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Just Bought HSI!?

oldwildog

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Well I hate to admit it but we purchased HSI package in PV this Christmas week. It seems like on the surface we got a good deal. After finding this site, I'm getting kinda sick to my stomach. Here is the story.

We were staying at Sheraton Bugenvillas, 6 of us had two rooms for $700 US and my wife and I just had to listen to a 2 hour time share salespitch that we said no to. Great vacation deal for our large family.

We took a trip out to Nueva Vallarta and visitied The Grand Mayan or what ever it is called. We went on their time share sales pitch for 3500 pesos or 6 zip line tours. We declined it from the get go, but at the end when we met with the HSI people and after 1 hour we purchased.

$2300 US. $99 a year renewal. We got a 10 day cruise, and 7 nights at the Mayan with 2 rounds of golf. We figured if we took the cruise the 2300 would be a wash. If we went back to the Mayan for a week, the 2300 would be a wash. The golf alone there cost me $300 per golfer.

So, now I find TUG and here nothing good about HSI. Is there anyone who has had a good experience?

We purchased this on our VISA on Sunday Dec. 28, 2008.

Thanks for any insights.

Mike
 

Karen G

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Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
I'm not aware of what HSI entails. If you have any doubts at all about what you bought, rescind while you can.

At the top of the Mexico forum page is a sticky post with information about rescission. You have five days to rescind a timeshare purchase in Mexico. If you purchased on Dec. 28, you are within your five-day rescission period.

Look over your paperwork and see if there is anything about rescinding the purchase. I'm not sure if the rules apply to what you purchased, though. It's worth a try anyway. You could write out a letter saying you wish to rescind this contract and you want your money back. Follow the rules exactly as written in your contract (if they gave you that page--sometimes they don't.) Contact Profeco for help if they don't let you rescind.

Time is of the essence, though, so get on it if that's what you want to do.
 

mikenk

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It has been my experience that these vacation clubs generally do not deliver as advertised. Typically, the inventory of timeshares is very limited as to what you expect based on the sales promises. That said, I really don't have any personal experience with HSI performance.

Because i upgraded my Grand Mayan membership, I did receive a two year membership free so I have poked around their website. They offer what they call breakaway weeks of which I get so many to use whenever I want. It is not for a resort but a destination; you pick the destination and time, they offer you resorts and prices that you can take or not take. They also have what they call burn weeks which are short term inventory for set prices. I assume it is possible to get good deals but certainly no sure thing. I will probably try it at some point but have absolutely no expectations of value.

In your case, as long as you can indeed book a cruise you want and can book the free mayan vacation, then you really can just apply the cost to those vacations. What are your options for booking the mayan week: How? which resorts? what times? How do you know what will be available? (Someone would have to pay me to go to a Mayan Sea garden resort in August.) If you are not absolutely convinced that you can book those free vacations when and where you want, I would rescind.

Another Mike
 

brucecz

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No, out in Nueva Vallarta Grand Mayan Palace. HSI only no time share.

Also Velas Vallarta is using it as part of their program.
At the Mayan they say HSI gives them about 10,000 places to use.

One stupid lie they tell you is that they get these low cost hotel and TIMESH
ARE units in the HSI inventory 5 years before :hysterical: their check in dates.

Excuse me, I know of no Tugger posting that they paid their maintenance fees 5 years out and banked their week 5 years out.with any group.

The out the door guy for Holiday Systems International really bad mounthed the Timeshares in his office in the Grand Mayan. The resort is big and the Grand Mayan units are very nice.

But one part of the Grand Mayan pitch is the 2 Bonus HSI stuideo weeks will postively rent out though a (NON RCI) companygiving you $1,400 yearly on a 100 year contract costing under $9,000. for a one bedroom unit for 2 weeks per year.
All you have to do is call only 30 or more days before check in date and they will garrentee you a unit.

They need your two Bonus HSI stuideo weeks in 2009 weeks to rent and will lower "YOUR INVESTMENT" to under $8,000. Sound :hysterical: familar ?

You only had to pay a one time fee of about $695 to their ad agency to do all of your rentals. Sound :hysterical: familar ?

Of course when ask to see the rental garrentees or the reservation 30 day garrentees, they then said there was no garrentee.

