Hilton HGVC VIP purchase program

[drnd]

Hello member,

Just attended a Hilton Tineshare presentation and walk away without buying. However we did purchase a VIP program for $1695 for 11,520 points to use within 18 months. Have any one here purchased this? Is it worth it? A similar unit rents for $3600 so we thought it was worth it. Please help. We can rescind within 7 days

Thanks,

Nick.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Welcome to TUG. Yes we have bought several. Depends on where you want to go. We always bought with a specific purpose in mind.

Hawaii and NYC are valuable. Florida or Vegas not so much. If you are planning the latter then compare with renting on redweek for the week or a hotel. Price may be commensurate. You will be required to attend another presentation. I was unaware that there was a rescission period for these packages since they are not a deed sale.

Good luck!

 

[chapjim]

Check the details of the program. You might find that renting is prohibited.

 

[WIHuck]

It is a good test run to see if you like the nicer accommodations. The up side for them is they get another shot at you during another presentation.

 

[Yzfguy06]

I’ve only been an owner since may so I’m still figuring some of this stuff out. Buying the VIP is that like bonus points? Basically?

 

[quhines]

I have a VIP Package as well. I took this as an opportunity to test drive HGVC and see if I like the system. We currently have RCI points, so we have stayed at a couple of Hilton properties and we have enjoyed them. I just wish that with the VIP Package, they would give you club access via the portal, and not where you have call in to check availability and confirm your reservation. This way you would get a true look and feel as to what a HGVC membership is all about.

 

[FunnyFarm]

If it goes like my DRI sampler package, you get leftover time. Cannot visit the same place twice. Must attend a presentation at each visit. I was put in a local Hampton and Homewood near the actual resort. Left many points unused due to poor availability. Lots of hidden rules.
I doubt you can rescind so enjoy and book early.

 

[RX8]

It could be a good value, or may not. The resort availability is not the same that you may find in the HGVC portal. It is a different pool of resorts for VIP and are much more limited than HGVC. You may have a resort in mind, and call 9 months out, and there may be no availability even though it is wide open in the HGVC portal. Another possibility is that if there are no two bedrooms available, and you take a one bedroom instead, you are not getting full value since you may be using much less points than the 11,200 points you are allotted (you get no credit for that). Unfortunately , you may not find out that you can’t get what you want until you are well past the 7 days rescission period.

 

[drnd]

Thanks for all your inputs.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

FWIW I've never had issues with availability if I call a few months early. New York is a particularly good value because you can book 9 months in advance whereas if you book via HGVC club points the res window only opens at 60 - 75 days.

You can also split the reservations 4 and 3 days in most resorts except NYC which only offers 5 days. They will not require a second presentation for the second stay.

 

[jehb2]

Do you have a lot of flexibility with dates? By that I mean no kids in school. And assuming you have access to all the HGVC resorts then yes that’s a good deal. As mentioned, I would use it for Hawaii or New York to get the biggest bang for your buck. Work backward. Pick a location and have them tell you dates available. Note that different towers Hawaii require different number of points.

 

[joshuaprimetime]

I just purchased the VIP program and put it on the payment plan to be paid off in 11 months. I have 11,520 points. Do I have to complete the payment plan before I am able to book a trip?

 

[Dancingtraveler]

We got the vip package on a stay in Orlando and used it to go to Hawaii. We had a great sales experience in Orlando, even after saying no to their offers.

We stayed at King’s Land on the big island and loved it. The main pool was amazing!!! We also had access to the amenities at the Hilton Waikoloa village just up the street.

We did have to go on a tour at the Ocean Tower, which was supposed to be 90 minutes, but it lasted 3 hours and the tour guide was all chill until we said, “no” too many times. Then he went on total jerk mode, especially when we mentioned resale.

Enjoy the VIP package like we did, but be wary of the sales experience. Hilton has nice properties but we learned to buy resale from here, if we ever wanted to buy in.

 

[jtchan83]

Just came back from a VIP package...Offer was conservative, EOY for $14K 1 BR Ocean Tower..Dues were $1400 EOY as well...It was tempting but 1) we really prefer Maui 2) we didn't want another program to manage 3) we are westin owners and while the ability to book discounted hotels in the hilton system is tempting, that price tag is just a bit too steep for that benefit.

 

[GT75]

Offer was conservative, EOY for $14K 1 BR Ocean Tower..Dues were $1400 EOY as well

The was a terrible deed with too few points. It would have been hard to give away later. Congratulations on missing that bullet. If you refer Maui then purchase Maui but resale.

while the ability to book discounted hotels in the hilton system is tempting,

I would never suggest anyone purchase a TS for any “side benefit” besides the main TS. I use free Hilton hotel stays via a CC paying MFs each year. Much better.

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

Will these vip points go into the same "bucket" as our yearly points?

Meaning since I have 13440 points yearly and buy a vip of 11200, will I have 24640 points to use from?

