Are there restrictions on booking home week HGVC

[terces]

I think I saw somewhere that there is a wrinkle in the HGVC when it comes to booking use of your home resort and wonder if anyone knows the answer. We are looking at buying a unit that would give us good trading power - ie a 2 bdrm platinum week that would give us 7000 points. The thing is that we would likely never make use of a 2 bedroom unit, and would choose to book 1 bdrm in off high-season to stretch the points. I believe I saw somewhere that if we buy a 2 bdrm platinum, that we are restricted to only reserving that specific size at our home resort and that we would not be allowed to downsize to a 1 bdrm. Does anyone know if that is the case or not? I understand we can use the points to book whatever we find available at other HGVC resorts so this question applies only to booking at the home resort we buy.

 

[buzglyd]

Home week booking has to be exactly the unit type you own. Booking a different unit even if it’s your home resort is a Club booking.

 

[terces]

Home week booking has to be exactly the unit type you own. Booking a different unit even if it’s your home resort is a Club booking.

Can I do a Club booking at the resort where I own?

 

[buzglyd]

Yes.

 

[terces]

Got it. So If I am booking in the 9 to 12 month range at the home resort it must be in the exact unit we would own. After the 9 months we can book whatever is available. Thanks!

 

[Talent312]

So If I am booking in the 9 to 12 month range at the home resort it must be in the exact unit we would own. After the 9 months we can book whatever is available.

We own at SeaWorld, and occasionally stay there - but never with a H-W booking. In the 11 years I've owned HGVC, I've never done it. Club bookings are so much more flexible. Downsizing is a great way to save on points, and so is booking only weekdays (M-F) + sometimes using 1 weekend day to check-in/out only - it can save ~50% of your points.
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[buzglyd]

The only home week booking I’ve ever done is my Premier Oceanfront at Lagoon. I’ll never use that for anything else.

 

[GT75]

Got it. So If I am booking in the 9 to 12 month range at the home resort it must be in the exact unit we would own. After the 9 months we can book whatever is available. Thanks!

Correct. Also Home Week booking must also be in your specific season (Platinum, Gold, Silver, ect).

 

[Cyberc]

Most(but definitely not all) 2BR’s in platinum season are 7.000 points so I wouldn’t call it a good nor bad trader.

To me a good trader in the hgvc system is a number of points with a MF ratio as low as possible. Problem with these “good traders” are they tend to have a higher buyin cost.

This I also partly why a 2br with only 5.000 points tend to cost a lot lower than a 2br with 7.000 would.

So if you could pick up a 2br with 14.000 points(random number) then the MF ratio would be a lot lower.

With that out of the way, you always need to book sat-sat when booking home week. On top booking home week is fee free.
You can always book any size unit during club season no matter ownership or not.

 

[mscheribel59]

Got it. So If I am booking in the 9 to 12 month range at the home resort it must be in the exact unit we would own. After the 9 months we can book whatever is available. Thanks!

Don't have to wait 9 months to book whatever is available....I never book home weeks. All my bookings are for either 3-4 night stays in Orlando, (3 night Minimum) and book Monday - Wed or Thurs. . Points are half what weekends are. Stretches points! If I get the urge, I look on line at the 4 Orlando resorts and book something in as little as 3 weeks out sometimes.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I think I saw somewhere that there is a wrinkle in the HGVC when it comes to booking use of your home resort and wonder if anyone knows the answer. We are looking at buying a unit that would give us good trading power - ie a 2 bdrm platinum week that would give us 7000 points. The thing is that we would likely never make use of a 2 bedroom unit, and would choose to book 1 bdrm in off high-season to stretch the points. I believe I saw somewhere that if we buy a 2 bdrm platinum, that we are restricted to only reserving that specific size at our home resort and that we would not be allowed to downsize to a 1 bdrm. Does anyone know if that is the case or not? I understand we can use the points to book whatever we find available at other HGVC resorts so this question applies only to booking at the home resort we buy.

You received some excellent information about the restrictions on Home Week reservations; Must be made at the same resort, same season, same size unit that you own, using all your annual points for that ownership, 12-9 months out to get the benefit of home week preference. Those restrictions make the HGVC system operate like the traditional timeshare week system. Those restrictions are the reasons that so many owners use Club Period Reservations to take advantage of the flexibility that the HGVC system offers.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Don't have to wait 9 months to book whatever is available....I never book home weeks. All my bookings are for either 3-4 night stays in Orlando, (3 night Minimum) and book Monday - Wed or Thurs. . Points are half what weekends are. Stretches points! If I get the urge, I look on line at the 4 Orlando resorts and book something in as little as 3 weeks out sometimes.

I agree with you that you get more nights booking Monday to Thursday when the points required are 1/2 those on weekends to stretch your points. However, if you are going to wait until 3 or 4 weeks out to book your reservations another feature of the HGVC system is the Open Season booking where you can pay cash for the nights and not use any points. In Orlando I believe you can use Open Season for short term booking most of the time except perhaps when school is out.

 

[Talent312]

Don't have to wait 9 months to book whatever is available.... If I get the urge, I look online at the 4 Orlando resorts and book something in as little as 3 weeks out sometimes.

You do have to wait until 9 months out to make a club reservation, but sure, you don't have to book eggsactly at 9 months out. In overbuilt locations like Orlando+Vegas, or off-season (gold+silver weeks) in many places, you can wait. However, the longer you wait, the more flexible you'll need to be with dates + places.
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[Mosescan]

Home week bookings especially don’t make sense if you own the higher point premier units as you could book your 2BR premiere 14400 point unit as a home week or you could book a 7000 point standard 2BR for 2 weeks during club season!

 

[Tamaradarann]

You do have to wait until 9 months out to make a club reservation, but sure, you don't have to book eggsactly at 9 months out. In overbuilt locations like Orlando+Vegas, or off-season (gold+silver weeks) in many places, you can wait. However, the longer you wait, the more flexible you'll need to be with dates + places.
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Talent, I was trying to figure out how to communicate what you did when I read "Don't have to wait 9 months to book whatever is available...." But the way this quote was worded I couldn't' figure out what to say! I am going to try to express my thoughts: At 9 months you have the opportunity to make a club reservation when there is the optimum amount of availability. You can wait all the way up until 2 days before, however, the availability will be less and you may not be able to reserve what you desire.

 

[SmithOp]

Home week bookings especially don’t make sense if you own the higher point premier units as you could book your 2BR premiere 14400 point unit as a home week or you could book a 7000 point standard 2BR for 2 weeks during club season!

or even rent one to a family member or friend and stay free for a week...


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