HGVC Points for Cruise - review and actual cost

[MattnTricia]

I just went through a very painstaking process to book a cruise through HGVC. There is no doubt using points for a cruise is a
poor use of points in all scenarios. In my case I have points that I was very likely not to use and the MF were already paid. I
considered Hilton Honors but really didn't need the points. Fully understanding HGVC's rental policy I made the decision to "burn"
52000 points for 2 short cruises. This is what I found in the process:

1)this is not a process you can complete online - The numbers you see on the HGVC website for cruise costs are not accurate. In all cases there is a $159 booking fee that is not referenced anywhere on the website and in many cases the number of points needed is not calculated properly either.

2)The cruise department that handles these requests is extremely inefficient and it took more than 10 calls and getting Elite supervisors involved just so I could
use the points I had available for the cruise. I lost the type of cabin I wanted 3 times and ultimately spent more points than I wanted due to their inability to facilitate
what should have been a simple booking

3)Overall value is extremely poor but made sense for me in this one specific instance. I used these points to gain Elite status with Princess cruises by booking 2 short(2 day and 3 day) cruises
in a full suite on a double loyalty credit promo they currently have. In my case there special promo is giving my their top level of loyalty status for life in return for my use of these points.

In my case the return on the points was as follows:

58k points used - $108 in taxes I could not pay with points - $318 in reservation fees that were required. At standard Princess Cruise website pricing these 2 cruises should have cost ~$4200.
Last year my MF cost was ~.08 per point (Scotland). Adding the $426 I paid in fees it cost me ~$5000 to make a $4200 reservation but I used points I didn't have a direct need for. I am getting an elite Loyalty benefit that will provide me years of benefits long term on a cruise line we use regularly. This is the positive outlook on these costs. In a more realistic view of how much it cost me to make this reservation through HGVC I could have secured at minimum $600 in OBC for making these reservations with my preferred travel agent on top of negotiated group pricing that was $500 less as well. Mind you this would have been an out of pocket cash cost that I would not have done.

For me if you just look at standard pricing I got about 84% of my MF back to use towards a cruise. If you looked at it with other resort points with a higher MF and the cost concessions I did not get for using HGVC instead of a discount travel agent this return could easily be closer to 50% return on your actual MF $.

I posted this as everyone hears that HGVC options like RV, cruises.... are poor uses for your points . I thought I would just share that this is a very accurate statement and provide an example of what this return really looks like.

BUT - sometimes circumstances dictate you need to use points differently and in this case I am very happy with the return I got.

 

[HuskerATL]

Great write up, thanks.

I have done the math on these in the past and compared the exact same rooms/cruise to the cash price and it would come out similar to what you have stated. You would need to have very low MF/pt to make it work but, if you just need to burn points, it is an option.

 

[Sandy VDH]

yes, I agree, using points for anything but Timeshares is not good value. I would consider moving them into HH as you can make them not expire under that option, but point devaluations occur. So hoarding them is not always a good plan either.

Best HH use is doing the 4 nights paid and get 1 night free. Combine it with my free Hotel night from my HH AMEX and I have a vacation. Bonus with the HH AMEX night, is that it is ANY regular hotel room at any participating property. Unlike my Marriott free night that restricts it properties that are 35K (but you can pay and extra 10K out of your account to get to a 45K) problem is that knocks out a lot of the really good properties. So thumbs down on my Marriott free night, but thumbs up on my Hilton.

 

[MattnTricia]

yes, I agree, using points for anything but Timeshares is not good value. I would consider moving them into HH as you can make them not expire under that option, but point devaluations occur. So hoarding them is not always a good plan either.

Best HH use is doing the 4 nights paid and get 1 night free. Combine it with my free Hotel night from my HH AMEX and I have a vacation. Bonus with the HH AMEX night, is that it is ANY regular hotel room at any participating property. Unlike my Marriott free night that restricts it properties that are 35K (but you can pay and extra 10K out of your account to get to a 45K) problem is that knocks out a lot of the really good properties. So thumbs down on my Marriott free night, but thumbs up on my Hilton.

Agreed that Hilton Honors could be better if used creatively for specific uses. That wasn't the point of the post. It was just to show what the actual value was for me
using a "benefit" of the HGVC program that I believe very few use.

As an FYI I tried BONVOY for about 16 month exclusively due to my feelings about HGVC/Hilton post COY announcement. I hated it. I have found I am just happier in my work world of Hampton/Hilton Garden Inn vs Fairfield/Courtyard and am back on the Hilton train for as long as the COY relationship lasts. As for point returns using HH we only use them on short trips(1-2 nights) domestically during peak times to avoid high cash rate personal nights and we find both HH and BONVOY are not very good which is why HH was not appealing for us in this case as we have enough HH points for our short term needs.

