HGV MAX Increase Points

[WaikikiFirst]

"Welcome to HGV! You're losing something so pay us so you can have what you had before."

Have you actually lost anything yet? Has anything changed or are you just reacting to their FUD? Til it happens, the obvious way to see this is a bunch of sales FUD to get you to open your wallet to avert said phony FUD.
I just don't understand why people CHOOSE to talk to salespeople, and you can square that for not understanding why people believe them.
If their lips move, your brain should hear "Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah." and your hand should stay far away from your wallet or a pen and anything they give you to sign.

 

[oceanblue2]

First post here; hope I'm doing it right.

Over the years (Embassy -> Sunterra -> Diamond Resorts) we reached 15k points (VIP level) with DRI. Went to an HGV Owner Update (not long after the merger was announced) and were told: 1) Your VIP status means nothing with HGV. 2) Some of the DRI resorts will be rebranded as HGV and not accessible to you. 3) To convert your 15k points to HGV, please pay $160k! Told sales guy no way, so he got on phone with HQ and got the price down to $80k. Again, I said no way.

HGV bought DRI. I get it. I figured there might be a nominal matriculation fee or something. But $80k? Are you kidding me? Very disappointed in this merger/acquisition.

Today an HGV sales person called to urge me to attend another Owner Update. "By law there are changes to your membership we can only tell you in person, and cannot tell you over the phone, mail, email, or website." Really?? Sounds sketchy to me.

I was a happy camper with DRI. HGV has brought me nothing but stress. Every conversation seems to have the same template: "Welcome to HGV! You're losing something so pay us so you can have what you had before." When HGV bought DRI, did they think we would just open our checkbooks to be able to keep what we already own? Disappointing, and it tarnished the Hilton brand.

If you stay with DRI and ignore Max you retain your Silver status and your ability to reserve 13 months and 10 months out. If you decide on Max you would lose your Silver status as the required number of points for a similar status in Max is higher. With Max your ability to make reservations at 13 and 10 months out does not change for DRI properties. The six months reservation window is for bookings made at HGVC properties through Max. The fact that some DRI properties have been rebranded does not change the ability of DRI members to stay at those properties.

I agree that Hilton have so far have been much better at taking away things than they have been at adding. IMHO much of the confusion they have created is due to their silly alphabet soup. If it was intended to confuse it has succeeded!

The sales presentations are aimed at selling Max. The information that is being presented ignores the non-Max systems workings and has caused lots of unnecessary confusion. Just continue to use the DRI system as you have in years past.

 

[careesound]

a) Get DRI resale points from a DRI owner for free. Look on TUG or timesharenation.com https://www.timesharenation.com/resort/diamond-resorts under "Florida" for free Diamond points. Be very careful to screen before you buy from the estoppel to pick the collection "USA Collection" or "Hawaii Collection" to fit your travel locations. Resale DRI only allows you to use points in the collection it is connected with - you don't get systemwide access like MAX. Same MF/pt as you pay today but unlike retail you have zero up-front cost. Although the points don't combine, you can book back to back reservations from each bucket. You might also need to pay a separate HGVC club fee but hey, you purchased the points for free.

b) Buy former DRI resale deed and trade week for week in the internal DEX trading system or II. Those are not points but very good value. There are experts on this board who know how to extract excellent value from their resale deeds.

I like these two options since I am already a MAX owner, which will allow me to increase my points.
However, I am reading negative reviews about resale Diamond properties. My understanding is there is no deed back for Diamond resale, and to end my contract, I have to find a new owner myself. Is that true?

 

[travellingfam]

I was a happy camper with DRI. HGV has brought me nothing but stress. Every conversation seems to have the same template: "Welcome to HGV! You're losing something so pay us so you can have what you had before." When HGV bought DRI, did they think we would just open our checkbooks to be able to keep what we already own? Disappointing, and it tarnished the Hilton brand.

Hi @FloridaArt! I feel I am in the same boat as you! I have 30,000 DRI points at this point in time. Was very happy with DRI. Went to an HGV "member update" and got the same spiel. Pay $100K now to get the same thing you had before!

How do you feel about the rising DRI MF's?

 

[travellingfam]

My understanding is there is no deed back for Diamond resale, and to end my contract, I have to find a new owner myself. Is that true?

From my research, I have read that if you contact transitions@hgv.com, for a fee of $1000 they will cancel your contract and take the points back. TS must be paid off and MFs must be paid up to date.