Can someone help a newbie?

[neen]

Hi! My husband and I are new to looking at timeshare ownership. We have considered Hilton, Marriott, and Disney.

We received the following email from HGVC - can someone help me make heads or tails of this offer?

Also, are you happy with Hilton ownership?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Receive a Hilton Vacvation for four... when you purchase a deeded vacation
ownership interest in a Hilton Grand Vacations Club resort.
<http://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/email/hhonors/0808tls/images/hd_pic.jpg
>




Become Our Newest Club Member and Receive a Hilton Vacation!


Join the thousands of Hilton HHonors(r) members who have made the decision
to enjoy a lifetime of luxurious vacations through Hilton Grand
Vacations(r). Hilton Grand Vacations and the award-winning HHonors program
have been helping Members create dream vacations for over 15 years.

Call Today at 1-888-585-6426 or
Click Here <http://h3.hiltonhhonors.com/T0RH01BB68887C5226229894345AC0> to
Learn More!

<http://h3.hiltonhhonors.com/T0RH01BB68986C5226229894345AC0> Your Hilton
Vacation Includes 7 days & 6 nights in a Category 6 Hilton Family hotel,
plus roundtrip airefare for four!

This offer begins August 6, 2008,
and ends August 31, 2008.


Hilton Family Hotels
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About this offer:
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additional details. This offer is not valid with any other promotional offer
and is only available through Hilton Grand Vacations(r) Direct by calling
1-888-585-6426 and is not available on-site at any Hilton Grand Vacations
resort. This offer begins August 6, 2008, and ends August 31, 2008.

Offer valid for vacation ownership interest purchases or upgrades equivalent
to a minimum of 7,000 annual ClubPoints.

Hilton Vacation is awarded with 9,600 Hilton Grand Vacations Bonus Points,
which can be converted to 240,000 Hilton HHonors(r) bonus points. Retail
value of 9,600 Hilton Grand Vacations Bonus Points is up to $2,880, based on
method of redemption. Four (4) round-trip coach airline certificates (good
for travel within the continental United States and Canada only) awarded via
11,360 Hilton Grand Vacations Bonus Points. Retail value of 11,360 Bonus
Points up to $3,408 based on method of redemption. Bonus points cannot be
redeemed for cash. Hilton Grand Vacations Bonus Points are awarded after six
payments on the new annual allotment of ClubPoints and are valid for up to
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[linsj]

HGVC wants to sell you a timeshare and is giving you a bonus of a week's vacation in a Hilton family hotel. The vacation is not worth the extra you'll pay by buying from the company instead of resale.

If you read the threads in this forum, you'll find that HGVC owners are happy with the system and quality of properties but would like more locations.

 

[Talent312]

You will use the vacation and bonus points quickly and they will be gone forever. What you'll have left is a club-point allotment for which you paid far too much, even with those perks.

HGVC is a great system. Its flexible, user-friendly and the resorts are high-quality. But buying direct from Hilton is the empitomy of foolishness. DO NOT buy direct, instead buy on the resale market from online sources such as ebay.

You know how the value of a brand new car drops 20% the moment you drive it off the lot? Think about losing up to 75% of your value the moment your developer-deed is recorded.

 

[ljmiii]

Hi! My husband and I are new to looking at timeshare ownership. We have considered Hilton, Marriott, and Disney....Also, are you happy with Hilton ownership?

I currently own Hilton, Marriott, and Disney - each program has very different strengths.

Disney is easiest to explain - if you want to stay 'on property' in Walt Disney World you need to buy Disney. If you don't, you don't. You CAN trade your Disney points to stay at non-Disney properties but it doesn't make economic sense to do on a regular basis.

The system itself is incredibly flexible - you get points that you can spend on any size of room and any number of rooms at any resort for as many or few days as you would like. You can bank points into a future year or borrow them from the next year so (with planning) you can spend up to three years of points on one vacation. You can book up to 11 months in advance at your home resort and 7 months in advance at any other resort.

