Benefits of HGV Max for HGVC Resale Owners

[Stewcation]

I am an owner of a resale HGVC deed at the Elara. I feel a bit limited with our vacation destination options and at a recent owner update I wanted to see what the minimum cost would be to get HGV Max, which would require a retail purchase of a tiny HVC "The Club" point deed (5500 Even Year points in the US Collection) for $11,900.00 with $718.46 yearly maintenance fees (half of the actual biennial maintenance fees). This is obviously a horrible deal both for upfront cost per annual point ($4.57/point after closing costs and fees) and maintenance fees per annual point ($0.261/point).

I wanted to clarify the actual benefits of HGV Max membership are for resale HGVC deed owners and have been trying to separate the listed benefits of HGV Max membership tier into actual benefits for resale HGVC deed owners and benefits that HGVC deed owners already have. I could use some help with my questions in bold and if I missed any benefits please let me know.

Benefits of HGV Max for HGVC Resale Owners

Listed Benefit	Official Description	Notes
An Expanded Portfolio of Properties	Reservations can be made in the expanded portfolio of in-network properties using the HGV Max reservation window starting 7 months before check-out. A full list of properties is available here.	Resale HGVC points can be used to book reservations at 73 national Diamond/Bluegreen properties with a limited 7-month booking window. (10 in Arizona, 7 in California, 2 in Colorado, 18 in Florida, 4 in Hawaii, 1 in Illinois, 1 in Indiana, 1 in Massachusetts, 3 in Missouri, 4 in Nevada, 1 in New Mexico, 4 in North Carolina, 1 in Pennsylvania, 2 in South Carolina, 5 in Tennessee, 1 in Utah, 8 in Virginia) Resale HGVC points can be used to book reservations at 21 international Diamond/Bluegreen properties with a limited 7-month booking window. (1 in Aruba, 1 in Austria, 3 in England, 2 in France, 1 in Greece, 2 in Italy, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Scotland, 2 in Sint Maarten, 7 in Spain/Islands)
European Resort Access	HGVClub Members with HGV Max benefits now have access to 12 more European resorts in England, Scotland, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain including the Canary Islands.	These are all captured in the list above.
Embarc Resorts	Availability to phase-in for HGV Max Members	Extremely limited availability to 9 Embarc properties with a limited 6-month booking window. (1 in California, 1 in Florida, 6 in Canada, 1 in Mexico)
Hilton Honors™ Membership	Members are automatically enrolled into the Hilton Honors program. Member tier is enrolled in Silver.	Hilton Honors silver tier can be nice for people who stay at normal hotels. See here for Hilton Honors tier benefits.
HGV Max Rate with Hilton	Members get 10% off the prevailing, unbundled, public (non-Honors) rate when booking online at any brand in the Hilton portfolio (subject to availability).	10% off full-price Hilton hotels stays can be nice for people who occasionally pay for normal hotels.
Complimentary Reservation Transactions (part of the HGV Max Inclusive Dues)	No reservation transaction fees when staying at the expanded portfolio of in-network properties.	Resale HGVC owners without HGV Max have to pay $81 to place a reservation with their points (outside of home week reservations). No-fee reservations are nice, especially when making reservations that you aren't sure if you might end up changing.
Complimentary Guest Certificates (part of the HGV Max Inclusive Dues)	Members could receive a specific number of Complimentary Guest Certificates each year based on their tier. Member tier receives one (1) complimentary.	Resale HGVC owners without HGV Max have to pay $92 for guest certificates if they want to gift stays to friends/family.
Upgraded Travel Services Platform	Our enhanced travel platform will incorporate better technology and provide more payment options for Members booking experiences like cruises, airlines, rental cars and guided journeys. Increased benefits at the higher tiers.	Is this something that resale HGVC owners don't already have?
Discounted Vacation Ownership Purchases	Depending on their tier, Members can obtain special pricing on additional vacation ownership purchases. Increased benefit at the higher tiers.	Trash
RCI Select Exchange	Explore a selection of some of the most distinctive RCI featured resorts. Member tier may book beginning 6 months prior to the desired check-in date through 3 months prior to check-in.	Is this something that resale HGVC owners don't already have?

