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Platinum versus Gold

Judy Nagaoka

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I talked to a HGVC sales person and was told that points are points so it doesn't matter if you buy platinum or gold week that the points are all the same. Is this true? So 7000 gold points are worth the same as 7000 platinum points. TIA
 

dayooper

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I talked to a HGVC sales person and was told that points are points so it doesn't matter if you buy platinum or gold week that the points are all the same. Is this true? So 7000 gold points are worth the same as 7000 platinum points. TIA

Except those 7000 gold points will have 3 bedroom MF’s associated with them while the 7000 platinum points will have 2 bedroom MF’s. Last year at Sea World, that would have been a $300 difference in MF’s ($1110 compared to $1412) for the same amount of points. The other resorts have similar differences.
 

dayooper

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So the maintenance fees for the gold are more?

Not quite. HGVC charges the same maintenance fees for each room size, no matter the season. A platinum, gold and silver 2 bedroom units at Sea World will all have the same maintenance fees ($1110). The platinum units will have 7000 points, the gold has 5000 points and the Silver will give 3500. All three of those would pay the same $1110. Platinum gives you more points for your money.

Any 3 bedroom unit at Sea World pays $1412. That includes gold units worth 7000 points. A regular 3 bedroom has 8400 points attached to it. So, for the same points, you would pay $300 more for the 3bedroom gold than a 2 bedroom platinum.
 

Judy Nagaoka

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So it is always best to buy Platinum. Do they charge more for platinum when you buy from the developer?
 

Cyberc

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Most of the time it does matter if you buy platinum or gold because of the mf/buyin/number of points.

There are however sometimes when gold is almost as good as platinum.

I’ll use my own purchase as an example.

I bought 5100 gold points at west 57 in nyc. Purchase price $14k. Platinum points would have been 5250 and a buyin of approx $20k

Mf are the same For both weeks.

By ‘loosing’ 150 points annual by not having a platinum week I saved $6k in buyin costs. Those 150 points are approx worth $41 annual. It would therefore take me approx 146 years before I would have been better of with a platinum week.
 

GT75

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So it is always best to buy Platinum.

Well it depends. You at least need to consider the cost of the MFs which will be due each year when purchasing a TS. The cost of a Platinum season resale should also cost more than a Gold or Silver or Bronze season to purchase. A Platinum season resale should also be easier to sell. In general, I only look at Platinum season when purchasing. I look at both the initial purchase cost per point and the MFs/point when making a purchase.

As @dayooper has stated, in general MFs in HGVC is determine by room size and not season. It also should be noted that there many times are different room classes such a 1 BR, 1 BR plus and 1 BR premier which will all have the same MF but different points. The 1 BR premier will have more points than the 1 BR regular.

Do they charge more for platinum when you buy from the developer?

Yes
 

Talent312

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But DO NOT buy from the developer. There is no reason to do so.
Unless you absolutely must have elite status which starts at 14K pts.
Elite members here will say that paying retail for that is not worth it.

Otherwise, resale buyers get identical benefits as retail buyers.
That's right... They pay $-thousands less and are treated the same.
IOW, you can save yourself 50-75%, with no difference in status.
.
 

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Good point @Talent312. I was thinking/hoping anyways, the OP was just asking a hypothetical question. Always best to be sure.
 

PigsDad

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An excellent explanation @dayooper, but one minor nit:
Any 3 bedroom unit at Sea World pays $1412. That includes gold units worth 7000 points. A regular 3 bedroom has 8400 points attached to it. So, for the same points, you would pay $300 more for the 3bedroom gold than a 2 bedroom platinum.
Actually, a 3BR Gold is only 5800 points, not 7000; and then Silver would be 4200 points. So an even worse deal!

Kurt
 

dayooper

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An excellent explanation @dayooper, but one minor nit:

Actually, a 3BR Gold is only 5800 points, not 7000; and then Silver would be 4200 points. So an even worse deal!

Kurt

Thanks for the correction. Apparently my mind wasn’t all on last night.

Is there even a 7000 point gold unit out there?
 

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HGVC at Seaworld has both 7,000pt and 5,800pt gold units

upload_2018-10-14_10-32-42.png
 

Tamaradarann

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An excellent explanation @dayooper, but one minor nit:

Actually, a 3BR Gold is only 5800 points, not 7000; and then Silver would be 4200 points. So an even worse deal!

Kurt
This discussion about the point value of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and perhaps Bronze brings up a point that I have been thinking about. I own only Platinum. I know some resorts don't even have Silver and Bronze but for those that do, who buys them since their point value is so low for the maintenance fees you pay? The example of the 8400 points for 3 BR Platinum versus the 4200 points for the 3 BR Silver is a good example. You get 1/2 the points for the same maintenance!! Most probably any TUG member that is educated about this and won't touch them, so perhaps it is those that get their arms twisted at presentations. Of course you do get into the system for the same Open Season benefits. I have been to about 10 presentations without buying and no one has even suggested a Silver or Bronze, even though they do try to push Gold on me to lower the initial cost of getting more points.
 

Tamaradarann

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Thanks for the correction. Apparently my mind wasn’t all on last night.

Is there even a 7000 point gold unit out there?
Yes but the Gold 7000 point unit is a 3 BR Plus. I think that would be 9600 points in Platinum.
 

