Elite status

[rebels]

I know that you folks say that Elite status is not worth what you pay HGVC. I agree. But I found a way to get great price per point and get Elite status. I purchased 5,000 points resale from the HGVC rep at Club Regency (I had 7,400 before). The price was as good as resale and it counted for Elite status. The whole process took three weeks. They added the old and new points and now I am Elite with HHonors Gold status. So I got the best of both worlds.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I know that you folks say that Elite status is not worth what you pay HGVC. I agree. But I found a way to get great price per point and get Elite status. I purchased 5,000 points resale from the HGVC rep at Club Regency (I had 7,400 before). The price was as good as resale and it counted for Elite status. The whole process took three weeks. They added the old and new points and now I am Elite with HHonors Gold status. So I got the best of both worlds.

I like your idea and have purchased points from an HGVC rep in the past and have Elite Status. However, you say you have 7400 points and purchased 5000 points more. That is only 12400 points. YOu need 14000 points to get Elite Status.

 

[Helios]

I was looking into the Elite benefits, it seems the second level would be the beginning of benefits that would have some value. What's your take on that?

 

[presley]

I was looking into the Elite benefits, it seems the second level would be the beginning of benefits that would have some value. What's your take on that?

To a very minor extent, that is true. However, when you look at the overall buy in, I'd still say the second level isn't worth it. The third level looks more interesting, but if anyone buys that many points, Hilton should really roll out a red carpet whenever they show up at a resort.

The nice benefits of elite are in the hotels and not in the timeshares. I get 2 bottles of water when I check into a hotel and sometimes cookies or a snack. I get free breakfast if it is hotel that has breakfast. When I check into the timeshares, once in a while, they give me room keys that say I am elite. Most of the time, they don't.

 

[Helios]

To a very minor extent, that is true. However, when you look at the overall buy in, I'd still say the second level isn't worth it. The third level looks more interesting, but if anyone buys that many points, Hilton should really roll out a red carpet whenever they show up at a resort.

The nice benefits of elite are in the hotels and not in the timeshares. I get 2 bottles of water when I check into a hotel and sometimes cookies or a snack. I get free breakfast if it is hotel that has breakfast. When I check into the timeshares, once in a while, they give me room keys that say I am elite. Most of the time, they don't.

Interesting, Starwood works similarly. Highest level Elite is what is really worth getting. And, most of the benefits are in the hotel side. However, it seems like Starwood 5*Elites do have an edge over Hilton Elites in the TS side.

 

[rebels]

Sorry I used the wrong number for my before. It was 12,400 which gave me 17,400 and Elite status. BTW the before number included a 2,400 Eagles Nest that I bought from the resort. Later a HGVC sales rep in Orlando said that only one resale from SW resort would work for Elite status and I needed to buy from him to get Elite status (of course at a high price and I did not bite). But as we say never believe a timeshare salesman. The second resale from Marco worked to get me Elite status.

 

[rebels]

I did not buy for the Elite status, I wanted more time on Marco. But the Elite status comes with some benefits. I get HHonor Gold status, no fee on 7 day reservations, reduced fee on other reservations and 10% discount on Open season. Oh and a BIG benefit of a SPECIAL Elite phone number!

 

[Helios]

I know that you folks say that Elite status is not worth what you pay HGVC. I agree. But I found a way to get great price per point and get Elite status. I purchased 5,000 points resale from the HGVC rep at Club Regency (I had 7,400 before). The price was as good as resale and it counted for Elite status. The whole process took three weeks. They added the old and new points and now I am Elite with HHonors Gold status. So I got the best of both worlds.

Is it typical for HGVC to offer resale points to upgrade your current ownership and obtain Elite Status?

 

[gkbiiii]

Interesting, Starwood works similarly. Highest level Elite is what is really worth getting. And, most of the benefits are in the hotel side. However, it seems like Starwood 5*Elites do have an edge over Hilton Elites in the TS side.

But on the Flyertalk Board, it is a common thought that their is little difference between Gold & Diamond. Gold is a great thing, with upgrades and free breakfast. I got this with my Founder's Card membership for $395 annual fee. It seems cheaper to me, than getting it through timeshare ownership.

 

[gkbiiii]

But on the Flyertalk Board, it is a common thought, that there is little difference between Gold & Diamond. Gold is a great thing, with upgrades and free breakfast. I got this with my Founder's Card membership for $395 annual fee. It seems cheaper to me, than getting it through timeshare ownership.

Anyway, food for thought!!

 

[Helios]

But on the Flyertalk Board, it is a common thought, that there is little difference between Gold & Diamond. Gold is a great thing, with upgrades and free breakfast. I got this with my Founder's Card membership for $395 annual fee. It seems cheaper to me, than getting it through timeshare ownership.

Anyway, food for thought!!