HGV Max Benefits Already Available to HGVC Resale Owners

Listed Benefit	Official Description	Notes
Exclusive Reservation Windows	The same great access to existing reservation windows in the Hilton Grand Vacation Club.	Same access to HGVC properties with a 9-month booking window for our HGVC-deeded points.
Vacation Exchange Partner	Deposit Points for immediate or future stays at properties within the RCI network.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit for transfering points to RCI? Resale HGVC points can already be transferred into RCI for access to a wide network of properties.
Hilton Honors Points Conversion	Existing Members prior to April 4, 2022, HGV Max launch retain Every-Year Hilton Honors conversion. New Members purchasing April 4, 2022, and after have Every-Other-Year conversion.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit for converting points to Hilton Honors points? This is a terrible deal and I don't think there's any circumstance where converting to Hilton Honors points ever makes sense anyway.
Open Season Rates	Last-minute availability for cash rate stays starting 30 days before check-out at select resorts.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to Open Season rates? Resale HGVC owners already have access to Open Season for HGVC properties.
ClubPartner Perks	Use Points to book vacation experiences, like RV rentals and Attraction Passes, outside of the Hilton Grand Vacations network.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to ClubPartner Perks? Resale HGVC owners already have access to ClubPartner Perks. Are these even a good deal ever?
Save Current-Year Points	Members can save any remaining Points from the current year by depositing them for use into the following calendar year.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to saving points? Resale HGVC owners already can save current year points for future years.
Borrow Points	Members may borrow any number of Points from their next year’s allotment based on their membership terms.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to borrowing points? Resale HGVC owners already can borrow points from future years.
HGV Everyday	Cash discounts with select vendors across several categories including travel, auto, clothing, electronics, entertainment and many others.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to HGV Everyday? Resale HGVC owners already have access to HGV Everyday. Are these even a good deal ever?

Additional Benefits with Ownership of HVC "The Club" (US Collection) Deed

Apart from the HGV Max benefits listed above, buying a retail HVC (US Collection) deed alongside an existing resale HGVC deed does seem to have its own benefits.

1. It sounds like HVC "The Club" points can be used to book reservations at their home collection with a 13-month booking window, and at other "The Club" properties with a 10-month booking window.
2. The Hilton salesman was pushing Destination Xchange (DEX) very hard as a perk and showing a map with a huge amount supposed properties we would have access to (dark-blue and light-blue pins all over the map). I'm sure a lot of those pins were normal Hilton hotels (accessible via Hilton Honors point conversion at a terrible conversion rate that nobody should ever do), but I assume many of them were properties available via DEX. HVC "The Club" points can be used to book stays at a wide network of properties in the DEX network (similar to how HGVC points can be used with RCI). How does DEX compare to RCI, and could resale HGVC points also be used for DEX stays?

Is HGV Max Worth It?
I know this question is subjective, so I want to hear from HGV Max members to hear their opinions on whether these benefits are worth paying extremely high rates for a tiny retail deed instead of just using that money on other options (e.g. resale HVC deed, resale HGVC Craigendarroch deed, etc).

 

[HuskerATL]

You wouldn't be a resale owner then, you would be a retail owner...and all the benefits are the same.

Max is basically an exchange with perks. As a HGVC legacy owner who would buy trust points, you would have 2 separate accounts and can't combine the points until the 7 month window and only through CS. So, you get the booking window for HVC/The Club but only for the trust points...and you get the HGVC booking windows but only for HGVC points....except in the 7 month window when it is mostly leftovers.

