Hyatt Residence Clu

[ChicagoDave]

HI everyone, I’m new to this group. My wife and I just closed on a Hyatt Residence Club membership. We bought HRC 1,500 points annually with yearly maintenance fees of $1,400 for $29,000 with 3,000 bonus points. Although we like to travel to different resorts throughout the year and have flexibility in our schedule, we’re still within the recision/cancellation period and trying to determine if this program makes sense for us.

A few questions...
- biggest concern is the availability of properties for 1,500 points. When I look at the World of Hyatt website, many of the hotels don’t have point stays available and those that do require 250,000+ points, which is far more than our HRC points conversion. Will we be able to find availability for 1,500 HRC points per year in peak season at desirable resorts like Hawaii or Aruba?
- Will the 1500 points get us more than 1 vacation a year because $29,000 covers the cost for quite some time If we just pay out of pocket?
- we were told while the bonus points expire in 2 years, the HRC annual points rollover without any expiration. Is this true?
- there was a lot of talk about how we can use cash to buy deeply discounted rates at thousands of resorts around the world thru Interval International. However, when I read the reviews about II, they’re absolutely horrible! I asked our HRC rep about the reviews and she dismissed them by saying HRC owns II and we would get preferential booking treatment, etc. and not to worry. Is this accurate?

Hoping we made the right decision. Clearly a lot of negative press around timeshares, so we’re hoping you can shed some light on the situation. Thank you

 

[echino]

Cancel ASAP.

Research.

Buy resale.

What you bought has zero resale value. Once you are past rescission period, your $29,000 becomes zero.

 

[ScoopKona]

100% agree with echino. Cancel. Now. Today. And then get back with us after you have canceled.

 

[ChicagoDave]

Cancel ASAP.

Research.

Buy resale.

What you bought has zero resale value. Once you are past rescission period, your $29,000 becomes zero.

HI and thank you For the quick reply. The part I’m struggling to understand is we spend $4,000 - $6,000 a year on vacation travel (most of it goes towards the resort property). If the average is $4,000 for the hotel, aren’t we essentially saving that via 1,500 points that we’ve purchased? I’m new to the timeshare game and apologize for being slow to understand.

 

[ScoopKona]

HI and thank you For the quick reply. The part I’m struggling to understand is we spend $4,000 - $6,000 a year on vacation travel (most of it goes towards the resort property). If the average is $4,000 for the hotel, aren’t we essentially saving that via 1,500 points that we’ve purchased? I’m new to the timeshare game and apologize for being slow to understand.

At the risk of sounding rude, ask all your questions AFTER you have canceled. If you still want to buy it again, they'll gladly resell it to you.

Clock is ticking.

 

[ChicagoDave]

At the risk of sounding rude, ask all your questions AFTER you have canceled. If you still want to buy it again, they'll gladly resell it to you.

Clock is ticking.

Thank you. Cancellation will be sent priority mail tomorrow.

 

[travelhacker]

I agree with what everyone has said.

I personally love my Hyatt Residence Club ownership that I purchased resale. I think it could be a good fit for you (again resale), but the resorts are limited.

I have several close by and Florida is a regular part of our vacation plans, so it works great for our family.

What resort were you staying at? Is that one that you would want to stay at regularly?

I have found that I have saved considerable money in one sense with timeshares, but also travel a lot more (so am I really better off financially...regardless we have loved and treasure our vacations).

I will say I LOVE what we have purchased and would do it all over again.

 

[travelhacker]

Do let us know what attracted you to Hyatt in the first place, and there may be a good option that we can lead you to.

 

[ChicagoDave]

I agree with what everyone has said.

I personally love my Hyatt Residence Club ownership that I purchased resale. I think it could be a good fit for you (again resale), but the resorts are limited.

I have several close by and Florida is a regular part of our vacation plans, so it works great for our family.

What resort were you staying at? Is that one that you would want to stay at regularly?

I have found that I have saved considerable money in one sense with timeshares, but also travel a lot more (so am I really better off financially...regardless we have loved and treasure our vacations).

