# God Bless TUG! You just saved me 30K!



## ldzierzanowski (Mar 11, 2015)

OK my story, I travel 100+ days a year and most of those days are spent in a Hilton hotel.  To say I am a loyal Hilton member would be selling it short, I have been a Diamond VIP for the last 15 years every year.  Had to be in Vegas for a job last weekend and I thought why not stay at the new Elara property and take the wife and have a quick little getaway.  Nice, right?  Same old story, 90 minutes of your time for $150 cash on dining at Mesa Grill I've sat through these things before and always said no.  Not this time, this time I signed on the dotted line and paid cash for the whole thing; $30K for 5000 pts gold season with 11,0000 bonus points.  Great deal right????  NOT!!! (I swear I'm smarter than that!)

I suddenly cant sleep, what have I bought?  Is it a good deal?  You know all the questions that run through your mind after you buy these things.  So GOOGLE search and TUG comes up and the rest is history.

I will say Hilton was straight up a pleasure to work with, no games just an I'm sorry your not going to be an owner and at your convenience would you please mail us back our books.  Your refund will appear in 48 hours.  This all happened within 24 hours of receiving our rescission letter.

I have already found Seth and Judy and are looking at Hilton resale contracts, we will probably end up with much more points at a greatly reduced cost.  I like points for the flexibility.  

I do have a question for you experienced TS members out there.  We love the Caribbean and I would not mind having a week or two with someone in that region.  Hilton is not particularly strong in that area when it comes to TS Resorts.  Any recommendations?  

Finally if you use the RCI option with HGVC is that a good deal and can you get good properties if you plan well ahead.

Thanks again for all the great advice on how to rescind you guys are a godsend.  Plan on seeing me around on this board.

LD


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## night0wl (Mar 11, 2015)

ldzierzanowski said:


> OK my story, I travel 100+ days a year and most of those days are spent in a Hilton hotel.  To say I am a loyal Hilton member would be selling it short, I have been a Diamond VIP for the last 15 years every year.  Had to be in Vegas for a job last weekend and I thought why not stay at the new Elara property and take the wife and have a quick little getaway.  Nice, right?  Same old story, 90 minutes of your time for $150 cash on dining at Mesa Grill I've sat through these things before and always said no.  Not this time, this time I signed on the dotted line and paid cash for the whole thing; $30K for 5000 pts gold season with 11,0000 bonus points.  Great deal right????  NOT!!! (I swear I'm smarter than that!)
> 
> I suddenly cant sleep, what have I bought?  Is it a good deal?  You know all the questions that run through your mind after you buy these things.  So GOOGLE search and TUG comes up and the rest is history.
> 
> ...



Make sure to check out eBay too.  Contract prices have been crazy cheap on eBay and seem to be passing ROFR too.  

Though some would like to believe exchanges into resorts are easy and happen frequently, my experience is that even with Ongoing Searches and mastering the system and its intricacies, (which takes time...and if you're like me, you dont have much time), exchanges are hit or miss.  ESPECIALLY for peak season or for nice resorts.  You're much more likely to get access to nice areas during off and shoulder seasons. Some resorts are entirely impossible to exchange into.  

Its also expensive to exchange...the exchange fee is upwards of $200 and even when its discounted (RCI has promotions), there are often ticky-tack fees that individual resorts will pile on.  Activities fees, all inclusive fees, energy usage fee, blah blah blah.

That being said, being an owner of a deed itself is a big financial commitment and you're locked into another maintenance fee and going to the same resort over and over again.

With as much Hilton travel you do, your *BEST* ROI would likely be utilizing VIP awards for points you've earned, even w/Hiltons beastly devaluation of HHonors.


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## Passepartout (Mar 11, 2015)

If you are planning on doing some exchanging rather than just using your deeded week (or season) at your 'home' resort, you might 'pay back' some of that $30K by actually joining TUG. It's just $15/yr and helps support the site. It also gives you access to the thousands of reviews by TUGgers at resorts around the world, so when you want to research possible exchanges, for instance, in the Caribbean, you can search them out, see what the resorts are like and get really detailed information about the resorts and surrounding activities. Only paid Members have this access. Most of us feel it's the best money we've ever spent.

Welcome to TUG!

