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HGVC Las Vegas Flamingo

Nut

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First I would thank everybody who has contributed to this website. I've read a lot of information the past few days and I can honestly say I have already learned a lot from you!

I’m very interested in buying into the HGVC at the Flamingo. My family loves going to the strip and the location of the resort itself is one of my favorites.

I see ourselves going there at least every other year if not more and for the years we don’t go we would attempt to use our points to go to other destinations such as Colorado, NYC, DC, and Hawaii (in that order) How hard is it to get these destinations overall? Our schedule is flexible but we do have a young child and at some point I suspect we will be somewhat bound to the school schedule. We live in Texas so the heat in in the summer wouldn’t bother us in NYC or DC. We would be more inclined to go to Colorado in the summer months than the winter.

Most of our trips tend to be 4-5 days (We would make an exception for Hawaii of course) so I’m thinking that 4800 platinum points would give us plenty of flexibility and the ability to occasionally upgrade to a 2BR if we were to borrow from the following year. 7000 points would give us even more flexibility but I wonder if it would more than we really need.

Is there that much of a difference between maintenance fees between 4800 (1BR) vs 7000 (2BR) I’ve been on a few sites and the TUG Market place and seen different Maintenance fee for the same level of platinum points. Do different contracts for similar points have different maintenance fees or should I assume that the posting may have incorrect information.

Lastly I’m in no rush to buy into the timeshare so I’m hoping by being patient I can score a good deal. What do you consider a fair price per point for platinum points at this resort? (4,800 or 7,000)

In summary here are my questions:

How hard is it to get a 4-5 day reservation to Colorado, NYC, DC in the summer months?

How many platinum points would you recommend to allow me to do one trip a year on average? (half the time 1 BR/half the time 2BR)

Is there much a difference in maintenance fees from 4800 points to 7000?

What is a fair price per point for this resort?

Thanks again for all the help!

Nathan
 

GT75

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How hard is it to get a 4-5 day reservation to Colorado, NYC, DC in the summer months?

Welcome. I do like your username. It is easy to book Valdoro Mountain Lodge in Breckenridge, CO during the summer season using club points. We have been going there during the past several summers to get out of the heat of the south ourselves. We do book right when the club windows opens up around the 9-month mark. But this isn't a reservation that book exactly when the 9-month windows opens. Our dates are also usually flexible but we like going in late July. Next year I may try to book over the 4th of July. That I think will be more popular. We also go to Valdoro during the ski season but then I book using my Home Week reservation since I own there for ski season.

I will let others address NYC and DC. These are both part of "The Hilton Club". They will have a shorter window for us regular club members to book. We are only allowed to book here starting at the 44 day window. I really don't have any desire to use any of these resorts.

How many platinum points would you recommend to allow me to do one trip a year on average? (half the time 1 BR/half the time 2BR)

I will let others also help answer this questions because I will be bias. I will always go with more points. I couldn't even think about living with 4800 points. But I know that others make that work.

Is there much a difference in maintenance fees from 4800 points to 7000?
.

There is a sticky for 2017 HGVC MFs. In there I see that MFs for 1 BR is $873.99 and 2 BR is $976.05. (I subtracted the $159 club dues from each). In general for most HGVC resorts, the MFs are determined by the room size. So it will be best to get a platinum contract. That will be the most points/room size. There is also a link in the 2017 MFs which provide the top 30 lowest MFs. This should give you an idea where Flamingo falls. To me it looks like MFs are much higher than lets say the Strip. I would try to get the MFs to ~$0.1/point

What is a fair price per point for this resort?

The general rule of thumb is $1/point, but Flamingo has no ROFR. So I would suggest that you get it even lower.
 
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Nut

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Welcome. I do like your username. It is easy to book Valdoro Mountain Lodge in Breckenridge, CO during the summer season using club points. We have been going there during the past several summers to get out of the heat of the south in the summers ourselves. We do book right when the club windows opens up around the 9-month mark. But this isn't a reservation that book exactly when the 9-month windows opens. Our dates are also usually flexible but we like going in late July. Next year I may try to book over the 4th of July. That I think will be more popular. We also go the Valdoro during the ski season but then I book using my Home Week reservation since I own there for ski season.

I will let others address NYC and DC. These are both part of "The Hilton Club". They will have a shorter window for us regular club members to book. We are only allowed to book here starting at the 44 day window. I really don't have any desire to use any of these resorts.



I will let others also help answer this questions because I will be bias. I will always go with more points. I couldn't even think about living with 4800 points. But I know that others make that work.

