[2008] SDKath's guide to 5* platinum [merged]

hypnotiq said:

I imagine that's gonna come at a hefty price.

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Absolutely.....

There are lots of creative ways to get there......even at WSJ.

Don't forget the new 176,700 SO deed at WSJ!


Sent from my iPad

hypnotiq said:

So given that its 649k now for 5* and 4x148.1k puts you at 56600 shy of 5*, you need a 3rd developer purchase to hit 5*.

What's the best idea/philosophy (re: best value) for picking up the last 56600? I'd assume you'd want to pick up a 81k.

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Buy 148k contracts. Retro 196k contracts. Reduce the cost with Svv plat trade in.

Assuming you stick to the 148,100 contracts, one of the cheapest ways would be to retro 3 resale EY 148,100 contracts with 3 EOY 148,100 developer contracts. This way you would end up with 666,450 SO's. You would then try and add an explorer package to each of the developer EOY purchases with the retros to make the deal better. If you could sneak in a trade-in, that would be even better.

SMHarman said:

Buy 148k contracts. Retro 196k contracts. Reduce the cost with Svv plat trade in.

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gtm2011 said:

Assuming you stick to the 148,100 contracts, one of the cheapest ways would be to retro 3 resale EY 148,100 contracts with 3 EOY 148,100 developer contracts. This way you would end up with 666,450 SO's. You would then try and add an explorer package to each of the developer EOY purchases with the retros to make the deal better. If you could sneak in a trade-in, that would be even better.

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You can now get to 5* with just two WSJ developer purchases.
Easier to find route
Buy two Platinum Plus 2 Bedrooms at WSJ with 176700 points each and retro a 148,100 contract on each of them, that's 649,600 points.
With the right SVV tradein I wonder how close to the $40k for minimum new cash for such a project can be achieved for??
Pick up the Palm Desert, Mission Hills or Mountain Vista Plat+ weeks to retro.
Pick up SVV 3Br LOs for the trade in.
That gets you 649,600

Harder to find route
Buy a WSJ 148100 week and a 125000 week
Retro two 196900 weeks (3Brs in HRA or Steamboat)
That gets you 666,900

Is this possible route
Buy one SVV 2 BR LO Plat
Buy one 1 BR PR Plat
Retro two 257700 weeks (are you allowed to retro higher than the purchased week? Or is the key number $20k of new money?)
That gets you 662,800

Advice on getting to 5* Elite?

I posted my Owner's Update experience this week at WKORV where the sales rep was touting the benefits of 4* Elite status if I bought 2 developer units and requal'd my 2 OF WKORV resale units (148k SOs each). Tuggers said it wasn't worth it unless my path was to 5* status. This got me to thinking...

What tips or suggestions do Tuggers have for me to get to 5*? What is that likely to cost in this day? The attractions of 5* status to me are the various perks mentioned before, and the ability to use Starpoints for international travel and airline awards. This would also get me flexibility to use or not use my WKORV units in a particular year. I love Maui and also like to ski with my young adult children.

Assume I have the discretionary income and time to travel. What strategy should I follow? What locations and units would you suggest I consider with the lowest purchase price and MFs to get the additional SOs I need (I calculate I need about 453k SOs (659k-296k).

Thanks in advance, and yes, I have been and will be continuing to read others' accounts on how they did this as well since I have learned a lot from Tuggers.

Ted

Be aware that some aspects of this thread (route to 5*) no longer exists.

If 5*/PFL is something that you really want (but be careful when you justify it - the perceived value may not be what it seems - especially when the rules can and do change)...

Since you already own 2 resale WKORV (worth 148.1K SO each - OF doesn't add value for a requal) - then you might as well retro these SOs, but be aware since these are already M resorts - and there is more value in retroing 148.1 SOs from a V resort.

You will want to buy 2 EOY to requal from SVO that has the most SOs - lowest MFs - for the cheapest cost (likely each greater than $20K). And you may want to consider buying where you want to go in your decision (e.g. WSJ) - also likely will need to buy something that is currently in active sales.