I will say I LOVE what we have purchased and would do it all over again.

thank you. We stayed at the Hyatt Residence Pointe in Key West, which was the location with the discounted price for the timeshare presentation trip. We’d probably want to stay closer to downtown next time or Sonesta Key, etc. I’ll be interested to hear about how you bought a resale your experience using it.

 

[mjm1]

HI and thank you For the quick reply. The part I’m struggling to understand is we spend $4,000 - $6,000 a year on vacation travel (most of it goes towards the resort property). If the average is $4,000 for the hotel, aren’t we essentially saving that via 1,500 points that we’ve purchased? I’m new to the timeshare game and apologize for being slow to understand.

I agree with others that you should rescind your purchase and then research the various timeshare systems here on TUG to see which one, if any, are the best fit for what you want to accomplish. Using your timeshare points to convert to hotel points is always the least valuable way to use them. It is best to use them to stay within the Hyatt Residence Club system or exchange them within II for resorts outside of HRC.

We bought resale and are very happy with what we own. But again, you have to decide what is best for your situation. Read through the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) and other overviews provided in the Hyatt Residence Club Forum to start your research.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[travelhacker]

thank you. We stayed at the Hyatt Residence Pointe in Key West, which was the location with the discounted price for the timeshare presentation trip. We’d probably want to stay closer to downtown next time or Sonesta Key, etc. I’ll be interested to hear about how you bought a resale your experience using it.

OK, so here's what I can tell you:

1) Siesta Key (I assume that's what you meant) is really difficult to get. I've stayed there a few times, but your average Hyatt user has never even seen availability in it. It is IMO all it's cracked up to be, but you simply can't count on getting trades there.

2) It sounds like you want to stay at Sunset Harbour rather than Beach House or Windward Pointe. Sunset Harbour is the trickiest of those trades, but it's certainly doable with planning. If you make use of the waitlist with plenty of notice, you should be able to book it.

I think where you live plays an important factor in the timeshare that you choose. We live in Colorado, so it's never difficult to use left over points. If you just want those two resorts, it may not be a great fit, and you may be better served looking at a system like Hilton (which has a much larger footprint, and also lets resale owners play in their points system).

I bought a resale off redweek (and a few others from different sources).

Essentially a "legacy" resort owner has a home week. You have the exclusive right to book their unit, during your week up to 6 months before check in (or a partial unit / partial week). If you don't book your home resort, you lose that exclusive right to book your unit / week.

At any time prior to the check in date of your owned week you can book any other reservation within the Hyatt system.

If you don't book anything prior to your check in date your points become restricted. You can only book resorts with checkins within 60 days.

It's a great system, but it's easy for newcomers to get confused.

Any other questions, ask away!

 

[TUGBrian]

grats on finding TUG in time to save 29,000 bucks!

moving this to the hyatt forum so you can get some more help!

 

[ChicagoDave]

OK, so here's what I can tell you:

1) Siesta Key (I assume that's what you meant) is really difficult to get. I've stayed there a few times, but your average Hyatt user has never even seen availability in it. It is IMO all it's cracked up to be, but you simply can't count on getting trades there.

2) It sounds like you want to stay at Sunset Harbour rather than Beach House or Windward Pointe. Sunset Harbour is the trickiest of those trades, but it's certainly doable with planning. If you make use of the waitlist with plenty of notice, you should be able to book it.

I think where you live plays an important factor in the timeshare that you choose. We live in Colorado, so it's never difficult to use left over points. If you just want those two resorts, it may not be a great fit, and you may be better served looking at a system like Hilton (which has a much larger footprint, and also lets resale owners play in their points system).

I bought a resale off redweek (and a few others from different sources).

Essentially a "legacy" resort owner has a home week. You have the exclusive right to book their unit, during your week up to 6 months before check in (or a partial unit / partial week). If you don't book your home resort, you lose that exclusive right to book your unit / week.

At any time prior to the check in date of your owned week you can book any other reservation within the Hyatt system.

If you don't book anything prior to your check in date your points become restricted. You can only book resorts with checkins within 60 days.

It's a great system, but it's easy for newcomers to get confused.

Any other questions, ask away!

