Evaluating HGVC

[Cyvil]

I started a thread http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236705 with some of my basic info, but I think that HVGC may be right for our family.

I do have have many questions, timeshares seem to be a big tangle with each company adding their part. hopefully, some of you will be able to help me figure some of this out.

While we do like to go to Florida, and Disney World, we are just as happy visiting just about any part of the country. HGVC seems to be very flexible with thier points system, and would allow us to find a location that fits into our schedule. Is the flexibility I see, real?

Based on maintenance fees, it appears that some of the HGVC properties in Las Vegas or Orlando would be best. Maybe this should be obvious to me already, but would our preference for Florida make the Orlando property a better choice?

I have found snippets of two types of HGVC properties, fixed week, and EOY. Some of those snippets indicated that fixed weeks are best. Would someone help me to understand the differences, and why Fixed weeks are better?

If we decide on a fixed week, my wife is concerned that we will get stuck visiting the same place, the same time, every year. I don't see it this way, but was hoping that someone might be able to give me an idea of what our chances are of being able to swap out. Could we expect to be "stuck" at the home resort once every other year, or every third year? Or, does the HGVC points system eliminate the possibility of having to ever stay at a home resort?

 

[Blues]

Welcome to TUG. First, you should really study the following links to learn the system:
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58716
http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/hilton-grand-vacation-club-timeshare-information.html

(The second link is referenced from the first).

To try to answer your questions: Yes, the flexibility is real, but... Some locations are very hard to book unless you have the 12 to 9 month advantage of owning there. These include Oahu in Hawaii (but the Big Island is fairly easy), the southwest Florida affiliates, and reportedly (don't know first hand), the ski locations during the height of ski season.

Even those hard to get locations can be booked if you're online at precisely the time new inventory is loaded (I think that's midnight Eastern time? Someone can correct). Everywhere else is pretty accessible, assuming you plan sufficiently in advance. Orlando and Las Vegas are known for being easy reservations except at a few busy periods; and even for those periods at exactly 9 months in advance.

You need to get the terminology straight. Nothing is actually a fixed week. Or, more precisely, a fixed week is shown on the deed for real estate transaction purposes, but it has little meaning. In reality, your week is converted to points. There are three reservation periods:

1. 12 months out to 9 months out is Home Week. You can book exactly 1 week of exactly what you bought - same season (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) and same size unit. This is the "home week advantage". Unless you're trying for one of the hard to get areas mentioned above, you probably won't need to worry about this. I've belonged to HGVC for around 15 years, and have never booked a home week. I have booked my home resort, by choice, but during Club Season.

2. 9 months out to 30 days out is Club Season. This is when the vast majority of us book. During Club Season, the only thing that matters is points. "Points are points are points", as TUGgers like to say. Doesn't matter what size, season, or location you bought. You can get whatever unit is in inventory if you have the points for it. And if not, you can borrow points from the next year.

3. Open Season is less than 30 days. You can book units for cash. But there's typically little inventory left.

So, forget about fixed weeks. In reality, you'll have points that you can use anywhere.

The reason that every year is much more flexible than EOY is this ability to borrow and move points by one year. For example, right now I have "rescued" my 2015 points into 2016. So I have available to me all the points from 2015, 2016, and 2017. It's a boatload of points. OTOH, say you have EOY even years. This year you'll have your points, but you can't draw from previous years (2014 was 2 years ago, so doesn't work). And you can't borrow from your next use year, because 2018 is 2 years from now. The best you can do is get 2 years worth of points by rescuing your 2016 points into 2017. Then in 2017 you'd have your 2016 and 2018 points available. But if you wanted to do something that takes more points in an even year, you'd be out of luck.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jason245]

There is a lot of flexibility with HGVC. That being said I probably wouldn't own unless there were a number of a resorts within driving distance of me.

In the last twelve months we have been to:

Miami Beach
Marco
Orlando

Next year we have booked

Orlando
Marco


My ownership is in Hawaii because of the inexepensive buy in cost at the affiliate I bought at. This ownership has worked out very well for us, and we are enjoying trying out the different resorts that are available (and my DW liked the walk up villa at Eagles nest so much that I booked it again this year).

All in all, I am a satisfied customer who is living in HGVCs pocket by borrowing points every year (I am in my second year), and getting what we preceive to be good value.

