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Owner Update on Starwood Changes

Scott & Laura

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Hello We just returned from Cancun Lagunamar We went to an owners update because of all changes in Air

They were helpful
Interval Leisure Group (ILG) purchased Starwood Vacation Networks and not Interval International. Interval International is a division of ILG.

Under the agreement Westin and Sheraton owners will be granted continued access to the SPG program ---This makes sense since Owners can exchange their ownership for SPG points and SVN then rents the Vacation rooms and pockets the cash. When SPG points are used at Hotels SVN then pays in cash to the Hotels for the rooms rented at Hotels. Even though Hotels were sold Marriot will acquire a large revenue stream from Vacation Owners using SPG points to rent the rooms. Much like Delta points can be used on KLM airlines. KLM gets cash from Delta for the points. Interval has worked an agreement with Starwood to preserve program and has 15 years of dealing with Starwood Vacation Network.

Marriot who bought Hotel side I don't think wants to mess with Starwoods Elite status program for Vaction Owners. Starwood users are very loyal to Starwood and their program is a little better than Marriots. Marriot Hotels have less frills than Starwoods. Marriot by purchasing the Hotels will have access to a loyal Brand and will not want to anger 2,000,000 customers by dumping or reducing their SPG program. That could cause a loss of revenue . Marriot will also gain access to proprietary insider info that can make their programs better all over.

When Marriot bought Hyatt they used a hands off approach.

So at end of day Marriot could
1) Take hands off approach
2) Merge with Marriots and fine tune them
3) They could run parallel programs and find a way to evenly exchange SPG for Marriots such as SPG gets 5 Marriott points for each SPG


I think overall expansion of programs makes most sense.

Also We were shown best guess Properties to be expanded next

Steamboat
Los Cabos--because of insurance money from Hurricane last year and you can't book their
Cancun


Scott
 

cubigbird

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Sounds like a typical owners update. They'll say anything to get you to buy. I'd take what sales says with a grain of salt. No one knows anything about any changes yet which has led to incredible speculation - see existing thread.

OTOH I'd love to see Steamboat open up more inventory and Cabo come online. I don't think anyone will know more until Nanea sells out, but then again, that's where the money is at so they are focusing on that.

WLR is an awesome property. Enjoy the warm temps in November.
 

Scott & Laura

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We told them up front we were not buying

They made no attempt to sell or make a presentation. They answered all our questions and of course they will not know until around June next year until after closing

Marriot did not interfere with Hyatt when they bought it and would lose a large revenue stream if they dispensed with SPG points

Scott
 

SueDonJ

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We told them up front we were not buying

They made no attempt to sell or make a presentation. They answered all our questions and of course they will not know until around June next year until after closing

Marriot did not interfere with Hyatt when they bought it and would lose a large revenue stream if they dispensed with SPG points

Scott

Marriott hasn't ever bought or owned Hyatt. hyatt.com Company History
 

Helios

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dioxide45

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We told them up front we were not buying

They made no attempt to sell or make a presentation. They answered all our questions and of course they will not know until around June next year until after closing

Marriot did not interfere with Hyatt when they bought it and would lose a large revenue stream if they dispensed with SPG points

Scott

Thanks for the information. Interesting to see how the sales staff are spinning it, even though what they are saying is just as much speculation as what is being discussed in the threads here.
 

SMHarman

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We told them up front we were not buying

They made no attempt to sell or make a presentation. They answered all our questions and of course they will not know until around June next year until after closing

Marriot did not interfere with Hyatt when they bought it and would lose a large revenue stream if they dispensed with SPG points

Scott
ILG bought Hyatt timeshare. So far their actions have been benign.

Marriott has never bought anything Hyatt.

If I were iLG I see synergies running VVE and Hyatt timeshare on the same tech. I also see exchange synergies where I take a vig.
 

Helios

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ILG bought Hyatt timeshare. So far their actions have been benign.

Marriott has never bought anything Hyatt.

If I were iLG I see synergies running VVE and Hyatt timeshare on the same tech. I also see exchange synergies where I take a vig.

The synergies with Hyatt is something I also expect.
 

suzannesimon

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I'm so glad you gave us the Owner Update. I will pass on the one here at Harborside now. I do like how there is no pressure to buy or to go do updates with Starwood. No great incentives are offered, however.
 

taterhed

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Thanks for the great update....have a great vaca
 

SueDonJ

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Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. I think he meant ILG instead of Marriott.

I was reading it as the sales rep making the inference that, "because Marriott didn't change Hyatt's loyalty points program when they acquired Hyatt, you can expect that they won't change things with SPG."

It does make some sense as the inference, "because ILG didn't change Hyatt's loyalty points program when they acquired Hyatt, you can expect that they won't change things with SPG." Except that, ILG won't be administering whatever form the SPG program takes after all is said and done; Marriott will. And Marriott has proven time and time again that they're as likely to devalue the Marriott Rewards program as they are to enhance it.
 