I agree, if you can get it via a $395 CC fee, then what's the point of offering it if you spend several tens of thousands...:hysterical::hysterical:

 

[MichaelColey]

There's not much difference between Hilton Gold and Hilton Diamond. I'm a Hilton Diamond (based on hotel stays), but most of the perks I get are also available to Hilton Golds. My favorite perk is breakfast at Hilton Garden Inns. With Starwood, on the other hand, there is a pretty substantial difference between Gold and Platinum.

Also, you can get Hilton Gold MUCH cheaper and easier than $395/year. If you get the Citi Hilton Honors Reserve card for $95/year, you automatically get Hilton Gold status.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Is it typical for HGVC to offer resale points to upgrade your current ownership and obtain Elite Status?

It usually only the affiliate resorts that have a "resale" program that markets resale units. HGVC tends to just roll them back into their regular inventory and sell them.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

There's not much difference between Hilton Gold and Hilton Diamond. I'm a Hilton Diamond (based on hotel stays), but most of the perks I get are also available to Hilton Golds. My favorite perk is breakfast at Hilton Garden Inns. With Starwood, on the other hand, there is a pretty substantial difference between Gold and Platinum.

Also, you can get Hilton Gold MUCH cheaper and easier than $395/year. If you get the Citi Hilton Honors Reserve card for $95/year, you automatically get Hilton Gold status.

I am also Diamond through work travel, and I actively work to maintain it each year. I find there are few additional perks for Diamond, but most are on the soft side, like better access to the executive lounge, maybe better treatment... I like having it, but agree it may be better ways to obtain hotel status...

With all travel elite program the more you travel the more valuable it is... I am also Gold with Marriott Hotels, but only spend a few nights a year with them, so its not worth much to me personally...

 

[presley]

Is it typical for HGVC to offer resale points to upgrade your current ownership and obtain Elite Status?

Not really typical. There are a couple ways people do it. One way is that to use your resale to trade in towards a developer purchase. That is the most common way. The other, more backdoor way is like how the OP did it and how I did it. Basically, I owned affiliates that weren't converted to Hilton already. I asked about getting them converted and was told if I made a developer purchase, they would convert all of my other weeks. Since I bought all the other weeks for prices of $1. - $1,000 each, it was still a significant savings to buy the developer week rather than dump all my weeks and buy resale HGVC. They totaled up to a point amount that ended up being elite. I did it to convert my weeks and not to gain elite status, which I didn't care about at all.

 

[Helios]

OK, so there is a difference between buying a resale HGVC developed property and an affiliate. What happens if you own a resale affiliate and you don't convert it? Does that prevent you from making reservations outside your home resort?

 

[SmithOp]

OK, so there is a difference between buying a resale HGVC developed property and an affiliate. What happens if you own a resale affiliate And you don't convert it? Does that prevent you from making Reservations outside your home resort?

Yes, you would not get HGVC points to use at other HGVC resorts. You could trade it in other systems though, for example I own a Seapointe week that is not converted, I can exchange it in GPX or RCI.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk

 

[Helios]

Interesting, the more I learn about HGVC the more convinced I am that they work very similarly and are very complementing property wise.

 

[tschwa2]

I know that you folks say that Elite status is not worth what you pay HGVC. I agree. But I found a way to get great price per point and get Elite status. I purchased 5,000 points resale from the HGVC rep at Club Regency (I had 7,400 before). The price was as good as resale and it counted for Elite status. The whole process took three weeks. They added the old and new points and now I am Elite with HHonors Gold status. So I got the best of both worlds.

When you say the price was as good as resale, what was the price? On ebay 5000 points weeks have gone for $1300-$4000 in the completed listings.

 

[Talent312]

Is it typical for HGVC to offer resale points to upgrade your current ownership and obtain Elite Status?

HGVC itself does not operate a resale program. Only points acquired at full-freight from HGVC-sales, or acquired thru an independent-affiliate when a buyer affirmatively elects to activate a HGVC account, are counted toward elite status. Thus, independent affiliates can provide a back-door alternative to paying HGVC's retail prices.

 

[Helios]

Actively elect to activate means that you buy more points and as part of the purchase you activate your affiliate points, right?

 

[presley]

Actively elect to activate means that you buy more points and as part of the purchase you activate your affiliate points, right?

It did in my case, but people often buy The Bay Club for a couple hundred dollars and then convert to Hilton with no other purchase. It depends on the individual rules of the affiliate. They are all different.

 

[Helios]

Does the Bay Club have reasonable MF?

 

[Jason245]

Does the Bay Club have reasonable MF?

1 br costs about 1200 per year.

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[rebels]

I paid $2,250 for 5,000 points. No worry about ROFR because it was with HGVC and the paperwork only took three weeks. Like I said what I really wanted was the points so we can spend more time on Marco Island. The Elite status was just an extra with a few benefits.