# Hawaii reservations



## Nyyfan12 (Aug 19, 2012)

Can anyone tell me if they have had difficulty securing a Hawaii reservation nine months out with points that are not deeded in Hawaii?


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## Nyyfan12 (Aug 19, 2012)

We are trying to decide if we should pay a bit more for Hawaii, or save some $$$ by buying in a less expensive location


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## fillde (Aug 19, 2012)

Big Island- no problem at 9 months unless a major holiday.

Oahu-much harder to get at 9 months.


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## Talent312 (Aug 19, 2012)

Question: If you owned a TS in Hawaii and paid those high MF's, would you use it yourself or go somewhere else?

Folks who buy there usually do so becuz they want to stay there.
But if you're quick and flexible, you can usually find something.
Also, Big Island is not in as high demand and Bay Club is a relief-valve.


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## poorguy (Aug 19, 2012)

We are going next February.  I got 8 nights in 2 BR+ in lagoon tower.   Booked it exactly at the 9 month mark.  At the time all but the 3 bedrooms were available.  I kept looking and i think within the week it was pretty much booked up so I think you need to be quick.


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## PearlCity (Aug 20, 2012)

I'm not an owner but my co worker is and she is able to book.holiday weekendd, memorial day, 4 th of July , labor day week pretty much at 9 months out. She does not own.hgvc in Hawaii


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## Seth Nock (Aug 20, 2012)

Nyyfan12 said:


> Can anyone tell me if they have had difficulty securing a Hawaii reservation nine months out with points that are not deeded in Hawaii?



July and August are much harder months to book.  The others are easier.  When do you plan to travel?


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## Emi (Aug 20, 2012)

Nyyfan12 said:


> We are trying to decide if we should pay a bit more for Hawaii, or save some $$$ by buying in a less expensive location



Ability to reserve more than 9 months out only pertains to what you own (resort, season, view and size of unit). In other words, if you own a one bedroom oceanview at Grand Waikikian, you cannot reserve a 2 bedroom Waikoloa even though you have enough points. Almost all units are available at the 9 month release date.


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## AlohaAmbassador (Aug 20, 2012)

We've already booked a week in a studio at Lagoon Tower for next April, followed by a week at Kings Land on the Big Island.  Thought that was pretty good considering there are only 3 studios in the Lagoon Tower from what I've read.
And no, we don't own any Hawaii properties.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 20, 2012)

Nyyfan12 said:


> Can anyone tell me if they have had difficulty securing a Hawaii reservation nine months out with points that are not deeded in Hawaii?



Yes, we have had problems trying to book the unit/view we desired at HHV on Oahu. This last trip the only option for January was a 1 bedroom deluxe view in the GW tower. That unit is several thousand points more than a 1 bedroom in the Lagoon Tower and far more points than the 7,000 points we're given for our 2 bedroom Las Vegas unit. 

For us it wasn't such a big deal as we had the points to burn and we wanted to see what the fuss was about the new tower. It was still disappointing that this was the only option for the dates we wanted to travel. 

We have always managed to find something the two times we've gone to HHV but, we've never recieved the unit/view we wanted. We've had to settle for what was available both times. It's getting more difficult because the Orlando and Vegas salesmen sell deeds at those locations but sell everyone on the idea they can easily travel to Hawaii anytime they want too. Thus, the demand for the limited availability in Hawaii is greater than the supply.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 20, 2012)

Nyyfan12 said:


> We are trying to decide if we should pay a bit more for Hawaii, or save some $$$ by buying in a less expensive location



IMHO, if you really want to travel to Hawaii, you should own the unit type and view in Hawaii you really want. The home resort booking advantage can't be over stated when you want to travel to a specific resort, have a specific unit type and a specific view. Just keep in mind that with Hilton, you can only use the home resort booking window to book the EXACT unit type/view on your deed. If you own a 2 bedroom island view, that's the unit size/view you can book. You can't book a 1 bedroom ocean view during the home resort advantage window if you own a deeded 2 bedroom island view.