As a HGVC owner, you are better off buying a DEX eligible property to get better access to them. You get a 2 year window for Diamond, 11 months for Embarc, and I am not sure about BG....somewhere about the same. Also, you won't see many Embarc weeks available in Max. Many of them don't join Max. Remember, it is just an exchange so it requires owners exchanging to create inventory.

I would pass on this and look at a good deal on a HGVC DEX eligible property, like Bay Club, Plantation, Regency at Marco, or Craig Lodges. You can pick them up cheap and, if you don't want to use them in DEX, then you can use the points in HGVC.

 

[SmithOp]

Embarc availability is very limited because Embarc owners would need to join Max, trade, and that is not happening.

Embarc owners have free access to DEX, so I think that is more advantageous than Max.

I picked up a small Embarc point package last year, very easy to find resale. Very simple to transfer, only a $250 fee.

I've already used it to stay at Embarc Palm Desert and make two trades in DEX to HVC properties (Santa Fe and Kauai).

Some cons for Max:
It doesn't transfer if you sell, so diminished resale value
Same for the Club HVC points, Club benefits don't transfer on resale.

 

[cd5]

I am an owner of a resale HGVC deed at the Elara. I feel a bit limited with our vacation destination options and at a recent owner update I wanted to see what the minimum cost would be to get HGV Max, which would require a retail purchase of a tiny HVC "The Club" point deed (5500 Even Year points in the US Collection) for $11,900.00 with $718.46 yearly maintenance fees (half of the actual biennial maintenance fees). This is obviously a horrible deal both for upfront cost per annual point ($4.57/point after closing costs and fees) and maintenance fees per annual point ($0.261/point).

I wanted to clarify the actual benefits of HGV Max membership are for resale HGVC deed owners and have been trying to separate the listed benefits of HGV Max membership tier into actual benefits for resale HGVC deed owners and benefits that HGVC deed owners already have. I could use some help with my questions in bold and if I missed any benefits please let me know.

Benefits of HGV Max for HGVC Resale Owners

Listed Benefit	Official Description	Notes
An Expanded Portfolio of Properties	Reservations can be made in the expanded portfolio of in-network properties using the HGV Max reservation window starting 7 months before check-out. A full list of properties is available here.	Resale HGVC points can be used to book reservations at 73 national Diamond/Bluegreen properties with a 7-month booking window. (10 in Arizona, 7 in California, 2 in Colorado, 18 in Florida, 4 in Hawaii, 1 in Illinois, 1 in Indiana, 1 in Massachusetts, 3 in Missouri, 4 in Nevada, 1 in New Mexico, 4 in North Carolina, 1 in Pennsylvania, 2 in South Carolina, 5 in Tennessee, 1 in Utah, 8 in Virginia) Resale HGVC points can be used to book reservations at 21 international Diamond/Bluegreen properties with a 7-month booking window. (1 in Aruba, 1 in Austria, 3 in England, 2 in France, 1 in Greece, 2 in Italy, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Scotland, 2 in Sint Maarten, 7 in Spain/Islands)
European Resort Access	HGVClub Members with HGV Max benefits now have access to 12 more European resorts in England, Scotland, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain including the Canary Islands.	These are all captured in the list above.
Embarc Resorts	Availability to phase-in for HGV Max Members	Extremely limited availability to 9 Embarc properties with a 7-month booking window. (1 in California, 1 in Florida, 6 in Canada, 1 in Mexico) Can someone confirm that availability to these properties is extremely limited and that they have a 7 month booking window?
Hilton Honors™ Membership	Members are automatically enrolled into the Hilton Honors program. Member tier is enrolled in Silver.	Hilton Honors silver tier can be nice for people who stay at normal hotels. See here for Hilton Honors tier benefits.
HGV Max Rate with Hilton	Members get 10% off the prevailing, unbundled, public (non-Honors) rate when booking online at any brand in the Hilton portfolio (subject to availability).	10% off full-price Hilton hotels stays can be nice for people who occasionally pay for normal hotels.
Complimentary Reservation Transactions (part of the HGV Max Inclusive Dues)	No reservation transaction fees when staying at the expanded portfolio of in-network properties.	Resale HGVC owners without HGV Max have to pay $81 to place a reservation with their points (outside of home week reservations). No-fee reservations are nice, especially when making reservations that you aren't sure if you might end up changing.
Complimentary Guest Certificates (part of the HGV Max Inclusive Dues)	Members could receive a specific number of Complimentary Guest Certificates each year based on their tier. Member tier receives one (1) complimentary.	Resale HGVC owners without HGV Max have to pay $92 for guest certificates if they want to gift stays to friends/family.
Upgraded Travel Services Platform	Our enhanced travel platform will incorporate better technology and provide more payment options for Members booking experiences like cruises, airlines, rental cars and guided journeys. Increased benefits at the higher tiers.	Is this something that resale HGVC owners don't already have?
Discounted Vacation Ownership Purchases	Depending on their tier, Members can obtain special pricing on additional vacation ownership purchases. Increased benefit at the higher tiers.	Trash
RCI Select Exchange	Explore a selection of some of the most distinctive RCI featured resorts. Member tier may book beginning 6 months prior to the desired check-in date through 3 months prior to check-in.	Is this something that resale HGVC owners don't already have?

