Westin St. John Owners

[DavidnRobin]

LMR - Last Minute Rentals

There was a thread about changing the $/day and increasing the time period for listing in LMR. Nothing happened - and it stayed the same.

To me in was a good example of an 'entrenched' group syndrome. The $100/day hadn't changed for a very long time on LMR - although the cost of renting has increased. And 45 days too short for many people - especially in today's world post-9/11.

I did not chime into this thread because it was easy to see which way it was going - log jam...

 

[grgs]

What is "LMR" mentioned above?

Last Minute Rentals

 

[Transit]

I think most people are leary about direct exchanges because of the lack of warranty that a stay would be honered.This is why I believe direct exchanges really havn't taken off. If websites were to offer some kind of insurance that these types of exchanges would be honered it would probably go over well.Redweek is trying to charge 30 bucks for this and your on your own if anything goes wrong.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I think most people are leary about direct exchanges because of the lack of warranty that a stay would be honered.This is why I believe direct exchanges really havn't taken off. If websites were to offer some kind of insurance that these types of exchanges would be honered it would probably go over well.Redweek is trying to charge 30 bucks for this and your on your own if anything goes wrong.

In general - I agree with this between 2 dissimiliar systems.

However, within the SVO/SVN system - I would think that if both parties were to put the reservations in the others name (along with appropriate documentation that states the agreement in writing) - it would be easy to check that the reservation confirmation number via SVO/SVN because an owner can call SVO/SVN and gain access to this info. Whereas - a non-SVO owner cannot.

 

[DeniseM]

I think most people are leary about direct exchanges because of the lack of warranty that a stay would be honered.This is why I believe direct exchanges really havn't taken off. If websites were to offer some kind of insurance that these types of exchanges would be honered it would probably go over well.Redweek is trying to charge 30 bucks for this and your on your own if anything goes wrong.

A "warranty" from RCI or II makes you feel safe??? :hysterical: Have you read the recent posts about the big exchange companies cancelling people's exchanges at the last minute? Not to mention all the deposited weeks that expire because the exchange companies gladly accept valuable deposits and then can't come up with a decent exchange?

Yeah, Starwood "exchanges" seem to be a better deal, but some exchanges seem to be nearly impossible!

A direct exchange is no more risky than a rental, and there seems to be a lot more rentals than direct exchanges. I don't think a private exchange with an an established tugger is any riskier - maybe less risky!

I think the real problem on TUG is that the "Exchange Board" is simply a list - it's hard to read and there are relatively few exchanges listed. I think a well-designed, highly-visible, interactive exchange board, on TUG, would get a lot of attention.

 

[Transit]

A "warranty" from RCI or II makes you feel safe??? :hysterical:

Those are horror stories I do think that there would be a higher level of trust amoung established tuggers.I do think that "the List" is kinda stale and a interactive exchange board would be much better This would be great for SVO owners especialy at the big 3 where there is not much to trade into to achive an equal (fair ) exchange. If this is done here I would suggest it be open to all not just Starwood. Direct exchange is a great idea. Implementing it well will be difficult.

 

[DeniseM]

Those are horror stories I do think that there would be a higher level of trust amoung established tuggers.I do think that "the List" is kinda stale and a interactive exchange board would be much better This would be great for SVO owners especialy at the big 3 where there is not much to trade into to achive an equal (fair ) exchange. If this is done here I would suggest it be open to all not just Starwood. Direct exchange is a great idea. Implementing it well will be difficult.

My understanding is the TUG is going to implement an interactive exchange board for all Tuggers - I think it's going to be great! I have rented to a Tugger, and I have one private exchange all scheduled with another, and I'm working on exchanges with a 2 other Tuggers - so far, the transactions have been painless. I LOVE knowing EXACTLY what week I am going to get for my exchange, not paying fees, and not have to work with the darn exchange companies!

 

[jerseygirl]

WSJ (and "prime" gold Harborside) owners should lobby starwood for a StarOption adjustment. They've adjusted them at least once since I've been paying attention .... 2004, I think. All were "upward" adjustments at certain resorts only -- but I don't remember the details.

For now, Starwood continues to sell units to people who believe it will be no problem to trade into WSJ. Sooner or later, word will get out on a larger scale. And, the only way they're going to get more WSJ and other undervalued units deposited for internal exchange is to ensure that owners can obtain a truly equivalent exchange, from a demand point of a view.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Hey - how about somethng as simple as...

I have Week X at Resort Y - and I am looking for week x at resort y.

I have never understood the issue about this on TUG (with guidelines/rules of course) - and being a TUG member required to view/post.

 

[JMS]

Is there no place on the bbs for doing exchanges at all? Or am I missing something.

 

[DeniseM]

Is there no place on the bbs for doing exchanges at all? Or am I missing something.

It's not allowed in the forums. The only place you can post for a direct exchange is linked through the classified ads and it's just a list - It's not interactive, interesting, or visible.

Click on CLASSIFIED ADS and the scroll down to DIRECT EXCHANGE

 

[mabelline7]

It was a big shame that the Starwood direct trading board did not work. It seemed that there were too many Westin Kanap and not enough Westin St. John Owners. All of Hawaii wanted to trade into WSJ. I personally could not afford the airfare to get to Hawaii to even consider it right now, although the airfare is now sky high to St. John also. Renting is also not as easy as one thinks, so I personally believe that if you are going to buy at WSJ, that you can NOT buy thinking that you can rent and make up enough money to pay the HIGH mf's and have extra money to go somewhere else. Other major disappointment is if you can't use your week, GOOD LUCK trying to trade in for another. You have a fat chance, unless you want hurricane season.