The rental fees "they get" for your higher priced bedrom is $4,700.

Bruce:hysterical:
 

brucecz

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$2300 US. $99 a year renewal. We got a 10 day cruise, and 7 nights at the Mayan with 2 rounds of golf. We figured if we took the cruise the 2300 would be a wash. If we went back to the Mayan for a week, the 2300 would be a wash. The golf alone there cost me $300 per golfer.

Mike

You IMHO will now unfortunately by owning this package :( will get a lession in Black out dates :( and a lack of :( inventory for the dates you :( wanted.Recind, Recind,Recind,Recind.

Here is a tug link to read.http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61829

Do the proper LEGAL cancelation ASAP while you have still timeand also send that cancel info to your credit card company

Bruce:D
 
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KarenLK

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Smewherer in my desk here I have a certificate issued to me last year at Buganvilias. I remember doing a search for availability once and thought it was cr@^
 
J

JoeMid

Well I hate to admit it but we purchased HSI package in PV this Christmas week. It seems like on the surface we got a good deal. After finding this site, I'm getting kinda sick to my stomach. Here is the story.

We were staying at Sheraton Bugenvillas, 6 of us had two rooms for $700 US and my wife and I just had to listen to a 2 hour time share salespitch that we said no to. Great vacation deal for our large family.

We took a trip out to Nueva Vallarta and visitied The Grand Mayan or what ever it is called. We went on their time share sales pitch for 3500 pesos or 6 zip line tours. We declined it from the get go, but at the end when we met with the HSI people and after 1 hour we purchased.

$2300 US. $99 a year renewal. We got a 10 day cruise, and 7 nights at the Mayan with 2 rounds of golf. We figured if we took the cruise the 2300 would be a wash. If we went back to the Mayan for a week, the 2300 would be a wash. The golf alone there cost me $300 per golfer.

So, now I find TUG and here nothing good about HSI. Is there anyone who has had a good experience?

We purchased this on our VISA on Sunday Dec. 28, 2008.

Thanks for any insights.

Mike

You got a great deal, this sells for $30,000!:rolleyes:
You did not meet with any HSI people, they are all in Las Vegas. The resort 'sells' HSI as a free add-on or as an exit program, which is what you bought. Pure profit to the resort you visited.

HSI website said:
Holiday Systems International (HSI) is an exclusive Members-Only Service. Our holiday "systems" have been designed as exclusive membership benefits and will maximize your vacation value! Private enrollment with HSI provides our members with a valuable "Wholesale-Direct" status not available to the general public. This relationship allows our members to save thousands by going directly through HSI for the services listed below:

HSI membership privileges include:
Breakaway Weeks®: Wholesale Resort lodging
(Guaranteed lowest rates or double-the-difference back in cash)
Burn Weeks®: Last-minute vacation weeks as low as $100
Discount Hotels, Cruises, Tours, and Sports Travel Packages (Guaranteed Lowest Price)
Up to 50% off at thousands of golf properties
Lodging Exchange (Lowest Exchange Fees, always confirm-first)
Special Exchanges™ Exclusively through HSI

* Cash Exchange
* Hotel Exchange
* Cruise Exchange (Highest consumer value)
* Tour Package Exchange
* Sports Travel Package Exchange
* Airfare Exchange

Multilingual customer service
(Services provided in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German)

You can depend on HSI's outstanding record and our uncompromising commitment to our members.

HSI memberships are only sold through affiliated resorts.

I'm not aware of what HSI entails. If you have any doubts at all about what you bought, rescind while you can.

At the top of the Mexico forum page is a sticky post with information about rescission. You have five days to rescind a timeshare purchase in Mexico. If you purchased on Dec. 28, you are within your five-day rescission period.

Look over your paperwork and see if there is anything about rescinding the purchase. I'm not sure if the rules apply to what you purchased, though. It's worth a try anyway. You could write out a letter saying you wish to rescind this contract and you want your money back. Follow the rules exactly as written in your contract (if they gave you that page--sometimes they don't.) Contact Profeco for help if they don't let you rescind.

