Hilton Purchase Advice Needed

[gdlipp]

I currently own 4 Hilton timeshares I bought two retail and two on resale. I am going for my annual owners update next week and I'm expecting to get get the sales pitch to upgrade to elite status. Any strategy I could use to get my resale weeks qualified for elite status with out paying an arm and a leg? I am sure that I will be pressed into buying another property at retail as a part of any deal, but I am not interested in locking into a retail purchase. I can walk away and just do another deal on TUG (Love you guys). Also, another factor to consider. With HGVC going public, is there a way to leverage this?

 

[alwysonvac]

Do not fall for the Elite Pitch
Keep in mind that status is used by timeshare developers to get owners to buy more developer weeks. For the majority of owners it's just not worth it

HGVC ELITE status has been discussed on the HGVC forum. Here are some old threads.
- http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/hgvc-elite-status.191280/
- http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/regarding-elite-status.138583/
- http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/hgvc-resales.221208/
- http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-is-elite-status-worth-to-you.136476/

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Talent312]

You do understand that these "updates" are not mandatory, right?
Sorry, but I consider my [time] too valuable to be wasted by these weasels.

You'll likely get more responses if this was posted in the HGVC forum.
.

 

[icydog]

You'd be better served if you posted in TUG's Hilton Forum. But I agree. I stopped going to "updates". I am getting impatient with the lies and half truths I hear from salesmen. I decided my downtime was too valuable to waste for a $100

 

[presley]

Don't upgrade unless you want to trade in all your weeks towards one major purchase (which would give you one MF instead of the 4 that you currently have). You can find out all the details over the phone without doing any kind of in person update. That gives you plenty of time, several days or weeks to do your own math and research.

There isn't really any tangible benefit to having elite status, unless you have the highest level of elite and stay at Hilton constantly. You get small discounts on booking in HGVC, but it is no way comparable to the tens of thousands of dollars that you spend to become elite in the first place. The Hilton Hotel elite is a bit better as you get water bottles when you check in, upgrades when available and breakfast in some locations + more Hhonors points. You can get Hhonors gold Elite by getting the American express Surpass card. It does have an annual fee, but it save tens of thousands of dollars compared to getting elite status by being an elite HGVC owner.

 

[clotheshorse]

As others have said, there is little benefit for the upfront $$$ to trade in all your weeks for one MF.

 

[global344]

Just attended the presentation in Orlando at Parc Soleil so here is what to expect. Ridiculous offers. Own 7000 points at cost of about $19,000. Offer was to pay an additional $20,000 so that we could swap them for twice as many Hilton Honors points but still only have the same 7000 points. They double the exchange rate from 25 to1 to 50 to 1 and it might have puts us in elite status as well. So why would anyone want to spend $20,000 for what they already have and get nothing more with HGVC for it? Like all timeshare presentations, have to listen carefully, they talk fast and double speak a lot. Another similar offer had us decrease to about 5000 points and spend only $13000 instead of $20,000. Basically the offer was give us more money in exchange for almost nothing. I hope no one is ever taken in by any of that.

On the plus side, they did stick to the 60 minute time they promised and we got the $100 gift card for attending. Interesting to hear they have gone public and supposedly will use the money to build more places. They also indicated that in HGVC we have about 65 clubs to travel to but the Hilton Honors has about 135 resorts plus a lot of hotels which does nothing for me. Not interested in hotel rooms and studios, just one bedroom or more and the terminology - clubs, resorts - a rose is a rose. We are also in RCI points and that gives us plenty of places to visit including I'm pretty sure all the places in Hilton Honors.

 

[jeepinjoel]

My wife and I attended a "new owners update" in Vegas on the 19th of February. It was a great opportunity to make it a 6-day vacation and get away from the Seattle rain, so we were prepared for the expected sales pitch to add Vegas to our "portfolio."
What we weren't prepared for, was them asking us to go from 6200 points every other year, right to the 14,000 points every year and Elite Status. Ha! only another $56,000! no kidding!
BUT! As gdlipp originally asked, if an owner CAN leverage multiple properties - included the two from the resale market... into Elite Status... without much more cash out, wouldn't it be beneficial? With access to the larger portfolio of properties, better rates on cruises, better point conversion? Has anyone been an elite member or seen the Elite website so see what is actually available? We found that very appealing, but of course... without buying another contract, it stayed behind the curtain.
thanks!