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Changes to the Elite program

The homes are beautiful, but the amount of points per night, the added fees, and the restrictions make it a very, very niche option, IMO.
 
Wow - if your points cost .10/pt that's $12,000 for a week. If .14 that's only $16,800/week. Is this just sales candy? Who would buy this with their points?

I wonder what this rents for on the open market without points.

I was looking at the 2024 cruises. All require a presentation plus about 15 - 27k points. Too rich for me.
 
The only way that I could see justifying these amount of points is if it is a large house, you have other families staying with you, and they offset the cost.
 
But why not just AirBnB with no obligation? 120k points/year that's a LOT of points to blow on one house. Most people do not have that many points even if they borrow and bank. (like me) And I am E Plus.

Is this a typical listing?
 
CalGalTraveler said:
But why not just AirBnB with no obligation? 120k points/year that's a LOT of points to blow on one house. Most people do not have that many points even if they borrow and bank. (like me) And I am E Plus.

Is this a typical listing?
Click to expand...
I didn't look around much but they do seem to be pretty pricey....that has to be a very small percentage of HGVC owners that can avail of these.
 
My guess is this is costing less money than Villas of Distinction. They really don’t care what Legacy Elite members think. HGV wants them to buy into Max and their rewards program. Since they aren’t offering that program to the general public, they are trying to make it less enticing to stay. I think you will continue to see the erosion of the Legacy Elite program as they try to push toward the Max reward system.
 
dayooper said:
My guess is this is costing less money than Villas of Distinction. They really don’t care what Legacy Elite members think. HGV wants them to buy into Max and their rewards program. Since they aren’t offering that program to the general public, they are trying to make it less enticing to stay. I think you will continue to see the erosion of the Legacy Elite program as they try to push toward the Max reward system.
Click to expand...
They did harmonize the travel providers between Max and Legacy so that will be the same.
1701978350855.png
 
Would love to hear from Max and Diamond Legacy members if any of these programs are worth it.
 
CalGalTraveler said:
Would love to hear from Max and Diamond Legacy members if any of these programs are worth it.
Click to expand...
When I have looked at the cruises, they aren't. I think it just comes down to whether folks have points to burn. From what I have seen, each of these options are probably cheaper to work through other travel service options.
 
HuskerATL said:
They did harmonize the travel providers between Max and Legacy so that will be the same.
View attachment 85470
Click to expand...
Again, cost saving. By creating “synergy” between the 2, they are saving money. More and more, there will be similarities between outside programs, but the benefits that are HGVC specific will start to be eroded away.

Hopefully I’m wrong.
 
dayooper said:
Again, cost saving. By creating “synergy” between the 2, they are saving money. More and more, there will be similarities between outside programs, but the benefits that are HGVC specific will start to be eroded away.

Hopefully I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
I find it funny how they seem to be focused on saving costs rather than actually making HGVC whole (I don’t expect much inventory, but I do expect to be able to have the opportunity to exchange into all HGVC branded properties without MAX as an HGVC owner. Embarc should be similar to the Florida beach properties of an option but dependent on inventory which may never actually come). But then that would require caring about owners which HGV is behaving more like Diamond in that regard.
 
There is such big demand for high end travel that I stand back trying to understand where all the money comes from. My friend owns a beautiful home at the Four Seasons community on the Big Island. It is like a mini compound. She was listed on VRBO and pulled it because she had too many requests and decided renting wasn't worth it. When you look at an $8,000 a night rental, like hers, in Hawaii all the taxes send that nightly cost over 10K. I saw several still listed over 10k a night in her area on VRBO. Totally crazy for my wallet.

High end is crazy popular right now. TCS World Travel offers around the world three week trips for about $160,000 per person. The crazy thing is I get emails that most of 2024 is sold out. Perhaps marketing. Perhaps reality. But, a lot of people do their trips.

I'm happy living my modest lifestyle of travel and I'm content that I get to enjoy what I get to enjoy. i definitely see the difference between well-off and wealthy. I think the difference is that line between my being a content Target and Costco shopper while the other group make daily runs to Nieman Marcus and Saks.

I admit you piqued my interest with the product. I'm curious that it exists and more curious how it is marketed. Seems a little bit like Pacaso (not a typo) with the added ability to change destinations. Time for the curious to investigate.

I'm very curious if any TUG users are using the product the OP posted. Do share more details.

Thanks for sharing!
 
HuskerATL said:
New undies each 6 months.....:)
Click to expand...

That's actually what I get, but they don't carry proper boxers. What they haev is OK (and pricey), but not my preferred.

Yeah, I know, this is approaching TMI... :)

Cheers.
 
IMO, I don't see much difference between the previous program and the new one. They both required an enormous amount of points. I only thought that it was for the sales presentations. I never could figure out how could afford to book those resorts if they were in the HGVC or even the new HgvMax program.
 
I’ve looked at both the old Villas and the new ones as well as those available through Marriott and found them all way too expensive. I do very well, though, trading select timeshare weeks for similar vacation homes through ThirdHome, an independent exchange system.
 
There is upper middle class $$ and then there is stupid rich class. IMHO those houses fall into the latter category.
 
Sandy VDH said:
There is upper middle class $$ and then there is stupid rich class. IMHO those houses fall into the latter category.
Click to expand...
and there are poorer people who have a lot of debt wanting to act like the mentioned....
 
CalGalTraveler said:
Wow - if your points cost .10/pt that's $12,000 for a week. If .14 that's only $16,800/week. Is this just sales candy? Who would buy this with their points?

I wonder what this rents for on the open market without points.

I was looking at the 2024 cruises. All require a presentation plus about 15 - 27k points. Too rich for me.
Click to expand...
Maybe Eric B (who has Third Home I believe) can see something comparable? At least I think Third Home has actual homes as well.
 
Sandy VDH said:
There is upper middle class $$ and then there is stupid rich class. IMHO those houses fall into the latter category.
Click to expand...
... and there are upper middle class folks that have figured out how to exchange into properties the stupid rich class owns. There are also quite a few upper middle class vacation homes that you can get into by exchanges.

hurnik said:
Maybe Eric B (who has Third Home I believe) can see something comparable? At least I think Third Home has actual homes as well.
Click to expand...
One comparison I can provide for what you can get through ThirdHome is this 2 BR Hayloft at Flora Farms:

exchange.thirdhome.com

Flora Farms - Hillside Hayloft - 2 Bedroom | San José del Cabo, Mexico

ThirdHome luxury home exchange details for Flora Farms - Hillside Hayloft - 2 Bedroom in San José del Cabo, Mexico
exchange.thirdhome.com exchange.thirdhome.com

The exchange fee was $995, which is admittedly steep, and I gave up the equivalent exchange currency (ThirdHome keys) for half of one gold week at Marbrisa.

Next summer, I've got a week in a 4 BR with a view of Gibraltar on the Costa Del Sol and a 4 BR in Provence, each of which cost an exchange fee of $1,295 and the equivalent of a gold week at Marbrisa, though I traded WorldMark weeks for those. I can look for something equivalent to the posted Amelia Island one, but I don't see the size of the house in the picture. There are some stupid rich ones that you can spend close to the $12K on, but most of the ones that I see in there wind up being achievable for $1-3K for a week all in, which I view as being quite reasonable for what you get. In ThirdHome, it's fairly evenly split between high-end timeshare/fractionals and vacation homes.
 
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