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StarOptions for Sheraton Vistana Fountains I and II

mishpat

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To:pointsjunkie

The reason i said 90 days is that with only 76000 StarOptions, I am defintely not getting any high season two bedroom units in SVN other than my own. That said, i am curious what trading in Interval will yield in quality US or Caribbean high season trades. Seems it has to be better than SVN strict limitations.
 

DeniseM

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The reason i said 90 days is that with only 76000 StarOptions, I am defintely not getting any high season two bedroom units in SVN other than my own. That said, i am curious what trading in Interval will yield in quality US or Caribbean high season trades. Seems it has to be better than SVN strict limitations.

At 90 days it is even harder to get a Staroption exchange - your best chance for a Staroption exchange is at exactly 8 mos. out, at 8:59 am ET. You only have to wait until 90 days out for reservations of less than a week. And the Staroption requirements don't change, so at 90 days out, you still couldn't get a 2 bdm.

There are lots of Starwood II sightings on the Sightings Board to give you an idea of what's available on II. You can get 2 bdms. at the top resorts, like Hawaii, but mostly off-season.
 

nodge

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I am curious what trading in Interval will yield in quality US or Caribbean high season trades. Seems it has to be better than SVN strict limitations.


As far as trades go, I just wanted to report that I just got a call from an exchange company, and it found us a requested exchange using my large one bedroom SDO that we had deposited a couple of years ago. The exchange window was about to expire, so we had to settle for a non-air conditioned unit in August, in a villa that doesn’t even have a dishwasher or a washer/dryer . . . .




. . . in a TWO-BEDROOM villa in the HEART OF LONDON!!!!!! (aka Unit No. 10 in the Sloane Gardens Club)

Yep, that’s right, although SFX and I haven’t seen eye-to-eye in the past, that one little phone call has erased each and every bad thought I’ve ever had toward ‘em.

Now, I’ve got to search all the sofas in our house for any loose diamond rings that may have fallen between the cushions so we can afford air fare.

Regarding my other exchange company trades with my lowly SDO (which is probably about the same on the exchange food chain as an updated VR Fountains unit), here are a few:

Using II:

Trader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Traded For

Small one bedroom SDO (Gold Season). . . .. . Small one bedroom at WMH’s (Platinum Season)

Large one-bedroom SDO (Gold Season). . . . . Two Studios at WKORV-N in April (under 2-for-1 II promo)

Large one-bedroom SDO (Gold Season). . . . . .Large one bedroom at WKORV-N in Nov. AND studio at WKORV-N during the same time in NOV (by asking real nicely for the 2-for-1 II promo)

Here are a few links to recent SVO sightings using my SDO:

WPORV (Kauai)

WKORV (Maui)

WKORV-N (Maui)

Sheraton Mountain Vista (Avon) Ski Weeks

Harborside at Atlantis (Bahamas)

Westin Lagunamar (Cancun)

Four Seasons Aviara (Calsbad, California)

Disney's Old Key West

Disney's Saratoga Springs




Using SFX:

Using a large one bedroom SDO (March week) as a trader:

We got:

1 week in a large one-bedroom at the Mayan Palace in Riviera Maya (near Cancun, Mexico) over New Years; AND,

1 week in a 2 bedroom near Salzburg, Austria in July (Club La Costa Alpine Centre - which we ended up not using); AND,

1 week in a 2 bedroom in LONDON in August.

(Yep, we got all three weeks for that one large bedroom SDO March week)



Using RCI:

We’ve never traded anything using RCI, but often buy its “extra vacations” for cheap. These include: Large one bedrooms at SDO in Nov for $400/week, Manhattan Club 1 bedroom/2 bath weeks in the summer for “cheap” (about $225/night), lots of weeks in Orlando and other places for family and friends using RCI guest certificates.

Armed with II, RCI, and SFX memberships and having a job that requires you to sit on your butt in front of a computer with internet access all day, you can rule the timeshare exchange world and not have to rely on SVO’s over-hyped StarOptions.

-nodge
 
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rfb813

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I noticed that in the Star Central FAQ for the new resorts being added from Vistana that the starpoints for those units will depend on the time of year. with what is called a Prime season during which the 2BR unit will have a value of 42000 Starpoints. Since SVN has indicated that the Staroptions for the units will increase I assumed that the starpoints would also increase particularly if SVN is giving the added units a higher Starpoint value. I emailed SVN (see below) and received a negative reply.
This doesn't seem fair considering that the newly added units will have higher value. Someone in SVN need to think this over.


Posted by: Owner 05-17-2008 7:54 a.m. Eastern
As an owner at Vistana Resort, Cascades, I am delighted that the number of StarOptions will increase for 67,100 to 76,000. In reviewing the information provided for those owners of Fountains unit weeks that will be allowed to join SVN it is noted that the Starpoints values for the prime weeks 50, 51 and 52 will be 42,000 annually. I am a deeded week 50 owner at Cascades and am assuming that this will mean that the number of Starpoints for my unit will increase form 32,000 to 42,000 annually. If this is incorrect, why?



I would appreciate a reply.


Here is the reply:


Dear Mr. Birk,

Thank you for contacting Sheraton Vacation Ownership.


We regret to inform you that the StarPoint value for your ownership week in the Cascades section of the Sheraton Vistana Resort will not be increasing at this time. This decision is subject to change in the future, as we monitor the impact the current valuations have on our owners on a regular basis. Your patience is greatly appreciated during this time.

Should you need further assistance, please contact Owner Services at 800.847.8262 in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, 0.800.89.5065 in the United Kingdom, 001.800.847.8262 from Mexico and 407.903.4640 for all other areas. Owner Services is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

Sincerely,
Catherine Warren
E-Communications Specialist
Owner Services
 

CeeWoo

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I've looked at what some of the Sheraton hotels charge if you use StarPoints in relation to what they'll give me for my fountains week, and I doubt I'll ever convert to Starpoints.
 

pointsjunkie

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Watch out - do not click on links.

go to the thread svo on sale and look for the ad starwood sent some of us. the prices are good and the starpoints for the vistana beach club is 85000, plus if you use your starwood amex .but if you want to requalify the $20000 rule still stand so you will have to buy 2 units for each requal,unless you can use your persuasive deal making like you did with the others.
 

mclay

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Can you "bank" StarOptions? i.e. use 152,000 staroptions to trade to various resorts every other year?
 
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