FLYWIRE

[rosie]

Any experience with flywire? Tried paying fees and it was disasterous.

 

[HuskerATL]

Did you call them to pay? We don't use fly wire to pay our Craig Lodges. I call them using Skype and then also get the 14x HH points since I use the Aspire card to pay. I don't think you get the 14x with flywire

 

[rosie]

HGVC has partnered with Flywire. They recommended using it if you are not from the US. As we are Canadians, we thought it would be ideal as we could pay in local currency. We started the process on December 25th expecting our fees to be processed in a couple of business days. It took them 12 days to finally deposit the funds to HGVC. Half way through the process, they informed us that they were cancelling our transaction as the funds didn 't arrive to them on time from our bank(the funds came out of our bank on the 26th) So we paid our maintenance fees to HGVC by credit card as we were already in arrears. Then Flywire emails us to tell us that they have found our funds and as a favor to us, they have forwarded them to HGVC. The whole process was totally ridiculous and extremely stressful. Never again will we use Flywire. We are getting a refund from HGVC for or credit card payment. We refused to go through Flywire for a refund.

 

[HuskerATL]

That stinks. I haven't ever used it but it is an option to pay ours in Scotland. I just call Craig and pay them directly. If you own at a HGV owned property, then there is a 45 day grace period on many of the properties so don't worry about being late.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Flywire

had not heard of it, but there are plenty of "innovative" "FINTECH" ideas that are implemented horribly. Another one just blew up recently.
Whether they are implemented horribly due to incompetence or because the "Ordinary Fin" systems just don't want to deal with them, I do not know.
But simply: it is far easier to "elevator pitch" a new idea and then market it, than it is to IMPLEMENT it, in either the world of money or physical stuff.
Signed,
Not a Member of the Bleeding Edge

 

[jabberwocky]

HGVC has partnered with Flywire. They recommended using it if you are not from the US. As we are Canadians, we thought it would be ideal as we could pay in local currency. We started the process on December 25th expecting our fees to be processed in a couple of business days. It took them 12 days to finally deposit the funds to HGVC. Half way through the process, they informed us that they were cancelling our transaction as the funds didn 't arrive to them on time from our bank(the funds came out of our bank on the 26th) So we paid our maintenance fees to HGVC by credit card as we were already in arrears. Then Flywire emails us to tell us that they have found our funds and as a favor to us, they have forwarded them to HGVC. The whole process was totally ridiculous and extremely stressful. Never again will we use Flywire. We are getting a refund from HGVC for or credit card payment. We refused to go through Flywire for a refund.

Be careful whenever someone offers to bill you in “local currency” since it sounds nice but the exchange rate you get charged is typically much worse that you get from your bank or credit card.

I’m not sure what Flywire adds to their rate, but I’ve seen many instances of up to 15% being added onto the exchange rate rather than the 2.5% your credit card would charge you.

I’ve got US cards that I use for all my MF payments, but Scotiabank has a couple of “Passport” cards for Canadians that don’t add the FX fee and I think also give you a few lounge passes for a reasonable annual fee.

 

[brp]

Be careful whenever someone offers to bill you in “local currency” since it sounds nice but the exchange rate you get charged is typically much worse that you get from your bank or credit card.

Very true. When withdrawing currency from a bank overseas, for example, never accept the currency transfer. Always have them charge it in your own currency.

Cheers.

 

[kanerf]

Hmm, with a name like Flywire, what comes to mind is Fly By Night.

 

[rosie]

Flyware is HGVC recommended and HGVC is partnered with Flywire for bill payment. That is why we assumed that it was reputable. We want to find somebody at HGVC to write a formal complaint to.

 

[brp]

That is why we assumed that it was reputable.

I might go with "reputable but incompetent." There's a lot of that these days, unfortunately.

Cheers.

