Diamond & Hilton Owners

[Chika]

There has to be others like us. We are Centum Diamond owners with the Hawaii Collection and HGV members with Charleston, SC as home. I have been unable to get clear responses that our 20+ years with Diamond and 4 transitions is now purchased by Hilton. We are now being asked to pay more to get little for MAX and at 70 we are not interested in another program. The main challenge is that we will lose the benefits we have with Diamond that Hilton is now copying. Since the program is being created every day with the pitch of now or never....eyes glaze over----if anyone else shares this new twist.

Thank you..

 

[HuskerATL]

So, from what I have read and asked two different HGVC reps it appears that you don't have to join Max and can just keep using Diamond as you have been and the same for HGVC legacy owners. It also, sounds like new properties will not be added to either but to Max. You would maintain your booking windows as is. The only advantage to joining Max would be access to HGVC but you have that already so I am not sure of the advantage unless new properties come online that are only Max. The only other advantage could be Elite Max but you would need to compare that to your existing Elite benefits.

 

[ConejoRed]

Own both HGVC and a Legacy week Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort (not part of the DRI Club). All resale, so I really have no idea what this whole merger/HGV Max thing will be for owners like us. I know LTVR is slated to be one of the first to be rebranded to HVC from what I read and I personally think it could be an HGVC level resort with not a lot of additional work needed (although I admit I have not been since before COVID), so our current plan is just to wait and see how it all shakes out. We bought LTVR mainly to use which they can't take away. I can book in any season 12 months out so will just keep booking high-value weeks and either use it or deposit it into DEX to trade for other DRI locations. I think if HGV was smart they would look to design something specifically for those of us who are already owners of both systems that would allow them access to more legacy deeded week DRI inventory. Something similar to the current "enrollment" fees when buying a Grand Pacific or Bay Club unit if someone wants to be able to use that unit in the HGVC system (but not required if you don't want to).

 

[lilikoi]

H

There has to be others like us. We are Centum Diamond owners with the Hawaii Collection and HGV members with Charleston, SC as home. I have been unable to get clear responses that our 20+ years with Diamond and 4 transitions is now purchased by Hilton. We are now being asked to pay more to get little for MAX and at 70 we are not interested in another program. The main challenge is that we will lose the benefits we have with Diamond that Hilton is now copying. Since the program is being created every day with the pitch of now or never....eyes glaze over----if anyone else shares this new twist.

Thank you..

Hello,
We sympathize. We are Diamond Resorts Club Members about 3 years now and being pressured to upgrade as full Hilton members to the tune of $17,000 (who knows what out the door really is). Very little information on what the purchase by Hilton will mean going forward for Diamond resorts members coupled will a 90% negative review rating from consumer reports on HGV leaves us in a lousy spot. We are 66 and 80 years old.

 

[dayooper]

H

Hello,
We sympathize. We are Diamond Resorts Club Members about 3 years now and being pressured to upgrade as full Hilton members to the tune of $17,000 (who knows what out the door really is). Very little information on what the purchase by Hilton will mean going forward for Diamond resorts members coupled will a 90% negative review rating from consumer reports on HGV leaves us in a lousy spot. We are 66 and 80 years old.

As long as you avoid the sales centers, HGVC has been very good to me. I empathize with your position as I felt the same about DRI back when the merger looked like it was going the other way. DRI’s reputation was very poor and I was ready to bail.

 

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

Hello,
We sympathize. We are Diamond Resorts Club Members about 3 years now and being pressured to upgrade as full Hilton members to the tune of $17,000 (who knows what out the door really is). Very little information on what the purchase by Hilton will mean going forward for Diamond resorts members coupled will a 90% negative review rating from consumer reports on HGV leaves us in a lousy spot. We are 66 and 80 years old.

Are Diamond owners being asked to upgrade their deeds from DRI to HGVC? Or are they being asked to buy more DRI points, to get access to HGV Max?

 

[artringwald]

Don't believe anything you don't see in writing. The only thing I've seen in writing is this letter (you'll have to log in to read it).

http://t.a1.hilton.com/r/?id=h7f1cbd6d,15d6b978,138c3ed1

Please note that it only talks about new benefits if you join HGV Max. It doesn't say anything about losing the ability to book they way you always have if you don't join. They just want to to spend more money. They can't take away benefits that are in the original contract. That goes for resale points or deeds.

 

[dougp26364]

At the end of the day, MAX really adds no benefit to either HGVC or DRI owners. The ONLY thing MAX does is it gives both sales teams something new to sell.

