# Thinking of buying Hilton Club & HGVC ?



## Jasmine658 (Feb 19, 2011)

Newbie here. Thinking of buying into Hilton vacation plan for trips with family. Kids only 5 & 7 right now, but would like to have better places to stay than just standard rooms. NYC is old home for me, now live on west coast, but would like to visit at least every other year to see family. Also like to go to Vegas once in a while for shows, fun, etc, meet up with old friends there. We've been renting condos when travel, but that is hit & miss, and would like something more predictable.

Made a quick call today and learned that the Hilton Club NY @ 1355 Av of Americas not part of HGVC (used to live near there). Am thinking of purchasing points at Hilton Club in NY so can stay there every other year in 2BR with family, also thinking of buying some points at Hilton Flamingo, to use also every other year (use for exchanges in other years if get annual point plan). In past, when single always got free rooms in Vegas, but now have to travel with kids and of course need more space.

If buy points at Hilton Club in NY and points at HGVC in Vegas, and it totals 14,000 - does that qualify for "ELITE" status, or do all the points have to be HGVC to get bottom tier ELITE status?

Sounds like Hilton works a lot like the DVC plan with Disney (we also own points BWV at WDW and like a lot except for lack of on-line reservation system), but unlike DVC, Hilton tacks on lots of fees like cleaning, banking, reservation, transfer, etc, but did notice no fee for borrowing points from upcoming year. Like that Hilton does nightly points like DVC, not the fixed weeks, so really prefer to be able to choose when to arrive & when to leave so have ruled out Marriott & Hyatt vacation plans because of this. Also considered Worldmark, but many resorts are a little too basic, little too far from the action for our tastes.

I also noticed on the resale sites (know already to only buy resale), that the maintenance fees for same # of points can vary quite a bit according to the listings - maybe owners didn't really know what they had paid? Also, I've learned to buy where you are willing and able to stay, not some unknown place. But any other advice and experience with Hilton Club and HGVC appreciated. Any insight as to pros & cons of the Hilton vacation plans? How well do these locations trade, and is it even worth trading Hilton Club NY - maybe better to rent out if not used?


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## yumdrey (Feb 20, 2011)

Jasmine658 said:


> Made a quick call today and learned that the Hilton Club NY @ 1355 Av of Americas not part of HGVC (used to live near there). Am thinking of purchasing points at Hilton Club in NY so can stay there every other year in 2BR with family, also thinking of buying some points at Hilton Flamingo, to use also every other year (use for exchanges in other years if get annual point plan). In past, when single always got free rooms in Vegas, but now have to travel with kids and of course need more space.
> 
> If buy points at Hilton Club in NY and points at HGVC in Vegas, and it totals 14,000 - does that qualify for "ELITE" status, or do all the points have to be HGVC to get bottom tier ELITE status?
> 
> ...



*You have to buy points directly from Hilton to get Elite status*. resale weeks are not eligible toward Elite. However, many tuggers say that Elite is not that fancy to use, it would be better to open HHonors credit card and reach elite through it.
Do you know that Hilton Club NY is right to use property and it would be expired on 2032? Also maintenance fee is very high. But it is a great place to stay. Hilton Club owners have access to HGVC properties, but HGVC owners don't have access to Hilton Club.
Hilton built another resort/hotel on West 57th St. which is accessible to HGVC owners. It is in great location and easy to book the dates I want. HGVC owners can reserve studio or 1BR at 44 days out.
On sales listing, MF can be different, because some owners include club fee to MF and some don't. Also, each resort has a different MF too. Even in the same resort, different phase can have different MF. Sea world I and sea world II have slightly different MF.
In HGVC system, trading through RCI is not matter where you own. You get a cooperate RCI account and HGVC will do bulk deposit to RCI, you don't deposit your week. You just spend your points for exchange.
HGVC owners get blended (same) trade power. After RCI's new system change, trading power is no matter though. Everyone see the same thing.
DVC made a new rule that resale owners will get the restrictions for the point use. OTOH, HGVC treats all owners the same except the elite status. Now I can say HGVC is much more owner friendly than DVC.


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## Talent312 (Feb 20, 2011)

_A minor correction:_  A HHonors CC (Am-Ex) will help you reach a "gold" or "diamond" status with HHonors for booking rooms thru the Hilton Hotel reservation system. It will not help you with HGVC-Elite status.

H-Honors affiliated CC's augments your HHonors account, significantly.

But Yumdrey is correct. The extra $K you'd have to pay to reach elite status, just ain't worth it, unless that is, red-carpet perks are important to you and you have $$ to burn.


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## Jasmine658 (Feb 20, 2011)

*Wow, just like what DVC is doing!*



yumdrey said:


> *You have to buy points directly from Hilton to get Elite status*. resale weeks are not eligible toward Elite. However, many tuggers say that Elite is not that fancy to use, it would be better to open HHonors credit card and reach elite through it.



I re-read through the Elite Perks, and agree it's really not worth worrying about, some reduced fees, but no waived fees until you get to the top Elite category, and we just aren't traveling that much.

Funny, DVC trying to do the same thing separating out those points bought resale vs direct. Wonder how that works on the reservation side trying to figure out which points are which - eligible vs ineligible points? All this separating of DVC point classifications starting on March 20th this year. IMO looks like a a computer programming mess coming up.


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## Talent312 (Feb 20, 2011)

HGVC makes no distinction between resale-points and retail-points, save only for elite status, not even in access to the HHonors program. In fact, your membership card may show the date of the unit's original sale (as mine does), and if you're rooked into an "owner's update," the sales-peeps may not even know how you came by it.

HGVC seems content to "manage" the resale market by using its ROFR to take-back units it believes it can resell w/o the cost of construction.


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