That being said, I would avoid buying if the intent was to trade via RCI (fees just overwhelm you on that one). While DVC might be the only exception to that rule, I still view it as mostly a bad deal unless it is a must have experience. Furthermore, they tend to only have 1BR units available via RCI which would make 7 people traveling not workable.

My big concerns for you would be transportion as a deciding factor. Paying airfare for 7 people will probably cost ~3k/year, and adding in a MF of ~$1k and a rental van of ~$700 might make this trip challenging depending on your budget (especially if you are also planning on visiting Disney which will easily suck another $5k out of your wallet in a week for 7 people) annually .

Rentals in Vegas and Orlando are generally pretty inexpensive (Equal to or less than MF for the same resorts) and you wouldn't be locked into anything. Orlando resorts are almost always listed in the Bargain rentals, and rentals for both locations are listed all over TUG main site.

Just some food for thought.

 

[alwysonvac]

Realistic Expectations

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs.

If you click on QUOTE at the end of my post, the questions will open up in a new window for you to answer:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Las Vegas or Orlando

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Trade, mostly.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Florida, Carolinas, Colorado, Europe (eventually), Carribean (eventually)

4) How many people do you usually travel with?
6, sometimes 7.

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
School Schedule

You should be aware that there is limited availability at some of the Florida Affiliated HGVC resorts.
See this thread - http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224140

Reserving Colorado during peak skiing season requires patience and persistence.
See this thread - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208440

I don't know how hard it is to trade in the HGVC Myrtle Beach properties but I'm sure prime summer weeks are in high demand. I honestly haven't been paying attention since I prefer Marriott's timeshare property in Myrtle Beach vs the small footprint offered by HGVC.

Not trying to scare you off but overall trading can be challenging if you're restricted to a school calendar.

Lots of families have to plan around a school calendar, which means most of the competition for two bedrooms or larger will occur during Spring break, Summer break and XMAS/NYE break. You won't be the only family that wants to book a beach vacation in the summer and book a ski vacation in the winter when the kids are out of school. Owners at those resorts will have first dibs on reservations at their home resort. Expect high owner occupancy during peak seasons at high demand resort and/or destinations (that's why most of these owners bought there). During high peak travel periods, depending on the destination and/or resort, traders must compete to get whatever is leftover (vs selecting their desired weeks/days).

Of course overbuilt areas where there are lots of options like Orlando and Las Vegas won't be a problem but as Jason245 pointed out you don't need to be a timeshare owner to stay there. You can simply rent. There are a number of sites to rent not only timeshares but condos and homes. Renting gives you the most flexibility to pick where you want to go when you want to go. It also allow you align your travel dates based on the best airfare being offered.

Some examples of rental sites:
Redweek - http://www.redweek.com/browse/North+America/United+States/Florida/Orlando-timeshares
Homeaway - https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/florida/orlando/r134
Vacation Rentals by Owners (VRBO) - https://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/florida/central-disney-orlando
TUG Marketplace - http://tug2.com/timeshare-marketplace.aspx

Also, read my recent post regarding HGVC surprises - http://tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1733451&postcount=33

Whatever you decide, don't put all of your future vacation dollars into timesharing. This will give you the flexibility in the future to choose the best way to visit your desired destinations. There might not be a timeshare at the location that you want to visit or if there is a timeshare it may be very hard to get an exchange. You may also want to visit a destination in an entirely different way via a cruise, hotel/resort stay, special discounted travel package, tour company, beach house rental, etc.

 

[Cyvil]

Thank you all, for the advice so far. We have taken advantage of rentals in the past, and may continue to do so in the future. We have visited Orlando often, although rarely during the summer months. We may be odd in that We are looking to the warmer states in the winter, and the cooler states in the summer.

Iowa has a lot going for it, it is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. We experience all of the seasons already, but sometimes winter and summer are a bit on the extreme side. We don't mind visiting beaches in Florida, and having them all to ourselves. When 10F here, 80F on the beach is pretty attractive.

As far as costs go, the airfare, park tickets, etc, are pretty much the same cost whether we rent, or buy. Having rented before, we have had very good experiences, and some not so great. It seems that ratings on some of the sites weren't quite as accurate as we would have hoped for. This has been limited to 1 or 2 experiences, but disappointing none the less.