 

[rc51]

for as long as the COY relationship lasts.

Sorry, what's COY? Couldn't find anything in a quick search.

 

[MattnTricia]

Coylumbridge - former HGVC affiliate resort that now has an uncertain future for HGVC use long term.

 

[HuskerATL]

Coylumbridge - former HGVC affiliate resort that now has an uncertain future for HGVC use long term.

Hopefully, Coy owners will be able to exchange in DEX at some point like Craig.

 

[jp10558]

Agreed that Hilton Honors could be better if used creatively for specific uses. That wasn't the point of the post. It was just to show what the actual value was for me
using a "benefit" of the HGVC program that I believe very few use.

As an FYI I tried BONVOY for about 16 month exclusively due to my feelings about HGVC/Hilton post COY announcement. I hated it. I have found I am just happier in my work world of Hampton/Hilton Garden Inn vs Fairfield/Courtyard and am back on the Hilton train for as long as the COY relationship lasts. As for point returns using HH we only use them on short trips(1-2 nights) domestically during peak times to avoid high cash rate personal nights and we find both HH and BONVOY are not very good which is why HH was not appealing for us in this case as we have enough HH points for our short term needs.

Channeling, perhaps unfortunately, LeslieDet - you do know that HGVC and Hilton / HHonors are different companies at this point with a branding agreement. I wouldn't really let anything the timeshares do affect my opinion of the hotels, and vice versa.

I didn't like the rewards limits on Bonvoy so never seriously looked at Marriott - but were the Fairfield / Courtyard lesser than Hampton etc, or less well located, or worse value?

 

[brp]

I didn't like the rewards limits on Bonvoy so never seriously looked at Marriott - but were the Fairfield / Courtyard lesser than Hampton etc, or less well located, or worse value?

We have status with Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt. Hyatt is far and away our favorite of the chains, assuming that one can get their smaller footprint to work for them. We can, so it's an easy decision.

Cheers.

 

[MattnTricia]

Channeling, perhaps unfortunately, LeslieDet - you do know that HGVC and Hilton / HHonors are different companies at this point with a branding agreement. I wouldn't really let anything the timeshares do affect my opinion of the hotels, and vice versa.

I didn't like the rewards limits on Bonvoy so never seriously looked at Marriott - but were the Fairfield / Courtyard lesser than Hampton etc, or less well located, or worse value?

For me I generally found the comparable Hampton Inn / Hilton Garden Inn's nicer than the Marriott counterparts in Northern California. I also found that Marriott typically had mandatory junk fee's when redeeming points for nights which we didn't typically have with Hilton redemptions. We also noted that you had better room option choices with point using Hilton when redeeming than the Marriott program which was typically all standard rooms on redemption. I wouldn't say I hated Marriott but I just liked Hilton better for work so reverted back.

 

[GT75]

@MattnTricia, thanks for giving us feedback on your experience. Just this morning I also looked at the latest HGV cruise option which I received in an email. I also calculated the cost of using HGVC pts vs. just paying for it. I came to the same conclusions as you give in much more detail. I also concluded that if you have too many points (whatever that reason is), then this would be a option. I don't know how many people transfer points into RCI (for I believe a fee) and then don't use them.

 

[mjm1]

Nice write-up Matt. I have found cruises via Marriott are not a good value either. But as you shared, if you need to burn points it’s better than paying cash.

@Sandy VDH, as a fyi, Marriott Bonvoy will allow you to add up to 15k to an award, which we have done to reserve a 50k point room. We have gotten good use out of the awards.

 

[SmithOp]

I'm curious about #3, lifetime status from such a small number of cruise days? Do you have a link to this offer?

Did your reservation include Princess Plus or Premier add on for drinks, wifi, grats, etc?

 

[jp10558]

Nice write-up Matt. I have found cruises via Marriott are not a good value either. But as you shared, if you need to burn points it’s better than paying cash.

@Sandy VDH, as a fyi, Marriott Bonvoy will allow you to add up to 15k to an award, which we have done to reserve a 50k point room. We have gotten good use out of the awards.

I just like that the free night in Hilton is a free night - can be a 95k room or a 35k room (obviously you use them if possible on the more expensive rooms). There's no adding additional points to get a stay. I especially like the new added SLH thing if the free nights actually work there. The only thing I dislike is having to call to use the free night certs - IDK why you can't use them online like with points or cash, makes no sense, except it's more of a PITA to call so maybe people just don't use them then?

