# DRI Owner Update at HGVC



## NiteMaire (Apr 10, 2022)

DW and I used DeX to exchange into The Grand Islander by HGVC.  We decided to go to a presentation. Our intent was to hear HGVC’s perspective on HGV Max.  Overall, it was a positive experience, but we didn’t purchase anything.  According to the sales agent we were the first DRI owners to meet with HHV sales as an (HGV - HVC) owner.  Our sales lady was very nice and had answers (in line with what I’ve read) to most of our questions.  I’ll try to list the questions and answers, but feel free to ask a question, and I’ll let you know if it was discussed.  Overall, my take away was we were better buying a resale HGVC unit if we want access to HGVC properties.

We didn’t receive any phone call prior to arrival (and didn’t expect one).  The day after checking in we stopped by concierge to get our discount card and activities sheet.  As expected, he asked if we wanted to attend a presentation.  DW and I haven’t been to one in years (since DW doesn’t like them at all), but decided to do one to ask about HGV Max.  After we told them we were DRI owners, he made several phone calls.  They ended up booking us as HGV owners.  This meant we sat with someone in sales who typically only meets with HGV owners.

Can we buy HGV Max ($7K) without an additional purchase?
Yes, but not in Hawaii.  She stated they don’t sell that anywhere in Hawaii.  She showed me a list of sales centers authorized (don’t remember the locations) to do it, so it’s possible just not in Hawaii.

Will HGV Max owners have to pay resort fees (like the $40/day incurred at HHV resorts with exchanges through DeX)?
No.

As a DRI owner, why should I buy from the HGVC instead of purchasing a resale HGVC unit to gain access to HGVC resorts?
Resales don’t qualify for elite, can only convert to HH points EOY, don’t get access to HGV Max, no access to open season, bonus points are only given with developer purchases, and maybe one or two other things.  I told her I don’t care about elite status, and that converting to HH points is typically not a great value.  I also told her that I'd have access to both DRI/HVC and HGVC inventory so Max didn't really matter. Lastly on this one, I told her open season seemed like a decent benefit, but not at the cost of buying from the developer.

Will any DRI properties be HGVC instead of HVC?
No. I told her I heard The Point at Poipu and Kaanapali Beach Club may become HGVC. She said no, then stated it was a good thing for HGVC owners since the points would be less to exchange into those properties.  I’m not sure she knows the points required for a 2BR prime season at KBC.

Any information on future inventory in DeX?
No. She didn’t have any details on DeX.  She said DeX has been mentioned, but they haven’t had any training on it.

Why should we purchase at HHV when we could purchase at other locations that have a better points-to-MF ratio?
Home resort priority if we want to come to Hawaii.

She asked me my intent for attending. I said to gain more information on HGV Max, so I can determine which route (retail or resale) to go if I wanted access to HGVC in the future.  I told her I had no intent on buying and I figured most said the same.  She said almost all say it, but 1 out of 2 purchases.

She asked me if I was interested in purchasing at HHV.  I told her no and that I would purchase elsewhere if I wanted access to HGVC.  I also said the price would be much higher than I’m willing to spend if I wanted access to HGVC.  I shared with her some of our other (resale) purchases.  I also said, I could get The Bay Club for much cheaper if I wanted HGVC in Hawaii.  She said she’d bring someone in to inform me of some possible changes with this.

She then stated she had to show me some numbers, but based on our conversation, she would look for inventory elsewhere.  She came back with several options for studios at the Elara in Las Vegas.  I wasn’t surprised at the location based on what I’ve read in the HGVC forum about some of the locations with better ratios. In short, it was an EY Studio for $20K, and an EOY studio $9.7K. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the points associated with it, but they were low and somewhere around 5K (new points). Bonus points were ~17K if I recall correctly.

The closer came in and asked if I had any other questions.  I said not really.  He said HGVC was considering other changes to resale purchases (as previously mentioned), and that he recommended purchasing retail.  I pointed out he stated considering so it was still possible to purchase resale and use elsewhere.  He acknowledged the point and said, in essence, that they have a great product and I needed to determine if it met our needs. I told him HGVC is a great product, but I’m not willing to pay retail.

