Anyone attempt to trade this way?

[Reddart]

I posted a thread a few weeks back about the app giving me access to the max resorts. I was unable to book with them but when I restart the app they're all gone. When they pop up randomly, I see resorts and places I want to stay that I don't have access to in the normal hgvc system.

Try it on a computer browser instead of the app.

 

[GT75]

My want for max isn't based on any presentations. It's based on the area quite a few of the resorts are located where I would like to go, and where I have been before.

We just got asked to do a presentation this weekend at elara as resale only members. Definitely not worth going to. $100 card or 30k hh points. We humbly declined. They didn't offer anything else which I was hoping they would do but $100 for an hour of our time isn't worth it. Not sure what they could upsale us with, we have a 2 bedroom platinum deed at the elara

Unless this is just some theoretical exercise, it seems to me that you will need to go to some owners updates. It has been reported several times that you can only trade in an Elara deed for another Elara deed. @Nowaker has also reported that for each added deed (this may be both resale or retail) requires additional money. This has also been my experience (I was told $50K for 2 deeds in HI). In addition, each sales center seems to have different rules. I am certain that HGV wouldn't give us the "playbook".

 

[alwysonvac]

My want for max isn't based on any presentations. It's based on the area quite a few of the resorts are located where I would like to go, and where I have been before.

Over the years as we travel, we normally rent rooms in time share resorts instead of hotels as they have been the cheaper options.

As I got to know this system, and after buying resale, I do see the benefit of max in only some of the locations such as in Utah, Colorado, az, and the Carolinas. I posted a thread a few weeks back about the app giving me access to the max resorts. I was unable to book with them but when I restart the app they're all gone. When they pop up randomly, I see resorts and places I want to stay that I don't have access to in the normal hgvc system.

I am trying to find a way to get max at the cheapest possible access point without really spending lots in retail. For $7k I can do it and can see the worth, but I refuse to spend tens of thousands of dollars. If I can trade in some free ts that I acquire online to use as a down payment and bring a high point deed into the realm of me spending less than $10k, I'd go for it.

That's what this thread is. Just me playing with money saving ideas and seeing if anyone has even thought of it before

In your initial post, you indicated " I'm actually seeing the value in max with a few of the resorts and where they're located in relation to family members I have on the east coast and in certain western states"

My main point (warning) was to look at the specific resorts. Some may be less desirable based on your personal preference.

From the TUG Resort Review DB (link)

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

Unless this is just some theoretical exercise, it seems to me that you will need to go to some owners updates. It has been reported several times that you can only trade in an Elara deed for another Elara deed. @Nowaker has also reported that for each added deed (this may be both resale or retail) requires additional money. This has also been my experience (I was told $50K for 2 deeds in HI). In addition, each sales center seems to have different rules. I am certain that HGV wouldn't give us the "playbook".

I wouldn't care where my next deed is at. Doesn't have to be elara. I'm not going to trade in my current deed, but if it were a possibility, I'd grab a few free ones and trade them for more time and access to max at any other resort. I was told by the sales that all the updates are done at the elara for Vegas. Not sure if that's true but I'm not staying at the elara this weekend and that's where the update is.

I want to have info before going into an update, and I like to plan things out well in advance. Months if not years so I'm doing my research and asking questions now.

It's been said that certain resale owners are not asked to come back to updates while others are. I don't want to be pigeon holed and not asked for an update and then figure out if I can actually benefit or game the system and then not be able to

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

So...why do you want HGVC Max (which only gives you access to the whatever is left at the HVC resorts at 6 months) and not HVC or a mix of both HGVC and HVC deeds?

With how our schedule is and how we travel, I don't want to have to use points in hvc only as certain years I may not go to az or Utah and will feel forced to do it. I'd like to be able to have use them as needed or wanted and not have to say shoot now I need to go to az this summer when we're planning on going to Hawaii for 4 weeks.

We do go to Legoland multiple times a year as we have family pass and young kids so I would want whatever points I have to be able to be used at MarBrisa since I can always count on dumping whatever points I don't want to roll over into a weekend there.