Time is of the essence, though, so get on it if that's what you want to do.
You bought an exit program, you bought a membership, you'll get what was promised in writing, but you don't own a timeshare and rescission rules don't apply. PROFECO can't help you unless you can prove that they didn't deliver the HSI they promised. What do you have in writing? If you go against your credit card, again, what do you have in writing.

Also Velas Vallarta is using it as part of their program.
At the Mayan they say HSI gives them about 10,000 places to use.

One stupid lie they tell you is that they get these low cost hotel and TIMESH
ARE units in the HSI inventory 5 years before :hysterical: their check in dates.

Excuse me, I know of no Tugger posting that they paid their maintenance fees 5 years out and banked their week 5 years out.with any group.

The out the door guy for Holiday Systems International really bad mounthed the Timeshares in his office in the Grand Mayan. The resort is big and the Grand Mayan units are very nice.

But one part of the Grand Mayan pitch is the 2 Bonus HSI stuideo weeks will postively rent out though a (NON RCI) companygiving you $1,400 yearly on a 100 year contract costing under $9,000. for a one bedroom unit for 2 weeks per year.
All you have to do is call only 30 or more days before check in date and they will garrentee you a unit.

They need your two Bonus HSI stuideo weeks in 2009 weeks to rent and will lower "YOUR INVESTMENT" to under $8,000. Sound familar ?

You only had to pay a one time fee of about $695 to their ad agency to do all of your rentals. Sound familar ?

Of course when ask to see the rental garrentees or the reservation 30 day garrentees, they then said there was no garrentee.

The rental fees "they get" for your higher priced bedrom is $4,700.

Bruce
HSI owns quite a bit of their own inventory, I don't know anything about your 5 year claim, but as they own the units in prime locations, they can promise as far into the future as they like for those units.

You IMHO will now unfortunately by owning this package will get a lession in Black out dates and a lack of inventory for the dates you wanted.Recind, Recind,Recind,Recind.

Here is a tug link to read.http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61829

Do the proper LEGAL cancelation ASAP while you have still timeand also send that cancel info to your credit card company

Bruce
Not a timeshare, recission/cancellation referred to above do not apply.

We'd all certainly love to hear of your positive experience using this system, people who are ultimately flexible are said to love it. If you're concerned, write to Craig Morganson ceo@holidaysystems.com and let us know what he says.
 
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brucecz

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THey difiately said 5 years even on Timeshares which is unttue. That 5 years was what THEY :hysterical: :rofl: ::hysterical: CLAIMED in their presentation and I am just passing it on.

Bruce:D
 

trvlgrl

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My Holiday Systems International (HSI) experience so far

I just wanted to share my experience so far with HSI.

A little background: We (my husband and I) have attended a few timeshare presentations in the past and never bought. We were always interested but the initial buy in cost was out of reach (anywhere from $10k to $30k). We stayed at the Grand Mayan in Vellas Vallarta in May 08 with some friends who had booked using RCI. Upon checkin the 4 of us were suckered into the 90 minute timeshare presentation with the promise of a free breakfast, free golf and free spa treatments. For 90 minutes we felt this was worth it. We knew we would say no to their presentation. Their 90 minute presentation lasted more than 4 hours. The free breakfast was with the salesrep. After the final NO we were lead outside and told to have an exit interview so we could get our other free incentives. This is where we were told about HSI. To buy into the Grand Mayan TS it was something like $30k and we all said no. The exit guy wrote down our incentives we were promised and then went into the "well if I could offer you all that they offered in there for a fraction of the cost, would you buy it?" Long story short, after another hour of sales pitch we were introduced to the HSI vacation club. We (and our friends) thought it was actually a decent deal at the time. Our friends were even thinking they would sell their current timeshare and just use HSI. (by the way, we did get our free golf and spa treatments so that was cool and they sent us an amazing flower arrangement :D )

Here's what we spent and got: $5000 for the buy in (i am now seeing people have paid much less) plus $99/yr for annual fees. We got a 25 year membership with 75 anytime breakaway weeks and unlimited burn weeks. As a bonus we got a discount cruise for 2 (3 price points: $399, $599 or $799) expires 1 year from date of purchase, specially priced mayan week for $299 to be used at a Mayan Palace or Mayan Sea Garden (1 bd or studio) expires 18 months after purchase. We also get 2 rounds of golf and 2 spa packages when we use the mayan week.

