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HHV: how important is it to have home week advantage?

letsgobobby

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Plan to buy HGVC and by far we care most about HHV access. We already go at least once a year and sometimes more. That said we know the MFs are higher here so if we could buy Vegas or Scotland and still get into HHV we would.

I imagine very high demand weeks like Christmas go early, but my problem is I can rarely plan for vacation a year in advance. What are my chances of getting spring break weeks in open season, 6-9 months in advance? What about summer weeks, Thanksgiving? The dilemma is why pay HHV MFs if I can't take advantage of the 9-12 month booking window?

All other locations I am not too concerned about. Care primarily about HHV, however if you can comment on Big Island open season availability I would appreciate it.
 

brp

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Only important if:

1. You are interested in staying somewhere for a week
2. You are OK planning far in advance.

We do plan in advance, but hard to imagine wanting to be in any one place for a week, so it has no value to us.

And it looks like the advance planning doesn't work fro you :)

Cheers.
 

letsgobobby

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Agreed, OTOH if I can't get into HHV planning 6-9 mo in advance then HGVC may not be right for us, as we have kids in school and are limited to school vacations right now.

We always stay in Hawaii at least a week.
 

Talent312

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Even if you can't take advantage of the home-week window (12-9 months out), you likely can find what you want at the start of the club-booking window - 9 months (276 days) b4 check-out - at Midnight, Eastern Time Zone. Typically, to book a high-demand week, you start with 3-N (the earliest check-out date) then add 1-N, each night at Midnight. It's called "walking a reservation."

BTW, in the 11 years I've owned HGVC, I've never made a home-week booking. Booking the same resort, season + size as what I own, for 7N using the resorts' weekly check-in day - is way too restrictive.
.
 

GT75

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if I can't get into HHV planning 6-9 mo in advance then HGVC may not be right for us, as we have kids in school and are limited to school vacations right now.

Since you are limited to the school schedule especially, I would really recommend booking exactly when the club window opens (9 months before checkout but actually 276 days). If you can not book during this time frame then there will only be left-over availability which may not be desirable. I don't really think that expecting to get something desirable in HI during open season (<30 days) is realistic. You may find a few days here and there but that sure is a long way to travel (unless you already live in HI) and expensive for me anyways.

Now, I do make Home Week reservations for ski weeks at both Sunrise Lodge and Valdoro Mountain Lodge. We also do like to take 1+ week family vacations during the summer. So, that is what is great about the HGVC system, it is very flexible for each of us to utilize our points how we want.
 

jehb2

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I have been an owner at HHV since (before) they opened. I always stay more than 7 days so I can't make a home week reservation. Like you we have to vacation during school vacations. I always get my reservation but in the past many years the process has become a pain in the bottom.

I also own at the Bay Club. Getting a reservation at the Bay Club is quite easy.
 

Mosescan

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The more points you own the easier it is to book later. For example the low point 2 BR units in the lagoon tower that are 7000 points go early and there will be none left if you wait too long after the 9 month window, but in the GW and GI there are much higher point 2 BR units, 10500, 12600 and 14400 points. With those amount of points they are often the last to be booked and stay available much longer. Your vacations will obviously cost more as you would need to own 2 x 7000 point Vegas units to have enough points for this. If you plan ahead then you could potentially get 2 weeks of vacation but if you leave it to the last minute you may still be able to find availability for 1 week in the higher point units.
 

ljmiii

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To turn your question around, if you know you want to go to HHV on President's Week or your public school's spring break then you should probably buy at HHV - you'll know the dates a year in advance and that way you are guaranteed the week and room you want. President's week in particular is (or at least was) known to be difficult to book at 9 months - that's why I bought at the Lagoon Tower. I don't know about availability during Thanksgiving...but Christmas and New Years are their own special weeks anyway.

