HGVC Points

There is no perfect system for timeshares. One person's aggravation is another person's cherished benefit.

I'm a Marriott refugee. Their system is geared to benefit the big owners (either points or weeks). I wasn't a big owner and ended up getting the leftovers, even when I tried to "play the game" and book right on the dot (I never seemed to be able to get in at the precise moment, and by the time I got in, I couldn't book what I wanted. All availability gone.)

At HGVC, I paid for exactly what I wanted, and I am able to get it at the owner's window open. But, yes, I lose flexibility in room type, and I pay top dollars (for HGVC) for maintenance fees. TANSTAAFL.

I like it. But then again I go to the same place year after year by choice. I'm a Hawaii snowbird. . .

My first timeshare was with Trend West (now WorldMark) a purely point based system. In six years I was only able to book at a WM property once - in Angels Camp. All other properties in Cali, Florida or Hawaii were always booked solid a year out when we wanted to travel. We did travel quite a bit but were all RCI trades and even then it was getting hard to find nice properties in high seasons.

We've owned in Hawaii now since 2009 with HGVC and never have a problem finding what we want, when we want it. It will be interesting to see how easy we can get into the new Maui property once it opens or the other HI properties as they sell more contracts but so far we are very happy with the system. We own a 2BR Platinum (7000 pts EY) but usually travel off season so we can 'stretch our points' and upgrade to a premier room - or we stay in a villa at the Beach Club and carry the left over points into the next year. It works for us, at least for now.

Both of you made solid points... there really is no perfect system. I initially was frustrated after we made our offer to figure this out, however it is what it is.

If our sale falls through I will be bummed because we got an amazing purchase price, however I will find a resort with lower maint fees or just purchase platinum when we will be able to use them

I purchased a gold week 2 bedroom Kohala Suites - $395 plus half of closing costs... (Net $1070) We will have to see if it passes ROFR... I have heard some cases that it will and some that it won't but we shall see.

simon.fisher.2 said:

Thanks to the wonderful Tug community and the advice over the past few years - my wife and I made an offer on our second timeshare.

5800 EOY Gold points - HGVC Kohala Suites - $395

Hoping that we are able to get this - we have stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village many times and are super excited to have a timeshare with access to the hotel.

This is going to be the longest wait of my life... Lol - sorry for being dramatic I'm just super excited.

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I found this post from your other thread. It appears that you're interested in future stays on the Big Island. There is less of a demand for the Big Island properties so you shouldn't have any issues finding availability. I think you can probably buy any HGVC resort with lower maint fees to book your Kohala stays.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) is the only beachfront HGVC resort in Hawaii therefore it has the highest demand and competition for weeks. Folk own at HHV if they want guaranteed reservations otherwise you have to take whatever is leftover. The resort also offer ocean view rooms and is centrally located in Waikiki. The HGVC resorts on the Big Island are all inland (not beachfront) and further out in Waikoloa (not Kona), so there is normally lots of availability weeks/months after the 9 month window open.

Also keep in mind that in Hawaii weeks 51 & 52 were sold as fixed event weeks. What does this mean? There will automatically be less availability during this time period. These weeks are pre-reserved for these fixed event week owners and don't become available until they release their week which can be at anytime. If they are released during the home booking period Platinum Seasons owners will have first crack at reserving these weeks before Club Season begins. The designated check-in date is Saturday so most availability will be from Saturday to Saturday (except for possibly any weeks that HGVC owns and they will determine which days they will make available).
NOTE: Some folks have found availability online months later. So it pays to keep looking.

Here's what I currently see online in the Revolution Reservation Systems for Kohala Suites
(NOTE: Kohala only has two bedrooms units)
For Open Season - all nights available in all unit types (standard, plus and premier)
For 2016: all nights available in all unit types (except around Thanksgiving, and XMAS/NYE where there is currently no availability and a few one day gaps in the standard two bedroom in December)
For 2017: all nights available in all unit types from Jan 7 thru May 22 (except the standard one bedroom has several gaps in availability between Jan 24 and Feb 20)
NOTE: There might be more competition from late June to mid August for the lower point rooms but I don't recall summer availability being an issue for the Big Island resorts as long as you book early. Perhaps someone who regularly books peak summer weeks at Kohala or Kings Land can provide feedback regarding unit type availability for peak summer months.


Other threads you might find interesting
- Kings Land 2br (2012) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173030
- Phase 3 at Kings Land (2016) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238439
- Reserving a Hard To Get Week(2013) http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202535
- Availability for week 51 and 52 (2009) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94978
- What is the Deal with HGVC Honolulu and Dec 24-25 ? (2016) http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240129
- Why go to HGVC on the big island at all? (2015) http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236611

Thanks for the awesome links! I would really like to see the Ocean Tower be converted. When I was there this summer we attended an HGVC presentation at Kingsland and asked the salesman about it. He said that it is still in the works and does not know when they will break ground on it. Also - he mentioned that they might be adding an actual beach area. This is from the salesman so I would not hold your breath.


So in regards to platinum season.. can a platinum season owner book a gold week during the 9-12 month window?

simon.fisher.2 said:

So in regards to platinum season.. can a platinum season owner book a gold week during the 9-12 month window?

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No, during the home week window you can only book exactly what you own.

FROM POST #10 in the thread

(1) Home Week window (3 month period begins 12 months prior to check-in and ends 9 months prior to check-in; requires a full week in the unit type and season owned on the designation home Week check-in date)

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simon.fisher.2 said:

So in regards to platinum season.. can a platinum season owner book a gold week during the 9-12 month window?

