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Hawaii resident questions

Et025

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Hi. New member here and learning everyday. A little background on me first. Family of 4: 2 adults, 8 year old , and 2 year old. I live on Oahu and we do a staycation once a year. We travel once a year also. My mom lives on the big island that I visit. We do enjoy traveling to the west coast. The longest trip would be 2 weeks max.
I think I'm most interested in a 2 bedroom but I think I could survive in a 1 bedroom. I don't see my self staying a week at a time, probably 3-4 nights. View is not important.

Since I live in Hawaii I was thinking a out of state TS with a low maintenance fee would be better. The ability to take advantage of open season being the reason. About how many points should I look for annually? I'm looking into the resale market. I was hoping to spend about $6k for the purchase. Is that realistic? Aloha


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dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
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Location
Kansas
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
IMHO, 7,000 points is the minimum I'd look at. Probably a 2 bedroom platinum in Las Vegas. Hilton bases MF's on the size of the unit, not the season. So a 2 bedroom platinum with 7,000 points will cost you the same in yearly fee's as a 2 bedroom gold that gets 5,000'points. I like Vegas because of the lower taxes than California and generally lower MF in the system.
 

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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Resorts Owned
HGVC & GTS
First, congrats on finding TUG and for focusing on resale.

I'm not sure that HGVC would be the right fit for you... As much as I like the HGVC-system, their pickings on the West coast are rather slim... mostly San Diego area and Vegas. You may find a better selection in the West with Westmark or Wyndham. That said, they do have a decent tie-in w-RCI with access thru their corporate account and no up-front depositing required.

IMHO, you'd likely be satisfied with 4800-5000 points. With that number, you'd have flexibility to book either 1-2 BR's and could do multi-weeks thru saving/borrowing. You are not stuck booking the size you buy. "Points are points." For club-reservations, you can book any size with a 3N minimum. Size matters in this respect: MF's are assessed at each resort based on size, not season. Thus, a 1BR Platinum unit will pay less than a 2BR gold or silver unit.

Vegas and Orlando typically have the lowest MF's. It doesn't really matter where -- many folk never darken the door of their home resort. If you were focused on a high-demand location like Hawaii, we'd tell you to buy there to get a 3-month booking advantage.

Open Season isn't what it used to be. They've raised rates so much in the last few years that it's likely to cost more than the $-value of your points. Also, booking a HGVC "suite" thru Hilton Hotels is sometimes cheaper, and unlike O/S, does not require prepayment and is fully refundable. Lastly, don't buy with the idea of converting points to HHonors -- it's a notorious poor use of points.

Hope this helps.
.
 

Et025

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Thank you both for the reply.

Talent I haven't looked into Wyndham. I will now. How many points do you recommend looking for in the Wyndham system? I was hoping a member would see 5,000 or so points reasonable as it fits into my budget better than a 7,000 point TS.



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WalnutBaron

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California
Resorts Owned
Hyatt Highlands Inn, Hyatt Pinon Pointe
While not universally true, Wyndham tends to have resort properties that are a little less luxurious than Hilton, Marriott, or Hyatt. That might work well for you since you have a young family and you might be on more of a budget than most of us empty nesters who make up the majority of the TUG community. If you're more inclined to paying more for more luxury, however, I'd recommend you consider the Hyatt system. Though it's relatively small compared to the others in terms of the number of resorts available, it does have decent representation on the West Coast--Carmel, two resorts near Lake Tahoe, and Sedona. It also trades within the Interval International system and is, in fact, owned by the same company that owns II. This gives you preference when you want to trade within II using your Hyatt ownership. If you're interested in exploring this option, I'd recommend a minimum of 2000-2200 points to accomplish what you're looking for. I would also recommend you utilize the resort reviews section of the TUG site to see what fellow TUGgers say about the various Wyndham, Hilton, and Hyatt resorts.

And by the way, welcome to TUG!
 

geist1223

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Location
Salem Oregon
Resorts Owned
Worldmark 97,000 Credits
DRI Cabo Azul 50,500
Royal Solaris San Jose del Cabo
For the Western Mainland I would look at Worldmark. They also have locations in Canada, Mexico, Florida, Fiji, Texas, etc. This is a middle class Timeshare Point System. You can easily pick up 10,000 Points on Ebay or www.wmowners.com. 10,000 Worldmark Points would give you a 2 bedroom in many locations. Worldmark has about 80 to 90 locations. Go to www.worldmarktheclub.com and on the left side is a spot you can click to see the Map - you do Adobe Flashplayer.
 

tompalm

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I think Hilton offers the most flexibility and 7000 points in Vegas is the best number of points to get a low price for the timeshare in relation to the maintenance fee. Think long term and that more properties will be available from Hilton in the future or your desire to go other places will change. RCI exchanges from Hilton work fine, but after you get use to Hilton's quality, you will probably want to always stay with Hilton. One other thing is if you like staycations in Hawaii, Hilton works great.
 