We were then offered an exit package for a return stay at certain resorts.  We turned it down, received our gift, and left.

If you have any questions, let me know.


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## dayooper (Apr 10, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> DW and I used DeX to exchange into The Grand Islander by HGVC.  We decided to go to a presentation. Our intent was to hear HGVC’s perspective on HGV Max.  Overall, it was a positive experience, but we didn’t purchase anything.  According to the sales agent we were the first DRI owners to meet with HHV sales as an (HGV - HVC) owner.  Our sales lady was very nice and had answers (in line with what I’ve read) to most of our questions.  I’ll try to list the questions and answers, but feel free to ask a question, and I’ll let you know if it was discussed.  Overall, my take away was we were better buying a resale HGVC unit if we want access to HGVC properties.
> 
> We didn’t receive any phone call prior to arrival (and didn’t expect one).  The day after checking in we stopped by concierge to get our discount card and activities sheet.  As expected, he asked if we wanted to attend a presentation.  DW and I haven’t been to one in years (since DW doesn’t like them at all), but decided to do one to ask about HGV Max.  After we told them we were DRI owners, he made several phone calls.  They ended up booking us as HGV owners.  This meant we sat with someone in sales who typically only meets with HGV owners.
> 
> ...



Sounds like you had a decent salesperson. Thanks for the update.


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## frank808 (Apr 11, 2022)

What was the offer for attending sales presentation?

In all my years of owning HGVC (over a decade at least) I have been only to one presentation at HHV. We always get the line as resale owners we are not eligible. The only time we did a presentation we got in by mistake. We were told that we should not have been invited. I told the sales guy fine, just give me my gift and I will be on my way. 

Marriott is the only timeshare system that we own that we get 8nvited to a presentation. 

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk


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## NiteMaire (Apr 11, 2022)

frank808 said:


> What was the offer for attending sales presentation?


Edited to clarify: $150 Visa or 40K HH.  We took the $150.  No offer for MF credit; I presume because we are DRI/HVC owners.  Maybe once the systems are integrated they will offer that.
Initial offer was $100 or 30K HH. Then it was 40K HH since I'm Gold. I told him I thought owners were offered more for Visa. He made a call, then offered $150. I would have gone regardless since I wanted to know how they view DRI/HVC ownership.
Here's some additional information:
It seems they're focusing on gaining access to luxurious accommodations. Specifically, in our presentation, they focused on gaining access to 10 resorts in Hawaii (since we mentioned we like to vacation here). What I find interesting is there are 10 HGVC resorts in Hawaii; that number doesn't include the DRI resorts. They may not have included DRI properties because DRI owners have access (deeded, Collection, or DeX) to the DRI resorts. I still think they should have stated the total number of HGV resorts. After all, the push for Max is to have access to 150+ properties (which includes DRI).
I held off posting this part in my original post, but between the one pager for DRI ownership and HGV Max that was posted in another thread, HGVC owners reporting on their presentation, HGV seems to be touting the superiority of HGVC over DRI/HVC. For instance, one HGVC owner was told HVC inventory will be very limited initially in Max since they need to bring them up to HGV standards before adding them. The one pager mentiond gaining access to more luxurious resorts (twice). During the presentation, HGVC resorts were presented as being the best product (I don't recall if it was stated outright). Then again, I was at an HGVC resort so it didn't completely surprise me. Why not tout the good from the company you acquired?


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## dayooper (Apr 11, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> Why not tout the good from the company you acquired?



I believe the object is to get you to trade in your DRI and purchase an HGVC deed.


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## NiteMaire (Apr 11, 2022)

dayooper said:


> I believe the object is to get you to trade in your DRI and purchase an HGVC deed.


I agree with half of that. I completely agree the object was to get us to purchase a deed, but no offer was made for us to trade our DRI deed. Maybe it was because we purchased resale, but I don't know.


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## dayooper (Apr 11, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> I agree with half of that. I completely agree the object was to get us to purchase a deed, but no offer was made for us to trade our DRI deed. Maybe it was because we purchased resale, but I don't know.