Seems that could make sense on a big, expensive trip to potentially save some money if the vip package isn't too much cost wise

 

[RX8]

Will these vip points go into the same "bucket" as our yearly points?

Meaning since I have 13440 points yearly and buy a vip of 11200, will I have 24640 points to use from?

Seems that could make sense on a big, expensive trip to potentially save some money if the vip package isn't too much cost wise

The VIP is a separate use of points so they will not be combined. These VIP points are good only at select resorts, can only be utilized as a full week (or you may split into two separate reservations of four nights and three nights), has limited availability (is separate from regular HGV inventory), and is not guaranteed for the full use of 11,200 points. For example on the last point, if you can only find availability for a one bedroom in gold season that costs 5,440 points, you don’t get credit for the unused 5,760 points. You essentially purchased 5,440 points for the full VIP cost (which is $1695 credit card or $1795 financed).

 

[Kaneo'pohaku]

Thank you

 

[jfleck2020]

FWIW I've never had issues with availability if I call a few months early. New York is a particularly good value because you can book 9 months in advance whereas if you book via HGVC club points the res window only opens at 60 - 75 days.

You can also split the reservations 4 and 3 days in most resorts except NYC which only offers 5 days. They will not require a second presentation for the second stay.

Just to clarify, NYC does not require a 5 day stay but you are limited to a maximum of 5 days in NY. If you do use 5 days in NY then you would not be able to use any remaining points as you are required to have a minimum of 3 nights at a time and you can only book a total of 7 nights with the package regardless of how many points you have left.

 

[jfleck2020]

We purchased a VIP package and currently have a reservation scheduled for labor day weekend in NY. I am going to try to book our remaining three days in Hawaii and hope to add to that stay with extra days from our regular points. If that works out then I feel like we got a good value out of the package. Just the 4 nights in NY for $1695 is about what a nice hotel would cost up there anyway.

 

[SmithOp]

We purchased a VIP package and currently have a reservation scheduled for labor day weekend in NY. I am going to try to book our remaining three days in Hawaii and hope to add to that stay with extra days from our regular points. If that works out then I feel like we got a good value out of the package. Just the 4 nights in NY for $1695 is about what a nice hotel would cost up there anyway.

Just know the additional days will be a separate reservation with your regular points, so book the same room type and request they combine to keep you in the same unit. If not you might be homeless from 10am to 4pm (they will move your refrigerator goods).

What I usually do when extending stays is burn some points and overlap the reservation so I can move units at my leisure. I've booked Bay Club using my points in RCI, then moved to Kingsland overlapped with my regular points.

I've also booked open season while I was on site to have an additional unit when family visited.

 

[pedro47]

The VIP is a separate use of points so they will not be combined. These VIP points are good only at select resorts, can only be utilized as a full week (or you may split into two separate reservations of four nights and three nights), has limited availability (is separate from regular HGV inventory), and is not guaranteed for the full use of 11,200 points. For example on the last point, if you can only find availability for a one bedroom in gold season that costs 5,440 points, you don’t get credit for the unused 5,760 points. You essentially purchased 5,440 points for the full VIP cost (which is $1695 credit card or $1795 financed).

Excellent information.

 

[4TimeAway]

For us, VIP is an entry test for HGVC. It was a gateway drug. Beware.

We took the low-cost weekend to Elara, but already were on TUG and knew the cost savings of Resale and mostly what we thought we wanted. That say convinced us we liked the HGVC product quality, but availability was a concern.

We justified the VIP as a test of availability and how it could work for us. It was not a perfect test. You can't see the full inventory, Open Season, RCI Options, Last Call, etc. but it got us comfortable booking 9 months out.

 

[Monkeyboy]

Will these vip points go into the same "bucket" as our yearly points?

Meaning since I have 13440 points yearly and buy a vip of 11200, will I have 24640 points to use from?

Seems that could make sense on a big, expensive trip to potentially save some money if the vip package isn't too much cost wise

We are Using the VIP package then added a reservation from our HGVC to make the trip longer.

 

[tourproto]

The VIP is a separate use of points so they will not be combined. These VIP points are good only at select resorts, can only be utilized as a full week (or you may split into two separate reservations of four nights and three nights), has limited availability (is separate from regular HGV inventory), and is not guaranteed for the full use of 11,200 points. For example on the last point, if you can only find availability for a one bedroom in gold season that costs 5,440 points, you don’t get credit for the unused 5,760 points. You essentially purchased 5,440 points for the full VIP cost (which is $1695 credit card or $1795 financed).

This is correct. We did this prior to buying off of secondary market in LV. We used our points for 3 days in DC and 4 days in NYC (W57th property). It was totally worth it to see what other HGVC properties are like.

Was going to buy in NYC, but learned from TUG that you really can't "rent" out your timeshare weeks like you can with Vistana (now Marriott). So we are just keeping our 1 timeshare in LV until we retire and then we will probably buy 2 in NYC.