PigsDad

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This discussion about the point value of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and perhaps Bronze brings up a point that I have been thinking about. I own only Platinum. I know some resorts don't even have Silver and Bronze but for those that do, who buys them since their point value is so low for the maintenance fees you pay? The example of the 8400 points for 3 BR Platinum versus the 4200 points for the 3 BR Silver is a good example. You get 1/2 the points for the same maintenance!! Most probably any TUG member that is educated about this and won't touch them, so perhaps it is those that get their arms twisted at presentations. Of course you do get into the system for the same Open Season benefits. I have been to about 10 presentations without buying and no one has even suggested a Silver or Bronze, even though they do try to push Gold on me to lower the initial cost of getting more points.
In following the Facebook groups, the thing I have seen is at sales presentations, if they are balking at the sales price, the sales staff will sometimes get them to bite on a Silver week because it is "a great deal" since the buy-in is so much lower than Gold or Plat. But then after the person owns it for a short while and realizes that it is costly for the points they get, then they are a prime candidate for an "update" where the sales staff will tell them what an awful contract they own and will sell them a higher-point / better season week. Repeat as many times as they can.

It seems the sales staff are successful at this tactic, because it is not uncommon at all to hear of people having done multiple, multiple "upgrades". Sad, really...

Kurt
 

dayooper

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In following the Facebook groups, the thing I have seen is at sales presentations, if they are balking at the sales price, the sales staff will sometimes get them to bite on a Silver week because it is "a great deal" since the buy-in is so much lower than Gold or Plat. But then after the person owns it for a short while and realizes that it is costly for the points they get, then they are a prime candidate for an "update" where the sales staff will tell them what an awful contract they own and will sell them a higher-point / better season week. Repeat as many times as they can.

It seems the sales staff are successful at this tactic, because it is not uncommon at all to hear of people having done multiple, multiple "upgrades". Sad, really...

Kurt

I wonder how that works if it was the same salesman that sold them than awful contract when they said it was just such a better deal.
 

PigsDad

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I wonder how that works if it was the same salesman that sold them than awful contract when they said it was just such a better deal.
LOL! I'm amazed at what some of these people will believe! First they buy the "great deal" timeshare, and then the same company tells them how bad it is, and they buy from them again! Crazy, IMO.

While I love the HGVC product, I can't believe how slimy the sales staff can be at times. But on the other hand, the big $$$ they are getting from those that buy retail indirectly benefits me, as that fuels growth and a healthy HGVC.

Kurt
 

Talent312

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Yep. It's darn-flexible hotel-like system. Just avoid the sales weasels.
I was happy w-my gold "purchase" since it was a giveaway from an affiliate.
Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth, as they say.

.
 

Judy Nagaoka

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In following the Facebook groups, the thing I have seen is at sales presentations, if they are balking at the sales price, the sales staff will sometimes get them to bite on a Silver week because it is "a great deal" since the buy-in is so much lower than Gold or Plat. But then after the person owns it for a short while and realizes that it is costly for the points they get, then they are a prime candidate for an "update" where the sales staff will tell them what an awful contract they own and will sell them a higher-point / better season week. Repeat as many times as they can.

It seems the sales staff are successful at this tactic, because it is not uncommon at all to hear of people having done multiple, multiple "upgrades". Sad, really...

Kurt
Yes that is what the sales person told me buy the gold get it going and then upgrade to platinum down the road...
 

Jason245

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That is their business model. . Only in America can the same 200k condo be sold 104 times for 15 to 40k an interval..and then while trying to enjoy your 40k experience you get an unexpected wakeup call from someone telling you how bad what you bought is. But for only 20 to 40k more you can get a better interval of thr same unit. .
Yes that is what the sales person told me buy the gold get it going and then upgrade to platinum down the road...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

Talent312

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Only in America can the same 200k condo be sold 104 times for 15 to 40k an interval..and then while trying to enjoy your 40k experience you get an unexpected wakeup call from someone telling you how bad what you bought is. But for only 20 to 40k more you can get a better interval of the same unit.

At a recent non-HGVC update, I was told that I needed to trade-in my TS and buy a developer-TS in order to get points for their new network. IOW, surrender a perfectly good TS to buy again what we already owned. Not gonna happen.

.
 

JohnPaul

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Most of the time it does matter if you buy platinum or gold because of the mf/buyin/number of points.

There are however sometimes when gold is almost as good as platinum.

I’ll use my own purchase as an example.

I bought 5100 gold points at west 57 in nyc. Purchase price $14k. Platinum points would have been 5250 and a buyin of approx $20k

Mf are the same For both weeks.

By ‘loosing’ 150 points annual by not having a platinum week I saved $6k in buyin costs. Those 150 points are approx worth $41 annual. It would therefore take me approx 146 years before I would have been better of with a platinum week.


Not saying you didn't get a good deal. Just that it's not quite apples to apples. You bought a gold Studio Premier (which happens to have the same number of points as a a one bedroom but pays studio MF). Platinum for that unit is 7200 points.

You are paying the same MF as someone that owns a Platinum Studio Plus who gets 5250 points (vs Gold Studio Plus at 3750).

So yes, you got only 150 less points for the same MF as someone paying for a 5250 Platinum Studio Plus but you got 2100 points less than someone owning a Platinum version of what you own in Gold (Studio Premier). And, of course, paid a lot less upfront than someone buying a Platinum Studio Premier - whether resale or developer.
 
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