HGV agrees to purchase BlueGreen Vacations

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

 

[drucifer]

[TLDR. HGVC is not marketing to us. They are positioning for the next gen with lower cost entry and events. MVC has doubled down on existing model. Will it survive as owners age out?]

....Younger gen also do not have same expectations as we do. I remember being perfectly happy with a tent in a campground. I was happy to be on vacation and staying on the couch at a friends or on a mat on the floor was no big deal.

Although we may not see value, we need to remember they are not marketing to us. We made our purchases and pay MF; and it is diminishing returns to sell more. We are the cash cows. The younger generation is the future of the system.

My .01 cents worth.

You are hitting the nail on the head.

Look at Toyota. They have Yaris and Corollas for young people starting out. They know if these people are mildly successful, they will move into Camry. They know if they are more successful or are willing to pay a premium, they will move into a Lexus. But, they will be inclined to stay in the brand.

U.S. carmakers gave away the market in the 1970s thinking that they didn't need to offer anything compelling to the entry-level (Pintos and Vegas? c'mon) and that "kids" who were buying VW Beetles and Honda Civics "will buy a Buick or Cadillac when they grow up", not accounting for the idea that Audi, Acura, Lexus et. al. would keep upgrading their offerings to keep up with the boomer generation.

HGVC seems to have gotten the memo on this. Sell a product that a 20-something might buy and then be ready to upgrade them every 5-10 years.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@drucifer good points. We are with the same bank we started with in college. Like them or not, we are so embedded that it would take massive effort to change. Not worth time and effort.

When you combine loyalty or other stickiness benefits, deeds are harder to switch than an auto that dies every 10 years creating switching opportunities.

Perhaps that is why HGVC has horrendous purchase and resale switching costs - which IMO is a nasty stick. I prefer HVC (and all the TS brands) to work on carrots to get you to stick with the brand which will create less disatisfaction and build loyalty instead of servitude.

 

[sponger76]

We don't go to Bass Pro Shop all that much, but next time I am in there I may stop by. I really want to check out The Fountains in Orlando and I don't see it in RCI Last Call. So perhaps we will buy a promo package and tack that stay on the end of some other stay in Orlando. We are glutton for punishment after all.

Just be careful, with those Bluegreen promo packages. You often don't get to stay in the actual Bluegreen resorts, they put you in a nearby hotel and you only see the timeshare property on a tour during the sales appointment.

 

[dioxide45]

Just be careful, with those Bluegreen promo packages. You often don't get to stay in the actual Bluegreen resorts, they put you in a nearby hotel and you only see the timeshare property on a tour during the sales appointment.

Yeah, I know many other brands do that. Most of them in Orlando though put you up on property due to the size of the resorts. I will confirm. Though I would rather get in on a Last Call or Extra Vacation.

 

[sponger76]

Yeah, I know many other brands do that. Most of them in Orlando though put you up on property due to the size of the resorts. I will confirm. Though I would rather get in on a Last Call or Extra Vacation.

When I first bought into timeshares, via Bluegreen, it was due to a promo package pitched to me at Bass Pro to visit The Fountains in Orlando. They put us up in a regular hotel offsite. I was pretty upset at myself when I read the terms of the package after finding out upon check-in I wasn't staying on property and found out that staying at the timeshare wasn't guaranteed.

 

[muscae]

Yes, I did a BG promo at Cibola Vista in Phoenix. I was upset that they put me in a Comfort Suites instead of the resort, especially since I was a multi-year Choice Diamond at the time. I expected some priority to actually stay at the resort, but no.....

 

[geist1223]

Many Moons ago (2 decades) Worldmark by Wyndham use to put you up in a 1 Bedroom Condo for Friday and Saturday night at the Resort at Seaside as part of the Tour Packet. Owners started screaming because Sales were using so many of the Timeshare Units. So Sales lost this option and people on tour were put up in local Motels.

 

[dioxide45]

When I first bought into timeshares, via Bluegreen, it was due to a promo package pitched to me at Bass Pro to visit The Fountains in Orlando. They put us up in a regular hotel offsite. I was pretty upset at myself when I read the terms of the package after finding out upon check-in I wasn't staying on property and found out that staying at the timeshare wasn't guaranteed.

That's good to know about The Fountains. That is definitely different in how Marriott does these. I believe their promo package guests are put up at the timeshare resorts. Though Marriott has many more of them in Orlando.

 

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

When I first bought into timeshares, via Bluegreen, it was due to a promo package pitched to me at Bass Pro to visit The Fountains in Orlando. They put us up in a regular hotel offsite. I was pretty upset at myself when I read the terms of the package after finding out upon check-in I wasn't staying on property and found out that staying at the timeshare wasn't guaranteed.

We took one of these offers for Daytona Beach, before buying our Wyndham contracts, thinking that we could stack Orlando with a beachfront stay. Nope, it was Homewood Suites near the airport! We ended up canceling and delaying our package for over a year, and used it 6 weeks ago in Vegas instead. Even then, it had to be during slow weeknights.

 

[brp]

Our Hilton and Hyatt experiences have been better. We've done it a couple of times for HGVC at W. 57th...and stayed at W. 57th. We've also done Hyatt a couple of times in Carmel, CA and stayed at the property.

Cheers.

 

[escanoe]

I honestly don't know anything about either former … BG properties other than what I have read on TUG, The comments that I have read don't really want me to even try these resorts …

I have had 3 stays (total) in 2 of the BG properties.

The Manhattan Club (TMC) is my favorite timeshare for my family to stay in at NYC. No, it is not as nice as the bHC resorts but in the same area. Has 1 BRs with 2 bathrooms and had a medium size fridge, dishwasher, and microwave. As we try to eat at least a meal a day in the room, it has appeal to us. Have stayed there twice.

I have also stayed at Patrick Henry Square (PHS) in Williamsburg, VA. It is probably my least favorite of abt 5 timeshares I have stayed at in Williamsburg, but it does have the best location of any I have stayed in there. It is right next to Colonial Williamsburg and I love the proximity it has. Literally only have to walk across the street. What I don’t like about it is it looks like a hotel convert or something … the 2BR unit I stayed in is probably the smallest 2 bedroom timeshare I have ever stayed in (with the exception of the VSA resorts in Virginia Beach). I also don’t like that it does not have a hot tub or outdoor pool … unlike anywhere else I have stayed in Williamsburg.

I would like to stay in the BG division of Big Cedar in Branson MO sometime. I have been to Big Cedar and really like it, but have never looked at the BG section.

For TMC and PHS, I would never make a developer purchase to stay at either of those. And probably would never want to use my HGVC points to stay there. I am ahead using my RCI traders to make those bookings.