What we were told: We were sold on the idea that most burn weeks averaged $200/wk but could be as low as $100/wk but no more than $950 a week. The example the sales guy gave of a $950 week was Vail Colorado over New Years. Breakaway weeks averaged $500/wk. No additional fees. He talked about many other "fantastic" benefits but we were mostly looking at the weeks and cost. They assured us anyone could use our membership, which meant a lot to us because we travel a lot with family. I was also told that we could split weeks (i will talk more on this below).

They also boast about hotel and cruise deals and that they are a full-service one-stop travel agency on sports packages and many other things.

What we actually got: Burn weeks do go for as little as $100 but you have to be able to book this on about a 2 weeks notice. I have seen weeks as much as $1495 (not often but maybe 4 times in the 10 months we have been with HSI). Basically the burn weeks show you inventory 60 days out. The further out the more expensive. Below I will tell you how we have worked this. Breakaway weeks don't really average $500. I would say more like $650.

When you book online there is an additional $15 booking fee. I was promised that after the annual fee that the only other thing we would pay was the actual price of the week. I was not told of a booking fee. $15 might not be too much but still. Or if you book over the phone there is a $40 booking fee!

How we have used it so far: In the 10 months since we have been members I have let my friend use a burn week to go to Vegas. She paid approx $350 for a 1 bedroom (+ $15 booking fee). My brother went to Kauai for $100/wk in a 2 bedroom (+ $15). I thought that was a killer deal. But this is how we worked it. He knew a few months in advance he wanted to go there. When Kauai showed up on the 60 day or less inventory we watched it for a few weeks. One resort was listed 4 times (1 & 2 bedrooms). The prices started around $550. Each week they would knock off money. He gambled and said if anyone booked one of the 4 then he would hurry and book. No one did and each week they continued to knock off money until it hit $100 and he booked.

We looked at using our cruise for 2 but have decided to let that expire. It would have been a good deal (basically a 2 for 1) but we can't find the time to use it. Instead we are using our specially priced mayan week ($299). We had no problem getting the week we wanted. When I called I asked for a few different weeks in May and June and everything I asked for had availability (1 bedroom). We decided to go in June. We also booked another 1 bedroom so my parents and sister could come. They are using one of our breakaway weeks and are paying $675. I was hoping it would be cheaper for them but....The mayan resort looks amazing with a lazy river and waterslides.

I have called HSI for their so-called hotel discount but I find it is much better to just use Expedia or Orbitz because you are relying on an agent to find you what you want. They have emailed me choices before and they usually send you 4 or 5 star hotel choices but I can do this on my own with other websites.

I guess I would say so far we haven't had a bad experience. I am a little sick we paid $5000 for the initial buy in but I will chalk it up to lesson learned. Our friends who purchased with us (they have the other TS) haven't used it yet but they were sold on the fact that if they didn't sale their TS altogether then they could bank their weeks with HSI and HSI would pay their maintainence fee (i really wasn't listening to the details because it didn't apply to us so I don't know how this works)

Two things I wish is that the breakaway weeks were a little cheaper (maybe they are still a good deal, i dunno. I don't own any other timeshare to compare). And that you could split weeks. I was lead to believe this was a possibility but it is not. We live in the Bay Area and there are resorts that pop up in San Fran and Tahoe all the time. But I really don't want to stay there for an entire week. With my uncles timeshare (worldmark) he can get us 2 night stays. Using his worldmark we stayed in a 1 bedroom Tahoe resort for $60/night. We have also stayed 2 nights in San Fran.

So I guess that is it for now. Sorry for the long post but maybe this will shed a little light on HSI and our experience so far. We are using our Mayan week this June in Acapulco so hopefully it will go smoothly.

Feel free to contact me or leave another post and I will try and answer questions. I would also like to read if anyone else has had any positive experiences with HSI. Any "secrets" to share on getting better deals?

