Ok, call us crazy ... our journey to 1 million HH points via HGV Owner Updates ...

[brp]

OMG, how can you use up all these points every year?

I hear ya. We have 23,600 and are hard-pressed to use these each year.

Cheers.

 

[dayooper]

I hear ya. We have 23,600 and are hard-pressed to use these each year.

Cheers.

At Great Wolf Lodge, that might get you a night or two.

 

[GT75]

we'll be getting a lump of coal...if they're generous.

That would be fine with me.

 

[GT75]

We have 23,600 and are hard-pressed to use these each year.

I am here to help anyone use up their points. I am also an expert at spending money especially gifted at someone else’s money.

 

[JohnnyO]

I have been told many times at Ocean Oak, especially that they are using AI to determine the gift.

Naw that lady takes it personal. She is cheap cheap cheap. But she can be leveraged. Just get in touch with the more motivated Myrtle Beach group. She'll deal.

 

[JohnnyO]

OMG, how can you use up all these points every year?

We are retired. But I'm not even close to having that many compared to some on this thread. We got some monsters here and I love it.

 

[JohnnyO]

Book a week at a Great Wolf Lodge?

Maybe not ... what if I need a three bedroom somewhere during high season. I'll need triple my points. Rollover, current year and then borrow from next year.

 

[JohnnyO]

I am here to help anyone use up their points. I am also an expert at spending money especially gifted at someone else’s money.

That's what I love about you Gary. Thank goodness I bought that bottle of Krystal Añejo at Costco before I saw you in Cabo. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford the flight back. We would have had to live in Cabo eating at the cheap taquerias until we did enough timeshare presentations to generate enough cash.

 

[brp]

We are retired. But I'm not even close to having that many compared to some on this thread. We got some monsters here and I love it.

We're retired as well, but the vast majority of our stays are not at timeshares. And even the TS stays are split between HGVC and DVC. FOr those that can primarily do TS stays, having a lot of points works great. This just doesn't fit the way/locations we travel, so we don't do TS anywhere near as much.

Cheers.

 

[JohnnyO]

We're retired as well, but the vast majority of our stays are not at timeshares. And even the TS stays are split between HGVC and DVC. FOr those that can primarily do TS stays, having a lot of points works great. This just doesn't fit the way/locations we travel, so we don't do TS anywhere near as much.

Cheers.

We don't do Disney. We used to live near one and had annual passes for years when the kids were young. No grandkids yet so no motivation to deal with those crowds. I suppose we would go if it was convenient and we got in for free. Until then ... So far HGVC and HH have served us well and still do.

 

[brp]

We don't do Disney. We used to live near one and had annual passes for years when the kids were young. No grandkids yet so no motivation to deal with those crowds. I suppose we would go if it was convenient and we got in for free. Until then ... So far HGVC and HH have served us well and still do.

We don't have kids. Disney is for us

The most of our stays are Hyatt. But some recent trips were Antarctica where we were on a ship and Finland where we were in hotels in Helsinki and Lapland. We did stay at the Hilton there on either end for a day. But TS stays were not a thing for this, or much of what we do. Hence 23,600 being more than enough. So many different travel styles.

Cheers.

 

[mountainboy]

So many different travel styles.

Amen!

 

[tsingyuan]

I hear ya. We have 23,600 and are hard-pressed to use these each year.

Cheers.

especially when you dont have too many family members....

 

[tsingyuan]

At Great Wolf Lodge, that might get you a night or two.

hahaha, my wife always buy one or two nights from great wolf lodge for 100 bucks per night when they have promotions. It is a good place to kill the time for my 5 years old. But I really dont understand why they charge 10k hgvc points for a night.

 

[tsingyuan]

We are retired. But I'm not even close to having that many compared to some on this thread. We got some monsters here and I love it.

Thats good for you. At least you do not need to go to these resorts in public holidays. I just bought the air tickets for the spring break 2027 from NYC to Cancun. The ticket price makes me feel so painful.

 

[tsingyuan]

So many different travel styles.

Cannot agree more. 80k HGVC points means $10k–$20k in annual MF alone — if I had that budget, I'd diversify into different systems instead.