Thank you again for your insights. We live in the Chicago area and enjoy travelling to different warm weather/beach resorts usually in FL, CA, the Caribbean (Aruba, Grand Cayman) and Hawaii. We usually stay at Hilton and Marriott resorts and the Hyatt properties are lovely, which is what attracted us to them. My wife and I are both self employed with flexibility in when we can travel and we usually travel for 2.5 - 3 weeks a year. Your comments about Siesta Key are interesting because that property along with Aruba, Hawaii and Carmel, CA (Highlands) are the ones we are most interested in visiting along with Sunset Harbour or the Beach House in Key West thru the HRC program. I kept pressing the representative about availability at those properties and she kept assuring me we could book 12-18 months in advance and there wouldn't be a problem even during peak season.

I will definitely check back here after cancelling the HRC purchase and look into resale options. I should've done more research before the trip, but glad to have found this website before it was too late!

 

[ScoopKona]

Thank you. Cancellation will be sent priority mail tomorrow.

I was a Hyatt timeshare salesman in Key West.

Whatever the rescission instructions tell you to do, that's what you do.

I recommend springing the extra couple bucks for return receipt -- so you have paper evidence they got your rescission letter. Back in the day, (and even today in Maui), there are developer weeks which are worth buying. But this new Marriott points system is a ridiculous waste of money. Rid yourself of it -- by following the instructions to the letter -- and all the Hyatt people will gladly point you in a better direction.

Hyatt may very well be the system for you. But that's a bridge we can cross after you have corrected a $30,000 mistake.

 

[travelhacker]

Thank you again for your insights. We live in the Chicago area and enjoy travelling to different warm weather/beach resorts usually in FL, CA, the Caribbean (Aruba, Grand Cayman) and Hawaii. We usually stay at Hilton and Marriott resorts and the Hyatt properties are lovely, which is what attracted us to them. My wife and I are both self employed with flexibility in when we can travel and we usually travel for 2.5 - 3 weeks a year. Your comments about Siesta Key are interesting because that property along with Aruba, Hawaii and Carmel, CA (Highlands) are the ones we are most interested in visiting along with Sunset Harbour or the Beach House in Key West thru the HRC program. I kept pressing the representative about availability at those properties and she kept assuring me we could book 12-18 months in advance and there wouldn't be a problem even during peak season.

I will definitely check back here after cancelling the HRC purchase and look into resale options. I should've done more research before the trip, but glad to have found this website before it was too late!

Hyatt may yet be a pretty good fit for you. Some people only want to stay in old town key west, and because of that Sunset Harbour is the most difficult (by a pretty wide margin) to trade into of the Key West properties. If you'd be happy at Beach House or Windward Pointe, those have good availability.

Our family loves Coconut Plantation (Bonita Springs which is Naples area). Availability is also quite good at that resort.

We have yet to stay at Carmel (but have visited the property a couple of times), but with planning availability really isn't that hard.

Hawaii requires a lot of advanced planning -- you don't typically see inventory just sitting there. If you make use of the waitlist and are flexible, it's possible to trade in.

Hyatt does not have an Aruba property. However Marriott does (and it's available via Interval International). I haven't tried trading in, so I can't speak to the availability. I would imagine that Studios / 1 bedrooms are easier to get and it's a really good value in Interval if you are trading the right Hyatt property.

Congrats on saving $30,000!

You should be able to pick up a diamond week for 1/2 - 1/3rd of that price and will have 2200 points to make excellent use of. Your maintenance fees should also be significantly less per point.

Feel free to PM me, or post on the general Hyatt board any questions you have.

 

[socaltimeshare]

To answer some of your questions:

- biggest concern is the availability of properties for 1,500 points. When I look at the World of Hyatt website, many of the hotels don’t have point stays available and those that do require 250,000+ points, which is far more than our HRC points conversion. Will we be able to find availability for 1,500 HRC points per year in peak season at desirable resorts like Hawaii or Aruba?

You don't need to buy a Hyatt timeshare to get World of Hyatt (WOH) points. At the classic tier (what you would have been in) you get 41 WOH points per portfolio point if you exchange. So, 41 x 1500 = 61,500 WOH points. For this you would have tied up money on your purchase, plus $1,400 in maintenance fees, plus a conversion fee. Or, just google "buy hyatt points" and right now you can buy 55,000 points for $924 directly from Hyatt. It's literally less cost / point. Or, just do what others do and get an Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card that can directly transfer points to Hyatt.

