Stupid to Consider Sheraton Flex - Resale?

[dioxide45]

With our recent move to Florida, I see more trips to Orlando and even Vistana Beach Club in the future. More long weekend type options vs week long stays. I know with Vistana that weekends have much higher StarOption requirements, but it seems like Sheraton Flex may be a good option.

We already own two mandatory SVV weeks, both Prime. Picking up other mandatory weeks may work out to about the same MF per SO, but those Prime weeks are getting harder to come by and I am too cheap to pay the prices that they are selling for.

I want small contracts so I can end up with more VOIs to help save on housekeeping fees of multiple long weekend trips. It seems that with Vistana you get one HK per VOI owned, so owning more smaller VOIs would be better. Ideally picking up a couple more mandatory SVV 1BR weeks would be idea, but as mentioned I am just not seeing them. Vistana must be scooping them up with people trading them in for new Sheraton Flex options.

I know that Vistana sold some real small contracts in the 20K range because I knew someone who bought and I convinced them to rescind. I have also seen 44K and similar sized contracts, but smaller would be better.

I know that Sheraton Flex is voluntary, but I have StarOptions that I can use for resort outside of Orlando.

Does anyone definitely know the MF on Sheraton Flex? Based on resale listings (that can't always be trusted and sometimes include the VSN fee), they are between 1.4 and 1.6 cents per point. But I don't really know for sure so it makes it hard to compare costs. However, this would be close to the costs one would pay for SVV Bella or Key West 2BR Prime weeks.

So it seems fro a MF standpoint, there are no major benefits of owning mandatory vs Sheraton Flex. It seems the only benefit would be the ease to unload then down the road. Of course, I am seeing Sheraton Flex selling for $1, so it may be possible to at least give it away later if the plan doesn't work out or our travel changes.

 

[quhines]

I have a EOYO 51700 point Flex. The rate is 0.00773 for the VOI Assessment for $399.64 . Since this is EOY I think if you multiply it by 2 you should get the yearly fee. So I think it should be around 0.01546. So the range seems right.

 

[taterhed]

So it seems fro a MF standpoint, there are no major benefits of owning mandatory vs Sheraton Flex. It seems the only benefit would be the ease to unload then down the road. Of course, I am seeing Sheraton Flex selling for $1, so it may be possible to at least give it away later if the plan doesn't work out or our travel changes.

**** For home resort use.

Obviously mandatory has a huge benefit if you want to travel elsewhere.

This is my thought on the Westin/Hawaii flex as well. I might be interested. But, we'll probably not see those anytime soon.

 

[Ken555]

You want flex to save on HK? I would think any HK benefits would be limited to the flex resorts, so be certain those are the destinations you prefer. I pay ~$39 for HK for my extra stays and suspect there’s only a minor % advantage to paying MF (after considering the value of the associated additional SO) with another deed. You know the value would be no more than ~$39, so unless you need more SOs (for those resorts) I’d be very cautious about acquiring more weeks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ken555]

You might be better off trying to travel via II getaway weeks and similar. Much more flexible, and I’ve seen lots of availability in Florida (though if you want prime season, it’s more difficult).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[dioxide45]

I have a EOYO 51700 point Flex. The rate is 0.00773 for the VOI Assessment for $399.64 . Since this is EOY I think if you multiply it by 2 you should get the yearly fee. So I think it should be around 0.01546. So the range seems right.

Thanks for the exact number. I had seen an EOY 51,700 auction on ebay with a MF listed at $550. I assumed that it included the VSN fee which wouldn't be required with a voluntary resale. So that would put it at $405, close to your number. I will go with the 0.01546 to do my comparisons.

 

[dioxide45]

You want flex to save on HK? I would think any HK benefits would be limited to the flex resorts, so be certain those are the destinations you prefer. I pay ~$39 for HK for my extra stays and suspect there’s only a minor % advantage to paying MF (after considering the value of the associated additional SO) with another deed. You know the value would be no more than ~$39, so unless you need more SOs (for those resorts) I’d be very cautious about acquiring more weeks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, of course the HK benefit would only be for flex stays. That would be the only way we could use the Flex points anyway. With perhaps five or six weekend stays a year, those HK fees would start to add up. I now need to run the full comparison of value since I have a better understanding of the Flex MFs.

You might be better off trying to travel via II getaway weeks and similar. Much more flexible, and I’ve seen lots of availability in Florida (though if you want prime season, it’s more difficult).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Possibly, but getaways are always week long stays. Though, depending on how the numbers come out, it may still make more sense. The problem is that with many getaways you can't check in on a Thursday, though some Marriott's do have Thur checkin.

 

[dioxide45]

So I ran the numbers and it seems that the higher MFs of Flex over SVV wipes out the benefit of saved HK fees. I guess I will just continue to work with what we own and have banked and try to add on some SVV 1BR units down the road.

 

[Ken555]

So I ran the numbers and it seems that the higher MFs of Flex over SVV wipes out the benefit of saved HK fees. I guess I will just continue to work with what we own and have banked and try to add on some SVV 1BR units down the road.

It was a nice idea. Look into the getaways...and try for a Friday-Tuesday instead of Thur-Mon, and it may be beneficial to just leave early on Tuesday even after paying for a week.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[dioxide45]

It was a nice idea. Look into the getaways...and try for a Friday-Tuesday instead of Thur-Mon, and it may be beneficial to just leave early on Tuesday even after paying for a week.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The only problem with Getaways is the flexibility. I have seen pretty late availability in StarOptions in Orlando. Getaways usually dry up about 60 days out if not more. I like the ability to make some last minute reservations, like the week before. So while getaways are comparable price wise when I ran the numbers, it seems owning points (or SOs provides some more last minute flexibility.

 

[sjsharkie]

So I ran the numbers and it seems that the higher MFs of Flex over SVV wipes out the benefit of saved HK fees. I guess I will just continue to work with what we own and have banked and try to add on some SVV 1BR units down the road.

Hey Dioxide--

I own multiple SVV 1br units which is how I generate the majority of my SOs to go to Hawaii with extended family every year. (I also supplement with trading through II, but that has gotten more and more difficult for summer weeks compared to 8 or 9 years ago when I started trading through II). At the time of purchase, this was the cheapest SO/mf at SVV available -- times have changed but looking at my mfs, they still are a good option for generating reasonably priced SOs for inexpensive (at least at the time) mandatory intervals. Since, like me, you already have other mandatory units, the benefit of adding these is you don't need to add the VSN club fee to the calculation since that is already a sunk cost with your other mandatory intervals.

It has worked out for me -- quite well. As you noted, the benefit of this is the additional HK "token" granted for each interval. (If you look another recent Staroptions related thread, I post there on the mf/SO and I probably should edit it to add this additional benefit). I don't use all of the tokens that I have in my account for the intervals I own because I typically book longer stays.

-ryan