Hilton hotel reservation using HGVC points

[SallyMagoo]

SallyMagoo says "This beats using the HGVC timeshare for a timeshare exchange to European major cities, which I have found is practically impossible through either RCI or SFX". Have others found this to be true? Is this worse because you own a HGVC timeshare compared to other timeshares, or just the nature of owning timeshares in general? Of course, being able to stay in a category 6 timeshare while traveling in Europe gives you wonderful flexibility that most other "normal" timeshares don't give you. A real attraction to me while I consider this purchase.

Thank you,

Jeff

Jeff, I would like to comment: more than a year out, I put HGVC points into an ongoing search for a London timeshare for October 2006, and within a few months, nothing had happened. I am told that HGVC points will pull very well, so the problem apparently was not with trading power. I have also learned from TUG posts that I probably should have started the search about 2 years out; in addition, RCI also seems to be putting more timeshare deposits into the rental pool, and who knows how much this affects timeshare availability. I gave up on the RCI search (maybe I shouldn't have), and put a HGVC deposit into SFX exchange company to search for Paris and London timeshares, thinking my chances would be better. Mark from SFX posted on Timeshare Forums that seeking a London/Paris exchange is very difficult because there are so few timeshares avaiable, and demand far outstrips the supply. So at this point I am not very optimistic about obtaining a Paris or London timeshare exchange with the Hilton points (with SFX you have to actually obtain a HGVC week and deposit it directly into SFX-a July 4 Las Vegas Flamingo was deposited). We have made alternative plans in hotels; I would say it is true that exchanges into major European cities are difficult, no matter what you are trading with; however, exchanges into timeshares in outlying areas in Europe may be more possible.

Another way to accrue Hilton HHonors points is to sign up for e-mails from Erewards; by taking some easy surveys, you can earn erewards dollars, which exchange at $50.00 (erewards) per 3,000 HHonors points. I've done this twice and am working on the third set.

For our upcoming trip, we could not stay in a Category 5 hotel because we are taking our child with us, and only the Category 6's seemed to have rooms that would accommodate 3; this is something to consider if you are planning on traveling with a family. I did find one lower category Hilton in London that would accommodate 3, but it wasn't in a very convenient location and didn't sound as nice as the Conrad.

Another theme I've noticed in this thread is that HHonors points don't give as much value outside a VIP award (available to HGVC members); I've also looked into exchanging our HGVC points for a cruise, and did not find that a very good value at all; the credit to be given for the cruise did come near equaling the amount of maintenance fees paid for the points.

 

[Sooby]

Leftover pts to HHonors?

Do I understand this right that if you have left over points at the end of the year you can have them converted to HHonor pts? I had pts left over and the club counselor asked if I wanted to use the next years pts to make a reservation but never told me that I could convert to HHonors and I lost the pts.

I also did not know that you can combine HGVC pts and HHonor pts. How does this work. With all the owner updates they have you would think this would be expained better!! Sooby

 

[biswassb]

Do I understand this right that if you have left over points at the end of the year you can have them converted to HHonor pts? I had pts left over and the club counselor asked if I wanted to use the next years pts to make a reservation but never told me that I could convert to HHonors and I lost the pts.

I also did not know that you can combine HGVC pts and HHonor pts. How does this work. With all the owner updates they have you would think this would be expained better!! Sooby

You are absolutely right. Cunselors would rarely give you good advice and I felt that they (HGVC folks) want you to loose your leftover clubpoints. You have to know exactly what you are doing.

Now, that said, you cannot convert leftover HGVC points directly to HHonors points but you can use the leftover points to book hotel at 1:20 conversion rate and you have to pay $49 fee for each separate reservation. If you already have HHonors points, they can combine that with your HGVC points to make the hotel reservation.

 

[SallyMagoo]

Do I understand this right that if you have left over points at the end of the year you can have them converted to HHonor pts? I had pts left over and the club counselor asked if I wanted to use the next years pts to make a reservation but never told me that I could convert to HHonors and I lost the pts.