If this doesn't get you enough SOs, then you will need to buy a resale that comes with as many SOs as possible - also cheap and low MFs - that you can requal with a another EOY purcahase from SVO (as above) - and keeping in mind buying where you want to go which may increase you cost, but may be worth the premium.

tborr123 said:

I posted my Owner's Update experience this week at WKORV where the sales rep was touting the benefits of 4* Elite status if I bought 2 developer units and requal'd my 2 OF WKORV resale units (148k SOs each). Tuggers said it wasn't worth it unless my path was to 5* status. This got me to thinking...

What tips or suggestions do Tuggers have for me to get to 5*? What is that likely to cost in this day? The attractions of 5* status to me are the various perks mentioned before, and the ability to use Starpoints for international travel and airline awards. This would also get me flexibility to use or not use my WKORV units in a particular year. I love Maui and also like to ski with my young adult children.

Assume I have the discretionary income and time to travel. What strategy should I follow? What locations and units would you suggest I consider with the lowest purchase price and MFs to get the additional SOs I need (I calculate I need about 453k SOs (659k-296k).

Thanks in advance, and yes, I have been and will be continuing to read others' accounts on how they did this as well since I have learned a lot from Tuggers.

Ted

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One suggestion I have would be to have weeks to trade in for purchase. I just bought a WSJ 3br and traded two weeks in and the net cost was just over $19k, which they qualified for a requal. Also, not sure what impact if any the new SO values at WSJ will have on 5* status, but if none, then the new amounts next year could be a great boost for people looking for 5* status.

He owns 2 OF WKORVs... I sure SVO would love to trade those in - especially at what they are reselling at (~$120K)

DavidnRobin said:

He owns 2 OF WKORVs... I sure SVO would love to trade those in - especially at what they are reselling at (~$120K)

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That's just crazy.

Lol the rep said they have one OF at WKORV for $124,900 which she claimed they will have no problem selling. At the same time a local TS realty has one for $41k.

Some Food for Thought, Devaluations...

I have been a member of the Flyertalk Community for 7 years and some sobering thoughts, to lead to this discussion. There have been significant award devaluations, throughout the travel industry, with both airlines and hotel programs. The airline mileage/hotel points required as risen substantially and the benefits to higher tiered level membership, have diminished.

A few key comments:

1. The Hilton Grand Vacations Club, is offering points through the HHonors program; the problem is that under the devaluation, a 150,000 points gets you "1" night at the Waldorf Hilton London. Paying for a HGVC membership in HHonors points is a scam, that will diminish in value, every couple of years/"enhancements".

2. Programs such as Carlson, Wyndham, IHG (Holiday Inn etc.), Choice, and others have significantly cut the value of their points to air-miles transfer levels. It now takes significantly more points for the miles transferred.

3. Both the airlines and the hotels are reducing the perks given to their top tiered elite cardholders. Thus, lifetime Platinum may have a reduced value in the not so distant future.

In addition, I predict Starwood will come up with a higher level than Platinum, and then reduce the perks given to this level. It is possible, in the future "lifetime Starwood Platinum" will have greatly reduced benefits and fewer trading partners.

4. If your hart is set on Starwood Platinum, for around $2,500 annually you can have it, based on hotel stays. Personally, I would rather Hyatt Diamond, but it is personal preference.

5. I like the idea of StarOptions and will by Vistana Bella/Key West resale for these 80,000 point contracts. The idea of buying 1/2 off points from Starwood annually, is what I do with the airlines. This is a much cheaper option, for the same benefits.

6. In this day and age, being highly financially locked into a company (though we are here) is dangerous. A promise made, is often un-kept, year later.

7. I am deeply impressed with how the OP did this in 2008 and agree with the ideas & benefits stated. The frequent traveler world has changed so much, that "lifetime anything" does not look quite as good as it once did.