My current setup is modest: 15k HGVC points, and this year I just added a Sheraton Broadway Plantation 2BR lockoff. The roadmap from here is Wyndham Club Access at 150k points, then a WKV 2BR lockoff, and the long-term dream is a Marriott Maui oceanfront 2BR lockoff. Hoping to get there within the next 10 years, with a combined MF somewhere around $10k at that point.

Neither approach is wrong — it really comes down to what you value and how you travel. Respect to everyone doing it their own way.

 

[jp10558]

Cannot agree more. 80k HGVC points means $10k–$20k in annual MF alone — if I had that budget, I'd diversify into different systems instead.

My current setup is modest: 15k HGVC points, and this year I just added a Sheraton Broadway Plantation 2BR lockoff. The roadmap from here is Wyndham Club Access at 150k points, then a WKV 2BR lockoff, and the long-term dream is a Marriott Maui oceanfront 2BR lockoff. Hoping to get there within the next 10 years, with a combined MF somewhere around $10k at that point.

Neither approach is wrong — it really comes down to what you value and how you travel. Respect to everyone doing it their own way.

100% I diversified, HGVC,Wyndham, RCI points and some independent II traders. I can get to a lot of different locations, whereas I actually find it hardest to use my HGVC because I wouldn't ever use them in Orlando, and MB I would struggle to feel like it was value. Miami South Beach is hard to book a 2BR but the time I did in December that was worth it. I think Hawaii could be worth it if I wanted to go there. Every time I look into it I end up going somewhere else.

Not saying having a lot of HGVC points would be bad or anything, but for those MFs I do think diversify for more locations has treated me well.

 

[tsingyuan]

100% I diversified, HGVC,Wyndham, RCI points and some independent II traders. I can get to a lot of different locations, whereas I actually find it hardest to use my HGVC because I wouldn't ever use them in Orlando, and MB I would struggle to feel like it was value. Miami South Beach is hard to book a 2BR but the time I did in December that was worth it. I think Hawaii could be worth it if I wanted to go there. Every time I look into it I end up going somewhere else.

Not saying having a lot of HGVC points would be bad or anything, but for those MFs I do think diversify for more locations has treated me well.

Yeah, for HGVC, better to use them in Hawaii or Los Cabos or Japan. If use in Orlando, better use it in Christmas-New Year period.

Talking about RCI, do you often exchange in RCI? I dont usually find good candidates on RCI for exchange. Either the resort is not good, or the timing is not good. Most of time when I want to exchange, I just end buying them on TUG, or Redweek, or Koala with cash. Maybe I still did not get the skills of using RCI.

 

[brp]

100% I diversified, HGVC,Wyndham, RCI points and some independent II traders. I can get to a lot of different locations, whereas I actually find it hardest to use my HGVC because I wouldn't ever use them in Orlando, and MB I would struggle to feel like it was value. Miami South Beach is hard to book a 2BR but the time I did in December that was worth it. I think Hawaii could be worth it if I wanted to go there. Every time I look into it I end up going somewhere else.

We own in New York and Vegas. We go to New York, where the HYGC value is good. And Hawai'i (usually big island). We do throw in the occasional Vegas trip when we have points as it's a short flight and we can find interesting things to do for a few days (Metallica in January, for example). But that's it. For the most part, all other destinations use some other stay currency. In the future we may look at Cabo and possibly Park City (although we prefer Alta and there is a very close Hyatt), but those would be one-off sorts of stays.

Cheers.

 

[Eric B]

Yeah, for HGVC, better to use them in Hawaii or Los Cabos or Japan. If use in Orlando, better use it in Christmas-New Year period.

Talking about RCI, do you often exchange in RCI? I dont usually find good candidates on RCI for exchange. Either the resort is not good, or the timing is not good. Most of time when I want to exchange, I just end buying them on TUG, or Redweek, or Koala with cash. Maybe I still did not get the skills of using RCI.

IMHO, NYC & DC are great uses of HGVC points. The Hilton Club resorts outshine the Marriott ones there. It’s not as clear in the other locations you mentioned, though I do prefer Cabo Azul to either Westin Los Cabos or La Pacifica due to the location.