Where do you own?


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## NiteMaire (Apr 11, 2022)

dayooper said:


> Where do you own?


Sedona Summit, soon to be HVC Sedona Summit (later this month -- it's already listed on Hilton's site as coming soon).


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## dayooper (Apr 11, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> Sedona Summit, soon to be HVC Sedona Summit (later this month -- it's already listed on Hilton's site as coming soon).



Yeah, that's weird. Maybe they aren't taking back any deeds/points for trade in?


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## NiteMaire (Apr 11, 2022)

dayooper said:


> Yeah, that's weird. Maybe they aren't taking back any deeds/points for trade in?


Unless they're considering the Clubs as completely separate Clubs.  For instance, HGVC resorts upgrade only HGVC ownership, and DRI/HVC resorts upgrade only (current/future) HVC resorts.  It will be interesting to see how they handle owner portfolios for those that own in both Clubs.  If an owner purchases/upgrades at HGVC, will only the HGVC portfolio be enrolled, or will the DRI/HVC portfolio be included?  I ask since I read owners entire qualifying portfolio gets enrolled in HGV Max, but I wonder if it's really the "entire" ownership portfolio within the Club that was upgraded.


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## 90_Min_Sales_Pitch (Apr 11, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> Sedona Summit, soon to be HVC Sedona Summit (later this month -- it's already listed on Hilton's site as coming soon).



New HGVC resale owner.  Do you know if we'll have access to HVC without Max?  Will Diamond owners lose access to these HVC properties?  Just want to clarify, since you're right in the center of this whole thing!

We live 4 hours from Sedona, and go at least once a year.  Since Wyndham sold our favorite hotel (where I could stay for $135 in hotel points), we're feeling the sticker shock.  We're even considering a small Wyndham deed to utilize at Club Wyndham there.


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## NiteMaire (Apr 11, 2022)

90_Min_Sales_Pitch said:


> New HGVC resale owner. Do you know if we'll have access to HVC without Max? Will Diamond owners lose access to these HVC properties? Just want to clarify, since you're right in the center of this whole thing!


According to what I've seen published by HGV and sales at HHV all resale owners (as well as HGVC owners who purchased prior to January 14, 2022) will not have access to HVC without purchasing HGV Max.  It appears purchases from the developer prior to this day will be allowed to participate by paying $7K or upgrading/making a new purchase from the developer.  There's some debate about resale owners qualifying for the $7K buy-in.  According to HHV sales, all resale purchases after April 4, 2022 will not qualify.  Why April 4th?  That's when HGV released new rules which included some information on HGV Max and resales.  I can't remember if anything was published about resales prior to April 4th.
Diamond owners will not lose access to HVC, just like HGVC owners will not lose access to HGVC.  I've posted in other threads about my conversations with multiple DRI CSRs.  They've all assured me that access will remain the same.


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## 90_Min_Sales_Pitch (Apr 11, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> It appears purchases from the developer prior to this day will be allowed to participate by paying $7K or upgrading/making a new purchase from the developer.  There's some debate about resale owners qualifying for the $7K buy-in.  According to HHV sales, all resale purchases after April 4, 2022 will not qualify.



Thanks for clarifying.  We closed on our resale mid February, and were offered HGV  Max for $16,000, 10 days later in Las Vegas.  I assume that included additional points, but it was a quick 30 min presentation, we were there unexpectedly as owners, and the salesman seemed to know we were unlikely buy.  100% of the pitch, was why we needed HGV Max.


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## Nowaker (Apr 12, 2022)

NiteMaire said:


> received our gift


Please let us know what you were offered (e.g. how many HH, how much MF credit, how much in gift cards, etc) and which one you took.


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## NiteMaire (Apr 12, 2022)

Nowaker said:


> Please let us know what you were offered (e.g. how many HH, how much MF credit, how much in gift cards, etc) and which one you took.


It's in post #4.  I edited to clarify: $150 Visa, 40K HH, MF credit not mentioned. We took the $150 Visa.


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