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Buy where you want to stay?

Jamills

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After a lot of research of the different vacation clubs we’ve settled on HGVC by resale. We are looking at platinum season with at least 10k points and reasonable maintenance fees. We will do a lot of our vacationing in Hawaii in 2 bedroom suites and can book a year plus in advance. So my question.... should a person purchase one of the Oahu resorts to be sure we can get in or is it reasonable to buy elsewhere and use in Oahu? And if another resort is a good option does anyone have any recommendations? We are a family of 5 with 3 kids under 4. Thanks!
 

GT75

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Do you plan to travel frequently to Oahu or BI?
 

GT75

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Oahu mostly.

OK, good. How often would you expect to travel there? You have already stated that you have 3 small kids but they will soon be big kids so you are already planning on two bedroom now. That I think is wise.
 

ljmiii

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If you know you want to be in a 2BR suite for a Saturday to Saturday weeklong stay, can plan a year in advance, and know you want to stay in Waikiki every year (or every other year) than I would definitely recommend buying a resale contract in whichever Hilton Hawaiian Village tower you prefer. Particularly if you want to travel at the peak times school schedules will limit you to (e.g. President' week, Easter week, summer vacation).

Our kids were about the same age as yours when we bought an EOY week at Lagoon tower and we have had over a decade of wonderful memories. Actually, we bought another EOY week once we realized the grandparents wanted to be with us as well and I found that paying cash for HHV quickly adds up.
 

Jamills

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OK, good. How often would you expect to travel there? You have already stated that you have 3 small kids but they will soon be big kids so you are already planning on two bedroom now. That I think is wise.
We are hoping to travel to HI every second year likely and then use our points to explore other resorts. We live in Northern Canada so anywhere warm is welcome in our winters. I did notice that Kingsland is a much cheaper option and I think we would be just as happy there as Oahu. I found a 10,500 point listing for 12,500... does anyone know if that’s about the price? Seems quite reasonable to me.
 

Hsahota1

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I'm a rookie here but ratio seems pretty decent especially if you are wanting to stay in Hawaii.

Happy vacationing! I'm still looking for deal but I'm in no hurry haha
 

GT75

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Do you have a basic knowledge of how MFs are determined in HGVC?
 

Jamills

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Do you have a basic knowledge of how MFs are determined in HGVC?
I know that MF dues are calculated based on room type not based on season/cost of the TS. However, where they decide the number outside of operations costs... no real idea truly. This is a platinum membership.
 

OMC

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I picked up a KL 10,500 point platinum a little over a year ago for $7000. With all the transfer costs and fees plus one year MF it was $10,000. MF are now about $1650. You have to get some of the documents notarized by a US Notary or at a US Consulate. Not sure where in TGWN you are but can be problematic if a long way to the border or a consulate. Check out rofr.net for an idea on pricing.
 

ljmiii

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I did notice that Kingsland is a much cheaper option and I think we would be just as happy there as Oahu.
HGVC is unique in my timeshare experience as 'Buy where you want to stay' doesn't really apply if where you want to stay is Las Vegas, Orlando, and/or the Big Island. So if you are happy with Kingsland over Oahu then you can buy the 'cheapest' (balancing price vs MFs) HGVC contract you can find no matter where it is located. And you may well find availability in Oahu on the dates you want to travel so long as you book when the window opens.
 

GT75

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It looks like you have a good basic understanding of HGVC MFs. I would only change one word and that is room type to room size. For example, all of the 2-bd (normal, plus and premier in the same size) will have the same MFs. The MF will also be the same for all of the season (platinum, gold, silver, etc) for that room. Now, KL is a little different in that it has 3 phases. Phase I has the larger rooms and Phase II the smaller and Phase III, a mixture. Thus, you will have slightly different MF between the 2-Bds for example. There is also more points for the larger rooms. Now, it looks like the 10,500 point listing which you are looking at is a regular larger 2-bd, platinum season. I also think that the MFs should be $1694.74 for 2018. That would put it around 0.16140 $/point. If you could get the 2-bd premier (14,400 pts) for that price, now that would be a great deal (IMO) {but HGVC would also probably exercise ROFR too}.

We have a Sticky with the best MF/point ratio (https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...018-maintenance-fee-list.263776/#post-2062750). That would be a good reference.

I agree with @ljmiii, if you really want Oahu, then I would buy there. The BI is really much easier to find availability when club window opens. Oahu is a little more difficult.

Do you understand the difference between "Home Week" and "Club" booking? Home week, you can book at 12-9 months before check-in for the exact same room type, season on your deed for 1-week whatever the check-in date is for that resort. {You need to have the full number of points in your account for that year} So, if you purchased KL, 2-bd in platinum season, it would be that. You could not for example book the 3-bd just because you wanted more space nor the 2-bd premier because you wanted a higher floor. You would also need to book for the full week starting on a Saturday thru Saturday at KL. This will also use all of your points on the deed.

