As others have stated, take some time to do some research.
Don’t make any decision based on what you heard at a timeshare presentation. There are lots of folks that buy timeshares without understanding the pros /cons and whether it will work for them.
Here’s a link to the HGVC documents:
2020 Club Rules & Fees (
link)
2020 Point Charts and Open Season Cash rental rates (
link)
Just keep in mind, the one-time Purchase price is just one factor to consider. The ongoing ever increasing fees are just as important to consider (maintenance fees, club dues, reservation fees, banking fees, exchange fees, etc).
The sales folks are known to stretch the truth. For example
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401v is an awful idea. Don‘t hoard Hilton hotel points. They will continue to lose value overtime.
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Open Season cash booking only apply for HGVC resorts (not Hilton hotels) and the cash rates vary by locations, unit size and season.
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RCI Last Call is the low cost cash getaways reserved 45 days or less. These weeks are normally the leftovers (the lowest demand weeks). You generally won’t find a top resort or a high demand week under Last Call. For example, you’ll won’t find ski resort during ski season or beach resorts during the summer. You can find last call in overbuilt timeshare areas such as Orlando and Las Vegas. Here’s a link to one of many TUG discussions (
link)
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Use HGVC points for HGVC resort stays. HGVC allows you to apply your points towards other options such as cruises but it doesn’t save you money. You’ll most likely end up paying more out of pocket using HGVC points vs paying cash.
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Timeshares exchanging requires planning. If you‘re thinking of visiting timeshare locations via RCI, it is important to understand that exchangers only have access to what is deposited and not all weeks are deposited. The number of deposits vary by resort. Some destinations will be harder to exchange into than others. It depends on supply and demand. There will be lots of exchange competition at destinations were most folks want to visit (beach areas in the summer, major city, ski resorts during ski season, national park areas, etc). One should expect high owner occupancy during this time which generally means less exchange deposits (NOTE: Some timeshares owners would rather rent their high demand week than deposit it with an exchange company). With exchange requests, it's best to be as flexible as possible on your requested unit size (there is more competition for larger unit sizes) and travel dates (like any time during the summer) and even then you may not snag a week at your requested resort. With RCI, it's wise to always research the properties that are listed in the RCI Directory to make sure it meets your vacation needs in terms of location, quality, amenities, etc. Depending on the RCI choices, you may decide to visit this location via some other means (hotel/resort stay, etc).
In any event, I’ll repeat what I have posted many times before...
Whatever you decide, don't put all of your future vacation dollars into timesharing.
This will give you the flexibility in the future to choose the best way to visit your desired destinations. There might not be a timeshare at the location that you want to visit or if there is a timeshare it may be very hard to get an exchange. You may also want to visit a destination in an entirely different way via a cruise, hotel/resort stay, special discounted travel package, tour company, beach house rental, etc.
I also don't believe that one should put all of their eggs into one basket.
HGVC and timesharing in general doesn't satisfy all of my vacation needs so I don’t spend all of my vacation money in timesharing. It’s only part of my annual vacation budget.
Good Luck and Welcome to TUG