HGV Max Benefits Already Available to HGVC Resale Owners

Listed Benefit	Official Description	Notes
Exclusive Reservation Windows	The same great access to existing reservation windows in the Hilton Grand Vacation Club.	Same access to HGVC properties with a 9-month booking window for our HGVC-deeded points.
Vacation Exchange Partner	Deposit Points for immediate or future stays at properties within the RCI network.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit for transfering points to RCI? Resale HGVC points can already be transferred into RCI for access to a wide network of properties.
Hilton Honors Points Conversion	Existing Members prior to April 4, 2022, HGV Max launch retain Every-Year Hilton Honors conversion. New Members purchasing April 4, 2022, and after have Every-Other-Year conversion.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit for converting points to Hilton Honors points? This is a terrible deal and I don't think there's any circumstance where converting to Hilton Honors points ever makes sense anyway.
Open Season Rates	Last-minute availability for cash rate stays starting 30 days before check-out at select resorts.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to Open Season rates? Resale HGVC owners already have access to Open Season for HGVC properties.
ClubPartner Perks	Use Points to book vacation experiences, like RV rentals and Attraction Passes, outside of the Hilton Grand Vacations network.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to ClubPartner Perks? Resale HGVC owners already have access to ClubPartner Perks. Are these even a good deal ever?
Save Current-Year Points	Members can save any remaining Points from the current year by depositing them for use into the following calendar year.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to saving points? Resale HGVC owners already can save current year points for future years.
Borrow Points	Members may borrow any number of Points from their next year’s allotment based on their membership terms.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to borrowing points? Resale HGVC owners already can borrow points from future years.
HGV Everyday	Cash discounts with select vendors across several categories including travel, auto, clothing, electronics, entertainment and many others.	Does HGV Max have any additional benefit to HGV Everyday? Resale HGVC owners already have access to HGV Everyday. Are these even a good deal ever?

Additional Benefits with Ownership of HVC "The Club" (US Collection) Deed

Apart from the HGV Max benefits listed above, buying a retail HVC (US Collection) deed alongside an existing resale HGVC deed does seem to have its own benefits.

1. It sounds like HVC "The Club" points can be used to book reservations at their home collection with a 13-month booking window, and at other "The Club" properties with a 10-month booking window.
2. The Hilton salesman was pushing Destination Xchange (DEX) very hard as a perk and showing a map with a huge amount supposed properties we would have access to (dark-blue and light-blue pins all over the map). I'm sure a lot of those pins were normal Hilton hotels (accessible via Hilton Honors point conversion at a terrible conversion rate that nobody should ever do), but I assume many of them were properties available via DEX. HVC "The Club" points can be used to book stays at a wide network of properties in the DEX network (similar to how HGVC points can be used with RCI). How does DEX compare to RCI, and could resale HGVC points also be used for DEX stays?

