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Week for StarPoints

B

bongo

TUG Member
Joined
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Location
Hawaii
Hi, I don't own a timeshare (yet) and I'm considering either Marriott or SVO. I haven't been able to find any threads on the topic of SVO exchanges for StarPoints. I understand the option is available to direct-purchasers, and also available EOY (for an EY purchase). I understand that there would be differences in the amount of SPG points depending on the value of the TS, but what does it translate to in SPG points typically? The equivalent of a 7 night hotel stay...say cat 5? Would that not equate the amount of the maintenance fee for the year? Since I would enjoy the flexibility of hotel stays, this is key factor in our deciding to purchase or not. Many thanks for your feedback! :)
 
Lots of threads here on the topic of StarPoint conversion and lots of opinions on whether its worthwhile or not. Just search for 'starpoint conversion' and you'll see many threads.
 
There is a chart in the Owner Resource sticky that list the Starpoint value of all the Starwood resorts listed under the Starpoints heading. Since the conversion rate isn't very good, and since Starwood keeps devaluating Starpoints, and since buying from the developer will often cost you twice as much money as buying resale, buying from the developer just so you can convert to Starpoints is not generally considered a good value.

If you use the search function (SEARCH THIS FORUM) you find a ton of posts about Starpoints.
 
bongo said:
Hi, I don't own a timeshare (yet) and I'm considering either Marriott or SVO. I haven't been able to find any threads on the topic of SVO exchanges for StarPoints. I understand the option is available to direct-purchasers, and also available EOY (for an EY purchase). I understand that there would be differences in the amount of SPG points depending on the value of the TS, but what does it translate to in SPG points typically? The equivalent of a 7 night hotel stay...say cat 5? Would that not equate the amount of the maintenance fee for the year? Since I would enjoy the flexibility of hotel stays, this is key factor in our deciding to purchase or not. Many thanks for your feedback! :)
Click to expand...

you will not get a 7 night stay at a cat 5 with the amount of starpoints you would get if you did not use your timeshare. in a cat 4 you can get 5 nights for 40000 starpoints, 6 nights for 50000 and 7 nights for 60000. i get most of my starpoints from using my amex card. and purchasing developer weeks from starwood.
 
i get most of my starpoints from using my amex card. and purchasing developer weeks from starwood.

Pointsjunkie, if I buy from Starwood, can I charge a portion or all of the purchase price to the Amex?

Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback...I very much appreciate it!
 
bongo said:
i get most of my starpoints from using my amex card. and purchasing developer weeks from starwood.

Pointsjunkie, if I buy from Starwood, can I charge a portion or all of the purchase price to the Amex?

Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback...I very much appreciate it!
Click to expand...

I charged my whole purchase to my Am Ex card. Get the Am Ex card about a month before you buy. Then call Am Ex and ask them to raise your limit (because many times the limits are less than the $40,000 a TS might cost you). I put my whole purchase on my Am Ex and got lots of points that way! Thanks to TUG, I was prepared for my purchase from Starwood -- I retro'd a 148,100 SO unit and put everything on my Am Ex. That was about the only way I could see myself spending that much money on a week's vacation. :)

Katherine
 
Thanks, Katherine! I'm really interested in the "retro" concept...yes, TUG has been very good to me - I've been addicted to this site since signing up a few days ago! :)
 
bongo said:
i get most of my starpoints from using my amex card. and purchasing developer weeks from starwood.

Pointsjunkie, if I buy from Starwood, can I charge a portion or all of the purchase price to the Amex?

Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback...I very much appreciate it!
Click to expand...

go on flyertalk.com and look up the starwood site on the right will be an ad for the amex card that will get you the most starpoints for your dollar. 40000 in total, instead of 10000.
 
Yes - you WILL get a category 5 for 7 nights. I get 72,000 points if I turn in my Kierland. At 12,000 points per night and the fifth night free, it works out to 12,000 x 6 = 72,000. Just won't work "high" season when it's 16,000 per night.

Others will argue that 7 nights in a hotel room is nowhere near as good as 7 nights in a suite. That's true, but last year we simply could not get away during our season and wanted to do Europe during the summer. Tried to rent and didn't get any bites. Believe me, I'm glad I was able to get the points in this situation.
 
Is summer considered high season in Europe?
Click to expand...

Each hotel sets it own high and low seasons. They are available at spg.com.

Go to the link:

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/index.html

Then click "Compare Starpoint Requirements" and a chart comes up. Click on the number at the top of the column for the category you are interested in. For example, I clicked on "6" to get the information on Category 6 hotels, which includes the Westin Paris. Then I scrolled down, to where the following was listed.

The Westin Paris
Peak Season
09/01/2008 - 10/19/2008
06/02/2008 - 07/06/2008

Hope that helps

Michael
 
for future reference - The link to compare Starpoint requirements is also in the Owner Resources sticky at the top of the board under the Starpoint heading. :hi:
 
In terms of season and Europe, we actually got Cash & Points in both Rome and London.
 
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