than losing them. As far as your noted 9000 VSN StarOptions, it would depend on your maintenance fee cost per Option.

 

[JIMinNC]

The 1BR at Harbour Lake is comparable in amenities to the 1BR at Grande Vista. Most (both) are part of the 2BR lock off. THe only difference is a few dedicated 1BR units at Grande Vista. I was comparing to the chart maintained by @StevenTing. There is no 1BR sold at Harbour Lake to compare this to.

I'm aware of that, but since there is no dedicated 1BR at Harbour Lake, I was using the booking chart and applying some skim to estimate what a 1BR at Harbour Lake might be worth on Steven Ting's chart IF they had dedicated 1BR units there. My rationale was a perception that Grande Vista was a little bigger/somewhat higher end unit than SVV. Since Harbour Lake was the old Horizon location, I was hypothesizing that it was somewhat more comparable to SVV.

 

[sail27bill]

It's not a bad conversion rate in my opinion. But what would really help out owners who bought from the developer who can't pay their MFs is if they could convert it to credit towards paying their MFs every other year if they wanted. The owner would have to just pay the balance of whatever the credit didn't cover. This might be a feature that Marriott might not want to get involved in since it could be costly to them, but it would help some owners out. Just a thought.

 

[mjm1]

This is really interesting -- 325 DC points for $110 or 9,000 StarOptions for $110.

So......is 325 DC points equal to 9,000 StarOptions?

Does that suggest an exchange ratio of 27.XX StarOptions to 1 DC points?

Interesting.

Best,

Greg

Greg that is an interesting comparison. A while back I wondered what a WKV Platinum 1BR might be valued at in an overlay program, so compared it to Marriott’s Canyon Villas. IIRC that was allotted 2,900 DC points, so very close to the ratio you suggested resulting in 3,000 DC points.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[DannyTS]

It's not a bad conversion rate in my opinion. But what would really help out owners who bought from the developer who can't pay their MFs is if they could convert it to credit towards paying their MFs every other year if they wanted. The owner would have to just pay the balance of whatever the credit didn't cover. This might be a feature that Marriott might not want to get involved in since it could be costly to them, but it would help some owners out. Just a thought.

Let's not forget that the resort credit will go towards buying goods or services that the developer has a margin on. Also, this is money people may not spend at the resort otherwise. At Lagunamar for example we eat some meals at the resort out of convenience but the best and sometimes cheaper meals will be found outside the resort.
The maintenance fees on the other hand are mandatory so MVC does not have any advantage by helping the owners to pay the MF. It would actually reduce the annual revenue of the company so I do not expect it to happen. They would also give up a major source of future inventory buying since the repossessed contracts end up in their hands for next to nothing.

 

[dioxide45]

I'm aware of that, but since there is no dedicated 1BR at Harbour Lake, I was using the booking chart and applying some skim to estimate what a 1BR at Harbour Lake might be worth on Steven Ting's chart IF they had dedicated 1BR units there. My rationale was a perception that Grande Vista was a little bigger/somewhat higher end unit than SVV. Since Harbour Lake was the old Horizon location, I was hypothesizing that it was somewhat more comparable to SVV.

I would put SVV more on par with Grande Vista than Harbour Lake. Three large pools and 700+ units. The units, at least in Key West, are as nice as those at Grande Vista and the 2BR dedicated units comparable to those at Grande Vista with the 2BR lock off being better.

 

[JIMinNC]

Let's not forget that the resort credit will go towards buying goods or services that the developer has a margin on. Also, this is money people may not spend at the resort otherwise. At Lagunamar for example we eat some meals at the resort out of convenience but the best and sometimes cheaper meals will be found outside the resort.
The maintenance fees on the other hand are mandatory so MVC does not have any advantage by helping the owners to pay the MF. It would actually reduce the annual revenue of the company so I do not expect it to happen. They would also give up a major source of future inventory buying since the repossessed contracts end up in their hands for next to nothing.

Presumably if using points to pay your mf were an option, that would mean the week would then go to MVC/VSE and they could rent it for cash on Marriott.com, presumably for a lot more than the mf.

 

[DannyTS]

Presumably if using points to pay your mf were an option, that would mean the week would then go to MVC/VSE and they could rent it for cash on Marriott.com, presumably for a lot more than the mf.

true, I did not think at this possibility. At the same time, we do not know if they are not already comfortable with what they own in order to cover their rental side of business. Owners paying MF with points on the other hand may bring a lot of inventory in cycles they do not control, hard to foresee and they may or may not be able to rent the extra units they have.
This practice would also probably exacerbate at the worst time of the economic cycle. It is not hard to imagine that owners would tend to do it more during recessions but those would be exactly the worst times to have extra inventory to rent since the hotel occupancy rate and prices tend to decline significantly.