But if you just want to go in 'winter' or 'summer vacation' and don't particularly care when then you should be fine (keeping in mind that the week or two after the Japanese holiday of 'Marine Day' in mid-July can be tough - it's the start of their summer vacation).
 

letsgobobby

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Thanks. It's not that I don't know when we would go. It's that I don't know til later if I'll have the time off. Is there a cost to cancel and redeposit? That might be another strategy.

For example I could buy 15000 points in Vegas or Scotland and reserve exactly at 9 month, and cancel if I can't go? Then we would go at a lower demand time.
 
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PigsDad

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If you book a home week and later decide to cancel, there is no charge (as there is no charge to book the home week in the first place) and you will get all your points back. If you book a Club Season (up to 9 months out) and cancel before 30 days out, you receive your points back but forfeit the booking fee.

Kurt
 

letsgobobby

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What is the fee for club season bookings?
 

letsgobobby

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And what do you mean about Christmas and New Year being their own special week?
 

GT75

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What is the fee for club season bookings?

$52

And what do you mean about Christmas and New Year being their own special week?

They are Event Weeks for all HI resorts except Bay Club. This means that if you purchase that resort during either of those weeks, it will be automatically booked each year during that time. An owner would need to cancel their week for it to show up back into the club.
 

Talent312

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Club Reservation Fees: Phone = $80. Online = $65.
Club bookings may be changed for free, w/o penalty, up to 30 days out.
... LT 30 days, changes using the same or more points are free, w/o penalty.
... Changes must be within the same calendar year.
.
 

letsgobobby

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$52



They are Event Weeks for all HI resorts except Bay Club. This means that if you purchase that resort during either of those weeks, it will be automatically booked each year during that time. An owner would need to cancel their week for it to show up back into the club.

So for that week I need to find a resale that explicitly lists those weeks, right? Haven't seen many of those.
 
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brp

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I also own at the Bay Club. Getting a reservation at the Bay Club is quite easy.

Yup, go to Hawai'i island instead of Oahu and the reservations are quite easy to come by. More interesting island, IMO, as well.

Cheers.
 

jestme

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Rule # 1. Buy where you plan to use, especially if it is Hawaii. In the longer term, the rates for "club season" will continue to go up. If you book "home season", there are no fees, and you only compete with other owners there. If you buy in Las Vegas for cheaper MF's, you will pay $52 for the "Club Season" reservation at the HHV, and have to compete with the (at last count) 200,000 other owners. The $52 will go up over time, possibly similar to the way Open Season $ rates have over the past 5 years. Also, it is FAR easier to sell or rent a week in Hawaii than it is for Vegas or Orlando.
The options are simple: Buy cheap and hope the exchange fees don't go up much over the next 10-15 years and that you can continue to get the room you need during "Club Season" at 9 months. With the additional locations they are adding, more people will buy, expecting to exchange to the high demand areas. (read "HHV") Or, buy what you want to use (HHV) and be willing to pay a little more in MF's, get a 3 month advantage in making free reservations, have a place you can rent or sell much easier if you don't want to use it.
As well, there is another thing to consider: You own what you own, everything else is a "club perk", those perks could be changed at any time by the club.
 

brp

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Rule # 1. Buy where you plan to use, especially if it is Hawaii. In the longer term, the rates for "club season" will continue to go up. If you book "home season", there are no fees, and you only compete with other owners there.

Which is, of course, not relevant for those of us who don't want to stay somewhere for a week. having Home Resort advantage only matters for a very limited use case.

The options are simple: Buy cheap and hope the exchange fees don't go up much over the next 10-15 years and that you can continue to get the room you need during "Club Season" at 9 months.

Again, only relevant in a very limited use case.

As well, there is another thing to consider: You own what you own, everything else is a "club perk", those perks could be changed at any time by the club.

Yup but, as mentioned above, highly unlikely to happen to existing owners in the context of a company like HGVC.