THANKS

Here are a few current examples of what is on their burn list, two are even over the promised max $950 (i guess that makes 6 times I have seen this) and currently there aren't any "as low as $100 :

French Lick Springs Villas IN (French Lick) 2BD 8 3/14/2009 $575.00
Pelican Resort Club St. Maarten Studio 2 3/14/2009 $950.00
Radium Valley Vacation Resort Canada (British Columbia, Fairmont Hot Springs) 3BD 8 3/14/2009 $725.00
Beachcomber International Australia 2BD 6 3/21/2009 $286.00
Kahana Beach Vacation Club HI (Maui) Studio 4 3/21/2009 $291.00
Buganvilias Resort Vacation Club Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) 2BD Penthouse 8 3/28/2009 $725.00
Gurneys Inn Resort & Spa NY (Montauk) Studio 4 3/28/2009 $1,250.00
Grand Velas Resort Mexico (Nuevo Vallarta) 2BD 5 4/4/2009 $3,675.00 (this must be one killer place for that price...i dunno)
Maui Beach Vacation Club HI (Maui) 2BD 6 4/4/2009 $432.00
Cabo Villas Mexico (Cabo) Studio-Luxury 4 4/11/2009 $449.00
Sea Village HI (Big Island) 2BD 6 4/17/2009 $508.00
Kamaole Sands HI (Maui) 2BD (with Loft) 6 4/18/2009 $684.00
Xanadu Beach Resort and Marina Bahamas (Freeport) Studio 2 4/18/2009 $424.00
Villas at Regal Palms FL (Orlando) 4BD 10 4/25/2009 $695.00
Playa Del Sol Grand Mexico (Nuevo Vallarta) 1BD 4 4/30/2009 $550.00
 

pittle

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Here is my HSI story and it is current as of today.

We decided to give HSI a try this year since the Buganvilias, La Jolla, and MP/GM are all affiliated with HSI. Here is my story.

Back in November 2005, we first heard of HSI when we took an upgrade tour at the Buganvilias. They were just raving about HSI, so we bought a hotel unit in white time to be part of the new program. After reviewing all the information after getting home, we were a little skeptical. I could not find any redeeming value, no cheap Burn Weeks that they promised. The prices are more like the Last Call weeks available on RCI or the last minute vacations available on SFX – not $100. Breakaway weeks are basically the same as RCI Extra Vacations or II Getaway weeks. We also found that it was not really an exchange company per se. They want your week and will put the amount you paid in maintenance fees in their “bank” and you can use the banked amount towards the purchase of a breakaway week.

We did not renew after our trial year.

Last year when we bought at the Boutique La Jolla in Mazatlan, we were given another HSI membership. Since we had also attended a Grupo Mayan upgrade presentation and were told how wonderful HSI was, we thought we would give it a real trial and paid our $89 renewal fee for 2009. Since the economy is plummeting and we are retired, we thought we would try the program where you could give them your weeks and they would give you air travel for your weeks. OK, this sounded great. We had a week in Maui booked for our kids and they could not go, so I thought – this will pay for us to go to Maui. Good deal, right! Well, it does not work that way. I called in for verification on how to work this and was told that I really needed to just buy my tickets using their travel agency and then use the Cash Exchange Program to get money back from them and use the money for my tickets. I talked to the Travel Agency and they said they would process my request and send me an email with what they found. Well, they sent an email saying that while it does not happen with cruises, Expedia had better prices for tickets to Maui. I had already found lower prices on USAir than Expedia had! So much for their travel agency.

Now for the Cash for Exchange program. According to all the documents online and in their manual, you just sign over your weeks and they will pay your maintenance fees less $50 for administrative fees, and you just pay them the $50 via credit card and they pay the maintenance fee. This does not work that way either. You have to pay your maintenance fees and then apply for reimbursement minus the $50 administrative fee. I did this and received a call asking if I could get different weeks than the ones I wanted to deposit. I have fixed weeks that they did not want, but at the Buganvilias, you can pay an additional fee to change your week. Of course HSI wanted either Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I contacted the Buganvilias and found that I had to pay an additional $120 per week for Thanksgiving and an additional $510 per week to get Christmas. I called the person that I had been working with and told him what it cost. He was not willing to reimburse me for the additional amounts, so I told him no thank you, I wanted to keep my weeks and deposit them with RCI. He then said he would take my weeks for week 50 (which I had been told I could get for only $10 extra for each week at the Buganvilias), but then he said he could only pay me my maintenance fees minus the $50 administrative fee, minus taxes and other fees on the Buganvilias – basically another $50 per week. So, to give them my two weeks, I was going to be paying my maintenance fees and getting 78% back.