 

[jp10558]

Yeah, for HGVC, better to use them in Hawaii or Los Cabos or Japan. If use in Orlando, better use it in Christmas-New Year period.

Talking about RCI, do you often exchange in RCI? I dont usually find good candidates on RCI for exchange. Either the resort is not good, or the timing is not good. Most of time when I want to exchange, I just end buying them on TUG, or Redweek, or Koala with cash. Maybe I still did not get the skills of using RCI.

Well, I don't exchange from HGVC into RCI because the value isn't really there IMHO. I did once and it was fine, but that was the first year I had HGVC and I couldn't get a trip together down to Florida or somewhere. I did do a lot of Extra Vacations with RCI, and I've done a number of exchanges via RCI Points from my Grandview points ownership. I am generally happy with a 3* resort, whereas HGVC is usually more like 4* so if you must have high end, RCI won't get you much access HGVC doesn't get you. But for locations in the NE, RCI has been great for me. Multiple Vermont locations, Virginia, MA and NH too. The timing hasn't really been any harder for me (actually easier cause much more locations) than HGVC either - if I know where I want to go, I set up an OGS or just keep checking every week or so from about a year out till I see it show up.

I do think the skill of using any TS system or exchange is understanding the system and picking stays that you're likely to be able to get. I wouldn't count on RCI for spring break in MB on the boardwalk, but if you're OK with North Myrtle Beach or not right on the ocean or not the most peak of peak times, it's easy peasy. It's pretty good IMHO for any of the built up locations if you're a little flexible - I would absolutely wait for a cheap last call (if I didn't have some specific location requirement) for Orlando, Vegas, Myrtle Beach most times, Massanutten and Smugglers Notch most times, Berkshires most times - anything not super peak. And I'd try an Extra Vacation or exchange for Smoky Mountains say.

EDIT: I have to say I haven't had as much luck with TUG/Redweek (never tried Koala) finding dates and locations at all as I have with RCI, and when I do the pricing tends to make me just see if I can use even "expensive" exchanges instead. The LMR forum has some deals, but again that's like Last Calls, and the timing just has never worked out except one time when I did a LMR request. That was fine, but still right in line with MFs (which makes sense, but also means I generally try and just use my already paid / committed MFs rather than renting).

One thing I haven't really tried much is direct TUG exchanges - just paying a GC fee is like 1/3 or less of an exchange fee a lot of the time, but that's another level of difficulty in the reservations aside from the fixed week one at Fox Run, and I tend to deposit that for II use.

 

[jp10558]

IMHO, NYC & DC are great uses of HGVC points. The Hilton Club resorts outshine the Marriott ones there. It’s not as clear in the other locations you mentioned, though I do prefer Cabo Azul to either Westin Los Cabos or La Pacifica due to the location.

My problem with NYC and DC is they're not 2BR, so DC I'd do Wyndham for that at National Harbor. Though I might try the pull out sofa if they had one in NYC if there was availability and I HAD to burn points. Cabo Azul isn't HGVC, it's HVC as far as I know, so us resale people can't book it with HGVC. Which is too bad as I might give that a try.

 

[JohnnyO]

Thanks y'all for your input and travel strategies. Love Marriott too but I'm not investing into that side of travel as the MF are crazy and management seems to be cracking down on resales and rentals. Plus a relative has MVC and we trade/share systems regularly.

Definitely shoulder season and mid week travel when possible. We have that flexibility now which we didn't when we had kids. We hit San Diego County hard with HGVC via points or trade. Definitely Hawaii, DC, South Carolina and Mexico. Have not tried NY yet. Vegas for concerts and Raiders Football and soon MLB. Most of our HGVC points are from low MF Craigendarroch Lodges which we have several choices. CL can rent for us. We plan to use it rarely. Deposit into DeX EU which provides us opportunities for weeks travel in all the HVC locations and beyond. There is always RCI as well but it is getting very expensive especially with resort fees. And there are always interesting Hilton locations to use our HH points. Not great value HGVC to HH but have converted very little. Have used millions of HH points mostly earned via CC and OU's. Along with FNC's and fifth night free we have hit some nice digs including Waldorf Astorias. Really want to hit the Maldives with HH points and FNC's but the best way to reach there is caught up in current world conflict.