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## GTLINZ (Aug 20, 2012)

Nyyfan12 said:


> We are trying to decide if we should pay a bit more for Hawaii, or save some $$$ by buying in a less expensive location



This might start a debate, but we did not love HHV as much as others do. As others have said - this is the tough place to get into. We have gone to the islands once and stayed in Maui (thru an SFX trade) then in HHV. It was a shock after being on the laid back island of Maui - big city feel with big city buildings and big city prices (it cost more to park the car than rent it). Don't get me wrong - we "made do" and had a great time - we saw Pearl Harbor, North shore, did the sunset cruise and a luau - but if we went back we would do the big island and maui again - we prefer the laid back Hawaii feel.

If it is at all possible, you may want to stay in Hawaii and see if you love the resort itself before committing to the extra dollars. Some folks will rent - or you can do a presentation trip - even buy a sampler package. Perhaps you have already done so and know that you love some of the HGVC hawaii locations... this is just a suggestion if you have not.

It depends on your situation too - west coasters love Hawaii and the trip is not so tough. We are on the east coast and FL is an easy drive - so many beaches, so little time... so warm weather beaches are accessible easy. Our Maui trip was the best of our lives !


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## cgeidl (Aug 20, 2012)

*Own inexpensive weeks*

Our total upcoming fee for 4 weeks in Waikiki is$1900 total.Not all Hawaii weeks have high maintenance.These weeks have traded for many Marriotts,Four Seasons and Westins.Buy low,pay low and trade well.We use 2 of our Hawaii weeks each year and the place is a small clean comfortable well located unit but only about a 6 on the TUG scale.


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## jin (Aug 20, 2012)

GTLINZ said:


> This might start a debate, but we did not love HHV as much as others do. As others have said - this is the tough place to get into. We have gone to the islands once and stayed in Maui (thru an SFX trade) then in HHV. It was a shock after being on the laid back island of Maui - big city feel with big city buildings and big city prices (it cost more to park the car than rent it). Don't get me wrong - we "made do" and had a great time - we saw Pearl Harbor, North shore, did the sunset cruise and a luau - but if we went back we would do the big island and maui again - we prefer the laid back Hawaii feel.
> 
> If it is at all possible, you may want to stay in Hawaii and see if you love the resort itself before committing to the extra dollars. Some folks will rent - or you can do a presentation trip - even buy a sampler package. Perhaps you have already done so and know that you love some of the HGVC hawaii locations... this is just a suggestion if you have not.
> 
> It depends on your situation too - west coasters love Hawaii and the trip is not so tough. We are on the east coast and FL is an easy drive - so many beaches, so little time... so warm weather beaches are accessible easy. Our Maui trip was the best of our lives !



I agree completely!, I don't get that relaxed Hawaiian feel when I am Waikiki, or even the crowded pools in HHV.  We much prefer the other 3 islands, but if we do go to Oahu, go to the lesser populated areas....


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 21, 2012)

HHV Lagoon and Kalia are harder to get, as they are the lower point values.  May people have bought GW, but trade into the other two buildings to get more nights for their points. 

So IMHO, HHV Kalia and even more so Lagoon are the hardest to arrange.  If you are flexible you will be OK, provided you look exactly at opening on the 9 month mark.  

If you want a holiday or event weeks, those are very tough unless you own at that resort.  I would not want to regularly have to fight to find those at the 9 month mark, if that was the only weeks I ever want to go.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 21, 2012)

GTLINZ said:


> This might start a debate, but we did not love HHV as much as others do. As others have said - this is the tough place to get into. We have gone to the islands once and stayed in Maui (thru an SFX trade) then in HHV. It was a shock after being on the laid back island of Maui - big city feel with big city buildings and big city prices (it cost more to park the car than rent it). Don't get me wrong - we "made do" and had a great time - we saw Pearl Harbor, North shore, did the sunset cruise and a luau - but if we went back we would do the big island and maui again - we prefer the laid back Hawaii feel.
> 
> If it is at all possible, you may want to stay in Hawaii and see if you love the resort itself before committing to the extra dollars. Some folks will rent - or you can do a presentation trip - even buy a sampler package. Perhaps you have already done so and know that you love some of the HGVC hawaii locations... this is just a suggestion if you have not.
> 
> It depends on your situation too - west coasters love Hawaii and the trip is not so tough. We are on the east coast and FL is an easy drive - so many beaches, so little time... so warm weather beaches are accessible easy. Our Maui trip was the best of our lives !





jin said:


> I agree completely!, I don't get that relaxed Hawaiian feel when I am Waikiki, or even the crowded pools in HHV.  We much prefer the other 3 islands, but if we do go to Oahu, go to the lesser populated areas....



