posted 11-30-2004 18:29               

My retired parents just went to a timeshare presentation and purchased 60,000 Starwood Points for $1,500. This is a one-time usage, and they won't get these points each year (once they're gone, they're gone). They have 7 days to cancel, and I'm very concerned that they got ripped off. How much do Starwood points go for on the resale market? I know a lot about timeshares in the weeks system, but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to points. Please help!

Happy Holidays!
Liz Fox

posted 11-30-2004 18:46               

If they really did just buy StarPoints, I don't think it is a good deal. For example - 2 tickets to Hawaii will cost you 70,000 StarPoints or you can get 6 nights in a Starwood Hotel (but not timeshare) for 60,000 Starpoints - neither is worth $1,500 to me.
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Denise

posted 11-30-2004 18:50            

The value for StarOptions can be found here:
http://www.starwoodvo.com/ownership/pdf/Weekly_StarOptions_Chart.pdf

The value for Starpoints can be found here:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/redeem_landing.html

posted 11-30-2004 19:05               

StarPoints (within the Starwood Preferred Guest program) are usable for hotel stays at Sheratons, Westins, Four Points, St. Regis and W hotels. One night goes for 2000 to 12000 a night, depending on the "catagory" of the particular hotel. 60,000 points would probably get them 8-10 nights at a nice hotel-- more than that at a "no-frills" hotel. They can also be converted into ff miles, generally at a 1 to 1 ratio, except that for every 20,000 transferred, you get a bonus 5,000. So 60,000 points could be converted into 75,000 ff miles.

IMHO, I think there are better things they could spend their money on.

posted 11-30-2004 19:11               

Thanks for your quick responses,
Liz Fox

posted 11-30-2004 19:31            

To answer your question:
A catgory 4 hotel is 10000 starpoints/night http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/hotel_listings_cat4.html
A Catagory 5 hotel is 12000-16000 starpoints/night http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/hotel_listings_cat5.html
A catagory 6 hotel is 20000-25000 starpoints/night http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/hotel_listings_cat6.html

Also...Redeem five consecutive nights and get the fifth night free at Category 3, 4, 5 and 6 hotels.

Redeem 28,000 Starpoints, get the fifth night free at a Category 3 Hotel
Redeem 40,000 Starpoints , get the fifth night free at a Category 4 Hotel
Redeem 48,000 - 64,000 Starpoints, get the fifth night free at a Category 5 Hotel*
Redeem 80,000 - 100,000 Starpoints, get the fifth night free at a Category 6 Hotel*

And: Nights & Flights Awards
Combine your Starpoints(SM) and miles to pay for your whole vacation package!

With Nights & Flights, you can redeem 60,000 Starpoints for 50,000 airline miles and five free nights at a Category 3 hotel or resort.
With Nights & Flights II, you can redeem 70,000 Starpoints and receive 50,000 airline miles and five free nights at a Category 4 hotel or resort.

You could make those points go a long way at some nice places, but you could also not break even.

posted 11-30-2004 20:03               

quote:

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Originally posted by lizfox:
My parents definitely purchased 60,000 StarPoints because they are planning on using these points to stay at a Sheraton hotel in Australia. Now, I just need to know if $1,500 is a good price for 60,000 StarPoints, or would it be cheaper just to pay for the hotel without using points?

Thanks for your quick responses,
Liz Fox

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The easy answer is to find out how much it would cost to just pay for their stay at the Starwood Hotel in Australia and compare it to the cost of the points for the stay. Since StarPoints are not commonly bought and sold, it is hard to place a value on them, but I personally would not pay $1,500 for 60,000 StarPoints.

My Starwood book lists 13 Australian Hotels and 7 of them cost 10,000 points a night, 1 costs 7,000 points a night, 2 of them cost 3,000 points a night and 3 of them cost 2,000 points a night. If you tell us where they want to stay, and approximately when they want to go, I can pin it down more.