Cheers.
 

jestme

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Which is, of course, not relevant for those of us who don't want to stay somewhere for a week. having Home Resort advantage only matters for a very limited use case.


Again, only relevant in a very limited use case.



Yup but, as mentioned above, highly unlikely to happen to existing owners in the context of a company like HGVC.


Cheers.
If you are flying from the east coast, it is doubtful you are staying for 3-4 days.

The "old HGVC", associated by it's members with the reputable Hilton name, I would agree. Blackstone, and HGVC in a separate legal entity, I wouldn't. Look at "Open Season" and prove to me they wouldn't do the same with massive exchange fee increases, or (hopefully not,) change the "Club Season Exchange points" so they are no longer equally balanced like Open Season cash used to be. (ie. Exchanging into Hawaii during "Club Season" costs more points than exchanging into Orlando.)
 

GT75

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Huh? Methinks you must'a confused that w-somethin' else.

Whoops, my bad. You are correct.

Club Reservation Fees: Phone = $80. Online = $65.

I did pull Guest confirmations instead of Club bookings. As already noted, Club fee bookings have been going up along with Club Dues.
 
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PigsDad

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If you are flying from the east coast, it is doubtful you are staying for 3-4 days.
Right. If you are flying that far, it is more likely that you would stay for more than 7 days. IMO, unless you will always need a high-demand week, paying hundreds more each year in maintenance fees just to avoid the small reservation fee doesn't seem like the best plan.

Kurt
 

brp

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If you are flying from the east coast, it is doubtful you are staying for 3-4 days.

Again, very dependent on travel patterns. When we go from the west coast to Europe (same distance, maybe even a littler further) we got for 4-5 days max.

The "old HGVC", associated by it's members with the reputable Hilton name, I would agree. Blackstone, and HGVC in a separate legal entity, I wouldn't. Look at "Open Season" and prove to me they wouldn't do the same with massive exchange fee increases, or (hopefully not,) change the "Club Season Exchange points" so they are no longer equally balanced like Open Season cash used to be. (ie. Exchanging into Hawaii during "Club Season" costs more points than exchanging into Orlando.)

Oh, fee increases I agree with. I was referring to program changes where one could only stay where they owned. The ability to exchange is a perk not likely to be removed from existing owners.

As far as the points, there are rules about not being able to change the total point count for a resort, so they couldn't make it take more points for some people for Club Season unless they made it a lot less for others. That is highly unlikely as is changing things into separate "classes" for existing owners. But, yes, some of this is certainly possible.

In the end, we can agree to disagree about the risks of buying purely on a MF/point basis with the intent to exchange and the merits of having a Home Week advantage.

Cheers.
 

GT75

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If you are flying from the east coast, it is doubtful you are staying for 3-4 days.

This is true for me but not necessarily for everyone. We are planning a trip to HI next March and it is currently being planned for a little more than 2 weeks. To me, this is what is great about HGVC system, we have a lot of flexibility for everyone. I know that some only like to book M-Fr to save points and others like to book 1 week or even more. Each person must decided how best to utilize their points.
 

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Again, very dependent on travel patterns. When we go from the west coast to Europe (same distance, maybe even a littler further) we got for 4-5 days max.



Oh, fee increases I agree with. I was referring to program changes where one could only stay where they owned. The ability to exchange is a perk not likely to be removed from existing owners.

As far as the points, there are rules about not being able to change the total point count for a resort, so they couldn't make it take more points for some people for Club Season unless they made it a lot less for others. That is highly unlikely as is changing things into separate "classes" for existing owners. But, yes, some of this is certainly possible.

In the end, we can agree to disagree about the risks of buying purely on a MF/point basis with the intent to exchange and the merits of having a Home Week advantage.

Cheers.
Certainly, not trying to argue, I respect your view. Just pointing out the financial and reservation opportunity differences between what you legally own, and what HGVC can change as part of their "rules" in the way or dollar charges, point charges, and exchange fees.
 
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