# Owners update / ? re using honors points for HGVC



## bdj604 (Mar 12, 2012)

Had our owners update this morning. Nothing new but thought I would share what we were told. Talked about the expansion of HGVC and that the real Tuscany (Italy) property was under construction. As in the case of MB and LV, HGVC is taking advantage of their financial capacity and properties that are for sale at good prices. Was offered points in either Myrtle Beach or Hawaii with MB as the "obvious" choice at $4/pt vs Hawaii at $4.6/pt. We borrowed some points from next year for the first time to use this year, so of course, we were told we needed to buy more to make up next year's gap!! When we told him that we didn't need more and we weren't sure we would be able to come for as long next year, we were reminded that you never lose points because they can be converted anytime into Honors points that don't expire.

Anyway, just thought I would pass on what HGVC is pushing these days--clearly they are trying to get MB sold. Overall, we were there less than an hour and no hard push. The comment about never losing points as we could use Honors points in the future made me wonder how easy it would be to use Honors points in HGVC. To test that, I got on the Hilton website and tried to make a reservation using Honors points and only the hotel brands are shown as options and there is no option to reserve at any HGVC. 

Has anyone used Honors points at HGVC before? If so, how do you access the HGVC locations?  Thanks!!


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## Talent312 (Mar 12, 2012)

bdj604 said:


> The comment about never losing points as we could use Honors points in the future made me wonder how easy it would be to use Honors points in HGVC. To test that, I got on the Hilton website and tried to make a reservation using Honors points and only the hotel brands are shown as options and there is no option to reserve at any HGVC.



I've only seen HGVC available on the hotel website as a cash booking. However, as I'm sure you know, converting points from HGVC to HHonors is a poor use of points. With a 1:25 ratio, 1200-HGVC can get you 3-4 days in a HGVC studio, but 30K-HH only nets 1N in a Hampton Inn. Also, you can only convert _future_ year's points and they only post in January of that year.

But if you do make a conversion, its better to use your HH-points for a VIP booking which begins with 4-Night stays, or hotel stays in expensive cities than trying to get back into HGVC properties.


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## hvacrsteve (Mar 12, 2012)

They tried to do the same math with me!
It didn't work well before, works even worse now!

I discussed their previous years devaluation of points!

I also discussed their cancellation fees and all of their ignorant fees on top of the Maintenance fees we already paid!

I told them I felt feed to death!


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## whatsburning (Mar 13, 2012)

Talent312 said:


> ...But if you do make a conversion, its better to use your HH-points for a VIP booking which begins with 4-Night stays, or hotel stays in expensive cities than trying to get back into HGVC properties.



True that... I had to make a six night reservation at the Hilton Tokyo last week, and I was dreading the 1:20 hhonors conversion for same year reservations.  But you know what?  As long as you make that reservation at a high-end Hilton, even the 1:20 conversion isn't that bad.  It costed me 9,000 HGVC points to get 180,000 points or 30,000 points/night at the Cat 6 hotel using VIP.  Sweet!  

Now if I was smart and had converted those points last year, it would have only costed me 7200 HGVC points... dammit!


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## Aquaman55 (Mar 13, 2012)

whatsburning said:


> True that... I had to make a six night reservation at the Hilton Tokyo last week, and I was dreading the 1:20 hhonors conversion for same year reservations.  But you know what?  As long as you make that reservation at a high-end Hilton, even the 1:20 conversion isn't that bad.  It costed me 9,000 HGVC points to get 180,000 points or 30,000 points/night at the Cat 6 hotel using VIP.  Sweet!
> 
> Now if I was smart and had converted those points last year, it would have only costed me 7200 HGVC points... dammit!



If you are an Elite Plus member, you can convert HGVC points the same year and get HH points at 25 to 1 immediately...probably the best perk of the Elite system.


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## bdj604 (Mar 13, 2012)

Talent312 said:


> But if you do make a conversion, its better to use your HH-points for a VIP booking which begins with 4-Night stays, or hotel stays in expensive cities than trying to get back into HGVC properties.



I'm not sure what a VIP booking is-----is that HGVC or hotels, just what is it? Is there a place online to find the VIP options or do you need to talk to HGVC or Hilton directly? Just trying to find a way to be able to stay at HGVC as long as we want next year. Will have almost enough points but short 4-5 days. Thanks!


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## whatsburning (Mar 13, 2012)

bdj604 said:


> I'm not sure what a VIP booking is-----is that HGVC or hotels, just what is it? Is there a place online to find the VIP options or do you need to talk to HGVC or Hilton directly? Just trying to find a way to be able to stay at HGVC as long as we want next year. Will have almost enough points but short 4-5 days. Thanks!



There are a number of reservation types using hhonors to book your stay depending on your status and/or other factors.  The VIP and AXON offers the best bang for your buck.  Check out this site for a complete rundown (thanks to alwysonvac for the link on another post):

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150690


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## Remy (Mar 13, 2012)

Talent312 said:


> I've only seen HGVC available on the hotel website as a cash booking.



Select (limited) resorts can be had with HH points.

http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/rewards/hgv.do


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## danoquinn (Mar 14, 2012)

bdj604 said:


> Had our owners update this morning. Nothing new but thought I would share what we were told. Talked about the expansion of HGVC and that the real Tuscany (Italy) property was under construction.



Maybe I missed a thread somewhere but this the first I heard of an HGVC property being constructed in Tuscany, Italy.  Is there more information on this property anywhere?  Good news if that is the case, also I thought HGVC's new business model was to get away from new construction and buy out existing resorts like in MB and LV.


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## Remy (Mar 14, 2012)

danoquinn said:


> Maybe I missed a thread somewhere but this the first I heard of an HGVC property being constructed in Tuscany, Italy.  Is there more information on this property anywhere?  Good news if that is the case, also I thought HGVC's new business model was to get away from new construction and buy out existing resorts like in MB and LV.



A salesperson can tell you they're planning to build a property on the moon (as soon as Newt wins). Once you sign, the reality of Hawaii/Vegas/Orlando sets in and the salesperson is on to their next mark. I'd take construction news from the sales team with a grain of salt.


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## tahoeJoe (Mar 14, 2012)

danoquinn said:


> Maybe I missed a thread somewhere but this the first I heard of an HGVC property being constructed in Tuscany, Italy.  Is there more information on this property anywhere?  Good news if that is the case, also I thought HGVC's new business model was to get away from new construction and buy out existing resorts like in MB and LV.




I don't know if this helps or hurts, but this is what I found using Google. 

Timeshare Broker Sales

Italia Living

According to the posts it looks to open next year (2013). It would be nice to have a HGVC in Italy. Lets keep our fingers crossed.


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## danoquinn (Mar 14, 2012)

tahoeJoe said:


> I don't know if this helps or hurts, but this is what I found using Google.
> 
> Timeshare Broker Sales
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info TahoeJoe.  Sounds pretty definitive based on your posts.  Maybe next year at this time we will have another timeshare available to HGVC.


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