Oh - as for that white week at the Buganvilias - he does not want it either.

As soon as I got off the phone with him, I emailed the lady at the Buganvilias and told her to deposit my weeks with RCI. While typing this, I received and email from her that both my weeks were now deposited with RCI.

I may be blonde, but I am not stupid. :) We will not be renewing with HSI next year.
 
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KarenLK

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Last year I went thru the "show" at Buganvilias and got a free burn week certificate which I tried to use for something, but found absolutely nothing interesting.
 

pittle

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Instead we are using our specially priced mayan week ($299). We had no problem getting the week we wanted. When I called I asked for a few different weeks in May and June and everything I asked for had availability (1 bedroom). We decided to go in June. We also booked another 1 bedroom so my parents and sister could come. They are using one of our breakaway weeks and are paying $675. I was hoping it would be cheaper for them but....The mayan resort looks amazing with a lazy river and waterslides.

I don't want to burst your bubble, but if you are not staying at the Grand Mayan, you cannot use the lazy river and water slides. People at the Mayan Palace cannot use the Grand Mayan facilities. The guards check the wristbands closely, so if you do not have the correct one, you are not allowed in. In Acapulco, you can pay to use the waterpark, but other than the lazy river, it is basically for smaller children. I think it is about $10-$12 per day per adult.

The Acapulco resort is one of my favorites, but it will be hot and humid in June.
 
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lilbeth

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Jury still out on HSI, but overall not bad experience...yet

We purchased the 75 weeks for 25 yrs "walkout" package at the Grand Mayan on the Mayan Riviera over Thanksgiving after saying no to everything else. The tour did take several hours (so plan a strategy to shorten it up and get through all the rounds of people trying to sell you ever better stuff while getting pushier and pushier). We paid $8k (which is more than many postings here, so I'm trying not to be too upset with myself about that). We used the discount cruise already, and feel that it was a decent deal (about the same as you'd do on Orbitz, but with some extra on-board credits). They had the dates we wanted and it was a good first cruise (we upgraded to a balcony room which if you've never cruised before I highly recommend doing). We also just booked 2 2-bedroom units for Playa Del Carmen/Mayan Riviera (Mayan Palace) for Thanksgiving week (back where we bought - we love the place). And that went off without a hitch (so far). The units were $775 each with the booking fee, making it $790 each. We stayed at Grand Mayan last time and know the difference between it and Mayan Palace and at Playa del Carmen we feel its actually better for us to be at Mayan Palace as it is closer to the pools. The one "exclusive" pool for Grand Mayan was cold and boring when we were there last year, but we'll have to see the full difference when we have on the "other" color wrist bands this year around to see if there are other things we "can't do". We were told to ask for an upgrade upon arrival, but I'm not counting on it.

At this point the jury is out on if this was a worthwhile deal or not. :shrug: We travel a lot and totally fell in love with Cancun/Mexican Riviera so maybe that makes it a reasonably good deal for us. There are some restrictions (we could only book 2 rooms for the same week in the same location), and I know they told us some crap during the sales pitch, but you learn to filter what is reasonable from what isn't. Theoretically these weeks are sellable, but I'm not about to pay a broker to do it as I know that will just be more $ out the window. The dumbest thing we heard was right at the end the last heavy hitter sales rep told us we weren't going to be allowed back to CANCUN if we didn't buy. I almost laughed in her face. There are some rules about staying at the same resort within a certain time frame if you are doing an RCI exchange (which is how we got there in the first place), but she seriously thought I'd believe that the whole town of CANCUN would be off limits.

This is our 5th time share pitch, and we're getting better (not great yet, as I can see by reading the other posts), but learning. We own Wyndam (Fairfield) and have had good experiences so far with them, and never an issue with an exchange or trade through RCI. I think if you are flexible and open HSI (or any timeshare) can be a good deal - I call up and say "where can we stay in this general area for these dates", and we get something, you just can't get too locked in to one place. For example, I wanted to do something really special for my husbands 50th and tried both RCI and HSI to find something in Ireland the first week in September. No luck. So we're going to Hawaii instead. We're not upset. :whoopie:
 

sartie1

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Duplicate post deleted

[Duplicate posts & posts about controversial social issues are not permitted on TUG. Please read the TUG posting rules before you post again. DeniseM Moderator]
 
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trvlgrl

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You're Right!