 

[HuskerATL]

I just like that the free night in Hilton is a free night - can be a 95k room or a 35k room (obviously you use them if possible on the more expensive rooms). There's no adding additional points to get a stay. I especially like the new added SLH thing if the free nights actually work there. The only thing I dislike is having to call to use the free night certs - IDK why you can't use them online like with points or cash, makes no sense, except it's more of a PITA to call so maybe people just don't use them then?

we just used two at the Waldorf in Cabo....120k HH nights...free.

 

[dioxide45]

I'm curious about #3, lifetime status from such a small number of cruise days? Do you have a link to this offer?

Did your reservation include Princess Plus or Premier add on for drinks, wifi, grats, etc?

Elite status with Princess starts at only three cruises and is the Gold level. The top level requires 15 cruises or 150 days.

 

[SmithOp]

Elite status with Princess starts at only three cruises and is the Gold level. The top level requires 15 cruises or 150 days.

Three cruises is Ruby, it only takes one for Gold.

I was specifically interested in the double up offer, the web site indicates it doesn't start until Aug 1st. Purchase Plus or Premier and get double credit.

Double the Cruise Credits, Double the Love - Princess Cruises

Move up through Princess Captain’s Circle® faster with this limited-time offer! Learn More.

www.princess.com

 

[Arusso]

I just went through a very painstaking process to book a cruise through HGVC. There is no doubt using points for a cruise is a
poor use of points in all scenarios. In my case I have points that I was very likely not to use and the MF were already paid. I
considered Hilton Honors but really didn't need the points. Fully understanding HGVC's rental policy I made the decision to "burn"
52000 points for 2 short cruises. This is what I found in the process:

1)this is not a process you can complete online - The numbers you see on the HGVC website for cruise costs are not accurate. In all cases there is a $159 booking fee that is not referenced anywhere on the website and in many cases the number of points needed is not calculated properly either.

2)The cruise department that handles these requests is extremely inefficient and it took more than 10 calls and getting Elite supervisors involved just so I could
use the points I had available for the cruise. I lost the type of cabin I wanted 3 times and ultimately spent more points than I wanted due to their inability to facilitate
what should have been a simple booking

3)Overall value is extremely poor but made sense for me in this one specific instance. I used these points to gain Elite status with Princess cruises by booking 2 short(2 day and 3 day) cruises
in a full suite on a double loyalty credit promo they currently have. In my case there special promo is giving my their top level of loyalty status for life in return for my use of these points.

In my case the return on the points was as follows:

58k points used - $108 in taxes I could not pay with points - $318 in reservation fees that were required. At standard Princess Cruise website pricing these 2 cruises should have cost ~$4200.
Last year my MF cost was ~.08 per point (Scotland). Adding the $426 I paid in fees it cost me ~$5000 to make a $4200 reservation but I used points I didn't have a direct need for. I am getting an elite Loyalty benefit that will provide me years of benefits long term on a cruise line we use regularly. This is the positive outlook on these costs. In a more realistic view of how much it cost me to make this reservation through HGVC I could have secured at minimum $600 in OBC for making these reservations with my preferred travel agent on top of negotiated group pricing that was $500 less as well. Mind you this would have been an out of pocket cash cost that I would not have done.

For me if you just look at standard pricing I got about 84% of my MF back to use towards a cruise. If you looked at it with other resort points with a higher MF and the cost concessions I did not get for using HGVC instead of a discount travel agent this return could easily be closer to 50% return on your actual MF $.

I posted this as everyone hears that HGVC options like RV, cruises.... are poor uses for your points . I thought I would just share that this is a very accurate statement and provide an example of what this return really looks like.

BUT - sometimes circumstances dictate you need to use points differently and in this case I am very happy with the return I got.

Thank you for providing this analysis and opinion. I did something similar 15 years ago with DRI. However, my wife and I did a 7 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean when i found myself in a similar position. I just found some notes I made at the time and did the same analysis. Yet, when I consider it, the analysis is incomplete because it does not consider how I was able use my points in the first place. So, to be complete, I would suggest factoring in the initial cash outlay to either purchase points or a deeded unit(s). Clearly, the cost of acquisition is quite variable from owner to owner and may run the gamut from just a few bucks to thousands of dollars. In my re-do, I used a 25 year regression analysis because this seems to be a reasonable number used in real estate. In the end, when I did so, the actual monetary value in trading a point for cash (which is the currency the developer needs for conversion), increased the cost I by 10%. But there is more.

Putting aside the many different vacation experiences between a land-based vacation vs a cruise, the cost analysis must include meals and entertainment. With this in mind, the last correction is to calculate the aforementioned expenses per person. Only then the true costs of a cruise vacation vs a land-based TS vacation can be appreciated.

 

[HuskerATL]

25 year regression analysis

You just threw everyone off....but I love it....now we are talking....using regression analysis to determine value...only math nerds will like this....that is me.