You bought a "Lifetime Membership to Delta's Skyclub" which gave comp premium beverage, but now no more. The Disney Dining Plan, again devalued: my Diamond Crown & Anchor Royal Caribbean benefits reduced, etc, etc.

Anyway my thoughts,


George
Miami Beach, Floirda

Does anyone know which properties can be used as trade-ins for credit? Last year I made a developer purchase using 2 SVV weeks I traded in (which I'd bought resale), which brought the total Purchase price of the developer purchase to $19k and I also used an explorer package to buy down the cost as well. As part of that, I requaled an SMV EEY 2br unit I bought resale.

Im planning to purchase another plat 3br BV week but resale to requal with a summer 3br BV developer purchase if I can trade in 1 or 2 weeks like I did last time. I'd then own 3 weeks at 196,000 SO plus my SMV 148.1 (EEY) week, which would get me the time I want, the SO I want, and 5* for about $48k total.

So can I use any weeks to trade back into starwood or just specific properties? Any way to find out what their value would be prior to obtaining them?

Thanks

Only weeks they want - they made me offers on mine for the WSJ CV phase, but still require a minimum of >$20K cash. Why not just buy another BV float week to match your week's season? They are out there - sellers are expecting too much (because they compare what SVO sells them for...) - so keep offering what you are willing to pay.

DavidnRobin said:

Only weeks they want - they made me offers on mine for the WSJ CV phase, but still require a minimum of >$20K cash.

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Last time we were offered 80% of any of our resale weeks original purchase value and 100% of any of our developer weeks original purchase value towards a new developer purchase costing at least an extra $20K. They were offering to help us "realign our portfolio".

Our resales are all at SVR, so I wouldn't have thought them to be "weeks they want".

We were at WKORV at the time, so they were trying to get us to buy a OFD unit there at the current developer price, something like $110K?.

We just left Vistana Villages where we underwent an owners review before we left. As we just purchased 2 weeks at SVV resale, we were interested in what our review would entail. First our rep did not understand what we owned until the boss shared it with him. After some chitchat the boss entered (let's call him Guido) who basically shuffled some paper work around like he was playing three card monte. He said he could buy all our WKORV, WKORVN, DW, Lagunamar, and SVV to allow us to get to 5* by giving us 8 units at SV and Vistana Beach Club PLUS $20,000. He was also allowing us ghost options as we also own DVC (where we are now). We did not mention that the last time we were offered ghost options and purchased, the salesman called us back later and said he could not do it and offered us another resort. The issue was finally resolved at Suzanne Clark's desk where I was given the original deal plus an additional 80,000 star options to drop our claim.

In the end we declined Guido's offer (whatever it was) and decided to forgo any other reviews. I had told my wife that whatever we would want to do here, any cash would involve $20,000. I was right and it confirms the experiences of most on this site.

DavidnRobin said:

Only weeks they want - they made me offers on mine for the WSJ CV phase, but still require a minimum of >$20K cash. Why not just buy another BV float week to match your week's season? They are out there - sellers are expecting too much (because they compare what SVO sells them for...) - so keep offering what you are willing to pay.

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Reason being I'd like the access to SO. We'd like to stay 1-2 weeks annually at WSJ AND go somewhere else during winter, so we need 3 weeks minimum annually. So the way I see it is that for about $10k more than buying resale, we can get 2 weeks time into SVN. I think it's worth it for the large number of SO we're looking at.

Good luck - I suspect that this is going to cost much more than $20 when you find out how much these villas are being sold for by SVO. Tread carefully - do not let the rescind period go by after dust (and vacation brain) has settled.

DavidnRobin said:

Good luck - I suspect that this is going to cost much more than $20 when you find out how much these villas are being sold for by SVO. Tread carefully - do not let the rescind period go by after dust (and vacation brain) has settled.