Will the 1500 points get us more than 1 vacation a year because $29,000 covers the cost for quite some time If we just pay out of pocket?

Scroll down to the club points value chart here- https://www.atimeshare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/POINTSCHART.pdf. Will tell you exactly what 1500 points would get you. For instance, you would have a hard time getting Maui since most units there are 2 bedroom, all weeks there are diamond, and thus you would need 2200 points. You would have enough points for a 1 bedroom week there (1450) if there was availability. Generally, no it won't get you multiple vacations unless using for low season, like a mountain week.

there was a lot of talk about how we can use cash to buy deeply discounted rates at thousands of resorts around the world thru Interval International. However, when I read the reviews about II, they’re absolutely horrible! I asked our HRC rep about the reviews and she dismissed them by saying HRC owns II and we would get preferential booking treatment, etc. and not to worry. Is this accurate?

Yes, you can buy getaways through II. Some good opportunities do come up but usually very last minute and then airfare and rental car will probably be more. Hard to find a getaway for a desirable prime season location in advance. Any timeshare eligible for II can buy getaways. Exchanges through II can work also with lots of advance planning and flexibility on vacation timing.

 

[mandl]

May I jump in and ask a question of the Hyatt timeshare owners? We just did a Marriott timeshare presentation on the Big Island. The salesperson told us Marriott has purchased the Hyatt Timeshare Properties, and will be under their operation next year. Any thoughts on this?

 

[travelhacker]

May I jump in and ask a question of the Hyatt timeshare owners? We just did a Marriott timeshare presentation on the Big Island. The salesperson told us Marriott has purchased the Hyatt Timeshare Properties, and will be under their operation next year. Any thoughts on this?

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (which owns MVC) purchased Interval Leisure Group (which owns Interval International, Hyatt Residence Club, and Vistana).

There is zero chance it will be combined anytime in the next year (they are finally integrating Vistana after I believe 4 years).

MVW purchased Welk and are working to integrate that with Hyatt Residence Club.

The speculation here is that they won’t ever integrate Hyatt into their points system and will instead have Hyatt / Welk as a separate product.

From my perspective, I think they very well could set up a club to club exchange agreement between Abound and HRC like they’ve done with Vistana. However, there are more difficulties with that than with Vistana. Lastly, Vistana made sense since Marriott Hotels integrated Starwood, but Hyatt hotels are a separate company. MVW and Marriott hotels are separate companies, but most people wouldn’t realize that.

 

[ScoopKona]

Marriott can say whatever they want. Only their actions count. And thus far, the only thing they seem to be interested in is acquiring prime units using ROFR so they can sell them again.

From the legacy Hyatt Residence Club owner's perspective, there have been no changes whatsoever since Marriott took over. The hybrid point system works the same way it always did.

The big advantage to Hyatt over the other systems is that it was originally set up by people who thought of every possible way to "break" the system -- holding onto inventory until the last minute, consequence-free cancellations, minting points from thin air using a loyalty card, etc. And they put rules in place to keep that from happening.

The hard deadlines mean that even a 1300-point Bronze owner has a reasonable chance of trading up in season, if he or she doesn't mind trading down in either the size of the unit or the amount of time. It favors people who can make decisions six months to a year out.

The game-show hosts who are telling owners to "Hyattize" their week are potentially throwing wrenches into the gears. If they find a way to break the system, I'll walk away. My week owes me nothing at this point. I got more than I ever paid out of it, because I routinely get two or three weeks (even four) each year out of it.

 

[ChicagoDave]

Thank you for everyone’s advice. I emailed a cancellation letter to HRC and also mailed them a paper copy with tracking via UPS (I don’t trust the USPS with anything important). My wife and I are still interested in buying a Hyatt timeshare and are interested in your advice on secondary market resale options that would make sense for us.