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We do it all the time at the 9 month window - I own Platinum and we usually travel in early September around Labor Day to stretch our points. We might use less than our total annual points staying at the Bay Club then carry over to the next year.

My home week is in May - we usually travel in September around Labor Day and never have an issue booking 9 months out on the Big Island. We owned at Kohala, 2BR Platinum EOY and by traveling Gold Season we could stretch our points staying at the Bay Club and go every year. We traded up to a KL 2BR EY Platinum. This year we upgraded to a 2BR premier by stretching - hope to be able to get into the new Maui property that way - stay one year at Beach Club and the next at Maui.

Shmiddy said:

My home week is in May - we usually travel in September around Labor Day and never have an issue booking 9 months out on the Big Island. We owned at Kohala, 2BR Platinum EOY and by traveling Gold Season we could stretch our points staying at the Bay Club and go every year. We traded up to a KL 2BR EY Platinum. This year we upgraded to a 2BR premier by stretching - hope to be able to get into the new Maui property that way - stay one year at Beach Club and the next at Maui.

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Just to clarify - we're talking about the home week reservation window.

Unless you own a fixed week, your deeded week number in May has nothing to do with the home week reservation window. Your deeded week number will be associated with a specific season.

Per the HGVC - http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/club-features/reservations/
"Home Week reservations are consecutive night reservations at the resort at which a Member has an ownership interest in the season and unit type owned, for the number of days owned."

"[D]uring the home week window you can only book exactly what you own."
"[Y]our deeded week has nothing to do with the home week reservation window."
----------------------
If you find these statements confusing (as I did), I'll muddy the water some more...

(1) The week specified on your deed only determines the season in which it falls.
(2) A home-week reservation does not need to be on your deeded week; rather...
(3) The reservation must be in the same season, same size, at the same resort;
(4) It must begin on the resort's specified check-in day; and
(5) The points used must be the points allotted for the year of your stay.
-- borrowed or banked points cannot be used for a home-week stay.

I've never made a home-week reservation, and never intend to do so.
Club reservations OTOH, are so much more flexible, it's nearly hotel-like.
.

Where do you find the Resorts Specified check-in date for home week? Seems like i have spotted that on the website in the past, but am not seeing it anymore...

1Kflyerguy said:

Where do you find the Resorts Specified check-in date for home week? Seems like i have spotted that on the website in the past, but am not seeing it anymore...

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It's listed on the resort page under the "Check-in/Check-out" section.
Here's an example - http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/resort/waikoloa-beach-resort-Waikoloa-hawaii/

alwysonvac said:

Just to clarify - we're talking about the home week reservation window.

Unless you own a fixed week, your deeded week number in May has nothing to do with the home week reservation window. Your deeded week number will be associated with a specific season.

Per the HGVC - http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/club-features/reservations/
"Home Week reservations are consecutive night reservations at the resort at which a Member has an ownership interest in the season and unit type owned, for the number of days owned."

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OK - I learned something, thank you. So I own a 2BR at KL and I can book 9-12 months out at any time of year for that room only - my check in window as of today is May 10th - August 19th. Got it. If I want to stretch my points or stay at another local I have to be inside of 9 months of the dates I want to travel when booking.

alwysonvac said:

It's listed on the resort page under the "Check-in/Check-out" section.
Here's an example - http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/resort/waikoloa-beach-resort-Waikoloa-hawaii/

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Thanks, there are so many different resort listings, gallery, etc and they all have slightly different details. sometimes that makes it hard to find what you want... Plus now we have the new website, old website and the Mobile App versions...

Shmiddy said:

OK - I learned something, thank you. So I own a 2BR at KL and I can book 9-12 months out at any time of year for that room only - my check in window as of today is May 10th - August 19th. Got it. If I want to stretch my points or stay at another local I have to be inside of 9 months of the dates I want to travel when booking.

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You almost have it
Not any time of year. It has to be in the season you own.
And the check-in window is also based on the season you own.

For example:
Based on your previous post it looks like you currently own
- a standard two bedroom (not plus or premier)
- during Platinum Season (not Gold Season)
- at the Kings Land Resort.

From the HGVC resort page for Kings Land (use this link) we can tell the following:
(1) Platinum weeks at the Kings Land resort are 1-18, 23-35, 42-52 (found under the "Points Value" section)
(2) Designated Check-in Day for Home Week Reservations at the Kings Land resort is Saturday (found under the "Check-in/Check-out" section)
(3) HOME WEEK Priority reservation window exclusively for owners at the Kings Land resort is 365 days to 276 months before check-in. (found under the "Reservations Window" section)

So as a Kings Land owner you have priority booking access to your resort 365 to 276 months before check-in. In that priority reservation window, you can only book your full point allocation (which is 7 consecutive nights in a standard two bedroom with a Saturday check-in within Platinum Season (1-18, 23-35, 42-52)).
NOTE: There is no reservation fee for Home Week Reservations.

So as of today (8/23/2016), Revolution is showing that folks can make home week reservation starting week Saturday, May 27, 2017 (week #21) but you can't book weeks #21 & 22 since it isn't Platinum Season for Kings Land. As of today (8/23/2016), you can make home week reservations for week #23 (Saturday, June 10, 2017) to week #33 (Saturday, August 19, 2017) for seven consecutive nights with a Saturday check-in a standard two bedroom at Kings Land.

The HGVC Vacation Planning Calendar will tell you the dates associated with each week # - http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/content/2016-HGV-Vacation-Planning-Calendar.pdf.pdf

I hope this helps