If I'm gonna just buy a different system and not be able to cross use points I'd just grab a whole different system. Was wanting/hoping to be able to have one big pot of points to choose from

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

In your initial post, you indicated " I'm actually seeing the value in max with a few of the resorts and where they're located in relation to family members I have on the east coast and in certain western states"

My main point (warning) was to look at the specific resorts. Some may be less desirable based on your personal preference.

From the TUG Resort Review DB (link)

View attachment 97933

Were not too worried or snobby about where we stay. Sure the nicer the better but if high quality were a real concern I wouldn't be with Hilton

 

[jp10558]

With how our schedule is and how we travel, I don't want to have to use points in hvc only as certain years I may not go to az or Utah and will feel forced to do it. I'd like to be able to have use them as needed or wanted and not have to say shoot now I need to go to az this summer when we're planning on going to Hawaii for 4 weeks.

We do go to Legoland multiple times a year as we have family pass and young kids so I would want whatever points I have to be able to be used at MarBrisa since I can always count on dumping whatever points I don't want to roll over into a weekend there.

If I'm gonna just buy a different system and not be able to cross use points I'd just grab a whole different system. Was wanting/hoping to be able to have one big pot of points to choose from

The point we're all making is that diamond access at 6 months, or HGVC access at 6 months is likely to have such limited availability that the "big pot of points" effectively will be only useful for the system it's actually from, at least if you have any desire for in demand times / weeks. I suppose if you're OK with grabbing a Tue-Wed randomly, that'll probably open up. And comparing the cost to buy retail points, it's just going to be much cheaper and more flexible to look for off season Diamond Weeks in RCI for cash or exchange, or renting from other owners. Neither of those will lock you into points you can't use, and can be done more flexibly IMO.

 

[jp10558]

Were not too worried or snobby about where we stay. Sure the nicer the better but if high quality were a real concern I wouldn't be with Hilton

I mean, Hilton HGVC system is near the top of the quality in the major timeshare systems. That's why people mention Diamond etc being lower end.

 

[HudsHut]

Please name the other resorts you're seeking to exchange into with Max.

 

[ljmiii]

Were not too worried or snobby about where we stay. Sure the nicer the better but if high quality were a real concern I wouldn't be with Hilton

That's...an odd thing to say. The HGVC resorts are very much in the upper echelon of timeshares alongside Marriott Vacation Club and HGVC's bHC resorts occupy a middle ground between Marriott/HGVC and the true luxury fractional ownerships like the Ritz Carlton Clubs.

Though I suppose if by "Hilton" you mean the recently acquired Diamond and Bluegreen timeshare systems...then yes that makes sense.

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

Please name the other resorts you're seeking to exchange into with Max.

Right off the bat any az ones like Sedona and scottsdale. We have family out there and spend thousands a year staying to visit grandkids and friends

Brian head Utah as we have friends there and the park city resort is much too far. We plan on going every other year, but more if we had access

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind. I don't remember the names of the ones in the Carolinas but there was one an hour from my sister who lives in New burn nc which was perfect for us compared to the ones in SC that are 3-4+ hours from her

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

The point we're all making is that diamond access at 6 months, or HGVC access at 6 months is likely to have such limited availability that the "big pot of points" effectively will be only useful for the system it's actually from, at least if you have any desire for in demand times / weeks. I suppose if you're OK with grabbing a Tue-Wed randomly, that'll probably open up. And comparing the cost to buy retail points, it's just going to be much cheaper and more flexible to look for off season Diamond Weeks in RCI for cash or exchange, or renting from other owners. Neither of those will lock you into points you can't use, and can be done more flexibly IMO.

I'm not worried about in demand times. My work is fairly open with how and when I can travel and we normally spend time in Resorts during the week unless there's an event in Vegas we are headed to that's over a weekend.

We're fairly young grandparents who have made some fairly solid choices so we are enjoying our 40s like others who enjoy their 60s and up

I'm not too worried about being locked into points. It gives me a reason to use them and we can afford it(as long as the mf are reasonable)

 

[jp10558]

I'm not worried about in demand times. My work is fairly open with how and when I can travel and we normally spend time in Resorts during the week unless there's an event in Vegas we are headed to that's over a weekend.