Et025

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Thanks for the additional recommendations. I hope I don't confuse myself more with trying to research the different systems and on top of that familiarize myself with II and or IRC.
One reason that I like the idea of Hilton for my staycations is the pool area and slide. I know that may sound silly coming from a Hawaii resident. The beach is always there for us so changing it up with a pool slide is a great surprise for the kids.
I will look look into the other systems also. The Canada option sounds good as I have family in Vancouver. But I hardly visit them.


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loosefeet

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Thanks for the additional recommendations. I hope I don't confuse myself more with trying to research the different systems and on top of that familiarize myself with II and or IRC.
One reason that I like the idea of Hilton for my staycations is the pool area and slide. I know that may sound silly coming from a Hawaii resident. The beach is always there for us so changing it up with a pool slide is a great surprise for the kids.
I will look look into the other systems also. The Canada option sounds good as I have family in Vancouver. But I hardly visit them.


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Also-consider WorldMark-you will have access to the Kona condos anytime-then could trade into HGVC - each one every 4 years (giving you 3 out of 4 years) for weekly stays. Then can use WorldMark at all the other resorts on West Coast. Not same quality-but my kids have grown up with WM and still like. WM gives the most flexibility. HGVC can give you more access to the Hilton resorts, for 3+ day intervals. You will pay much more for HGVC.
 

Et025

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Also-consider WorldMark-you will have access to the Kona condos anytime-then could trade into HGVC - each one every 4 years (giving you 3 out of 4 years) for weekly stays. Then can use WorldMark at all the other resorts on West Coast. Not same quality-but my kids have grown up with WM and still like. WM gives the most flexibility. HGVC can give you more access to the Hilton resorts, for 3+ day intervals. You will pay much more for HGVC.

Approximately how many points should I look for in the WM system? I was looking at being able to have about two 3 night says a year. I was thinking 5,000 hgvc points would be enough for my family. I understand that is on the low side but the ability to use open season would offset the need for say 7,000 points.


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Shmiddy

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Roseville, Ca
Resorts Owned
Kingsland, Big Island
For the Western Mainland I would look at Worldmark. They also have locations in Canada, Mexico, Florida, Fiji, Texas, etc. This is a middle class Timeshare Point System. You can easily pick up 10,000 Points on Ebay or www.wmowners.com. 10,000 Worldmark Points would give you a 2 bedroom in many locations. Worldmark has about 80 to 90 locations. Go to www.worldmarktheclub.com and on the left side is a spot you can click to see the Map - you do Adobe Flashplayer.

I was a WorldMark owner for 10 years - was rarely able to get into any of the resorts in California, and never on the coast even looking 12 months out. Only use I got was trading through RCI for travel to Mexico, Florida or Hawaii. Ended up selling it for 1/3 what I paid for it.
 

geist1223

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Worldmark 97,000 Credits
DRI Cabo Azul 50,500
Royal Solaris San Jose del Cabo
We have owned WM since August 2002. By planning 13 months in advance we have stayed all over California, Oregon, Washington, Mexico, Canada, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, etc.
 

loosefeet

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It is 10000 credits to exchange into a 2 BR Hilton (when available)-can do every 4 years. You can borrow your credits-so even a 6000-7000 account will work.


QUOTE="geist1223, post: 1993815, member: 82091"]We have owned WM since August 2002. By planning 13 months in advance we have stayed all over California, Oregon, Washington, Mexico, Canada, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, etc.[/QUOTE]
Approximately how many points should I look for in the WM system? I was looking at being able to have about two 3 night says a year. I was thinking 5,000 hgvc points would be enough for my family. I understand that is on the low side but the ability to use open season would offset the need for say 7,000 points.


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JohnPaul

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Location
Sacramento, CA
Resorts Owned
Vacation Internationale, HGVC - NYC, Worldmark, Shell Vacations, Sedona Pines, RCI Points, Starwood (Avon, CO)
We have owned WM since August 2002. By planning 13 months in advance we have stayed all over California, Oregon, Washington, Mexico, Canada, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, etc.

We have stayed all over (except Hawaii) as well with even shorter planning windows like 6 to 9 months.

The other thing we take advantage of is last minute cancellations (up to two days before check in) which just don't happen in other systems.
 

geist1223

TUG Member
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Worldmark 97,000 Credits
DRI Cabo Azul 50,500
Royal Solaris San Jose del Cabo
Then there our trips to Florida, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, etc. RCI trades to Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. You have to learn the Booking Rules and use them to your advantage.

WM also has a Wait List for Bookings.
 
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