Is HGV Max Worth It?
I know this question is subjective, so I want to hear from HGV Max members to hear their opinions on whether these benefits are worth paying extremely high rates for a tiny retail deed instead of just using that money on other options (e.g. resale HVC deed, resale HGVC Craigendarroch deed, etc).

"Extremely limited availability to 9 Embarc properties with a 7-month booking window. (1 in California, 1 in Florida, 6 in Canada, 1 in Mexico) Can someone confirm that availability to these properties is extremely limited and that they have a 7 month booking window?"
Embarc is 6 months from CHECKOUT booking window. Low availability as less than 10% of Embarc members have bought more points giving them access to Max and they have to trade" out"using Max to make their points available within Embarc for outsiders.
Best way to get access to another resort system is to buy into it resale.
5500 points for over $11kisd is outrageous! You can get 10k Embarc points at $5000 or less and get access at 11 months out. Same goes for other systems. Diamond points have virtually zero value once purchased - hard to give away even. I don't advise buying more developer points just to get into Max.

 

[Stewcation]

"Extremely limited availability to 9 Embarc properties with a 7-month booking window. (1 in California, 1 in Florida, 6 in Canada, 1 in Mexico) Can someone confirm that availability to these properties is extremely limited and that they have a 7 month booking window?"
Embarc is 6 months from CHECKOUT booking window. Low availability as less than 10% of Embarc members have bought more points giving them access to Max and they have to trade" out"using Max to make their points available within Embarc for outsiders.
Best way to get access to another resort system is to buy into it resale.
5500 points for over $11kisd is outrageous! You can get 10k Embarc points at $5000 or less and get access at 11 months out. Same goes for other systems. Diamond points have virtually zero value once purchased - hard to give away even. I don't advise buying more developer points just to get into Max.

Thanks, I have updated my post.

 

[Stewcation]

How does DEX compare to RCI in your opinions? I haven't been thrilled with RCI given its fees and low resort availability to anywhere I would care to go to (mountainwest locations such as Utah, Idaho, western Wyoming, etc).

The DEX guide I saw says it has over 1700 US locations but I can't actually find what those locations are to know if they would be useful to me. It sounds like at least all the Diamond and Bluegreen properties are available via DEX with a longer booking window than HGV Max allows.

 

[HuskerATL]

You can look in the guides in the rules sticky. There are 4 versions of DEX. There are the DRI, BG, Embarc, and then also partner properties. I think much better availability for DRI and Embarc plus I have been pretty impressed with the overall availability...tons in Europe so it just depends on what you want.

For example, we have booked at HGVC Sandestin (Embarc property) each year since we have been able to join DEX EU (Craig Lodges owner) but you rarely see it in Max. We book the 2 bed Jolee unit which is their premier unit...and have it booked for July 4th week.

Give me an example of a property that you are interested in and I can pull up the inventory to show you.

 

[Monkeyboy]

How does DEX compare to RCI in your opinions? I haven't been thrilled with RCI given its fees and low resort availability to anywhere I would care to go to (mountainwest locations such as Utah, Idaho, western Wyoming, etc).

The DEX guide I saw says it has over 1700 US locations but I can't actually find what those locations are to know if they would be useful to me. It sounds like at least all the Diamond and Bluegreen properties are available via DEX with a longer booking window than HGV Max allows.

DEX works on a tier level so you could have a fee to go up a tier. Dex is a week for week exchange where RCI is points so you can do shorter stays in RCI. HVC (diamond) properties are not in my RCI view through HGVC. If you had RCI directly or through another timeshare you might be able to see the Diamond properties in RCI, but you would have more availability for the diamond properties in either MAX or DEX than RCI.

 

[Zenichiro]

Can someone confirm that availability to these properties is extremely limited and that they have a 7 month booking window?"

