Any new info regarding DRI sale to Hilton?

[TJALB]

Just wondering if anyone has any new information regarding the sale of DRI to Hilton? A friend of mine is at The Point at Poipu this week. I own in the Hawaii collection but she owns deeded weeks in Sedona Arizona. She called me today to say that she attended a “owners update” in other words, a sales pitch. The sales scammer told her and her husband that only owners in the “Hawaii” collection will be able to trade into Hawaii properties once Hilton Grand Vacation takes over. Since my friend owns deeded weeks in Sedona, not in Hawaii, the sales guy told her she would have to buy points in the hawaii collection then convert their deed into the hawaii collection if they ever want to be able to trade into a Hawsii property again. Bottom line … It would cost them $20,000.00 to convert into the Hawaii collection. I told her not to sign anything because the sales people dont know anything more than the rest of us at this point.

Does anyone have any additional information or words of wisdom to offer? Anything is appreciated.

 

[dayooper]

Just wondering if anyone has any new information regarding the sale of DRI to Hilton? A friend of mine is at The Point at Poipu this week. I own in the Hawaii collection but she owns deeded weeks in Sedona Arizona. She called me today to say that she attended a “owners update” in other words, a sales pitch. The sales scammer told her and her husband that only owners in the “Hawaii” collection will be able to trade into Hawaii properties once Hilton Grand Vacation takes over. Since my friend owns deeded weeks in Sedona, not in Hawaii, the sales guy told her she would have to buy points in the hawaii collection then convert their deed into the hawaii collection if they ever want to be able to trade into a Hawsii property again. Bottom line … It would cost them $20,000.00 to convert into the Hawaii collection. I told her not to sign anything because the sales people dont know anything more than the rest of us at this point.

Does anyone have any additional information or words of wisdom to offer? Anything is appreciated.

If this is correct (a huge if), why couldn’t she just wait until she finds out for sure after the sale takes place? Don’t do anything until after HGVC potentially sets up different rules (if they change them at all). That offer, or a better one will always be there.

The old TUG adage applies here: how do you know a timeshare salesman is lying? Their lips are moving.

 

[bnoble]

My advice to your friend: don’t spend $20K to solve a problem you don’t have yet.

 

[Willowcol]

I just did an update in Orlando at the Mystic dunes on thursday. They told us that the only changes they knew of so far was it would give us more resorts and ways to use our points. They didn't say anything about it limiting them or that we needed to buy more points.

 

[dougp26364]

And so it begins.

It’s not just a lie, it’s a BIG lie. The sales staff has no more information than the average owner walking the street.

Marriott purchased ILG several years ago. The sales staff started selling current owners with the idea that they needed to upgrade in order to cross reserve. So far…….. crickets.

DON’T buy on a promise or a threat. You’ll never see the benefit they promise.

 

[youppi]

And so it begins.

It’s not just a lie, it’s a BIG lie. The sales staff has no more information than the average owner walking the street.

Marriott purchased ILG several years ago. The sales staff started selling current owners with the idea that they needed to upgrade in order to cross reserve. So far…….. crickets.

DON’T buy on a promise or a threat. You’ll never see the benefit they promise.

and me I got a bigger lie. As a Silver Hawaii Collection member, they told me I must upgrade to Gold because when HGV will buy, only Gold & up + HGVC owners will be allowed to book The Point at Poipu. I laugh.
Sales say anything to scare people to sell them more points.

 

[dayooper]

and me I got a bigger lie. As a Silver Hawaii Collection member, they told me I must upgrade to Gold because when HGV will buy, only Gold & up + HGVC owners will be allowed to book The Point at Poipu. I laugh.
Sales say anything to scare people to sell them more points.

If you were already gold, only platinum would be able to book there. If you were already platinum, they would tell you there’s a new level and the points will be very high to earn once HGVC takes over. But you can be grandfathered in at a lower total if you buy right now..

Maybe I’m missing out on something, but the freebies you get just don’t make it seem worthwhile to me. My vacation time is limited so I don’t want to spend it with a salesman. Maybe that will change when I retire and have more time.

 

[youppi]

If you were already gold, only platinum would be able to book there. If you were already platinum, they would tell you there’s a new level and the points will be very high to earn once HGVC takes over. But you can be grandfathered in at a lower total if you buy right now..