Jim


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## Jason245 (Mar 11, 2015)

ldzierzanowski said:


> OK my story, I travel 100+ days a year and most of those days are spent in a Hilton hotel.  To say I am a loyal Hilton member would be selling it short, I have been a Diamond VIP for the last 15 years every year.  Had to be in Vegas for a job last weekend and I thought why not stay at the new Elara property and take the wife and have a quick little getaway.  Nice, right?  Same old story, 90 minutes of your time for $150 cash on dining at Mesa Grill I've sat through these things before and always said no.  Not this time, this time I signed on the dotted line and paid cash for the whole thing; $30K for 5000 pts gold season with 11,0000 bonus points.  Great deal right????  NOT!!! (I swear I'm smarter than that!)
> 
> I suddenly cant sleep, what have I bought?  Is it a good deal?  You know all the questions that run through your mind after you buy these things.  So GOOGLE search and TUG comes up and the rest is history.
> 
> ...



First of all CONGRATS on saving tens of thousands of dollars (you could literally buy a 7k point package for a third of what you paid and use the remainder to pay MF for the next 15 years). 

RCI is hit or miss, there is also SFX exchange. I recommend you do a lot of research, gain a COMPLETE understanding of the HGVC system (and other systems), the commitments, costs etc (read everything you can ), and figure out if it is worth it for you and if HGVC is the best system for you and your projected future travel needs.

Remember, any deal you see will still be available in 6 months, but once you sign on the dotted line, you are done for.


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## alexadeparis (Mar 11, 2015)

Congratulations! Now you have time to research what you really need and want. Check out Marriott (St Kitts, St Thomas) Hyatt (Puerto Rico) or Starwood (St John, Nassau) for Caribbean coverage at a comparable level of quality to Hilton. That would also allow you to access Interval International's (II) trade system - RCI's competitor. Most timeshares are affiliated with either one or the other. 

Conventional TUG wisdom is to buy where, and in which season, you want to stay most of the time for the least hassle. But that also carries the most upfront cash cost. If you were willing to spend $30k, you should be able to spend 2/3 to 3/4 that much and get a Hilton AND a Starwood, Hyatt, or Marriott if you are patient. 

I personally don't have that kind of upfront cash to play with, so I just bought into the points systems I wanted, and have learned to work the ins and outs of the point systems I own. Good thing I work for myself, because that sometimes feels like a full time job. :rofl:


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## ldzierzanowski (Mar 11, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> If you are planning on doing some exchanging rather than just using your deeded week (or season) at your 'home' resort, you might 'pay back' some of that $30K by actually joining TUG. It's just $15/yr and helps support the site. It also gives you access to the thousands of reviews by TUGgers at resorts around the world, so when you want to research possible exchanges, for instance, in the Caribbean, you can search them out, see what the resorts are like and get really detailed information about the resorts and surrounding activities. Only paid Members have this access. Most of us feel it's the best money we've ever spent.
> 
> Welcome to TUG!
> 
> Jim



  Thanks Jim, I joined today and gratefully spent my $15.  Guess my status hasn't changed yet.  Thanks for the advice.  I plan on doing a lot of research.

Next stop the Marriott in Aruba and the Hyatt in Maui this summer then Sandals in Barbados for Christmas. One good thing about all the travel I do, other chains constantly offer me nice "deals" to stay at their chains.  None of these require a sales pitch.


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## ldzierzanowski (Mar 11, 2015)

alexadeparis said:


> Congratulations! Now you have time to research what you really need and want. Check out Marriott (St Kitts, St Thomas) Hyatt (Puerto Rico) or Starwood (St John, Nassau) for Caribbean coverage at a comparable level of quality to Hilton. That would also allow you to access Interval International's (II) trade system - RCI's competitor. Most timeshares are affiliated with either one or the other.
> 
> Conventional TUG wisdom is to buy where, and in which season, you want to stay most of the time for the least hassle. But that also carries the most upfront cash cost. If you were willing to spend $30k, you should be able to spend 2/3 to 3/4 that much and get a Hilton AND a Starwood, Hyatt, or Marriott if you are patient.
> 
> I personally don't have that kind of upfront cash to play with, so I just bought into the points systems I wanted, and have learned to work the ins and outs of the point systems I own. Good thing I work for myself, because that sometimes feels like a full time job. :rofl:



Funny enough we are off to the Marriott in Aruba this summer.  I think we will probably take the advice I've seen posted on this site and rent a few times to see which brands in the Caribbean we like.  Thanks!


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## TUGBrian (Mar 11, 2015)

Story of the week!  Congrats!