I have only ever seen a few days here or there in Canada or Florida. Mainly some weeks in California and Mexico.

 

[cd5]

DEX works on a tier level so you could have a fee to go up a tier. Dex is a week for week exchange where RCI is points so you can do shorter stays in RCI. HVC (diamond) properties are not in my RCI view through HGVC. If you had RCI directly or through another timeshare you might be able to see the Diamond properties in RCI, but you would have more availability for the diamond properties in either MAX or DEX than RCI.

Diamond and Embarc have been using Interval, there is no corporate agreement with RCI that I know of.
Embarc members from before ~2007 are grandfathered in RCI if they decided to keep their access when Intrawest switched to Interval. That would be why occasional availability shows in RCI.

 

[cd5]

I have only ever seen a few days here or there in Canada or Florida. Mainly some weeks in California and Mexico.

And probably not in peak season... Few Embarc members have purchased more points for Max

 

[Stewcation]

Dex is a week for week exchange

That's good to know. In the DEX guides it mentions "Short Xchanges" for 2-6 night stays but it says they're "Coming Soon", I wonder how long "soon" is supposed to be.

Give me an example of a property that you are interested in and I can pull up the inventory to show you.

One that I know is in DEX is Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa, but I'm more wanting to know if there are any resorts in DEX around St. George UT, Yellowstone WY, or just other location in and around Utah. The DEX Guides say there are over 1700 US resorts available in DEX but the guides only list a sample of like 100 US resorts.

 

[HuskerATL]

That's good to know. In the DEX guides it mentions "Short Xchanges" for 2-6 night stays but it says they're "Coming Soon", I wonder how long "soon" is supposed to be.


One that I know is in DEX is Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa, but I'm more wanting to know if there are any resorts in DEX around St. George UT, Yellowstone WY, or just other location in and around Utah. The DEX Guides say there are over 1700 US resorts available in DEX but the guides only list a sample of like 100 US resorts.

There isn't just HGV properties in DEX, there are other partner properties as well. You can tell by the symbol to the left of the name.

32 weeks available in Wyoming between now and April 2027

2,072 weeks available in Utah between now and January 2028. Most are Cedar Breaks but there are also others.

 

[Stewcation]

There isn't just HGV properties in DEX, there are other partner properties as well. You can tell by the symbol to the left of the name.

Wow, that is great to know. I'll be taking a look at some DEX eligible resales. Thanks.

 

[HuskerATL]

reach out if you look this route. There are tricks to what and where to buy. There are folks here that own at Bay Club and Craig Lodges so each can provide input.

 

[Zenichiro]

Damn I’m jealous of Teton Club. I’ve had ongoing searches in RCI for some time now.

 

[trippka]

How does DEX compare to RCI in your opinions? I haven't been thrilled with RCI given its fees and low resort availability to anywhere I would care to go to (mountainwest locations such as Utah, Idaho, western Wyoming, etc).

The DEX guide I saw says it has over 1700 US locations but I can't actually find what those locations are to know if they would be useful to me. It sounds like at least all the Diamond and Bluegreen properties are available via DEX with a longer booking window than HGV Max allows.

Major disadvantage to DEX is that once booked it is completely non-refundable. Yes, you can book 2 years in advance, but you have to be pretty certain you will go, otherwise use Hilton Honors, points, etc. for many of the same resorts. Some of the not often available resorts in DEX are from a program owners can pay to enroll in where they can trade their other timeshare weeks (like Marriott, etc.) for points for a stay within the HGVC/HVC/Bluegreen system. Those weeks are then available in DEX as I understand it. I think they also sometimes trade week (behind the scenes) with RCI to get fresh meat into their properties.

 

[GT75]

Major disadvantage to DEX is that once booked it is completely non-refundable.

For the fees, yes, but not your week, which was exchanged. The fees are high so I agree, I don't speculative booked in DEX.