Maybe I’m missing out on something, but the freebies you get just don’t make it seem worthwhile to me. My vacation time is limited so I don’t want to spend it with a salesman. Maybe that will change when I retire and have more time.

I decline often their invitation but $200 US for 1 hour early in the morning when my teenager's daughter is still sleeping anyway was acceptable especially when you are on a multi weeks vacation on Kauai and it's not the first time you come on Kauai (you are not running everywhere to see everything).

 

[Mongoose]

I just did an update in Orlando at the Mystic dunes on thursday. They told us that the only changes they knew of so far was it would give us more resorts and ways to use our points. They didn't say anything about it limiting them or that we needed to buy more points.

I used to own at Mystic Dunes. Liked the location, but was so disgusted by Diamond and their ever escalating MF's I sold it.

 

[Mongoose]

I decline often their invitation but $200 US for 1 hour early in the morning when my teenager's daughter is still sleeping anyway was acceptable especially when you are on a multi weeks vacation on Kauai and it's not the first time you come on Kauai (you are not running everywhere to see everything).

Some times I do the same, but you certainly wouldn't want a negative experience to impact your beautiful Hawaiian vacation.

 

[DesireMore]

If you were already gold, only platinum would be able to book there. If you were already platinum, they would tell you there’s a new level and the points will be very high to earn once HGVC takes over. But you can be grandfathered in at a lower total if you buy right now..

Maybe I’m missing out on something, but the freebies you get just don’t make it seem worthwhile to me. My vacation time is limited so I don’t want to spend it with a salesman. Maybe that will change when I retire and have more time.

There actually is a new loyalty level for Diamond Owners with 100,000+ points called Centum.

That being said, one of my best friends since grade school works for Diamond Resorts in Florida, and he certainly has no reason to lie to me. He says that the lower level employees like him don't know any more than anyone else right now.

 

[dayooper]

There actually is a new loyalty level for Diamond Owners with 100,000+ points called Centum.

That being said, one of my best friends since grade school works for Diamond Resorts in Florida, and he certainly has no reason to lie to me. He says that the lower level employees like him don't know any more than anyone else right now.

The less people know the inside details, the better. A salesman starts spewing inside information, the wrong info gets out and it can really mess things up.

 

[Ty1on]

The less people know the inside details, the better. A salesman starts spewing inside information, the wrong info gets out and it can really mess things up.

Not to mention that they'll like get it twisted in the telling.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I hope HGV starts to crack down on this BS. Ask for a guarantee in writing. Watch them wiggle out of that.

IMO...a Sedona (or Poipu or KBC) week may be better than points because the week may be converted to HGVC so yes she may not have access to Hawaii Collection but may gain trading access to the HGVC system in Hawaii. Hang tight. HGVC will likely want Sedona weeks.

 

[SandyO]

What about the "new" program DRI started a year or two ago that took the place of the affiliation they had with II. DEX...or something like that. You could deposit your points and redeem them for up to five years with the exchange fees supposedly less than those charged for an II exchange. I wonder if that will go away with new owners and, if so, will our deposited points disappear too. Guess we must wait and see.

 

[dayooper]

What about the "new" program DRI started a year or two ago that took the place of the affiliation they had with II. DEX...or something like that. You could deposit your points and redeem them for up to five years with the exchange fees supposedly less than those charged for an II exchange. I wonder if that will go away with new owners and, if so, will our deposited points disappear too. Guess we must wait and see.

I wonder about that as well. HGVC is lined up with RCI. I don’t think you will see many changes right away (or a couple of years). The Marriott/Vistana merger hasn’t been figured out yet and that was 2 or 3 years ago. This one might be faster, but I doubt it.

 

[RLS50]

It might take awhile before any meaningful points system integration between Diamond / Hilton points.

Based on the CC with Wall Street for the acquisition announcement, it sounded like one of the immediate things we might see are the higher end Diamond properties rebranded as Hilton. Based on some of the specific Q&A on that call I am curious if that results in some immediate upgrades planned to bring some of those resorts (or certain elements or features within those resorts), up to Hilton standards.

And of course, the bigger question yet to be answered if the above happened, is how that would be paid for? That question was specifically asked to the Hilton Senior leadership, and they claimed it would covered by the synergies of the deal and not necessarily through increased Maintenance fees. We'll see.

