Does Hilton have a trial run?

[MichaelJ83]

Hello friends,
I am wondering if Hilton has a trial run program similar to Club Wyndham Discovery. Thank you

 

[dayooper]

Hello friends,
I am wondering if Hilton has a trial run program similar to Club Wyndham Discovery. Thank you

They have promotional packages you can purchase that will give you a certain amount of points (around a week). Not sure how much they cost (around $2000 rings a bell) and a sales presentation is usually required.

 

[PigsDad]

They also offer promotional 3-4 night stays at limited locations for a few hundred dollars. Both those and the "VIP" program (what @dayooper described, which is usually for a ~week's worth of stay at many more locations but costs much more -- ~$1700) of course require a sales presentation during your stay.

Kurt

 

[tschwa2]

How does the "VIP" program work. Do you get online access to book your points or do you have to call for availability. How long do you have to use the points? Wyndham discovery really gives you 2 years to try out the program.

 

[PigsDad]

You have to call, and I am not sure how long you have to use it, but I believe it is at least a year.

Kurt

 

[kanerf]

Just keep in mind that for the cost of the promotional program you can buy 5000-7000 points resale.

 

[ccwu]

The HGV offers VIP program gives you 7200 points for $1,695. Usually in the end of presentation, we hen you are not buying, they offer VIP to you. It is similar as Bonvoy package offered by Marriott at $1550 for About 5 nights vacation studio in WKORV (we upgraded to 5 nights in one bedroom for $1750) we you can only use it for one trip. If you don’t use the total points, it would be void.


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[RX8]

When I did the VIP back in 2012 or so, I had 7,000 points to book and I could use them anywhere with a 3 day minimum. I ended up getting something like 17 days out of it using studios and avoiding the high cost weekends. There were also no reservation fees so it was a great way to test the waters. Today, one must select a full week at one of a select number of resorts. No longer can one just use it where ever they could.

If you buy the $399 3-4 night promotional package you are required to attend a sales presentation. If you end up buying the VIP package you are obligated to do another sales presentation at the end of your VIP stay.

 

[PigsDad]

Just keep in mind that for the cost of the promotional program you can buy 5000-7000 points resale.

And commit to paying maintenance fees for as long as you own. Apples and oranges comparison. For $1700, it's not a bad price to pay for a week of vacation in a top-notch 2BR resort condo to see if HGV is a good fit for you, IMO.

Kurt

 

[PigsDad]

Today, one must select a full week at one of a select number of resorts. No longer can one just use it where ever they could.

I could be wrong, but I thought they allowed you to split it into two separate stays currently. But that is still a far cry to how you were able to get multiple weeks -- great job!

Kurt

 

[Gwendyc]

I could be wrong, but I thought they allowed you to split it into two separate stays currently. But that is still a far cry to how you were able to get multiple weeks -- great job!

Kurt

That's correct. We are in the middle of using our VIP package. It can be divided into one 3 night and one 3 or 4 night stay (max 7 nights even if you have points left...we stayed in a 2 bedroom even though we ended up only needing a 1 bedroom but we had the points to spare). They give you 18 months from purchase date to use it. You do have to go to a presentation during the first of your stays and can't book the 2nd stay until after the first is completed.

We bought it for I think $1699 at the end of a presentation last April. I think it was $100 more if you did a payment plan instead of pay in full.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

You have officially one year but we asked for more time and they gave us 18 months and wrote it into the contract. You could possibly extend beyond that. We did but it was during Covid tho.

We got a small 2bdrm at Kingsland during summer. Good value. This added extra space for our family as we also booked a large 2 berm with club points. We "stayed" in the small 2 bdrm.

 

[tschwa2]

That's correct. We are in the middle of using our VIP package. It can be divided into one 3 night and one 3 or 4 night stay (max 7 nights even if you have points left...we stayed in a 2 bedroom even though we ended up only needing a 1 bedroom but we had the points to spare). They give you 18 months from purchase date to use it. You do have to go to a presentation during the first of your stays and can't book the 2nd stay until after the first is completed.

We bought it for I think $1699 at the end of a presentation last April. I think it was $100 more if you did a payment plan instead of pay in full.

Is Hilton Head included in the VIP package.

 

[ClearStone]

This is the Brochure they sent me showing which resorts you could book for VIP Pkg's.

 

[tschwa2]

This is the Brochure they sent me showing which resorts you could book for VIP Pkg's.

Thanks.

 

[MichaelJ83]

They have promotional packages you can purchase that will give you a certain amount of points (around a week). Not sure how much they cost (around $2000 rings a bell) and a sales presentation is usually required.

That is helpful, thank you

 

[MichaelJ83]

They also offer promotional 3-4 night stays at limited locations for a few hundred dollars. Both those and the "VIP" program (what @dayooper described, which is usually for a ~week's worth of stay at many more locations but costs much more -- ~$1700) of course require a sales presentation during your stay.