Club booking starts 9-months (276 days actually) You can book a minimum of 3-days (maximum of 30, I think) to whatever is available anywhere in the system. There will be a fee for this booking of $80 (phone)/$65 (on-line). You can use saved, borrow or current year points for this booking. Once you use any of current year points for a reservation, then Home Week booking is unavailable.

Btw, of course there are exceptions to the rules. A couple of the resorts have different "Home Week" booking windows such as Hokulani Waikiki has a 12-6 month home week advantage. The Hilton Club (urban destinations such as NYC, Washington, DC) is completely different from above and has its own set of rules.

So, the point is, if you don't plan to use Home Week booking, it doesn't matter where you buy.
 

SmithOp

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I would add a caveat to the ease of booking at Kings Land, its only easy to book the higher point units. If you buy in Vegas to trade in to Kings Land you will need to book at 9 months if you want a phase 2 lower point unit, otherwise you may end up spending more points. That defeats the purpose of owning the cheaper Vegas points.

Its very similar to getting Lagoon/Kalia vs Waikikian/Islander at HHV.

Savvy owners of the higher point units are grabbing multiple weeks in the lower point units at 9 months, it brings the cost down to $800 and change for a week in a 2 br. The units are smaller but the location is still great.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

Jamills

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It looks like you have a good basic understanding of HGVC MFs. I would only change one word and that is room type to room size. For example, all of the 2-bd (normal, plus and premier in the same size) will have the same MFs. The MF will also be the same for all of the season (platinum, gold, silver, etc) for that room. Now, KL is a little different in that it has 3 phases. Phase I has the larger rooms and Phase II the smaller and Phase III, a mixture. Thus, you will have slightly different MF between the 2-Bds for example. There is also more points for the larger rooms. Now, it looks like the 10,500 point listing which you are looking at is a regular larger 2-bd, platinum season. I also think that the MFs should be $1694.74 for 2018. That would put it around 0.16140 $/point. If you could get the 2-bd premier (14,400 pts) for that price, now that would be a great deal (IMO) {but HGVC would also probably exercise ROFR too}.

We have a Sticky with the best MF/point ratio (https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...018-maintenance-fee-list.263776/#post-2062750). That would be a good reference.

I agree with @ljmiii, if you really want Oahu, then I would buy there. The BI is really much easier to find availability when club window opens. Oahu is a little more difficult.

Do you understand the difference between "Home Week" and "Club" booking? Home week, you can book at 12-9 months before check-in for the exact same room type, season on your deed for 1-week whatever the check-in date is for that resort. {You need to have the full number of points in your account for that year} So, if you purchased KL, 2-bd in platinum season, it would be that. You could not for example book the 3-bd just because you wanted more space nor the 2-bd premier because you wanted a higher floor. You would also need to book for the full week starting on a Saturday thru Saturday at KL. This will also use all of your points on the deed.

Club booking starts 9-months (276 days actually) You can book a minimum of 3-days (maximum of 30, I think) to whatever is available anywhere in the system. There will be a fee for this booking of $80 (phone)/$65 (on-line). You can use saved, borrow or current year points for this booking. Once you use any of current year points for a reservation, then Home Week booking is unavailable.

Btw, of course there are exceptions to the rules. A couple of the resorts have different "Home Week" booking windows such as Hokulani Waikiki has a 12-6 month home week advantage. The Hilton Club (urban destinations such as NYC, Washington, DC) is completely different from above and has its own set of rules.

So, the point is, if you don't plan to use Home Week booking, it doesn't matter where you buy.
Thank you so much for your time and detailed explanation, I really appreciate it. I didn’t realize home week had to be Sat to Sat of exactly what we purchased. We often fly Monday to Monday just because the cost from Canada can be so much more affordable. And frankly I don’t think it’s unreasonable for my kids to miss one day of school once a year if needed (they’ll be in a year round school anyway making us very flexible as they have many odd times off). So I’m definitely thinking that we don’t need to own in Hawaii. I’ll start looking for any good deal we can find with at least 10K points.
 

GT75

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Thank you so much for your time and detailed explanation, I really appreciate it.

You are welcome. I glad that we cleared that up. Personally, I like to understand something so that I am not surprised later. There is a high learning curve, but once you learn it (as with anything), it is fairly simple.
 

Hsahota1

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I picked up a KL 10,500 point platinum a little over a year ago for $7000. With all the transfer costs and fees plus one year MF it was $10,000. MF are now about $1650. You have to get some of the documents notarized by a US Notary or at a US Consulate. Not sure where in TGWN you are but can be problematic if a long way to the border or a consulate. Check out rofr.net for an idea on pricing.
I didn't know that Canadians had to do get the documents notarized. I assumed that the closing costs includes all this. Does anyone have any experience on this? We are Canadians living on the west coast and are looking to purchase.
 

brp

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I’ll start looking for any good deal we can find with at least 10K points.