It just depends on what you want. My wife much prefers the cosmopolitan feel of HHV. I enjoy the short walk to shopping and the many restaurants myself.

On the other hand, I really loved the rural laid back feel in Kaui. Next April we'll travel to Maui. I'm not certain how I'll feel about what I anticipate as a tourist heavy feel vs the rural feeling of Kaui. In a couple of years we plan on going to the Big Island. I'm looking forward to that experience as well. 

We still both enjoy HHV but I can easily understand why it might not be the Hawaiian experience most are wanting. For us it works and we find it relaxing.


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## robertr55 (Aug 22, 2012)

dougp26364 said:


> It just depends on what you want. My wife much prefers the cosmopolitan feel of HHV. I enjoy the short walk to shopping and the many restaurants myself.
> 
> On the other hand, I really loved the rural laid back feel in Kaui. Next April we'll travel to Maui. I'm not certain how I'll feel about what I anticipate as a tourist heavy feel vs the rural feeling of Kaui. In a couple of years we plan on going to the Big Island. I'm looking forward to that experience as well.
> 
> We still both enjoy HHV but I can easily understand why it might not be the Hawaiian experience most are wanting. For us it works and we find it relaxing.



We agree with Doug - it depends on what you like. We like both the "cityscape" of HHV (being able to walk to so many places), and the laid-back atmosphere of the other islands (and really Oahu too if you stay away from Honolulu), so we "mix it up" - spend some time in HHV and some time on another island. However, to the poster's question - we have always been able to trade our I-drive points for HHV, but only if we truly book at the 9-month point...sometimes it only takes a few hours for the more popular times to "book up".


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## PamMo (Aug 28, 2012)

Talent312 said:


> ...Folks who buy there usually do so becuz they want to stay there. But if you're quick and flexible, you can usually find something. Also, Big Island is not in as high demand and Bay Club is a relief-valve.



I'm curious if availability at Bay Club has tightened up since they finished all the renovations? Is it still really easy to make reservations with points?


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## SmithOp (Aug 28, 2012)

PamMo said:


> I'm curious if availability at Bay Club has tightened up since they finished all the renovations? Is it still really easy to make reservations with points?



I'm looking online now and there are weeks available at Bay Club, when do you want to go   Only November looks sold out, lots of avail units for Jan-May.  Last year I booked the week before XMAS 3 months prior, no problem.  I think it will stay easily available because of all the new units at Kingsland I and II, lots of people with kids want that super pool (another benefit of BC - less kids at the pool).

I checked HHV-Lagoon and there is nothing the rest of the year.  Next year there seems to be weeks available in April, the rest of the year are just a few scattered 2/3 day blocks, very few.  June is selling out fast right now, I just booked June last Thursday and there aren't any more today for the same period I booked.  I did it right at 9 month mark, within the first hour after midnight EST.

PS: Revolution is fixed, working fast again after being back to the old version over the weekend.  There is an annoying popup about the Labor Holiday hours though, why on earth do they bug the online users with updates about the call center - I NEVER USE THEM


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## SmithOp (Aug 28, 2012)

dougp26364 said:


> Yes, we have had problems trying to book the unit/view we desired at HHV on Oahu. This last trip the only option for January was a 1 bedroom deluxe view in the GW tower. That unit is several thousand points more than a 1 bedroom in the Lagoon Tower and far more points than the 7,000 points we're given for our 2 bedroom Las Vegas unit.
> 
> For us it wasn't such a big deal as we had the points to burn and we wanted to see what the fuss was about the new tower. It was still disappointing that this was the only option for the dates we wanted to travel.
> 
> We have always managed to find something the two times we've gone to HHV but, we've never recieved the unit/view we wanted. We've had to settle for what was available both times. It's getting more difficult because the Orlando and Vegas salesmen sell deeds at those locations but sell everyone on the idea they can easily travel to Hawaii anytime they want too. Thus, the demand for the limited availability in Hawaii is greater than the supply.



