Westin Aventuras Points Exchange on Interval

[travellerviajero1]

Hello - I am looking to buy Westin Aventuras points resale, and with the hopes of being able to occasionally exchange those on Interval for MVC resorts.
1) anyone know whether points are directly deposited into II?
2)if I have to reserve a week first at say Lagunamar, are resale owners of the Westin Aventuras points booking this week allowed to exchange that week on II?

Just trying to figure out limitations before I purchase.

Thanks!

 

[sponger76]

Hello - I am looking to buy Westin Aventuras points resale, and with the hopes of being able to occasionally exchange those on Interval for MVC resorts.
1) anyone know whether points are directly deposited into II?
2)if I have to reserve a week first at say Lagunamar, are resale owners of the Westin Aventuras points booking this week allowed to exchange that week on II?

Just trying to figure out limitations before I purchase.

Thanks!

With Vistana's Flex products (Sheraton Flex, Westin Flex, Westin Aventuras), you can ONLY deposit points into II. You would not be able to book a week via Vistana and deposit that week into II. Resale owners have the same ability to deposit points into II, but there are two differences from retail owners: 1) resale owners have to pay for their own annual II membership fees while retail owners II accounts are paid for by Vistana/MVC and 2) due to having an MVC "corporate" II account, retail owners get $0 exchange fees into other Vistana/MVC resorts, while resale owners simply get a somewhat discounted ($164? vs $229?) exchange fee for the same; note that the $0/discounted exchange does not apply to room-size upgrade fees (which don't apply to Flex points exchanges anyway) or guest certificates.

 

[travellerviajero1]

With Vistana's Flex products (Sheraton Flex, Westin Flex, Westin Aventuras), you can ONLY deposit points into II. You would not be able to book a week via Vistana and deposit that week into II. Resale owners have the same ability to deposit points into II, but there are two differences from retail owners: 1) resale owners have to pay for their own annual II membership fees while retail owners II accounts are paid for by Vistana/MVC and 2) due to having an MVC "corporate" II account, retail owners get $0 exchange fees into other Vistana/MVC resorts, while resale owners simply get a somewhat discounted ($164? vs $229?) exchange fee for the same; note that the $0/discounted exchange does not apply to room-size upgrade fees (which don't apply to Flex points exchanges anyway) or guest certificates.

Thank you for the explanation. I was seeing different things online in which some articles stated that you do deposit points directly into II, while others that you would need to first book a week at home resort then deposit that to II. I’m guessing that in addition to II exchange fee, would probably need to pay vistana/mvc to deposit those points to II?

 

[sponger76]

Thank you for the explanation. I was seeing different things online in which some articles stated that you do deposit points directly into II, while others that you would need to first book a week at home resort then deposit that to II. I’m guessing that in addition to II exchange fee, would probably need to pay vistana/mvc to deposit those points to II?

It's complicated and depends on whether you own MVC or Vistana, and whether you own an actual weeks product or a points product.

MVC weeks owners reserve and deposit a specific week into II, unless they ask MVC to pick one to deposit for them, which would still be from the resort/season they own. Vistana weeks owners don't even have the choice of what week to deposit. Vistana picks what specific week they will give II, but it should still be from the resort and season the owner is depositing. The owner gets a blended/average trade power for that resort and season for exchange purposes.

MVC points owners can either instant exchange for a given number of points through II, or ask MVC to deposit a week based on how many points they want to use in II, and MVC gives II a week that the owner can then use for either an instant exchange or ongoing search. But the owner doesn't get to pick what week or even resort is deposited. Vistana points owners don't have that option, it's simply points, and eventually Vistana decides what weeks to give II. The owner never sees what week that might be, they just can exchange into whatever is available based on the Vistana/II points chart. Vistana doesn't charge a fee to deposit into II.

 

[Hindsite]

Somewhere there will be a points chart for Aventuras in II and you will then be able to compare it to the points chart for booking via Westin and then work out where the sweet spots are and what other choices you get with II. If its anything like Sheraton flex, it should trade quite well in II.

@kozykritter have you see a points chart for Aventuras in II?

Also before you assume that you'll be able to book Lagunamar using Aventuras, check just how much inventory there is in the reservation system, as I've seen reports that its not easy to book Lagunamar using Aventuras. Worth checking before you proceed.

 

[sponger76]

Somewhere there will be a points chart for Aventuras in II and you will then be able to compare it to the points chart for booking via Westin and then work out where the sweet spots are and what other choices you get with II. If its anything like Sheraton flex, it should trade quite well in II.

@kozykritter have you see a points chart for Aventuras in II?

Also before you assume that you'll be able to book Lagunamar using Aventuras, check just how much inventory there is in the reservation system, as I've seen reports that its not easy to book Lagunamar using Aventuras. Worth checking before you proceed.

My understanding is that all the Flex programs (Sheraton, Westin and Aventuras) use the same chart for II.