 

[dougp26364]

If you were already gold, only platinum would be able to book there. If you were already platinum, they would tell you there’s a new level and the points will be very high to earn once HGVC takes over. But you can be grandfathered in at a lower total if you buy right now..

Maybe I’m missing out on something, but the freebies you get just don’t make it seem worthwhile to me. My vacation time is limited so I don’t want to spend it with a salesman. Maybe that will change when I retire and have more time.

Marriott has been following this same model. We were executive level, they told us we needed to be presidential level. We were presidential level, but we needed to be chairman’s level. Once we hit chairman’s level, there is this “new” level coming with newer, greater, benefits.

We upgraded slowly because we wanted the points and we waited until there were incentives that were good enough we felt comfortable purchasing. We had deeded back our DRI ownership and pivoted to Marriott. They didn’t know we didn’t care about the lies. All I wanted was to get to the negotiations over price and incentives. It took several years and a lot of wasted time listening to a lot of truth stretching.

We own with Hilton, but have toyed with the idea of divesting our ownership with them until this merger. I have no intention of increasing our ownership. I haven’t been as impressed with HGVC’s program. I’ll probably book an update, just to listen to the creativity or lack there of in their lies, but not this year or next. Maybe 2023. Right now it’s far to early and they’re far to unimaginative.

 

[dougp26364]

I wonder about that as well. HGVC is lined up with RCI. I don’t think you will see many changes right away (or a couple of years). The Marriott/Vistana merger hasn’t been figured out yet and that was 2 or 3 years ago. This one might be faster, but I doubt it.

MVC/ILG began with the prelims 4/30/2018. To date no meaningful integration has happened.

 

[dougp26364]

It might take awhile before any meaningful points system integration between Diamond / Hilton points.

Based on the CC with Wall Street for the acquisition announcement, it sounded like one of the immediate things we might see are the higher end Diamond properties rebranded as Hilton. Based on some of the specific Q&A on that call I am curious if that results in some immediate upgrades planned to bring some of those resorts (or certain elements or features within those resorts), up to Hilton standards.

And of course, the bigger question yet to be answered if the above happened, is how that would be paid for? That question was specifically asked to the Hilton Senior leadership, and they claimed it would covered by the synergies of the deal and not necessarily through increased Maintenance fees. We'll see.

One of the things I have liked about Hilton has been their ability to hold down MF’s while maintaining some of the highest quality resorts. When they acquired Planet Hollywood from Westgate, we got a front row seat to the Hilton upgrades. We’ve stayed there for a few nights every year we’ve been able to reserve it. They have come, but slowly. Last year was the year they were notable. TV’s, microwaves and washer/dryers were replaced, getting rid of the Westgate off brands and putting in better quality name brands. Essentially, they waited until it was the refurbished schedule time rather than jumping in off schedule, like DRI did with the Sunterra acquisition, before making big changes. Hilton acquired management rights in November 2011. Some soft upgrades happened quickly, removing the garish Westgate style, but significant changes were nearly 10 years in the making. Only last year did we really feel as if we were staying at a Hilton resort, not a Hilton purchased resort.

I understand the hesitancy by DRI owners since DRI made changes quickly and expensively. I don’t believe you’ll see the same out of Hilton. It will happen, but more slowly and more in line with the resorts normal refurbishment schedules.

 

[DRIless]

Does anyone have any additional information or words of wisdom to offer? Anything is appreciated.

My crystal ball says maybe more news on August 2nd. I have seen sales people get fired over discussing anything to do with the sale/merger other than what is available to the general public in financial news. Maybe they're a lot stricter on the Right Coast than on the Left Coast and Hawaii?

 

[winger]

and me I got a bigger lie. As a Silver Hawaii Collection member, they told me I must upgrade to Gold because when HGV will buy, only Gold & up + HGVC owners will be allowed to book The Point at Poipu. I laugh.
Sales say anything to scare people to sell them more points.

And I bet if I attend the same update as you, and if were a Gold level, they will tell me only Platinum and above will be Allowed to put into the Pt at Poipu. What a joke haha

 

[bryjake]

HGVC 2nd Quarter Earnings Call Notes:
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/hil...v-q2-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-07-30

David Katz -- Jefferies -- Analyst

I wanted to ask about the Diamond. We're obviously waiting with bated breath, as I'm sure you are to get Diamond closed. Can you just talk about the to-do list immediately upon closing and give us a sense for what that might look like once you get done?