I purchased one of the premier view 2br at Lagoon just because of this, I wanted a holiday week with that view and no booking hassle, so I happily paid the premium.  We go every other year during Memorial Week to attend the floating candle ceremony.  I always book that week home season even if I'm not going, as other owners probably do, so you have to be real lucky to catch a Premier or PH unit there.

My first visit we ended up in the back corner overlooking some derelict building, the plant nursery and garbage bins.  Now its the GW


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## PamMo (Aug 28, 2012)

Thank you for checking on availability. We haven't stayed at BC yet (we have a 2BR booked for next fall, thanks to the bulk deposit in RCI several months ago), but we stayed at Kings' Land and fell in love with the Big Island. We love beaches, so the pool at KL didn't hold a lot of interest for us, but we thought the KL units were nicely done (loved the super comfortable lanai furniture, but hated the open master bath layout). I've seen pictures of the renovated Bay Club units, and they look very nice. We're looking into HGVC, and think it would be nice to add a week in Hawaii to our Westin/Marriott weeks in Maui/Kauai every year. I was just wondering if BC was harder to book with HGVC points post renovation? It sounds like it is still an easy "get" even a few months out. Thank you.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 28, 2012)

All of the Big Island locations have much better availability than the HHV in Waikiki.  

BI is my choice, just glad many others have another preference.


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## Tamaradarann (Aug 28, 2012)

*Oahu without a rent a car, other islands with a car*



dougp26364 said:


> It just depends on what you want. My wife much prefers the cosmopolitan feel of HHV. I enjoy the short walk to shopping and the many restaurants myself.
> 
> On the other hand, I really loved the rural laid back feel in Kaui. Next April we'll travel to Maui. I'm not certain how I'll feel about what I anticipate as a tourist heavy feel vs the rural feeling of Kaui. In a couple of years we plan on going to the Big Island. I'm looking forward to that experience as well.
> 
> We still both enjoy HHV but I can easily understand why it might not be the Hawaiian experience most are wanting. For us it works and we find it relaxing.



I have said it before and I will say it again.  The advantage to staying in Waikiki on Oahu is that you don't need a car to enjoy your vacation.  On the other islands you do need a car.  Therefore, if you are planning on renting a car anyway, why stay on Oahu where the traffic is bad and the parking is expensive.  If you want to vacation without the expense of a rent a car, without the expense of paying for parking, without the traffic and parking concerns, without paying for the high cost of Hawaiian gas then vacation in Waikiki.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 28, 2012)

I agree Waikiki NO car, BI Car absolutely required.

If you want a car for a day in Waikiki there is a car rental booth right at the HHV.  Just pick up your car first thing in the morning, use it well that day, return it end of day.  Avoid parking fees.

Still like BI better. Even with a car rental payment.


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## zora (Aug 30, 2012)

Nyyfan12,  imho, if you want to stay a week at HHV, then you should spend the extra money and buy what you want.  If you plan on staying at one of the big island locations, then save your money and buy where the maintenance fees are way less.
We live on Oahu and enjoy spending a long weekend in Waikiki.  But it's tough to get a full week, even at 9 months out.


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## Tamaradarann (Aug 30, 2012)

Sandy VDH said:


> I agree Waikiki NO car, BI Car absolutely required.
> 
> If you want a car for a day in Waikiki there is a car rental booth right at the HHV.  Just pick up your car first thing in the morning, use it well that day, return it end of day.  Avoid parking fees.
> 
> Still like BI better. Even with a car rental payment.



So we are total agreement on this point.  If you are going to rent a car don't stay in Waikiki.  There are beautiful resorts with no parking problems and cost and less traffic than Waikiki and Honolulu.


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