 

[kozykritter]

Somewhere there will be a points chart for Aventuras in II and you will then be able to compare it to the points chart for booking via Westin and then work out where the sweet spots are and what other choices you get with II. If its anything like Sheraton flex, it should trade quite well in II.

@kozykritter have you see a points chart for Aventuras in II?

Also before you assume that you'll be able to book Lagunamar using Aventuras, check just how much inventory there is in the reservation system, as I've seen reports that its not easy to book Lagunamar using Aventuras. Worth checking before you proceed.

All home options products use the same chart.

 

[travellerviajero1]

All home options products use the same chart.View attachment 103209

thank you everyone, really appreciate it! The suggestion is to check inventory for booking Lagunamar, but not currently owning any timeshare its not exactly possible ha. Would not be a nice surprise to buy the aventuras points then feel stuck not being able to book gold plus dates for 1 bedroom having bought 44,000 points.

I guess my last question is, would it be easier to buy a gold plus 1 bedroom at lagunamar vs 44K points with respect to both 1) better availability to book desired week at lagunamar, and 2) better trading power exchange into II for a 1 bedroom gold season stay at Marriott Aruba Ocean club?

If anyone knows, really appreciate the advice with not having a 30 day money back guarantee once I move forward with buying.

I recently stayed at ocean club during thanksgiving week via invite and it was quite nice.

 

[sponger76]

thank you everyone, really appreciate it! The suggestion is to check inventory for booking Lagunamar, but not currently owning any timeshare its not exactly possible ha. Would not be a nice surprise to buy the aventuras points then feel stuck not being able to book gold plus dates for 1 bedroom having bought 44,000 points.

I guess my last question is, would it be easier to buy a gold plus 1 bedroom at lagunamar vs 44K points with respect to both 1) better availability to book desired week at lagunamar, and 2) better trading power exchange into II for a 1 bedroom gold season stay at Marriott Aruba Ocean club?

If anyone knows, really appreciate the advice with not having a 30 day money back guarantee once I move forward with buying.

I recently stayed at ocean club during thanksgiving week via invite and it was quite nice.

When booking via Vistana, owning a week at Lagunamar will definitely be the easiest way to reserve a week at Lagunamar in the season and unit size that you own. However, you would be restricted to booking exactly a week, in that season, at that resort in that specific unit size. With points you can book any unit size during any season at any of the home resorts for the points product you own, as long as you have enough points, plus you can vary the length of stay, from as little as a single night to as long as a couple of weeks. But, with some exceptions, there will usually be less availability owned by the points trust than weeks owned by people like you or me. One exception I know of is Sheraton Steamboat, where most of the inventory is owned by the Sheraton Flex trust; most older resorts have far more inventory sold as weeks because sales were complete, or mostly complete, before the points trusts were created and inventory is only slowly being added through ROFR, foreclosures, etc.

For exchanging in II, a Gold week will have less trading power than a Platinum week. It would probably see a Gold week at Aruba Ocean Club, and many others, but there may also be other resorts and seasons that you will want to book that it won't see, whereas points don't have to worry about trading power; as long as what you want has been deposited in II you just need to have enough points based on the chart shown above.

 

[travellerviajero1]

Got it, many thanks for explaining. Tough choice without that money back guarantee

 

[travellerviajero1]

All home options products use the same chart.View attachment 103209

Back to ask another question please. At the Westin Lagunamar, assigned week 37 is rated the lowest demand of year at 60 (on the 50 to 150). If I buy week 37 with floating gold plus, and I want deposit my 2br to II, will II determine my trading power based week 37 or avg of gold plus? is it permissible to exchange my week in Lagunamar for another within gold plus then deposit that, or is this not allowed once a change is made from my assigned week?

 

[kozykritter]

With Vistana week ownership, you don't get to choose the week that gets deposited. What they do is a deposit that represents the blended TDI of your gold plus season week ownership. You can't book a week and deposit it in II. Instead you make a request to deposit your week usage and they do the rest.

 

[pchung6]

You want to buy platinum week at elite resort for trading purpose.

 

[vacationtime1]

You want to buy platinum week at elite resort for trading purpose.

+1

There are better cheap traders than Aventuras. I would look at SDO or SBP one bedroom units.

Or, buy Westin Kierland and do StarOption exchanges.

 

[travellerviajero1]

You want to buy platinum week at elite resort for trading purpose.

Wish I knew that before I started signing

 

[travellerviajero1]

I read a post from years ago that the Marriott Las Vegas grand chateau is a good trader going for the 2 or 3 bedroom. Not sure if true or not but checking the MF seems quite a bargain unless I’m missing something .

 

[dioxide45]

I read a post from years ago that the Marriott Las Vegas grand chateau is a good trader going for the 2 or 3 bedroom. Not sure if true or not but checking the MF seems quite a bargain unless I’m missing something .

Marriott's Grande Chateau is a great unit for trading. Works best for trading into other Marriott Vacation Club resorts.