Welcome to TUG =)


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## 1Kflyerguy (Mar 11, 2015)

ldzierzanowski said:


> Thanks Jim, I joined today and gratefully spent my $15.  Guess my status hasn't changed yet.  :



I think you have to manually enter a code to get your status to change:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43810


Oh , congrats on finding TUG and saving a bunch of money!!


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## ldzierzanowski (Mar 11, 2015)

1Kflyerguy said:


> I think you have to manually enter a code to get your status to change:
> 
> http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43810
> 
> ...



Sweet that worked like a charm.  Thanks.


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## pedro47 (Mar 11, 2015)

To the OP, now that was an outstanding story and welcome to Tug's.


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## piyooshj (Mar 11, 2015)

Congrats OP. Welcome to the world of timesharing the right way without getting ripped off.


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## JudyS (Mar 12, 2015)

Congratulations on finding TUG in time!

I'm not an HGVC owner and I don't have much experience with the Caribbean, but I'd say HGVC is too expensive to use for RCI trades. Most RCI resorts will be a big trade down from a Hilton. 

If you want to stay in Hiltons, I'd suggest buying a resale HGVC and learning to use the HGVC system. Then later, you can learn how to play the exchange game if you like. (There are great deals to be had if you know what you're doing.) For exchanging, I'd suggest buying a cheap trader (low annual fees, high RCI TPUs) to use in RCI, or a system such as Worldmark that trades well in both II and RCI, or maybe a Starwood or Marriott week to use in II (Starwood and Marriott weeks get special trade preference in II when trading back into the same brand. Some Starwoods and Marriotts trade in both RCI and II, but there is no special trade preference for them in RCI, plus you run into the problem again that most trades in RCI will be to resorts of lesser quality.)


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 12, 2015)

So glad you found TUG.  Congratulations on that huge savings.


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## alwysonvac (Mar 12, 2015)

> God Bless TUG! You just saved me 30K!



Congratulations and Welcome to TUG !!
Thanks for sharing your story


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## mrsmusic (Mar 13, 2015)

I agree with Judy 
Buy a WorldMark membership and be able to trade into Interval International AND RCI (and some other smaller exchange companies).  I have HGVC and WM and some others and those two are my favorites.



JudyS said:


> Congratulations on finding TUG in time!
> 
> I'm not an HGVC owner and I don't have much experience with the Caribbean, but I'd say HGVC is too expensive to use for RCI trades. Most RCI resorts will be a big trade down from a Hilton.
> 
> If you want to stay in Hiltons, I'd suggest buying a resale HGVC and learning to use the HGVC system. Then later, you can learn how to play the exchange game if you like. (There are great deals to be had if you know what you're doing.) For exchanging, I'd suggest buying a cheap trader (low annual fees, high RCI TPUs) to use in RCI, or a system such as Worldmark that trades well in both II and RCI, or maybe a Starwood or Marriott week to use in II (Starwood and Marriott weeks get special trade preference in II when trading back into the same brand. Some Starwoods and Marriotts trade in both RCI and II, but there is no special trade preference for them in RCI, plus you run into the problem again that most trades in RCI will be to resorts of lesser quality.)


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## Great3 (Mar 14, 2015)

mrsmusic said:


> I agree with Judy
> Buy a WorldMark membership and be able to trade into Interval International AND RCI (and some other smaller exchange companies).  I have HGVC and WM and some others and those two are my favorites.



I will give Worldmark a 3rd vote.  I am biased because I own both Worldmark and HGVC, but mainly because both are points based systems with lots of flexiblity, exactly what I think the OP is looking for.

And having Worldmark can get access to both II and RCI, but since HGVC already have access to RCI, II is what use my WorldMark for.  It's nice to have both options.

Good Luck on your search,
Great3


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## dabtpa (Mar 14, 2015)

*Good Decision*

I used to work for HGVC and know Seth and Judy. They are both fine people.


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## catvag (Mar 14, 2015)

*Caribbean resorts*

I recommend Royal Resorts.  They are small in the Caribbean, but are well maintained, not glitzy and overcrowded.  We own at Marriott Surf Club & Renaissance in Aruba, and 2 Marriotts in Hawaii.  We prefer the welcoming atmosphere and locale of the Royal Sea Aquarium in Curacao where we have 2 weeks.  They also have one on St. Martaan and on Aruba, as well as a number in Mexico.  Happy TSing!