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dsmrp

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. I also see exchange synergies where I take a vig.

What's a 'vig' ? a word entry program change up? :)

I think tho' with duplication of shared services from the company spinoff-sales, some Starwood or Hyatt employees will be RIF'ed after sales complete next year. Makes sense for management to allay concerns of their staff in the meanwhile. Some Starwood & Hyatt employees have more to be concerned about than we do.
 

SMHarman

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What's a 'vig' ? a word entry program change up? :)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vig&defid=482965
vig

1)the interest payment on a loan paid back to the creditor by a certain percent.*
2)short for "vigorish" used in gambling;When wagering on a straight wager (point spread or total), you lay a certain amount of money to win a smaller amount of money. The difference between what is wagered and what is won is called the 'Juice' or 'VIG'. This 'Juice' or 'VIG' is one of the ways a sports book makes its money. In football and basketball the 'Juice' (or 'VIG') is 10%. In other words, for every $110 wagered you will win $100. If you lose the wager, you lose $110. If you win the wager, you get the $110 'Juice' refunded to you, plus the $100 in winnings ($110 + $100 = $210 total paid back to your account).

1)joe, "Lucky Hands wants one over prime".*
tony, "what?".*
joe, "he wants 1 point over the vig"*
2)joe, "i wonder what the vig is for the jay hawks, huskers game?"*
vito, "10%"
In this case the commission they take.

In the Marriott program you can't do an identical week trade. Your week may cost 100 points to book but when you turn your week in for points you only get 95 points.

That's Marriott's vig.
 
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dsmrp

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http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vig&defid=482965

In this case the commission they take.

In the Marriott program you can't do an identical week trade. Your week may cost 100 points to book but when you turn your week in for points you only get 95 points.

That's Marriott's vig.

Ah, got it, thanks!
I recall seeing on Marriott forum something about their skim, aka vig.
Everyone's hopeful to get some on the Hyatt and VSE units ILG will own ;)
 

Helios

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Seeing a Hyatt unit in II is rare, isn't it? Perhaps I don't look too often.
 

Scott & Laura

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I erred: Sorry Marriott bought Ritz Carlton not Hyatt I dont know what I was thinking

Apologoizies


Marriott kept a hand off approach on Ritz-Carlton and may likely do same


Scott
 

Scott & Laura

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Two other notes


1) The update gentleman from Cancun understands that in the future all SVN sales locations will be able to sell all Starwood properties. He himself understands that in the future even though he is in Cancun he will be able to sell Starwood in Maui in the new spinoff company. That appears to be good news as more salespeople selling Starwood real estate to a broader audience - I personally believe would drive up value of property some what. More sales pitches to more customers.

2) The update gentleman also explained that the SHeraton flex program involved flex properties originally owned in a legal fashion that lent them to being bundled as they were. He said he is not sure if they will put more Sheratons in the bundle or not as it was a legal question

He stated the Spirit behind the flex program was to allow people to buy merely the points they needed to achieve a higher status. In the non-flex sales you have to buy a minimum of a fixed week with (for instance) 148,000 points as in Maui.

He said with the flex program you buy fractions of a week so you can buy the 10,000 points only if you need them

I am still bumfuzzled by flex so others who are more acute may want to clarify


Scott
 

Ken555

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Seeing a Hyatt unit in II is rare, isn't it? Perhaps I don't look too often.


Happens all the time, especially certain resorts. Search the sightings board for more details.


Sent from my iPad
 

BigBC

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Wow...Marriott was not "hands off' after the purchase. They changed the hard good suppliers so that in room product (linen, soaps, etc.) quality dropped significantly. In 1994, Ritz owned most of the top 20 resorts on any list. They lost more than 50% of their repeat guests compay wide and lost the 'stature' they once had. 6 or 7 months ago they promoted a long time leader, Herve Humler, to President in an effort to recapture former glory (Humler comes from the Horst Schulze era).

Related to the sales update that started this threas, its all sales noise. The biggest impact wil be to the Starwood Vacations Club products and access. Marriott currently supports Marriott Vacations Club. So will MVC allow Marriott to support SPG benefits for Starwood Vacations Club, its competitor?
 

okwiater

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Related to the sales update that started this threas, its all sales noise. The biggest impact wil be to the Starwood Vacations Club products and access. Marriott currently supports Marriott Vacations Club. So will MVC allow Marriott to support SPG benefits for Starwood Vacations Club, its competitor?

The new Marriott (post-Starwood merger) will be paid handsomely by both MVC and SVO/ILG for the affiliation. MVC won't have a say in SVO/ILG's affairs, other than that MVC will still have the exclusive ability to market timeshares under the Marriott name.
 
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