For me though, the initial money outlay is gone. That was just the cost to play the game and, like you said, can range from free to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now it is about MF cost versus cash.

 

[MattnTricia]

I'm curious about #3, lifetime status from such a small number of cruise days? Do you have a link to this offer?

Did your reservation include Princess Plus or Premier add on for drinks, wifi, grats, etc?

I am currently Ruby Today - with 3 cruise credits . I am using the double the love promo twice.

Double the Cruise Credits, Double the Love - Princess Cruises

Move up through Princess Captain’s Circle® faster with this limited-time offer! Learn More.

www.princess.com

the way it works is you get double the earned credit(S) on the cruise.

The real benefit here is the promo doubles standard credits and work like this:

double occupancy equals 1 credit per guest.
single occupancy equals 2 credits for 1cguest
single occupancy with full suite equals 3 credits

i booked 2 full suites - (2 day and 3 day) for just me with the required princess plus
each of these cruise will give me 6 credits and raise me from Ruby to Elite

In all Honesty the smarter way for me to have done this would have been to book 2 inside cabins solo
collected 8 credits and just forced the additional 4 credits we needed prior to our Europe trip in to our travel plans for 25/26. This was doable but killed our flexibility . This would have only cost about $1100 Cash or 19k points and $400 in reservation fees.

This is not a strategy for most as it will require points, solo travel without my wife , burning some frequent flyer miles and a couple of long weekends where I will be working from the cruise for part of both. WeHave all heard of mileage runs - well apparently cruise credit runs are now a thing also . I know of several people doing this under the current promo.

 

[MattnTricia]

You just threw everyone off....but I love it....now we are talking....using regression analysis to determine value...only math nerds will like this....that is me.

For me though, the initial money outlay is gone. That was just the cost to play the game and, like you said, can range from free to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now it is about MF cost versus cash.

Similar scenario and in the end I am one of the fortunate few who have had near 20 years of amazing vacations at near 0 cost for my family. I still hope that HGVC doesn’t kill the COY allowance as my ultimate goal was retirement in 10 years with the free time to enjoy 12 + weeks of incredible vacations myself.
Today I am just managing my MF cost and enjoying HGVC with my friends and family.

 

[HuskerATL]

Similar scenario and in the end I am one of the fortunate few who have had near 20 years of amazing vacations at near 0 cost for my family. I still hope that HGVC doesn’t kill the COY allowance as my ultimate goal was retirement in 10 years with the free time to enjoy 12 + weeks of incredible vacations myself.
Today I am just managing my MF cost and enjoying what HGVC with my friends and family.

I am hoping that they add to DEX for you guys. Coy is in the DEX guide for exchanges so now it is up to the HOA to work on it. If I were you Coy owners, I would be encouraging the HOA to work out the same deal with DEX like Craig Lodges did. I am seeing good availability....and 2 years out.

 

[SmithOp]

This is not a strategy for most as it will require points, solo travel without my wife , burning some frequent flyer miles and a couple of long weekends where I will be working from the cruise for part of both. WeHave all heard of mileage runs - well apparently cruise credit runs are now a thing also . I know of several people doing this under the current promo.

I live near the Long Beach port so I take frequent Mexico cruise runs to build up status. I gamble in the casino and they always give me free inside cabin offers with casino cash credits. I did see the double up offer, and got a flyer in the mail for it yesterday.

 

[MattnTricia]

I am hoping that they add to DEX for you guys. Coy is in the DEX guide for exchanges so now it is up to the HOA to work on it. If I were you Coy owners, I would be encouraging the HOA to work out the same deal with DEX like Craig Lodges did. I am seeing good availability....and 2 years out.

Honestly it would help me a little but the beauty of HGVC Elite is the lack of fees to use points and the ability to walk / modify reservations and cancel (move) with no penalties as I massage my reservations . Most of the time at 9 months I won’t have locked in airfare.

Dex would help but would not solve my issue. It might make me keep a couple units just to play around with but that would be about it if HGVC isn’t in the equation.

 

[MattnTricia]

I live near the Long Beach port so I take frequent Mexico cruise runs to build up status. I gamble in the casino and they always give me free inside cabin offers with casino cash credits. I did see the double up offer, and got a flyer in the mail for it yesterday.

Nor Cal here so I understand the west coast cruising limitations


there are 1-2 Vancouver to LA options 4-5 day in September / October that would qualify that are cheap. If you could casino book those could be nice options Also for a 2point package or 4 point package solo. I have been studying the casino game and am tempted to to try and chase the offers but we book so far out that the 6 month window kills my use for it. we have several friends that do it and are just rolling cruise to cruise off of their gambling. So far they are coming out ahead vs paying cash but they have a large time commitment in the casino that we typically would not want to do.the discount junkie in me though loves the idea