We live in the Chicago area and enjoy travelling to different warm weather/beach resorts usually in AZ, FL, CA, Mexico, the Caribbean (Aruba, Grand Cayman) and Hawaii. Travel is a mix of both summer and winter/spring seasons. My wife and I are both self employed with flexibility in when we can travel and we usually travel 2.5 - 3 weeks a year. It’s usually just the two of us, so a studio or 1 bedroom is fine. We seldom stay anywhere longer than 5-7 days and usually stay at Hilton and Marriott resorts. The Hyatt properties are lovely, which is what attracted us to them. My intent is to purchase 1-2 timeshare properties where we can either stay or use them to trade for weeks at other locations via Hyatt or an exchange program.

Based on the forum comments, it sounds like I should look for either a Diamond or Platinum week to purchase for the most flexibility and exchange value. Some questions I have are:

1. Should we buy a fixed or floating week? Is one better than the other for trade value if we put it into an exchange program? Does the fact they float with flexibility make them preferable for the owner or exchange user or are fixed weeks more desirable for exchanges?

2. If we buy a floating week, how difficult is it to reserve decent dates at our home property or some of the more popular places (AZ, HI, FL, Mexico, Caribbean) in the winter/spring?

3. Is a deeded property better than an RTU property assuming the RTU lasts far beyond my expected life span? I know a deeded property can be passed down, but any other concerns with an RTU that make them less desirable if buying resale?

4. Do all resales come with annual points? Also, some resale listings include sizable accrued points with the property - any issues with me using these points? Is it worth paying a higher purchase price to acquire the points or are they of limited value?

5. Even though we only need a studio/1 bedroom, would you recommend us buying a 2 bedroom/bath unit for purposes of exchange value or does it not matter?

6. Even if the property looks nice, are any of the “less than $500“ or free units listed for sale really worth it even if the MF is reasonable?

7. As an alternative to Hyatt, are Marriott resales a good option for us as there seem to be more of those available and a larger network?

We aren’t looking at a timeshare as an investment, so if it increases in value down road, that’s a bonus. Our main purpose is for less expensive vacation/travel use than a hotel stay or trying to find a timeshare rental. Thank you again for everyone’s help!

 

[travelhacker]

I'll try to answer your questions from a (mostly) Hyatt perspective so that it is relevant to this forum. You may want to do a follow-up in the "New to Timesharing" forum, and answer the questions here:

"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs. Suggestion - copy the questions below, and start a new thread entitled "My Survey" or "What should I buy?," or something similar, and answer the questions in a NEW thread. 1) Is there a vacation destination you wish...

tugbbs.com

1) Almost everything in Hyatt is fixed week. Maui has floating weeks, but if I owned there I’d always stay in Maui. Fixed vs Floating is a bit of a mixed bag. You own the fixed week. No matter what the management company does, they can't take that away from you. That comes with the loss of flexibility. Most Hyatt resorts are fixed right down to the unit that you stay in.

2) Hyatt has properties in Arizona (Pinon Pointe -- which we love), Hawaii (Maui), 5 locations in Florida (3 in key west, 1 in bonita springs, and 1 in Siesta Key that is really hard to book). It does not have locations in Mexico or the Carribean. Key West isn't difficult to get in the winter. Getting into Sunset Harbour is more difficult due to it's location in the middle of the action in Key West. Also, since I believe you don't have kids, the studio / 1 bedroom option is only available at Sunset Harbour. I would say that if you can plan Sunset Harbour with plenty of advanced notice and some flexibility you can take advantage of the waitlist. With Coconut Plantation (Bonita Springs), you won't have to plan as far in advance.

You can use Interval to trade into Mexico or the Carribean.

3) It hasn't made a difference to me since the RTU's in Hyatt are so far out. It would in other systems (like Mexico or DVC where the date is closer).

4) All Hyatt resales come with points. Some listings do come with points, there is no issue using those points but points often can and do expire between when you make an offer and they are available for your use. Under a best case scenario it'll take about 2.5 months to close. Under most cases it'll take 4+ months.

5) With Hyatt, I would definitely stick to the 2 bedroom. The options where you can buy just a 1 bedroom are not good from a maintenance fee perspective (I'm looking at you Pinon Pointe where the maintenance fees are like $150 less for a year).

6) My opinion is that you are playing with fire with some of those really cheap units. There are some gems in there, but you have to know exactly what you are getting. You can't expect to get a free week at a no name resort in Branson in the winter and expect to trade it to great locations.