Kurt

Thank you

 

[MichaelJ83]

The HGV offers VIP program gives you 7200 points for $1,695. Usually in the end of presentation, we hen you are not buying, they offer VIP to you. It is similar as Bonvoy package offered by Marriott at $1550 for About 5 nights vacation studio in WKORV (we upgraded to 5 nights in one bedroom for $1750) we you can only use it for one trip. If you don’t use the total points, it would be void.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very helpful, thank you

 

[MichaelJ83]

This is the Brochure they sent me showing which resorts you could book for VIP Pkg's.

Thank you

 

[dioxide45]

How does the "VIP" program work. Do you get online access to book your points or do you have to call for availability. How long do you have to use the points? Wyndham discovery really gives you 2 years to try out the program.

I actually just booked one of these the other day from HGV. I purchased it last year after receiving many email offers to buy one. You can't book online directly. You can call in to book any time. I received an email on Monday with a button to go online and request dates. I filled out the form and it said they would get back to me within three business days. I receive an email two days later that it was booked. You have 12 months to travel. The offers always seem to differ. the one we took was a $200 Hilton Hotel Future Stay Credit. As I understand it, this works more like a rebate. YOu book, stay and pay and then send in for the credit which comes back to you in the form of a Visa Debit card. Just like product rebates you often see.

They also sent additional emails indicating that if we booked and stayed before May 31, 2022 that we would get an additional $100 activity and dining credit. We took them up on the offer. We paid $149+tax for the three night package at Tuscany and will get back $300 in "value" back plus our three nights. All for a couple hours of our time at a presentation over at Parc Soleil.

 

[Janann]

I actually just booked one of these the other day from HGV. I purchased it last year after receiving many email offers to buy one. You can't book online directly. You can call in to book any time. I received an email on Monday with a button to go online and request dates. I filled out the form and it said they would get back to me within three business days. I receive an email two days later that it was booked. You have 12 months to travel. The offers always seem to differ. the one we took was a $200 Hilton Hotel Future Stay Credit. As I understand it, this works more like a rebate. YOu book, stay and pay and then send in for the credit which comes back to you in the form of a Visa Debit card. Just like product rebates you often see.

They also sent additional emails indicating that if we booked and stayed before May 31, 2022 that we would get an additional $100 activity and dining credit. We took them up on the offer. We paid $149+tax for the three night package at Tuscany and will get back $300 in "value" back plus our three nights. All for a couple hours of our time at a presentation over at Parc Soleil.

I think the group is talking about two different programs. The VIP program is where you receive a certain number of points, and then you can book one or more vacations until the points are gone. ClearStone posted the brochure in comment #14 above.

The other program (maybe called "Discover Ownership?") is a one-time visit for around $199 for three nights. It is explained in the link: https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/discover-ownership/start-traveling

 

[M8433]

I sat for the presentation this morning for the initial deal - 3 nights in DC for $250 and ended up buying the “VIP” trial package including 11,520 VIP points for $1,690.

How have people’s experience on the program been in terms of booking - I’d be looking at the Hawaii properties, probably split into a 3 night and 4 night hopefully in different areas?

I liked their presentation but said throughout I would need some sort of cheap trial to even consider. Lowest they went was like $10k for I don’t even remember how many points - I told them there was just no way I was going to give them $10k after learning about this for one hour.

Don’t know if time share would work for me but am curious and have never been to Hawaii, should I be worried about difficulty booking or anything? Thinking of maybe canceling and looking at other programs to rent from or try out.

 

[Blues]

I liked their presentation but said throughout I would need some sort of cheap trial to even consider. Lowest they went was like $10k for I don’t even remember how many points - I told them there was just no way I was going to give them $10k after learning about this for one hour.

Heh heh, I thought that only timeshare sales engaged in the "today only, now or never" sales pressure tactic. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my wife decided we need new windows in our house, and invited over Renewal by Anderson. OMG, I couldn't believe it!

Since she wanted to change window style, we'd need to do (almost) all our windows. $97K. But "today only, if you decide before I leave here today," discounted to $74K. I actually liked the guy, so I didn't laugh in his face. But I told him, several times, that I wouldn't respond to "now or never" sales tactics.

Guy should go into timeshare sales.

 

[GT75]

Guy should go into timeshare sales.

Maybe that is where they found him.

 

[ksimm]

I sat for the presentation this morning for the initial deal - 3 nights in DC for $250 and ended up buying the “VIP” trial package including 11,520 VIP points for $1,690.

How have people’s experience on the program been in terms of booking - I’d be looking at the Hawaii properties, probably split into a 3 night and 4 night hopefully in different areas?

I bought into back in July and haven't booked yet. I initially tried to book Hawaii (Oahu) for July next year. I called multiple times 9 months out and the entire month of July was booked up. They must use different availability than what owners see since I saw plenty of spots open (I decided to buy some resale since I purchased the package).
I'm going to try to book DC for later next year once that opens up, my fallback is maybe SC, or CA. Worst case I'd do Vegas. When I was on the phone they said they had plenty of availability in Vegas and Orlando (Makes sense since there's so many properties).
You can't bookend a stay (IE 3 nights then go on to 4 elsewhere), you have to complete the first stay before you can book the next. Our original plan had been to split NY and DC.