 

[JSparling]

Because of the flexibility for 2 or 3 night stays I think people who live within a reasonable drive of at least one HGVC location really can take advantage of the system. We live about 90 minutes from Breckenridge so we take a few 3-night trips to Valdoro a year along with a full week or two each year. The ability to drive up there during a "non-peak" season when the point requirements are lower means you can rack up the nights without killing all your points. For people who have to fly to a HGVC location I don't know if the ability to book 2 or 3 nights instead a full week is really valuable since the cost of airfare may make it unrealistic to stay somewhere for just a few nights.

 

[alwysonvac]

Thank you all, for the advice so far. We have taken advantage of rentals in the past, and may continue to do so in the future. We have visited Orlando often, although rarely during the summer months. We may be odd in that We are looking to the warmer states in the winter, and the cooler states in the summer.

This is not uncommon.
There are those who want to escape the hot & humid summers in places like Florida and/or brutal oven like summer weather in places like Arizona.

Iowa has a lot going for it, it is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. We experience all of the seasons already, but sometimes winter and summer are a bit on the extreme side. We don't mind visiting beaches in Florida, and having them all to ourselves. When 10F here, 80F on the beach is pretty attractive.

If you can get a winter week, you'll be sharing the Florida beaches with the annual snowbirds.
[see 1st link in my previous post for more details].

As far as costs go, the airfare, park tickets, etc, are pretty much the same cost whether we rent, or buy.

The available travel dates may be different between renting and trading (aka exchanging) which may impact your travel cost (airfare and car rental rates).

For example, you might only have two available dates for trading at your desired destination because the majority of owners have decided to rent their high demand week (instead of trying to trade it).

Having rented before, we have had very good experiences, and some not so great. It seems that ratings on some of the sites weren't quite as accurate as we would have hoped for. This has been limited to 1 or 2 experiences, but disappointing none the less.

Sorry for the not so great experience. Which sites were these (if you don't mind sharing)?

For timeshare rentals you'll have multiple sources for current reviews and photos (including discussions on recent renovations) - TUG Threads, TUG Resort Database, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Redweek, etc.

Good Luck

 

[ontilt]

You need to get the terminology straight. Nothing is actually a fixed week. Or, more precisely, a fixed week is shown on the deed for real estate transaction purposes, but it has little meaning. In reality, your week is converted to points. There are three reservation periods:

1. 12 months out to 9 months out is Home Week. You can book exactly 1 week of exactly what you bought - same season (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) and same size unit. This is the "home week advantage". Unless you're trying for one of the hard to get areas mentioned above, you probably won't need to worry about this. I've belonged to HGVC for around 15 years, and have never booked a home week. I have booked my home resort, by choice, but during Club Season.

Thanks for all this info. I did want to ask a couple follow-up questions. I'm looking at a resale that is a fixed week (week 8) and it offers additional points with the fixed week. In Club Season, it would be 7,000 points.

Based on what you're saying above, I'm not truly locked into week 8, is that correct? As this is a ski resort, I can book any week in the same season as my "Home Week".

Beyond that, I can book using Club Season, but I would assume I would be foregoing the add'l points they are offering with the Home Week booking.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding the options correctly before moving forward.

Thanks in advance,
-h

 

[SmithOp]

Thanks for all this info. I did want to ask a couple follow-up questions. I'm looking at a resale that is a fixed week (week 8) and it offers additional points with the fixed week. In Club Season, it would be 7,000 points.

Based on what you're saying above, I'm not truly locked into week 8, is that correct? As this is a ski resort, I can book any week in the same season as my "Home Week".

Beyond that, I can book using Club Season, but I would assume I would be foregoing the add'l points they are offering with the Home Week booking.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding the options correctly before moving forward.

Thanks in advance,
-h

Some locations have fixed weeks, I think Valdoro sold fixed ski weeks with a floating summer week, but most do not have them. HGVC does assign a week on the deed for inventory control purposes, but its not a true fixed week. HGVC has "event" weeks, these are true fixed weeks that are automatically booked and the owner has to cancel to get the points back to book elsewhere. Here is a chart of the locations, note the E weeks are event weeks.

http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/content/2016-HGV-Season-Chart.pdf

PS: Here are the Club Rules, read through them, you may have more questions...

http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/content/1Rules-ENG-010116.pdf

 

[PigsDad]

Thanks for all this info. I did want to ask a couple follow-up questions. I'm looking at a resale that is a fixed week (week 8) and it offers additional points with the fixed week. In Club Season, it would be 7,000 points.