I've picked up a few units for free and they've worked out great, but if I spent the time doing something more productive I'd be better off.

7) Marriott is great. The issue with Marriott is that resale units (aside from points) only allow you to stay at your home resort during your assigned season or exchange them with Interval. If you always wanted to go to Aruba every year, you could pick up a two bedroom in Aruba, and reserve the 1 bedroom for one week, and the studio for the next and it could work out great.

Many people on TUG (myself included) have picked up "trader" units that have Marriott preference to trade. For the most part, Interval can only be used for full week reservations when exchanging. If you can plan well with Interval, you can get some really nice trades.

I'd fill out the survey that I mentioned based on what I'm hearing from you, you'd be in a good spot with Hyatt (which trades really well in Interval -- particularly for smaller units). It would actually be my first choice because it gets such good value when trading for studios or 1 bedroom units.

I think HGVC would also work out really well for you. This is because they have a point system. You can pick up a Las Vegas week and trade into many really great locations. HGVC is affiliated with RCI for it's external exchange. I don't like RCI nearly as much as Interval, so I'd almost exclusively use my points within the HGVC system.

I would recommend Mandatory units within Vistana as well (these come with points), but it is getting changed a bit with the merge with Marriott. I'd wait another month or two for the dust to settle. I still think it will be a great option.

 

[ChicagoDave]

I'll try to answer your questions from a (mostly) Hyatt perspective so that it is relevant to this forum. You may want to do a follow-up in the "New to Timesharing" forum, and answer the questions here:

"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs. Suggestion - copy the questions below, and start a new thread entitled "My Survey" or "What should I buy?," or something similar, and answer the questions in a NEW thread. 1) Is there a vacation destination you wish...

tugbbs.com

1) Almost everything in Hyatt is fixed week. Maui has floating weeks, but if I owned there I’d always stay in Maui. Fixed vs Floating is a bit of a mixed bag. You own the fixed week. No matter what the management company does, they can't take that away from you. That comes with the loss of flexibility. Most Hyatt resorts are fixed right down to the unit that you stay in.

2) Hyatt has properties in Arizona (Pinon Pointe -- which we love), Hawaii (Maui), 5 locations in Florida (3 in key west, 1 in bonita springs, and 1 in Siesta Key that is really hard to book). It does not have locations in Mexico or the Carribean. Key West isn't difficult to get in the winter. Getting into Sunset Harbour is more difficult due to it's location in the middle of the action in Key West. Also, since I believe you don't have kids, the studio / 1 bedroom option is only available at Sunset Harbour. I would say that if you can plan Sunset Harbour with plenty of advanced notice and some flexibility you can take advantage of the waitlist. With Coconut Plantation (Bonita Springs), you won't have to plan as far in advance.

You can use Interval to trade into Mexico or the Carribean.

3) It hasn't made a difference to me since the RTU's in Hyatt are so far out. It would in other systems (like Mexico or DVC where the date is closer).

4) All Hyatt resales come with points. Some listings do come with points, there is no issue using those points but points often can and do expire between when you make an offer and they are available for your use. Under a best case scenario it'll take about 2.5 months to close. Under most cases it'll take 4+ months.

5) With Hyatt, I would definitely stick to the 2 bedroom. The options where you can buy just a 1 bedroom are not good from a maintenance fee perspective (I'm looking at you Pinon Pointe where the maintenance fees are like $150 less for a year).

6) My opinion is that you are playing with fire with some of those really cheap units. There are some gems in there, but you have to know exactly what you are getting. You can't expect to get a free week at a no name resort in Branson in the winter and expect to trade it to great locations.

I've picked up a few units for free and they've worked out great, but if I spent the time doing something more productive I'd be better off.

7) Marriott is great. The issue with Marriott is that resale units (aside from points) only allow you to stay at your home resort during your assigned season or exchange them with Interval. If you always wanted to go to Aruba every year, you could pick up a two bedroom in Aruba, and reserve the 1 bedroom for one week, and the studio for the next and it could work out great.