Vegas is often a good bet as MFs are reasonably low, so definitely include that in your search.

We don't have much interest in Oahu, but we do have Vegas points that we frequently use on Hawai'i. KL is not really of interest as the point structure is too high, but Bay Club and, to a lesser extent, Kohala Suites are frequent stops. And easy to get at 9 months.

Cheers.
 

OMC

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I didn't know that Canadians had to do get the documents notarized. I assumed that the closing costs includes all this. Does anyone have any experience on this? We are Canadians living on the west coast and are looking to purchase.

It is a Hawaii state issue not a Canadian issue. Don’t know about other states but Hawaii requires one of the documents to be notarized by a US notary public. The cost of getting something notarized is normally fairly nominal as they are readily available in the US. A business acquaintance of mine did it for free for me. It is the fact it must be done in the US or at a consulate that can make it costly if it is a long trip. I know @Cyberc is having a similar issue on a purchase in NYC since he lives in Europe.

You may prefer a Vegas or Orlando purchase if getting something notarized is a substantial additional cost. I am not aware if notarized documents are a requirement in those jurisdictions or not.
 

dougp26364

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After a lot of research of the different vacation clubs we’ve settled on HGVC by resale. We are looking at platinum season with at least 10k points and reasonable maintenance fees. We will do a lot of our vacationing in Hawaii in 2 bedroom suites and can book a year plus in advance. So my question.... should a person purchase one of the Oahu resorts to be sure we can get in or is it reasonable to buy elsewhere and use in Oahu? And if another resort is a good option does anyone have any recommendations? We are a family of 5 with 3 kids under 4. Thanks!

Based on our personal experience, our opinion has always been that it doesn't matter in the HGVC system, UNLESS you're wanting to stay on Oahu. Then you'll want to own on Oahu.

We've been to HGVC in Oahu twice. Both times we've had to accept what we could find. It was never that we had a wide choice of units across the board to choose from. Granted these stays were back when there were only 3 options but, the last time the only units remaining where the more expensive point options and, most, if not all, of those were 1 bedroom units. This may have changed or may be changing as HGVC continues to build.

In general, my opinion is, if you want a specific size unit or a specific location on Oahu, you're best to own there. This may also hold true for certain units or views at different resorts but, for us those haven't ever come into play yet, so no personal experience. But if you're needing a 2 bedroom unit on Oahu I think if it were me I'd buy what I wanted to use most of the time.
 

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Based on our personal experience, our opinion has always been that it doesn't matter in the HGVC system, UNLESS you're wanting to stay on Oahu. Then you'll want to own on Oahu.
I think the key factor is WHEN you plan to go there. If you plan or need to go when the kids are out of school, Easter and Summer, you really ought to but at the Oahu/Hilton Hawaiian Village tower you want to go to. Costs more, but there's a reason for that. If you've got 10 years of kids in school to go, it removes all the stress and uncertainty by being able to book a Home Week during those prime times, especially important if you have kids in summer school. You can pretty much know for sure you'll be able to book during the narrow windows before or after summer school. If you're going most any other time, such as winter or fall, then you'll probably be fine with Club season, using points from buying elsewhere.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Over time, "buy where you want to stay" will become more salient in certain locales because high point unit buyers will seek to stretch their points at lower point properties. This will add more demand to the system and is a soft form of devaluation for existing owners.

If you want to stay consistently in NYC (W57 or Residences) or in DC you should own there as well.
 

Panina

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Over time, "buy where you want to stay" will become more salient in certain locales because high point unit buyers will seek to stretch their points at lower point properties. This will add more demand to the system and is a soft form of devaluation for existing owners.

If you want to stay consistently in NYC (W57 or Residences) or in DC you should own there as well.

I agree with you, perfectly said. Points are points but if they continue getting devalued or trading into certain properties become more difficult better to own where you want to go. Yes, I know most of you disagree with me but thru the years I have seen so many things change in timeshare ownership that I purchase on the side of caution, owning where and when I want to go, still having the flexibility of the hgvc system.
 

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Over time, "buy where you want to stay" will become more salient in certain locales because high point unit buyers will seek to stretch their points at lower point properties. This will add more demand to the system and is a soft form of devaluation for existing owners.

If you want to stay consistently in NYC (W57 or Residences) or in DC you should own there as well.

And apparently as i just found out, different resorts have different Home Week check-in days. This may also be a factor if you are wanting a spot to utilize the 12-month Home Week booking window, but the only check-in day is a Friday (I personally avoid these because it requires I take 6 days off of work, and airfare is more expensive generally from my home airport vs. a Sat-Sat. stay).
 
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