 

[travellerviajero1]

Marriott's Grande Chateau is a great unit for trading. Works best for trading into other Marriott Vacation Club resorts.

Better trade power if bought resale than Westin Lagunamar you believe $ for $ in MF?

 

[Hindsite]

Better trade power if bought resale than Westin Lagunamar you believe $ for $ in MF?

Westin resorts get a short period of priority in II for MVC, at the end of the MVC preference period.

If you want to trade into MVC, get a resale MVC resort.

If you want to go to Lagunamar get a resale Lagunamar week.

 

[vacationtime1]

Marriott resorts such as GC have a priority in II for other Marriott units; Vistana (Westin and Sheraton) units such as Lagunamar have a secondary priority.

Vistana resorts have a priority in II for other Vistana units; Marriott units have a secondary priority for them.

So if you are buying to exchange in II, you must consider where you will want to exchange to.

 

[dioxide45]

Better trade power if bought resale than Westin Lagunamar you believe $ for $ in MF?

You are kind of trying to compare apples and oranges in a way. As others have noted, II has exchange priorities by brands when making exchanges. When a Marriott deposit is first made into II, only other Marriott owners can exchange into it. This is called the Marriott to Marriott priority. The same is true with Westin and Sheraton (Vistana) deposits. When those first get deposited into II, only other Vistana owners can trade into them for a period of time. This period of time can be anywhere from zero days up to 30 days.

If you primarily want to trade into Marriott resorts, buy Grand Chateau. If you are looking to trade more into Westin and Sheraton through II, look into buying a Vistana property resale. Sheraton Desert Oasis is often regarded as a good one to own.

A better alternative for booking Vistana properties is to buy a mandatory Vistana resale week where you get StarOptions to make those reservations at 8 months from checkin.

 

[travellerviajero1]

My dilemma is that I would like to ultimately trade into Marriott Aruba ocean club, as buying it at resale is out of my budget. Having never been to Lagunamar, I began the purchase process with the hope that I can trade it in II for Aruba ocean club and worst case I can book right back into it from II. If I want to increase my chance ti exchange into Aruba Marriott ocean club, looks that owning grand chateau would be the better way(and also slightly cheaper MF wise), but what if ultimately not possible to trade into ocean club, then I also might not be able to book back into Lagunamar via II as easily without owning a vistana week is the risk.

Once again I appreciate everyone’s help here

 

[Hindsite]

There's lots of studio and 1-bed availability in II for Lagunamar, they rarely deposit the 2-beds, so I wouldn't worry about being able to get in there with a Grand Chateau deposit, but if you want a 2-bed, II is not a great route to take at all.
There is a very small risk that you can't get an exchange into Aruba Ocean club, particularly if you want a 2 or 3 bed for a specific popular week. Other than that' there is usually good availability for Ocean Club via II and if you put in a request more than 12 months ahead, you should have no problem.
If you want more info, splash out on the $15 TUB membership and then link your profile to that and you'll be able to see the sightings forum.

 

[travellerviajero1]

There's lots of studio and 1-bed availability in II for Lagunamar, they rarely deposit the 2-beds, so I wouldn't worry about being able to get in there with a Grand Chateau deposit, but if you want a 2-bed, II is not a great route to take at all.
There is a very small risk that you can't get an exchange into Aruba Ocean club, particularly if you want a 2 or 3 bed for a specific popular week. Other than that' there is usually good availability for Ocean Club via II and if you put in a request more than 12 months ahead, you should have no problem.
If you want more info, splash out on the $15 TUB membership and then link your profile to that and you'll be able to see the sightings forum.

Wow interesting. Would the Aruba ocean club availability be for owning grand chateau or would trading in say a one bedroom Lagunamar gold plus also yield some Aruba exchanges equally as well?

Thanks for the tip on $15 TUB membership and ability to see sightings with that, will do that too

 

[Hindsite]

Wow interesting. Would the Aruba ocean club availability be for owning grand chateau or would trading in say a one bedroom Lagunamar gold plus also yield some Aruba exchanges equally as well?

Thanks for the tip on $15 TUB membership and ability to see sightings with that, will do that too

In theory any II affiliated deposit would be able to exchange into Aruba Ocean Club, if they had enough trading power, and many people do every year.

The question here is what gives you the best odds of getting that specific resort, if you can't buy what you want at the resort. The answer to that is to get a platinum resale MVC resort to use as a deposit in II. Which MVC resort and unit size you need to get, depends completely on what unit size and date you are looking to book at Ocean Club. The answer if you want a 3-bed in peak season is different from if you want a studio in low season.

In general, TUG experience is that a high season 2 or 3-bed Grand Chateau works well across the system, and can also perform well when locked off. There is no reason to believe that a Lagunamar 1-bed gold plus wouldn't see Aruba Ocean Club inventory, how much and whether it would meet your needs well enough is difficult to tell from the info provided to date and subject to the general supply variability of inventory in II.