Click here to see their Australian Hotels - http://tinyurl.com/5ygbl

If that doesn't work, go here, and choose Australia and some dates - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/index.html?back=-1

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Denise

posted 11-30-2004 20:43               

I have heard that Starpoints cost the sales team .02 each, or in your parents' case, a $1200 cost to the sales person. If they stayed 6 nights at a category 4 hotel, it would have to be retail $250/night for them to break even. There are Starwoods that charge more than that per night, depending on the time of year. And this includes taxes too so maybe it's not such a bad deal. I think like others have said, you just need to figure out which hotel in Australia they are going to visit, and see whether they can get a better deal booking direct. If it isn't much of a savings, I see no huge benefit in keeping the Starpoints, so they should get a refund.

posted 11-30-2004 20:44               

Starpoints are very valuable if you have patience to wait for Starwood double mileage promos(Qantas in 2002, British Airways in 2003).

Starwood points are great for travel abroad especially the Euro zone countries, where the US $ is worth less and less everyday. Westin Dublin for example costs >$400/day and you can stay there for just 10,000 starpoints.

In cat 3 & higher you get a free fifth night if you stay 4 nights; for example you can stay at the following Cat 4 hotels worldwide for 5 nights without blackouts for just 40,000 starpoints :
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/hotel_listings_cat4.html#5

Sara
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Sudwala(2), Westin Maui

[This message has been edited by skim118 (edited 11-30-2004).]

posted 12-01-2004 20:02               

quote:

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Originally posted by skim118:
Starpoints are very valuable if you have patience to wait for Starwood double mileage promos(Qantas in 2002, British Airways in 2003).
Sara

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We might be going to the UK in the next 6 mos. or so, how do you find out about these deals?

posted 12-02-2004 00:10               

The Disneyworld Swan is 10,000 starpoints a night, and anything under $200 a night (including tax and resort charge) is a good rate for that hotel during busier seasons. So, 5 nights would be 80,000 points with the 5th night free. A few thousand Starpoints more a night will get you a suite. I don't know what suites go for there, but I'd guess a lot.

So, it *might* be worth the money, if your parents have a specific usage that provides a high value per Starpoint. It's not a definite rip-off.

The folks at www.flyertalk.com could probably provide you with more information. I'd post on the Starwood Preferred Guest forum there.

Where was the presentation where your parents got this offer?

(edited for spelling and clarity)

posted 12-02-2004 08:21               

The amazing feature of Starpoints is that you can book a hotel-room without blackout dates(Dec 31 for example).

Denise:

I usually get all my Starwood deals from Flyertalk SPG forum and I will definitely re-post in TUG when I see a good one.

I owe a lot to a fellow Tug'er(from Marriott board) who helped me get into the British Airways FF program without actually flying in BA. BA has an uppity FF program which will not let you join unless you fly with them(not just with discount economy tickets either). They will let you join in with a BA Visa credit-card though.

posted 12-02-2004 09:24               

here is a thread that tells you about it:
http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum6/HTML/001174.html

posted 12-02-2004 15:12               

Thank you for all of your help and comments. I think my parents are going to do okay if they keep these points. FYI: My parents went to a timeshare presentation at Weston Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage. They didn't purchase a timeshare (thank God), but they did purchase these points).

Thanks again for your help,
Liz Fox

posted 12-02-2004 17:12               

quote:

---

Originally posted by skim118:
I owe a lot to a fellow Tug'er(from Marriott board) who helped me get into the British Airways FF program without actually flying in BA. BA has an uppity FF program which will not let you join unless you fly with them(not just with discount economy tickets either). They will let you join in with a BA Visa credit-card though.

---

I don't remember exactly how, but following advice from folks on FlyerTalk, we were able to open a BA FF account without a Visa and without ever having flown. As I recall, we were only allowed to do this because we were transferring Starpoints. (another advantage of Starpoints?)

Edited to add that with that program, 20,000 Starpoints = 50,000 BA miles. (20,000 of my Starpoints + 5,000 bonus for transferring = 25,000 x 2 = 50,000). That was a sweet deal. I hope they do it again-- I have more Starpoints now than I did then...

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~Arlene

posted 12-14-2004 07:36               

Check out Starwood's site and you'll see the my 48,000 points will get me between $2,000 and $2,500 worth of hotel with, once again, 20% of those 60,000 points left over.

On the other hand, I'm sure that there are ways to use (or misuse) the points that would make them worth considerably less.