With very rare exceptions it is no problem to get the room you want for the dates you want at your home resort. And at 7 months out you can usually get the dates you want at other resorts.

The only real downside to Disney is that you are buying a long term lease that expires in 2042 (2054 at SSR, 2047 at AKV, and 2057 at OKW w/extension) instead of real estate.

I LOVE my DVC membership - but I have two young children who get to visit their 'snowbirding' grandparents in Disneyworld each winter/spring.


Marriott is more or less a 'traditional' time share system. You reserve a week at your home resort in your home season 12 months in advance (13 months if you are booking concurrent or consecutive weeks) and then use, trade, or rent that week. More desirable weeks have greater value in trade and rent for more money so competition for the best weeks is fierce and people wanting to stay in their home resort have no advantage.

However...Marriott has the most locations and the widest and strongest trading system. So if your vision of 'timesharing' is to see the world staying at a different resort each year then Marriott is the right choice for you.

I DREAD booking Marriott - but I want to stay on Poipu Beach (Kauai, HI) and Marriott is the only game in town.


Hilton falls somewhere in between the two. There are basically three Hilton locations - Orlando, Las Vegas, and Hawaii (I'll talk about Hilton affilates later). The booking system is a hybrid. There is a 'home week' window 12-9 months out when you can book a full week in your home season at your home resort. If you don't do this, you can book a 'Club Reservation' at any Hilton location up to 276 days (9 months) in advance using a point based system with the number of points required varying by resort, room, season, and length of stay (minimum 3 nights). As with Disney, you can bank and/or borrow points one year forward or backward. You can also trade points for an exchange within the RCI network of timeshare resorts.

Not to say that it can't happen, but I've never heard of anyone not getting their desired week during the 'home week' window. And with the exception of Hilton Hawaiian Village, getting club reservations at the 9 month mark seems not to be a problem.

The Hilton affiliates (Miami Beach, Breckenridge, Scotland, etc) are a different beast. In general, they are difficult to trade into. And when an affiliate owner tries to trade into the normal Hilton system there are occasional glitches (usually when points are being borrowed, banked, or booked into the far future). The supply of affiliate resort timeshares is relatively limited and there is always the fear that an affiliate might be dropped by Hilton. But if you like one of the affiliate resorts and can find a willing seller then it might be a good solution for you.

There is one last feature of the Hilton system that is very nice - the Open Season. From 1 to 30 days in advance with a 2-night minimum stay you can rent out leftover Hilton inventory at very attractive prices. You probably won't get peak times (and Hawaii is always difficult) but it is a great way to enjoy a cheap, last minute vacation in Orlando or Las Vegas.

I'm very happy with my Hilton membership - but then again I just use it to stay at Hilton Hawaiian Village and haven't tried to trade with it.


enjoy,
leo

 

[ricoba]

Hilton is a great system, very easy to use and though the resorts are limited (Orlando, Vegas, Hawaii) they are all very nice.

Having said that buy Hilton RESALE! DO NOT buy directly from Hilton! Save thousands of dollars and get the same perks. Don't go on the tour, shop ebay!

I bought my Hilton points directly from Hilton and while I am happy, I know now that I could have saved about $10,000 by buying resale.

Good luck!

 

[Zac495]

I currently own Hilton, Marriott, and Disney - each program has very different strengths.

Disney is easiest to explain - if you want to stay 'on property' in Walt Disney World you need to buy Disney. If you don't, you don't. You CAN trade your Disney points to stay at non-Disney properties but it doesn't make economic sense to do on a regular basis.

The system itself is incredibly flexible - you get points that you can spend on any size of room and any number of rooms at any resort for as many or few days as you would like. You can bank points into a future year or borrow them from the next year so (with planning) you can spend up to three years of points on one vacation. You can book up to 11 months in advance at your home resort and 7 months in advance at any other resort.

With very rare exceptions it is no problem to get the room you want for the dates you want at your home resort. And at 7 months out you can usually get the dates you want at other resorts.