Add to that our under million points in Wyndham for Summer Oceanside Oceanfront and 2 to 3 day stops in various locations as we travel. We rent what we can at home resort.

 

[jp10558]

Thanks y'all for your input and travel strategies. Love Marriott too but I'm not investing into that side of travel as the MF are crazy and management seems to be cracking down on resales and rentals. Plus a relative has MVC and we trade/share systems regularly.

Definitely shoulder season and mid week travel when possible. We have that flexibility now which we didn't when we had kids. We hit San Diego County hard with HGVC via points or trade. Definitely Hawaii, DC, South Carolina and Mexico. Have not tried NY yet. Vegas for concerts and Raiders Football and soon MLB. Most of our HGVC points are from low MF Craigendarroch Lodges which we have several choices. CL can rent for us. We plan to use it rarely. Deposit into DeX EU which provides us opportunities for weeks travel in all the HVC locations and beyond. There is always RCI as well but it is getting very expensive especially with resort fees. And there are always interesting Hilton locations to use our HH points. Not great value HGVC to HH but have converted very little. Have used millions of HH points mostly earned via CC and OU's. Along with FNC's and fifth night free we have hit some nice digs including Waldorf Astorias. Really want to hit the Maldives with HH points and FNC's but the best way to reach there is caught up in current world conflict.

Add to that our over million points in Wyndham for Oceanside Oceanfront and 2 to 3 day stops in various locations as we travel. We rent what we can at home resort.

Yea, IDK if it's FOMO but the one thing I don't have is DeX and Craigendarroch Lodges would be the one HGVC I'd be willing to add someday, though as things stand right now, I'm not sure I want that MF without trading something else out, and my Sea World I might be able to give away but it'd be a cost to buy back into Craigendarroch Lodges, and I'd lose the resort credit from my Aspire card. If I could "trade" HGVC more like Wyndham, I'd swap Seaworld for a Vegas deed I can still get the resort credit on and add Craig, but spending $10kish in swapping stuff around to save maybe $500 in MFs means a long break even time. So... We'll see how painful the MF increase at Seaworld is this year and might just dip out of HGVC IDK.

For me, I have way more places I still haven't gone as well as potential uses for the systems I have that DeX isn't a huge pull - I went RCI Points instead of DeX in my last addition as it was $1k closing fees for RCI Points and a lower MF vs buying Craig and using that for DEX. And I know RCI reasonably well and am getting value from the Platinum discount on the cash stays.

EDIT: I'm also considering trying to put together FNCs and points in HHonors to do some fancier hotels again. Next year in Sept I'll be in Barcelona and going around Spain and there aren't many TS near the cities so hotels for that. I have booked one week on the beach via RCI already though. Debating if I want to add another further south or do a second city. Leaning towards that, but OTOH I have II deposits and more RCI Points I could deploy as well.

 

[JohnnyO]

Cannot agree more. 80k HGVC points means $10k–$20k in annual MF alone — if I had that budget, I'd diversify into different systems instead.

My current setup is modest: 15k HGVC points, and this year I just added a Sheraton Broadway Plantation 2BR lockoff. The roadmap from here is Wyndham Club Access at 150k points, then a WKV 2BR lockoff, and the long-term dream is a Marriott Maui oceanfront 2BR lockoff. Hoping to get there within the next 10 years, with a combined MF somewhere around $10k at that point.

Neither approach is wrong — it really comes down to what you value and how you travel. Respect to everyone doing it their own way.

The key is to buy HGVC resale, focus on lower MF properties, and at this level we are Elite Premier so we get no fee reservations, cancelation, guest certificates, HH conversions, etc. Plus we get $250 Lyft benefits and upgrades in room premium levels. Our maintenance fees are on the lower end now that we have adjusted our portfolio. Plus when we trade into some of the properties (via DeX or RCI) that we use regularly, like Carlsbad, we don't pay the ridiculous resort fees. So it's a win.

Yes travel style and strategy does vary and it does matter. We prefer timeshares when possible so we can cook our own food, soak in a tub, and spread out. Hotels are fine but we do suites when and where possible. Some locations that is not possible as we further explore the world. Traveling now pretty regularly while we have the health and ability.