Many people on TUG (myself included) have picked up "trader" units that have Marriott preference to trade. For the most part, Interval can only be used for full week reservations when exchanging. If you can plan well with Interval, you can get some really nice trades.

I'd fill out the survey that I mentioned based on what I'm hearing from you, you'd be in a good spot with Hyatt (which trades really well in Interval -- particularly for smaller units). It would actually be my first choice because it gets such good value when trading for studios or 1 bedroom units.

I think HGVC would also work out really well for you. This is because they have a point system. You can pick up a Las Vegas week and trade into many really great locations. HGVC is affiliated with RCI for it's external exchange. I don't like RCI nearly as much as Interval, so I'd almost exclusively use my points within the HGVC system.

I would recommend Mandatory units within Vistana as well (these come with points), but it is getting changed a bit with the merge with Marriott. I'd wait another month or two for the dust to settle. I still think it will be a great option.

Thank you for all of your insights!!

 

[ScoopKona]

I was going to answer your questions one by one. But the real answer to most of them is "it doesn't matter."

Seriously. Doesn't matter. Deeded/RTU? They both work the same, and we'll all be dead when the expiration date arrives. Fixed/floating? Doesn't matter. They work the same way for the owner. Most of what you're going to look for is fixed. But it doesn't matter because if you don't use what you own, it's points, which float. Bronze/Diamond? Doesn't matter. Diamond is better. But I started with a Bronze week and traveled the world on that for more than a decade. Then they decided my Bronze week was actually "gold" and upgraded me. Now I have a gold week. Doesn't matter.

So here's what you need to know about the legacy HRC program:

1) You will buy a fixed week, at a particular unit at your home resort. Unless you plan on actually using what you own, what you buy doesn't matter. The only things which matter are the price you pay, the annual maintenance fee, and the associated amount of points.

2) If you use what you own, you reserve your week and that's that. You're done for the year.

3) The Hyatt system becomes far more complicated if you DON'T use what you own. 12 months from your week, you get access to give your week up for points. Bam. You will no longer be able to use your week. Now you have points. Let's assume 2200 points on a 2 bedroom Diamond week. You may immediately use those points to make reservations in either Hyatt or Interval.

4) "What does a week cost?" Is where the system becomes complicated. Anywhere between 70 points for a mud week in a Colorado studio to 2575 for a 2 bedroom premiere in Carmel. In Interval, the only three numbers to remember are 1300 for a 2bd, 870 or a 1bd, and 430 for a studio. (Interval can be even lower during off-peak times. But just assume peak and be pleasantly surprised if it isn't.)

So with your 2200 points, you could grab a week in a Sedona 1bd for 1240 points and still have 960 points left -- enough for two Interval studio weeks or one 1bd week. And still have a minor amount of points leftover, which if you kick them into Interval, are good for two years.

I have a week in Carmel this year, and then two Interval weeks -- Napa and San Francisco. All paid for with 1880 points, and some leftover interval points.

The thing about Hyatt is to take everything you've ever heard about timeshares and throw it away. And then listen to how the program works. If that sort of vacationing appeals to you, great. Buy a resale week. It's just a big complicated toy.

 

[dsmrp]

Get the highest level week that you can afford. Bronze, silver, diamond etc all pay the same MF for same size unit at their particular resort. The difference is in the number of points each level is allotted. For example at Pinon Pt, a 2bdrm Diamond gets 2200 pts, Platinum 2000, Gold 1880, Silver 1400, Bronze 1300 etc.

Diamond units will cost most on sale price. Silver and Bronze are usually lowest cost.
When you want to sell your unit, it should be much easier to divest a diamond or platinum rather than silver or bronze.

 

[ScoopKona]

Diamond units will cost most on sale price. Silver and Bronze are usually lowest cost.
When you want to sell your unit, it should be much easier to divest a diamond or platinum rather than silver or bronze.

That's 100% correct.

But I'll add that if you're using your week correctly, it will pay for itself so many times over that when you're done with it, you could give away for free and walk away, content that you got your money's worth.

Even a bronze 1300 point week is enough to get 2 or 3 weeks each year. It all boils down to flexibility. The family of six who wants to ski Christmas week every year is going to need far more points than the couple who doesn't care where they go and can stay in studios.