HGVC point Conversion for Dynamic Travel

Hello All,

We are new HGVC members. The appeal to buying in was bringing consistency to our travel, better accommodations, better service, save money over time.

Our travel habits:

We are fortunate to live in SWFL, we are disney annual pass holders, basically weekenders. In a given year we have spent over $9k a year for hotels stays.

With the arm twisting HGVC club presentation, it still seemed like the right thing to do long term. Meaning the older we get, the more we plan to travel.

We have 7,400 points a year, we have 11,000 bonus points (gotta be used in 2 years) and Hhonors points.

We typically go to disney once a month, I still work, so it's hard to make committed reservations 90 or 60 days in advance for a two night stay.

So finally my question:

Would it be better to convert all of our HGVC points to Hhonors points so we can just book Hilton hotels when we need it vs. all the other HGVC systems?

Thank you in advance for reading this far, all advice is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to TUG

First If you bought within the last week directly from HGVC you have the right to rescind. You may wish to do so since buying direct you likely paid 3 times what you would have paid on the resale market. AND since HGVC treats their resale owners so well there is little reason to buy direct.

Would it be better to convert all of our HGVC points to Hhonors points so we can just book Hilton hotels when we need it vs. all the other HGVC systems?

Click to expand...

Most of the time if you can use the timeshare resort using TS points, it is a much better value than using hotel points. If on the other hand you want to go to an area without a TS resort, then your only choice is using hotel points.

Hope this helps

If you bought less than 10 days ago, you should really consider rescinding and doing a little more research. Often converting to hotel points are good if you are in a use it or lose it position or traveling where there aren't timeshares and won't be in a position to use the timeshare before it expires. Why is that? Because most of the time you would be converting $1200 in MF and then in exchange you would get the equivalent of $600-1000 worth of hotel stays depending on where and when you stay and the cash deals that are available. Plus you are spending $20,000-$30,000 upfront that will be worth $5000-$7000 maybe after the 10 day period is up. The bonus points might be worth another $2000 but still not really worth it in most cases.

I don't own HGVC but have done a cursory glance at the system and found it wouldn't work for me. It sounds like it may or may not work for you. If it isn't too late you should take the time before putting out the money you did. If it is too late you might want to take the time to make sure you get the best use out of what you have. Using it for hotel points probably isn't going to be your best bet at least not on a regular basis.

Rescind and Research

BugManTPC said:

Hello All,

We are new HGVC members. The appeal to buying in was bringing consistency to our travel, better accommodations, better service, save money over time.

Our travel habits:

We are fortunate to live in SWFL, we are disney annual pass holders, basically weekenders. In a given year we have spent over $9k a year for hotels stays.

With the arm twisting HGVC club presentation, it still seemed like the right thing to do long term. Meaning the older we get, the more we plan to travel.

We have 7,400 points a year, we have 11,000 bonus points (gotta be used in 2 years) and Hhonors points.

We typically go to disney once a month, I still work, so it's hard to make committed reservations 90 or 60 days in advance for a two night stay.

So finally my question:

Would it be better to convert all of our HGVC points to Hhonors points so we can just book Hilton hotels when we need it vs. all the other HGVC systems?

Thank you in advance for reading this far, all advice is greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

As folks stated above, if you have the opportunity to rescind DO IT NOW.
It's a very limited window and you're only given one chance to do it. You can buy from the developer at anytime. It's not a one time offer (they're always giving away bonus points).

Timeshares are more of a luxury purchase (than a cost savings).
Saving money? Well, some do but you have to consider the initial purchase price and ongoing fees (maintenance fee, exchange fee, reservation fee, etc).

HGVC allows you to apply your points towards non-timeshare stays such as cruises and Hilton Hotels stays but it doesn't provide it at a great rate. Depending on the hotel you select, you are more than likely to spend more for the room using HGVC than using cash. Hilton went from hotel room costing 450 to 1,500 HGVC pts/nt in 2003 to hotels room costing 375 to 4,750 HGVC pts /nt in 2014.
NOTE: Owners who bought in 2003 were told the same pitch and can't get the same level of accommodations with the same number of points years later.

Here a thread about HGVC Fee History - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204446

A great hotel exchange deal today may not be a great deal tomorrow due to the following
(a) Maintenance Fees will continue to increase over time decreasing the exchange value
(b) HHONOR reward point requirement will continue to increase over time which continue to impact the number of hotel reward nights
(c) Per the HGVC Member Guide, the HGVC to HHonors conversion rate is subject to change without notice and the benefits available through these programs are subject to change, suspension or discontinuation at any time without prior notice.

HGVC and RCI Reservations are based on availability.
High Demands areas and/or peak travel periods will be booked up first. So if you can only make reservations within 90 to 60 days, you may not find availability during these peak travel times (ie, major school holidays, beach vacation during peak summer season, skiing vacation during peak winter season, etc). NOTE: Over built areas will have lots of availability such as Orlando and Las Vegas. Beachfront locations will book quicker than non-beachfront location. Centrally located resorts will book quicker than non-centrally located resorts.

I noticed that you indicated "we are disney annual pass holders, basically weekenders". You can stay at Disney using your HGVC points. But the majority of the Disney deposits for exchanges are for weekly stays (requiring a week's worth of HGVC points) not nightly stays. There are very limited 3 or 4 night availability.

NOTE: You also don't lose anything by buying resale except Elite Status (which requires a minimum of 14,000 HGVC points for the lowest status)

WELCOME TO TUG

Visit the HGVC forum - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=52