I got a similar pitch a few years back at an update in Vegas. The sales person even coined the term "401V" as a vacation savings plan... sort of like a 401k for money but for hhonors points.
Perhaps we should let the salesman know that a better HHonors Vacation savings plan would be to apply for credit cards (CC) to accumulate points (if you and your spouse have good credit).
660,000 Total HHonors points accumulated + 2 Free nights annually if spend $20k on 2 Citi cards. Here's how:
100,000 points x 2 (you + spouse) = 200,000 AMEX Surpass offer
75,000 points x 2 = 150,000 Amex no fee Hilton Card card
2 Free nights (+ Annual Night) = approx 80k pts ea = Citi Preferred Hilton Card
75,000 points x 2 = 150,000 Citi no-fee card
No buy-in, no maintenance fees. No obligations if your financial situation changes.
CC Annual Fees: $340 but can close AMEX before second year to avoid annual fee* bringing it to $190/year to keep 2 Citi Free nights annually. $95/night anywhere in Hilton system is much cheaper than Open Season Rates and can be booked months in advance.
What this would take using HGVC points:
33,000 HGVC club points required to accumulate 660,000 HHonors Points @ 20:1
- if you have 7000 points per year that's almost 5 years of HGVC points (buy in + 5 years maintenance fee - if $1000 a year that's $5000.)
13,200 HGVC club points needed if 50:1 conversion
If the goal is to accumulate HHonors points CC bonus route is a no-brainer.
* So far we are finding that AMEX Savings offers are netting approx. $500+/year so keeping the cards has net positive gain for now. Once that changes we will cancel both of the annual fee cards or add spouse as an authorized user to one fee card and cancel the other.