We're fairly young grandparents who have made some fairly solid choices so we are enjoying our 40s like others who enjoy their 60s and up

I'm not too worried about being locked into points. It gives me a reason to use them and we can afford it(as long as the mf are reasonable)

Well, I still don't see why you wouldn't want a cheaper buy in though? MFs don't vary based on how you got the points (resale vs retail). Diamond US collection 8,000 pts is going for $1 on ebay right now for instance. That's going to buy 7ish years of "wasted" $1,600 MFs vs $10,000 buy in - forget about the $25k-$50k others posted for "rehabilitating a deed". Alternatively, instead of wasting those, you can use II to trade them, and again, you'll get a lot of $230 exchange fees for the $9,900 up front savings.

Of course, like you said elsewhere, I'd just skip Diamond (except for their RCI or II deposits occasionally) and get something more like Worldmark for more west coast stuff.

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

That's...an odd thing to say. The HGVC resorts are very much in the upper echelon of timeshares alongside Marriott Vacation Club and HGVC's bHC resorts occupy a middle ground between Marriott/HGVC and the true luxury fractional ownerships like the Ritz Carlton Clubs.

Though I suppose if by "Hilton" you mean the recently acquired Diamond and Bluegreen timeshare systems...then yes that makes sense.

My personal experience with Marriott is that it was much more luxurious than Hilton. Certain Hilton Resorts and hotels we feel like we're settling, but in the same token I have no issues staying in a motel 6 or laquinta or any cheap motel etc if needed.

I've even tossed around the idea of buying points/ credits at worldmark to stay in certain areas that we enjoy just so we have cheap time.

We don't really stay at the resorts to stay at the resort. We're out seeing things and doing people and pretty much get back to the room to sleep. We don't drink and come from very humble beginnings so fancy smancy isn't on the top of our list. Yes we want to be safe and nice stuff is better than low brow stuff but I'm not too picky

One day at the pool is nice but we have a nice pool at home and a big ass back yard so I can relax in the California sun at anytime I want

When we travel we do it with a plan and I'm trying to gather as much info as possible to do it as feasibly as possible

We stayed at a dri in Florida this past summer from rci and it was OK. Not nice but the cheaper family vibe had my young kids really excited to go out and play and then again we weren't at the resort most of the time.

So much extra work for rci I just want to get it all stream lined so I can just book and go play

Hope that makes sense. My wants and needs aren't the same as most others on this site and who knows as I get older that may change

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

Well, I still don't see why you wouldn't want a cheaper buy in though? MFs don't vary based on how you got the points (resale vs retail). Diamond US collection 8,000 pts is going for $1 on ebay right now for instance. That's going to buy 7ish years of "wasted" $1,600 MFs vs $10,000 buy in - forget about the $25k-$50k others posted for "rehabilitating a deed". Alternatively, instead of wasting those, you can use II to trade them, and again, you'll get a lot of $230 exchange fees for the $9,900 up front savings.

Of course, like you said elsewhere, I'd just skip Diamond (except for their RCI or II deposits occasionally) and get something more like Worldmark for more west coast stuff.

We typed about worldmark at the same time lol it is in my research view at this point

 

[jp10558]

We stayed at a dri in Florida this past summer from rci and it was OK. Not nice but the cheaper family vibe had my young kids really excited to go out and play and then again we weren't at the resort most of the time.

So much extra work for rci I just want to get it all stream lined so I can just book and go play

Hope that makes sense. My wants and needs aren't the same as most others on this site and who knows as I get older that may change

I guess I don't see that RCI is "that much extra work", but I'm also used to mucking about with websites. I don't find RCI really any less streamlined than HGVC or Wyndhams sites, same for II. I click, see what's available, go. With HGVC to RCI you don't even have to pre-deposit any points, and in either case the Extra Vacations and Last Calls are click what's available, type in CC info and book. The only place it gets at all complicated is if you want multiple overlapping units (i.e. 2 2BR units for the same week). I suppose the other "hassle" is that RCI and II mostly deal in weeks as units rather than nights I guess. But to me a week at a time is less overhead than a night at a time lol.