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Yeah if it's more than $20k it's not worth it. $20k to get a developer week and requal a 196k week would be. That's what I did last year (but requaled SMV) and I did it after I got home. Wouldn't purchase anything here other than debating an explorer package. If I am able to trade in weeks at 80% value and requal a 3br BV, it would be worth it for putting toward the purchase. But if I don't, I'd be overpaying for 5 nights here. So stuck on that one. But that's the biggest purchase I'll make if I make any at all! We'll see tomorrow am. If no one has yet I'll take some pics of the inside of the unit and post if they let me.

Good luck - let us know. Aren't you supposed to be at a beach? Check out Lameshur or at least Salt Pond - or try at least to get to Coral Bay (need car...)
I was offered a similar deal - but were willing to give me full price on my VOIs for the most part (since we own VOIs that can be sold easily by SVO at a huge profit) - no surprise there - but the purchase price of WSJ CV is huge.

DavidnRobin said:

Good luck - let us know. Aren't you supposed to be at a beach? Check out Lameshur or at least Salt Pond - or try at least to get to Coral Bay (need car...)
I was offered a similar deal - but were willing to give me full price on my VOIs for the most part (since we own VOIs that can be sold easily by SVO at a huge profit) - no surprise there - but the purchase price of WSJ CV is huge.

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Well spent the day at the Westin beach while our 2 yo napped. Worse places to be


Took your advice and we're spending morning, and maybe day, with captain Jason, so we'll get to see some beaches along the north shore Thursday.

Hot today. But beautiful. Great grilling weather with a little dofferent ciew than home.



Went to the owners cocktail. Actually surprised. Really nice - and cooler - over at the gazebo. Lots of different drinks and wines on tap (for "free") and some great, "homemade" apps like chicken wrapped in bacon. Kids were in pool with wife on duty so only stayed a short time but was pleasantly surprised.

DavidnRobin said:

Good luck - let us know. Aren't you supposed to be at a beach? Check out Lameshur or at least Salt Pond - or try at least to get to Coral Bay (need car...)
I was offered a similar deal - but were willing to give me full price on my VOIs for the most part (since we own VOIs that can be sold easily by SVO at a huge profit) - no surprise there - but the purchase price of WSJ CV is huge.

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Yeah and the MF are weird, too. So might buy another BV week. The extra steps - and heightened view - wouldn't hurt

Confirm or Deny?

Direct sales is telling me no upgrade/retro credit can be applied to Plat Plus weeks? Last year I did my upgrade/retro requal using weeks applies to platinum bay vista and it was fine.

I have $11k worth of equity in a week I picked up for free that I'm trying to use to grab a PlatPlus Lagunamar week with an SDO true plat requal.

Edit: also told that NO Gold week inventory allowed for trade in credit into WSJ.

The price sheet for WSJ CV you posted said no upgrades for Plat+

Well back home and trying to figure out what to do.

I bought an Explorer Pkg for $2450, which includes 5 nights in a 2br plus 2 ferry passes (we'd have to buy anyway) so it's basically a wash.

I am in the process of closing on a SDO true plat week.

I have a SBP Gold week to (potentially) trade in.

Would I be better off to (these have been offered to me by rep):

1. Purchase an annual plat plus 1br and requal my SDO week for $27,900 - $2450 EP credit? 229,100/yr SO

2. Purchase an EOY 2br BV for $24,900 - $2450 EP credit and requal SDO week (he's ckeckong on whether they'll let me requal with this purchase). 221,250/yr SO (higher MF than 1 but guaranteed WSJ access and love it there)

Options not discussed but thinkkng about after reviewing this thread (again!):
3. Try to see if they still allow upgrades of units and requals - see if I can upgrade my gold SBP week to a higher level SBP and requal my SDO week.

4. See if there's an EEY or EOY Lagunamar 2br and requal my SDO week

FYI - known issues: no trade in credits toward purchase of developer plat plus weeks system wide. No Gold season trade ins for WSJ.

Am I missing a different scenario?