Based on what you're saying above, I'm not truly locked into week 8, is that correct? As this is a ski resort, I can book any week in the same season as my "Home Week".

Beyond that, I can book using Club Season, but I would assume I would be foregoing the add'l points they are offering with the Home Week booking.

I would be helpful to get a bit more details on what you are considering buying.

As Dave mentioned, this looks like it might be a Valdoro 2-week package that they sold: 1 fixed ski week and 1 floating summer week. The following information assumes this is the case; sorry if it doesn't apply.

Since both weeks were platinum season, a 2BR package would actually be 14,000 points. 7000 points would be used for the pre-booked fixed winter week, so you have an extra 7000 points to use in the HGVC system.

As for being locked into week 8, you are not locked. You can always cancel that fixed-week reservation and get the 7000 points back into your account to use as you wish. But that does not mean you will have a Home Season priority (12-9 months out) for another ski week. Once you release the fixed week reservation, the only thing you will be able to do is to book at the Club Season (9 or less months out) for a ski week. You will be given no priority over other non-Valdoro owners, so getting a high-demand week can be difficult.

Hope that makes sense.

Kurt

 

[ontilt]

Thanks to you both for your replies. It is Valdoro that I'm looking at. I understand that I'm not "locked" into week 8, but want to re-clarify since it seems to me that there are differing answers.

In scenario one, I purchase a fixed week in platinum season and am automatically booked into that fixed week and can release it and then book in Club Season for points like other non-Valdoro owners, 9 months in advance.

In scenario two, I purchase a fixed week in platinum season and am able to book any week as a Home Week during platinum season with a 12 month advance.

Which is correct?

Thanks again for the info and help here.

-h

 

[PigsDad]

Thanks to you both for your replies. It is Valdoro that I'm looking at. I understand that I'm not "locked" into week 8, but want to re-clarify since it seems to me that there are differing answers.

In scenario one, I purchase a fixed week in platinum season and am automatically booked into that fixed week and can release it and then book in Club Season for points like other non-Valdoro owners, 9 months in advance.

In scenario two, I purchase a fixed week in platinum season and am able to book any week as a Home Week during platinum season with a 12 month advance.

Which is correct?

With Valdoro, either scenario might be correct; it all depends on the contract you are buying. Valdoro sold some weeks as fixed-week ownerships -- scenario one. There were also some "ski season" (Platinum) weeks which were not fixed weeks, but gave the owner Home Week priority over the winter Platinum season -- scenario two.

Another note that might avoid some confusion: Valdoro's Platinum season is a bit different that other properties. It is really two, distinct Platinum seasons: Summer and Winter. Summer Platinum week owners have Home Week priority only for the summer weeks, not the winter Platinum weeks. At other HGVC properties, if you own a Platinum floating week, you have Home Season priority for all Platinum weeks in the year.

Kurt

 

[ontilt]

With Valdoro, either scenario might be correct; it all depends on the contract you are buying. Valdoro sold some weeks as fixed-week ownerships -- scenario one. There were also some "ski season" (Platinum) weeks which were not fixed weeks, but gave the owner Home Week priority over the winter Platinum season -- scenario two.

Another note that might avoid some confusion: Valdoro's Platinum season is a bit different that other properties. It is really two, distinct Platinum seasons: Summer and Winter. Summer Platinum week owners have Home Week priority only for the summer weeks, not the winter Platinum weeks. At other HGVC properties, if you own a Platinum floating week, you have Home Season priority for all Platinum weeks in the year.

Kurt

Ok, thanks. Then, to avoid confusion, it would seem my best bet is to find a floating Platinum for the season I want. This particular unit is listed as fixed. Thanks for the detail... very helpful.

-h

 

[SmithOp]

Ok, thanks. Then, to avoid confusion, it would seem my best bet is to find a floating Platinum for the season I want. This particular unit is listed as fixed. Thanks for the detail... very helpful.



-h

Exactly, if that fixed week 8 does not work for you its better to get a platinum winter season to get the 12 month home advantage. There are not many winter weeks left that fall into club season for Valdoro, sometimes there may be late cancellations that pop up but you have to keep checking for them when the owner releases it.