eabishop2
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2015
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 35
- Points
- 128
- Location
- Olympia, WA
- Resorts Owned
-
Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay, Mazatlan
Tahiti Village, Las Vegas
HGVC Elara, Las Vegas
Pardon the click bait title, but I want to share an apples to apples comparison of my recent HHV stay.
I enjoy tournament bridge and occasionally travel to tournaments around the country. About a year ago, another couple that we frequently travel with asked if we were planning to go to the Fall NABC (North American Bridge Championships, aka "nationals") in Honolulu (at Hilton Hawaiian Village) in 2018. We were considering it and were actually in the process of closing on our 7800 HGVC point contract at Elara. I wasn't sure if it would close before the 9 month window opened for this trip and since I would be new to HGVC I didn't know if it was reasonable to expect availability at 9 months out for Thanksgiving weekend.
My friend is retired military, so they have access to the Hale Koa, right next door and can sponsor a room for a guest. We've stayed there with them before and it's a very nice facility and a great location. Our friend suggested that she could reserve us each a room for the duration of the tournament, and then if we came through with a HHV reservation through our HGVC membership she could cancel. She wanted to do this one year out, which is the soonest you can reserve there. She made the reservation for 2 rooms and told us the rate was $172 a night for each room. Hale Koa rates are complex as it's based on the military member's rank plus the different view levels. She told me this was "one up" from the cheapest, so not garden view but some type of partial ocean view.
Fast forward a few months and our sale has closed and the 9 month window is about to open. Based on my TUG education I knew how to "walk" my reservation and I was able to reserve a 2 BR OV room for our dates - 8400 points. My friend cancelled the Hale Koa reservation.
Then I did some math. My MF plus Club Dues for the year was $1053.43 or 13.5 cents per point. .135 x 8400 plus the $65 reservation fee comes to $1199. Divide that by 7 and you get $171.29 per night. Less than the cost of a HOTEL ROOM at the Hale Koa! The Hale Koa is a great deal for our military veterans and a far better price than you can get for anything else comparable in Waikiki. But wait, we would have each had a hotel room there, my HGVC cost is for both couples, in a 2BR 2BA full kitchen, LR etc condo with a lanai and a great view from the 18th floor over the marina.
Now some may argue that I have to include my initial buy-in into the equation. There are lots of ways to do that, but even if you take one of the most unfavorable methods - amortize the whole purchase over 10 years, that raises my cost per point to 26.3 cents. .263 x 8400 plus $65 comes to $2274 or about $325 per night. That's $162 per couple. No matter how you calculate it, the cost for the trip using my HGVC membership came out LESS than my friends with an amazing military benefit could've done for us in 2 hotel rooms!
Did I get a good deal?
I enjoy tournament bridge and occasionally travel to tournaments around the country. About a year ago, another couple that we frequently travel with asked if we were planning to go to the Fall NABC (North American Bridge Championships, aka "nationals") in Honolulu (at Hilton Hawaiian Village) in 2018. We were considering it and were actually in the process of closing on our 7800 HGVC point contract at Elara. I wasn't sure if it would close before the 9 month window opened for this trip and since I would be new to HGVC I didn't know if it was reasonable to expect availability at 9 months out for Thanksgiving weekend.
My friend is retired military, so they have access to the Hale Koa, right next door and can sponsor a room for a guest. We've stayed there with them before and it's a very nice facility and a great location. Our friend suggested that she could reserve us each a room for the duration of the tournament, and then if we came through with a HHV reservation through our HGVC membership she could cancel. She wanted to do this one year out, which is the soonest you can reserve there. She made the reservation for 2 rooms and told us the rate was $172 a night for each room. Hale Koa rates are complex as it's based on the military member's rank plus the different view levels. She told me this was "one up" from the cheapest, so not garden view but some type of partial ocean view.
Fast forward a few months and our sale has closed and the 9 month window is about to open. Based on my TUG education I knew how to "walk" my reservation and I was able to reserve a 2 BR OV room for our dates - 8400 points. My friend cancelled the Hale Koa reservation.
Then I did some math. My MF plus Club Dues for the year was $1053.43 or 13.5 cents per point. .135 x 8400 plus the $65 reservation fee comes to $1199. Divide that by 7 and you get $171.29 per night. Less than the cost of a HOTEL ROOM at the Hale Koa! The Hale Koa is a great deal for our military veterans and a far better price than you can get for anything else comparable in Waikiki. But wait, we would have each had a hotel room there, my HGVC cost is for both couples, in a 2BR 2BA full kitchen, LR etc condo with a lanai and a great view from the 18th floor over the marina.
Now some may argue that I have to include my initial buy-in into the equation. There are lots of ways to do that, but even if you take one of the most unfavorable methods - amortize the whole purchase over 10 years, that raises my cost per point to 26.3 cents. .263 x 8400 plus $65 comes to $2274 or about $325 per night. That's $162 per couple. No matter how you calculate it, the cost for the trip using my HGVC membership came out LESS than my friends with an amazing military benefit could've done for us in 2 hotel rooms!
Did I get a good deal?
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