 

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

According to several Facebook posts, Diamond presentations are offering 3,000 points for $14,250, which enters them into HGV Max. Some are being told that is an introductory offer, less than half the price of what it will cost when the rollout is complete. Another claims that their requirement was to purchase an additional 20% of their current points total.

There seems to be a frequent FOMO pitch, that HGV Max properties will phase out of the Diamond portfolio, and that non-Max DRI owners will be left with only the properties that Hilton chooses not to upgrade.

 

[HuskerATL]

At the end of the day, MAX really adds no benefit to either HGVC or DRI owners. The ONLY thing MAX does is it gives both sales teams something new to sell.

I would disagree with this. It gives you an exchange into the other properties. Now, you could argue that the cost isn't worth it but it does open up the opportunity for additional properties.

 

[tschwa2]

I would disagree with this. It gives you an exchange into the other properties. Now, you could argue that the cost isn't worth it but it does open up the opportunity for additional properties.

but if someone already belongs to both as in the case of the OP, then I can't see any benefit.

 

[HuskerATL]

but if someone already belongs to both as in the case of the OP, then I can't see any benefit.

That would be correct. There would be no benefit...unless the Max Elite helped them in some way but who knows about that.

 

[Lodemia]

Has there been any clarity or update to this? I have 83k pts in Hilton (elite premier) and I regularly convert to HH points, so I don’t think I want to go to Max, as that limits my HH conversion ability.

I guess what I’m asking is if someone has both Hilton and Diamond, is this basically the same as Max? Do the points flow between the systems?

 

[Talent312]

... Do the points flow between the systems?

No. You cannot cross-pollinate your bookings, unless you buy into Max.
IMHO, as an owner of both, you already have a super-max advantage
becuz you get to use your legacy perks in each, w/o max limitations.
.
.

 

[HuskerATL]

No. You cannot cross-pollinate your bookings, unless you buy into Max.
IMHO, as an owner of both, you already have a super-max advantage
becuz you get to use your legacy perks in each, w/o max limitations.
.
.

Any thoughts about disadvantages with having two buckets of points?

 

[dougp26364]

Any thoughts about disadvantages with having two buckets of points?

The way it appears to be set up (meaning nothing is official), it seems to me an owner is better off owning two buckets rather than one blended bucket. The ONLY advantage I can see about blending both buckets into Max is being able to top off points for one big reservation. Maybe those who own minimal amounts in each program will see good value. But those that own enough to make the reservations they want in either system won’t see a lot of value. Owning in both systems is probably a rarity among owners as both systems are vastly different in level of quality (my opinion of course. Others may vary).

My example would be using our own situation dating back 5 years before we deeded our DRI weeks back to DRI.

We were silver elite owners and had more points than we really could use efficiently. We could book whatever we wanted, when ever we wanted it, in the DRI system. We also own 1 week within the HGVC system and, for us, that’s more than adequate considering their lack of destination selections, availabilty and ease of booking.

If I blended both, I’d cut my timeframe to book from a respective 10 months with DRI and 9 months with Hilton to 6 mo this in both. PLUS I’d have to pay thousands for the downgrade in booking window with the only advantage being I could blend both systems. This hardly seems like any sort of advantage to me.

I suppose if I didn’t really have enough points in either or both systems to book the really nice weeks like Hawaii, it would make sense, except that they’ll make you buy more points and that purchase might put a person into the category of being able to book what they want without the blending, thus gaining an option that isn’t all the usable.

I see the main targets as those who only own in one system. Those owners will gain access to an entirely new system. DRI owners can upgrade to a higher quality and HGVC owners will gain access to DRI’s superior locations. They should be very successful selling to that group of owners.

 

[HuskerATL]

Your thought would be that it is better for a DRI person, who wants to use HGVC/bHC, to buy a resale rather than buy into Max? I could definitely see this as a better option, if they aren't interested in the Max Tier benefits and it would be much cheaper.

 

[brp]

The way it appears to be set up (meaning nothing is official), it seems to me an owner is better off owning two buckets rather than one blended bucket.

This is the sense I've been getting all along. Just waiting got the dust to settle before getting some DRI points for KBP and P@P. Thanks for your view on this. Very informative!

Cheers.

 

[dayooper]

This is the sense I've been getting all along. Just waiting got the dust to settle before getting some DRI points for KBP and P@P. Thanks for your view on this. Very informative!

Cheers.

That’s how I feel, as well.