The only real downside to Disney is that you are buying a long term lease that expires in 2042 (2054 at SSR, 2047 at AKV, and 2057 at OKW w/extension) instead of real estate.

I LOVE my DVC membership - but I have two young children who get to visit their 'snowbirding' grandparents in Disneyworld each winter/spring.


Marriott is more or less a 'traditional' time share system. You reserve a week at your home resort in your home season 12 months in advance (13 months if you are booking concurrent or consecutive weeks) and then use, trade, or rent that week. More desirable weeks have greater value in trade and rent for more money so competition for the best weeks is fierce and people wanting to stay in their home resort have no advantage.

However...Marriott has the most locations and the widest and strongest trading system. So if your vision of 'timesharing' is to see the world staying at a different resort each year then Marriott is the right choice for you.

I DREAD booking Marriott - but I want to stay on Poipu Beach (Kauai, HI) and Marriott is the only game in town.


Hilton falls somewhere in between the two. There are basically three Hilton locations - Orlando, Las Vegas, and Hawaii (I'll talk about Hilton affilates later). The booking system is a hybrid. There is a 'home week' window 12-9 months out when you can book a full week in your home season at your home resort. If you don't do this, you can book a 'Club Reservation' at any Hilton location up to 276 days (9 months) in advance using a point based system with the number of points required varying by resort, room, season, and length of stay (minimum 3 nights). As with Disney, you can bank and/or borrow points one year forward or backward. You can also trade points for an exchange within the RCI network of timeshare resorts.

Not to say that it can't happen, but I've never heard of anyone not getting their desired week during the 'home week' window. And with the exception of Hilton Hawaiian Village, getting club reservations at the 9 month mark seems not to be a problem.

The Hilton affiliates (Miami Beach, Breckenridge, Scotland, etc) are a different beast. In general, they are difficult to trade into. And when an affiliate owner tries to trade into the normal Hilton system there are occasional glitches (usually when points are being borrowed, banked, or booked into the far future). The supply of affiliate resort timeshares is relatively limited and there is always the fear that an affiliate might be dropped by Hilton. But if you like one of the affiliate resorts and can find a willing seller then it might be a good solution for you.

There is one last feature of the Hilton system that is very nice - the Open Season. From 1 to 30 days in advance with a 2-night minimum stay you can rent out leftover Hilton inventory at very attractive prices. You probably won't get peak times (and Hawaii is always difficult) but it is a great way to enjoy a cheap, last minute vacation in Orlando or Las Vegas.

I'm very happy with my Hilton membership - but then again I just use it to stay at Hilton Hawaiian Village and haven't tried to trade with it.


enjoy,
leo

This is an excellent post and should be archived somewhere. I will reiterate something - BUY RESALE. You will hear Marriott salespeople tell you that you can't trade for points. TOUGH. You can buy points for about the price of your maintenance fees - ignore them. tHey will tell you that you won't get a special vacation planner. that's just bull. They'll tell you that you won't get the best view - wrong - I own ocean front Aruba resale and always get ocean front and the front desk calls us by name and thanks us for owning.

Hilton - I bought that resale, too. I was told I was elite because I was an owner and got a late check out. But I don't have elite status (something you "get" if you buy from the developer). And you don't need it. You want to pay 60% more for perhaps a late check out? Or whatever other silly promises you get?

You always get bonus points buying from the developer. Yes, these points are probably one trip - if you're lucky - worth 4 or 5000 dollars - and that's IF you can get the airline and the hotel etc etc etc. And you will save MUCH MORE than 5000 by buying resale.

Call Seth Nock. He is the BEST broker (tuggers know him). He'll help.
Good luck! We just got back from Hilton in Orlando. We did Disney from there. I wouldn't buy Disney personally, because i don't want to do Disney day after day. I do know that many people love it - and you do get the extra "magic hours," by staying on the property. As little as I know about Disney - I know one thing - if you buy it - buy it RESALE.