Mark Wang -- President And Chief Executive Officer

Sure, David, this is Mark. Look, we are extremely excited about this opportunity. And the teams have been working tirelessly to develop our plans, and we have a very, very detailed integration plan that charts out how we're going to be integrating the two companies together. But probably -- let me provide a little bit of color on how we're looking at the rebranding process. And as you know, the rebranding of Diamond and launching a new membership offering are really essential to driving the revenue synergies. Our plan right now is that we're going to be introducing a new compelling membership offer as early as next year, the first part of the year. And the plan is really to position all of our consumer-facing promotions and all of our marketings could be all unified under the Hilton Grand Vacations Company brand. So as we talk to customers out there, as we promote our products and offerings, it's going to be all under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand. Today, as you know, Hilton Grand Vacations has its own point-based club membership program. Diamond has its own point-based membership program.

But early next year, we're going to be offering one new membership program under the HGV flag, and we're going to be using one consistent currency for points. And so that's going to really help us better manage the value proposition and importantly, create a lot of value in what we're going to be offering. From a property standpoint, HGV today has two brands. We've got the Hilton Grand Vacations brand, which is our upper-upscale brand. We have the Hilton Club brand, which is our luxury offering. As we announced earlier in the year, we are going to be launching and converting the Diamond properties over to our new upscale brand, the Hilton Vacations Club. And so that will start in earnest as we -- as soon as we close. We're looking to have the first tranche of properties converted over the first half of next year. So anyways, similar to Hilton Honors. Just stepping back on the membership side, similar to how Hilton Honors works and connects all the brands that Hilton has today, the 18 brands. We're creating this new membership program that's going to really improve the value proposition. And we're going to go to one single currency. It's going to allow us, our members to have substantially more access and flexibility, more properties.

 

[TJALB]

So, does Mark Wang work for HVAC? Who is David Katz? I’m a little confused with this message. Did someone gather this info and post it here or did Katz or Wang weigh in here on TUG?

 

[DRIless]

HGVC 2nd Quarter Earnings Call Notes:
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/hil...v-q2-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-07-30

David Katz -- Jefferies -- Analyst

I wanted to ask about the Diamond. We're obviously waiting with bated breath, as I'm sure you are to get Diamond closed. Can you just talk about the to-do list immediately upon closing and give us a sense for what that might look like once you get done?

Mark Wang -- President And Chief Executive Officer

Sure, David, this is Mark. Look, we are extremely excited about this opportunity. And the teams have been working tirelessly to develop our plans, and we have a very, very detailed integration plan that charts out how we're going to be integrating the two companies together. But probably -- let me provide a little bit of color on how we're looking at the rebranding process. And as you know, the rebranding of Diamond and launching a new membership offering are really essential to driving the revenue synergies. Our plan right now is that we're going to be introducing a new compelling membership offer as early as next year, the first part of the year. And the plan is really to position all of our consumer-facing promotions and all of our marketings could be all unified under the Hilton Grand Vacations Company brand. So as we talk to customers out there, as we promote our products and offerings, it's going to be all under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand. Today, as you know, Hilton Grand Vacations has its own point-based club membership program. Diamond has its own point-based membership program.

But early next year, we're going to be offering one new membership program under the HGV flag, and we're going to be using one consistent currency for points. And so that's going to really help us better manage the value proposition and importantly, create a lot of value in what we're going to be offering. From a property standpoint, HGV today has two brands. We've got the Hilton Grand Vacations brand, which is our upper-upscale brand. We have the Hilton Club brand, which is our luxury offering. As we announced earlier in the year, we are going to be launching and converting the Diamond properties over to our new upscale brand, the Hilton Vacations Club. And so that will start in earnest as we -- as soon as we close. We're looking to have the first tranche of properties converted over the first half of next year. So anyways, similar to Hilton Honors. Just stepping back on the membership side, similar to how Hilton Honors works and connects all the brands that Hilton has today, the 18 brands. We're creating this new membership program that's going to really improve the value proposition. And we're going to go to one single currency. It's going to allow us, our members to have substantially more access and flexibility, more properties.

So, does Mark Wang work for HVAC? Who is David Katz? I’m a little confused with this message. Did someone gather this info and post it here or did Katz or Wang weigh in here on TUG?

Really?? https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/hilton-grand-vacations-inc-hgv-q2-2021-earnings-call-transcript-2021-07-30