.

There is a sticky for 2017 HGVC MFs. In there I see that MFs for 1 BR is $873.99 and 2 BR is $976.05. (I subtracted the $159 club dues from each). In general for most HGVC resorts, the MFs are determined by the room size. So it will be best to get a platinum contract. That will be the most points/room size. There is also a link in the 2017 MFs which provide the top 30 lowest MFs. This should give you an idea where Flamingo falls. To me it looks like MFs are much higher than lets say the Strip. I would try to get the MFs to ~$0.1/point



The general rule of thumb is $1/point, but Flamingo has no ROFR. So I would suggest that you get it even lower.
Thank you so much for the timely response! I'm glad to hear that going to Colorado shouldn't be too dificult in the summer! I realize that NYC and DC won't always be available but I would like to think it would at least be an option from time to time. Thanks too for the feedback on the value of a point. Knowing what is fair will guide me in my search going forward!
 

Nut

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I just found the link for the 30 MFs Thank you for the tip!
 

GT75

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No problem.

There are different strategies on purchasing a Hilton TS. If you are just interested in points, then I would suggest that you purchase the lowest cost with the lowest MFs {you will need to factor both together}. But, it you have a place which you want to go every year at a specific time (such as summer season or spring break), then you may want to purchase at that resort for the size unit and season.

You mentioned that you like going to LV. LV is overbuilt with Hilton TS, so availability always seems good there. In fact, I see a 1 BR available 4/25/17-5/5/17 for 6240 points at the Flamingo. I couldn't imagine staying that long in LV myself.

Also, in general, there will me more availability on resales towards the end of the year (just before MFs are due). So, it may be better to wait. Just some food for thought.
 

tompalm

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The best value is looking at the maintenance fee and dividing that by how many points you get. So I will speak in ball park numbers because every timeshare has a little different fees. But if you pay $1000 per year in fees and get 5000 points, your cost is 20 cents a point. If you pay $1000 a years in maintenance fees and get 7000 points, your cost is 14.3 cents per point. So if you take a three day vacation that cost 3000 points, your cost for the stay would be $600 or $420 depending on which unit you bought. In the long run, buying 7000 points is a better deal. So in most cases, 5000 points will cost a lot less than $1 per point and 7000 points will cost about $1 per point, but 7000 points is worth it. I think buying in Vegas at the newest HGVC on the Strip will be best in the long term only because it is newer and might not cost as much in maintenance in the long term. But you might get a killer deal at Flamingo with 5000 points. So it really depends on what you are looking for.
 
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Nut

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The best value is looking at the maintenance fee and dividing that by how many points you get. So I will speak in ball park numbers because every timeshare has a little different fees. But if you pay $1000 per year in fees and get 5000 points, your cost is 20 cents a point. If you pay $1000 a years in maintenance fees and get 7000 points, your cost is 14.3 cents per point. So if you take a three day vacation that cost 3000 points, your cost for the stay would be $600 or $420 depending on which unit you bought. In the long run, buying 7000 points is a better deal. So in most cases, 5000 points will cost a lot less than $1 per point and 7000 points will cost about $1 per point, but 7000 points is worth it. I think buying in Vegas at the newest HGVC on the Strip will be best in the long term only because it is newer and might not cost as much in maintenance in the long term. But you might get a killer deal at Flamingo with 5000 points. So it really depends on what you are looking for.
Thank you for your insight! The advice for low MF definately makes sense! I'm starting to lean towards the 7000 Point idea b/c as you and GT75 pointed out the MF don't appear to go up all that much between 4800 and 7000 but the price per MF does go down a lot. That and I like the fact of having added flexibility to book more trips (if I were to choose a studio and 1 br) or a 2br when we want to plan something with family and friends.
 

Remy

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My personal experiences have been pretty good though I have no experience with D.C. I own at Valdoro, but also book using Las Vegas points with everyone else and consistently visit 3 to 4 times per ski season. I just returned from W 57th in New York and while their booking window is narrow, I was able to get the room I wanted on the dates I needed. I've also been disappointed, but that has happened at GPP and even the unit type I wanted at I-Drive. My trips to Hawaii have always worked out, though I have paid two booking fees and split between Lagoon and the more points-intensive locations (and the hotel to burn some Honors shekels).

As far as value per point and such, I recall a few years ago when 7k LVS was going for $13,500 and some were bought back by HGVC at that price. Now a 9,600 3br Plus LVS can be had for the same amount. The MF is less than 11 cents per point.


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