 

[HuskerATL]

Major disadvantage to DEX is that once booked it is completely non-refundable. Yes, you can book 2 years in advance, but you have to be pretty certain you will go, otherwise use Hilton Honors, points, etc. for many of the same resorts. Some of the not often available resorts in DEX are from a program owners can pay to enroll in where they can trade their other timeshare weeks (like Marriott, etc.) for points for a stay within the HGVC/HVC/Bluegreen system. Those weeks are then available in DEX as I understand it. I think they also sometimes trade week (behind the scenes) with RCI to get fresh meat into their properties.

well, you get your week back but lose your exchange fee and if you upgraded, your upgrade fee. We have done it a few times. There is protection insurance also but it just protects the week, not the fees. This is for DEX EU though and we deposit a week and exchange for a week. Not sure how DEX US points work.

 

[trippka]

For the fees, yes, but not your week, which was exchanged. The fees are high so I agree, I don't speculative booked in DEX.

Be sure and read the fine print. Might be different for different situations. Here is what I am seeing: The program’s “Destination Xchange Protection Plan” and “reservation cancellation” section in the guide outline conditions under which a week may be forfeited, but it does not guarantee a refund if the member simply wants to cancel

 

[HuskerATL]

Be sure and read the fine print. Might be different for different situations. Here is what I am seeing: The program’s “Destination Xchange Protection Plan” and “reservation cancellation” section in the guide outline conditions under which a week may be forfeited, but it does not guarantee a refund if the member simply wants to cancel

We have done it.....there is no issue to cancel a reservation to get your week back. You just lose the fees.

We have done it with the insurance, which we tend not to get, and without. For me, it is worth rolling the dice and not getting the insurance. If I need to cancel, it will just cost a bit more but I get the week back....but that is only if it is more than 14 days out. The insurance is better, from that perspective, because you can cancel up to 24 hour before and get your week back.

But, this is for DEX EU. Not sure how the DEX US points, DEX US weeks, or DEX Embarc work.

 

[GT75]

Be sure and read the fine print. Might be different for different situations. Here is what I am seeing: The program’s “Destination Xchange Protection Plan” and “reservation cancellation” section in the guide outline conditions under which a week may be forfeited, but it does not guarantee a refund if the member simply wants to cancel

You can cancel and get your week back. This assumes you cancel early enough. If you purchase, cancel protection ($89), then up to the day before the reservation. If you don't pay for cancellation protection, then you will need to pay the exchange cancellation fee (£155). As @HuskerATL said, you will lose your reservation fee and upgrade fees also. So there is a stiff penalty (high fees) to cancel.

The DEX fees are high, so I only exchange what I would consider highly desirable trades to me, such as Whistler 2BR ski season and Cabo Azul 3BR Grand Penthouse. But I value these DEX exchanges, so I recently purchased a second Craig Lodge specifically for trading on DEX. The nice thing about Craig Lodges is that if the DEX exchanges are no longer beneficial to me in the future, I can also use the points in HGVC.

 

[fontanableu]

I must admit I have not really used the HGV Max website much. Like RCI or any other exchange. They usually fall short. But the information these groups give you is valuable. I found the HGV max not as useful on my travel plans as I would like but I use it to exchange into the Hilton honors points for hotels. I am very knowledgeable about that. I did not need to upgrade to HGV max to do my point conversion. I found the max to be minimal I. What I use it for.

 

[Zenichiro]

Wow, that is great to know. I'll be taking a look at some DEX eligible resales. Thanks.

You may want to consider Embarc points. Redweek has a few listings that are very cheap. I think you need a minimum of 6,000 to get started with a membership. I just saw one that was 6k for $450 plus transfer of $250. Then you can add more as needed. That would include Dex, Interval and obviously access to Embarc properties way before a Max member will ever see.

 

[Zenichiro]

And probably not in peak season... Few Embarc members have purchased more points for Max

Correct. Most of the inventory is for Zihuatanejo MX from what I have seen.