I don't want to burst your bubble, but if you are not staying at the Grand Mayan, you cannot use the lazy river and water slides. People at the Mayan Palace cannot use the Grand Mayan facilities. The guards check the wristbands closely, so if you do not have the correct one, you are not allowed in. In Acapulco, you can pay to use the waterpark, but other than the lazy river, it is basically for smaller children. I think it is about $10-$12 per day per adult.

The Acapulco resort is one of my favorites, but it will be hot and humid in June.


I am just reading this. Wish I had known before. We just got back last month. You are right, though. If you are staying at the Mayan Palace, you can only use the main pool or pay for the waterslides/lazy river. Lucky for us though, they closed down the Mayan Palace the week we were there and upgraded everyone to the Grand Mayan. They also included 3 days use of the water park. I am so grateful for this because we do have 2 small children who would have been really sad to have to walk past that park and not be able to go in. Or I probably would have had to fork out the extra money to let them go in. So thanks for the heads up...although a little late. I wish I would have read this sooner so I would have been prepared. Not one website I looked at mentioned the extra cost of the waterpark. At least now I know.

Acapulco was a blast and yes, it was very hot/humid!
 

pittle

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Glad it worked out. Since we own a couple of GM weeks, I always make sure that we use at least one of those when we take our grandson to either Acapulco or Nuevo Vallarta. He is 10 now, so likes the NV GM best because of the wave pool and higher slide.

HSI Breakaway weeks are pretty much like RCI Extra Vacations or II Getaway weeks. The cost is generally the cost of the maintenance fees, rounded up. When they start hitting the Burn list, it is like the RCI Last Call vacations - the price drops to the MF, then starts getting lower before it expires. I hope it works out for you.

I transferred my membership to a friend who will use the extra weeks rather than buy another timeshare. It was a win-win for us both. :)
 

mempho_to_diego

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Glad it worked out. Since we own a couple of GM weeks, I always make sure that we use at least one of those when we take our grandson to either Acapulco or Nuevo Vallarta. He is 10 now, so likes the NV GM best because of the wave pool and higher slide.

HSI Breakaway weeks are pretty much like RCI Extra Vacations or II Getaway weeks. The cost is generally the cost of the maintenance fees, rounded up. When they start hitting the Burn list, it is like the RCI Last Call vacations - the price drops to the MF, then starts getting lower before it expires. I hope it works out for you.

I transferred my membership to a friend who will use the extra weeks rather than buy another timeshare. It was a win-win for us both. :)

pittle, i think this answers my question from my thread i created today ... i wish there was some more HSI info out here ...
 

NickiJT

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HELP!

Hi all, we have just bought through HSI and I, as many others are, am still waiting for log in details to their website?
I have tried to call them, but can't seem to find a contact number to call from the UK and nothing seems to be working? Does anybody have a number they can give me?

Thanks
Nicki
 
J

JoeMid

So, to give them my two weeks, I was going to be paying my maintenance fees and getting 78% back.

I may be blonde, but I am not stupid. :) We will not be renewing with HSI next year.
Sounds like a GREAT deal to me compared to DRI and others who give you less than 50% back when you trade points for Maintenance fees. This is never a good deal except for stupid blondes, which you obviously are not.
 
J

JoeMid

Hi all, we have just bought through HSI and I, as many others are, am still waiting for log in details to their website?
I have tried to call them, but can't seem to find a contact number to call from the UK and nothing seems to be working? Does anybody have a number they can give me? Thanks
Nicki

http://www.holidaysystems.com/nonmembers.asp
http://sales.holidaysystems.com/contact.asp

7690 W Cheyenne Avenue, Suite 200
Las Vegas, Nevada 89129.

Office (702) 254-3100
800-353-0774
sales@holidaysystems.com

If you're concerned, write to Craig Morganson ceo@holidaysystems.com and let us know what he says.

Certainly some of the contact info above should get you close.
 
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