 

[Blues]

Did you call them to pay? We don't use fly wire to pay our Craig Lodges. I call them using Skype and then also get the 14x HH points since I use the Aspire card to pay. I don't think you get the 14x with flywire

I haven't used Skype in years and years, but I'm sure I could reload it. Do you have contact information to contact their finance dept by Skype? Or better yet (since I have apps), via Facetime or Zoom? Thanks much.
(I can't even find the info for getting the account balance or paying the maint fees. When I log in, the "HGVC" tab doesn't have it, and the Craigendarroch Lodges tab, when I go to financial services, says "No payment can be made because all accounts have a hard-stop applied to them." Anybody else see that?)

 

[GT75]

I use an app on my phone called Vyke. You load it a few dollars and it just costs a few cents/min to call Scotland.

 

[HuskerATL]

I haven't used Skype in years and years, but I'm sure I could reload it. Do you have contact information to contact their finance dept by Skype? Or better yet (since I have apps), via Facetime or Zoom? Thanks much.
(I can't even find the info for getting the account balance or paying the maint fees. When I log in, the "HGVC" tab doesn't have it, and the Craigendarroch Lodges tab, when I go to financial services, says "No payment can be made because all accounts have a hard-stop applied to them." Anybody else see that?)

If you have a PC, then it is probably on there since Microsoft bought it out. If not, then on the PC go to the Microsoft store and install it. It is free and if you have a subscription to M365, then you get an hour/month of skype time, which I only use for calling Craig. Otherwise, you can pay like $10 and have plenty of credits for calls. I know others that use Viber. It is a land line so you need to be able to call one with whatever app.

Here is the Maintenance number: +44 (0) 13397 53472/484

 

[IDKAnymore]

Did you call them to pay? We don't use fly wire to pay our Craig Lodges. I call them using Skype and then also get the 14x HH points since I use the Aspire card to pay. I don't think you get the 14x with flywire

I was wondering how to get around this. I own at Borgo in Italy and asked this question when the bill came in: "Is there any way that these charges will be billed through Hilton so that I can earn the appropriate extra credit card Hilton points with my Amex Hilton Aspire credit card?"

They responded:

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately not, your maintenance fees are paid directly to the Borgo Fractional Owners club so cannot be billed through Hilton.

Sorry we are not able to assist.

Kind regards,

Name Removed
Finance Assistant

T 01339 756435
Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Craigendarroch
Braemar Road, Ballater,
Royal Deeside, Scotland, AB35 5XA




So I can just call this number above and pay directly? Will it trigger the Aspire resort credit?

 

[HuskerATL]

We pay Craig directly and get the 14x. We get the credit through our Blvd MFs though. I would call directly and pay. It should trigger the 14x but you will see about the credit. It just depends on how it is reflected on the bill.

Why is Scotland responding for Italy? They are different ownerships.

 

[Blues]

I just went ahead and paid by Flywire. I appreciate the warnings, but we've been doing it this way for years and never had a problem. It was a lot easier to do it this way.

BTW, re the warnings about USD vs local currency. I agree heartily, and I always search around to find the way to do it. Flywire has made it increasingly difficult to find the option to pay in GBP. Now, you have to click on the link for "other options". I figure I saved $44 by searching; as well as getting my credit card cashback, another $22.

 

[JimmyQ]

We pay Craig directly and get the 14x. We get the credit through our Blvd MFs though. I would call directly and pay. It should trigger the 14x but you will see about the credit. It just depends on how it is reflected on the bill.

Why is Scotland responding for Italy? They are different ownerships.

Craig does the admin work for Borgo but won’t take credit card payment for Borgo’s MFs. They will only do it for Craig contracts.

 

[HuskerATL]

Craig does the admin work for Borgo but won’t take credit card payment for Borgo’s MFs. They will only do it for Craig contracts.

Interesting, I didn't know that.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Flyware is HGVC recommended and HGVC is partnered with Flywire for bill payment. That is why we assumed that it was reputable. We want to find somebody at HGVC to write a formal complaint to.

When you get your HGVC bill for maintenance HGVC also advises you to pay by check or direct from your bank account so that the resort doesn't have any credit card fees. However, by doing that you miss out on the Hilton Honors Points or other credit card miles or cahs bakc benefits from using your credit card. You can't go by what someone else advises. You need to know or understand what you are getting into and what you are getting out of it when you are paying bills.