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## Jaybee (Mar 14, 2015)

*Hooray!*

I love reading stories like this on TUG.  You are so smart, and so lucky, to have found TUG, and saved all that money.  
It's nice to see that you're a member now, too. Double congratulations!
May you enjoy many years of timeshare usage, and live happily ever after. :whoopie:


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## bobby (Mar 14, 2015)

*Maybe try Caribbean renting*

I'd wait a few years and buying in USA offers some protections. TUG rental board has good choices, some can be last minute. Also, as we age, we have found we are branching out into other choices part-time like small boat river cruises, we just got back from the Galapagos, etc. so don't own too many weeks. Fees just seem to only go up and renting your unit out is not always a given.


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## rfc0001 (Mar 14, 2015)

OP, I assume you know you made the TUG Newsletter:


> TUG newsletter for week 10, 2015
> 
> TUG Saves owner $30,000 on Hilton rescission!
> Certainly the post of the week/month/year sofar! What a fantastic thank you to TUG by a member who found us in time to save an absolutely insane amount of money. The helpfulness and willingness to freely give away knowledge is what sets the TUG family apart from any other organization!



Not bad for your first post


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## taffy19 (Mar 14, 2015)

Research, while still on vacation, paid off for you and welcome to TUG.   You will learn a lot how to take the best vacations.

Kudos to the Hilton Brand to be so professional to give you no stress to rescind your contract.


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## ldzierzanowski (Mar 14, 2015)

rfc0001 said:


> OP, I assume you know you made the TUG Newsletter:
> 
> 
> Not bad for your first post



Well, I didn't before!


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## khoyle (Mar 16, 2015)

*Here's how I did it.*



ldzierzanowski said:


> OK my story, I travel 100+ days a year and most of those days are spent in a Hilton hotel.  To say I am a loyal Hilton member would be selling it short, I have been a Diamond VIP for the last 15 years every year.  Had to be in Vegas for a job last weekend and I thought why not stay at the new Elara property and take the wife and have a quick little getaway.  Nice, right?  Same old story, 90 minutes of your time for $150 cash on dining at Mesa Grill I've sat through these things before and always said no.  Not this time, this time I signed on the dotted line and paid cash for the whole thing; $30K for 5000 pts gold season with 11,0000 bonus points.  Great deal right????  NOT!!! (I swear I'm smarter than that!)
> 
> I suddenly cant sleep, what have I bought?  Is it a good deal?  You know all the questions that run through your mind after you buy these things.  So GOOGLE search and TUG comes up and the rest is history.
> 
> ...



I did the same thing but the Hilton in Oahu.  After canceling we purchased HGVC Flamingo in Vegas.  After much research, this is the only property that Hilton does not have a "First Right of Refusal" on resales.  Purchased 8400 points for about 10% of the retail price.  Hilton also treats new non "front door" members just the same.  So we have very happy with the system and where we are now.    Check out eBay for some sweet deals.


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## CJinPHX (Mar 18, 2015)

*Hilton affiliates*

If you are looking to occasionally trade in II to get to the caribbean don't forget Hilton affiliates in Florida. Most trade in both RCI and II (and SFX). They can also be great rentals.

Some have very low costs to get in, trade-off is higher yearly maintenance fees. Just have to do the math. I don't mind the higher fees if it's over ten years before you get to break even on the buy-in discount. 

No matter what, it's fun to play the points games in Hilton.


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## BillW (Mar 25, 2015)

Congrats. As for exchanging in RCI Hilton is probably a little pricey for the points but definitely has some trading horsepower. Our kids are young and we bought an annual pass for Disney World last summer. We've used RCI to do 3 trades into the Disney Vacation Club. Staying on property has been great and a friend who owns DVC asked what it cost us to trade in and when I shared our total outlay for one week in his club it was pretty obvious it was less than what he would spend for the same. We've done numerous other RCI trades and love the flexibility. 

Enjoy the ride and welcome to the 'club'


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## ldzierzanowski (Mar 26, 2015)

catvag said:


> I recommend Royal Resorts.  They are small in the Caribbean, but are well maintained, not glitzy and overcrowded.  We own at Marriott Surf Club & Renaissance in Aruba, and 2 Marriotts in Hawaii.  We prefer the welcoming atmosphere and locale of the Royal Sea Aquarium in Curacao where we have 2 weeks.  They also have one on St. Martaan and on Aruba, as well as a number in Mexico.  Happy TSing!



Catvag

This may seem like a strange question but how do the beds compare to the Marriotts?


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## lto (Mar 28, 2015)

Great news, i did the same thing two years ago, put 16k down for 2500 points and could not sleep. Glad i found tuggs and recind


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