I also did not know that you can combine HGVC pts and HHonor pts. How does this work. With all the owner updates they have you would think this would be expained better!! Sooby

My understanding is that you can convert HGVC points into HHonors points but that has to be done a year ahead. (See CaliDave's previous post.) You can't wait until they're "left over". For example, I would have to convert my 2007 points to HHonors points by December 31, 2006. There is a fee for this. Likewise, if I want to push the 2007 points into 2008, I would have to do it by 12/31/06. If you wanted to convert some, and push some ahead, I would assume you'd pay 2 fees. If I am wrong about this, I hope someone will correct me.

I think your HHonors account is maintained separately and the converted HHonors points go into that. I am not sure how combining works, but it appears trading HGVC points directly for hotels gives only a 20/1 conversion rate.

 

[Bill4728]

Do I understand this right that if you have left over points at the end of the year you can have them converted to HHonor pts? I had pts left over and the club counselor asked if I wanted to use the next years pts to make a reservation but never told me that I could convert to HHonors and I lost the pts.

You can't convert this years left over points to HHonors. But, if you want to use this years points for a Hilton hotel reservation this year, you can convert and use the points for that reservation.

Hope that helps

 

[StuckinChicago]

You can't convert this years left over points to HHonors. But, if you want to use this years points for a Hilton hotel reservation this year, you can convert and use the points for that reservation.

Hope that helps

Does the hotel reservation have to be within that calendar year? In other words, let's say I have 1000 HGVC points leftover at the beginning of December 2006. I can call (HHonors or HGVC??) and have that converted at the 20:1 ratio as long as I am making a reservation at the same time, correct? I can't just convert the points to HH points and let them sit in my HH account, right? And then, does that hotel reservation have to occur BEFORE 12/31/06 or can it be for sometime in 2007?

 

[alwysonvac]

Do I understand this right that if you have left over points at the end of the year you can have them converted to HHonor pts? I had pts left over and the club counselor asked if I wanted to use the next years pts to make a reservation but never told me that I could convert to HHonors and I lost the pts.

You can't convert points left over points at the end of the year to HHonors points but you can use left over points for a HHonors reservation within the same year that the points are set to expire.

I also did not know that you can combine HGVC pts and HHonor pts. How does this work. With all the owner updates they have you would think this would be expained better!! Sooby

You call HGVC to issue the HHonors certificate for your stay. They told me that I had to apply all of my HHONORS points towards the reservation first and then the remaining balance can be taken from my HGVC points. I'm not sure why I had to use all of HHONORS points first. Of course, it didn't help that I had nothing in writing from HGVC to dispute what I was being told.
I really think HGVC members should have a choice amd all of these rules should be included in the Annual Member's Guide.

 

[CaliDave]

You can't convert points left over points at the end of the year to HHonors points but you can use left over points for a HHonors reservation within the same year that the points are set to expire.


You call HGVC to issue the HHonors certificate for your stay. They told me that I had to apply all of my HHONORS points towards the reservation first and then the remaining balance can be taken from my HGVC points. I'm not sure why I had to use all of HHONORS points first. Of course, it didn't help that I had nothing in writing from HGVC to dispute what I was being told.
I really think HGVC members should have a choice amd all of these rules should be included in the Annual Member's Guide.

This was wrong.. I have 800K honors points and I made a reservation with my left over points .. at a 20-1 conversion..
However.. my plans changed a few days later and I had to cancel that reservation and all the points stayed in hilton honors. Which have no expiration date

 

[biswassb]

This was wrong.. I have 800K honors points and I made a reservation with my left over points .. at a 20-1 conversion..
However.. my plans changed a few days later and I had to cancel that reservation and all the points stayed in hilton honors. Which have no expiration date

Well, calidave, you know the TRICKS well and that's why you ahve 800K hhonors points. That is very important. Most HGVC counselors appear to be somewhat ignorant, particularly the HGVC- hhonors points and other finer issues. I guess good help is hard to find.

HGVC needs to put it down in black and white in the owners guide or in the website. Otherwise, owners will find out these rules after loosing their points.

 

[sb1070]

biswassb

HGVC would have to care about being fair in it's practices before they would consider putting anything in black and white.

 

[CaliDave]

A problem I had the other day...

I'm going to Vegas early next month. I really wanted to stay at Flamingo.
It wasn't avaliable with open season.
So I checked on Hilton.com It was avaliable for $300/night.
I checked the rewards chart and it says Flamingo is 40K honors points per night for a 1bd.
I am a Diamond member and I am not supposed to have any blackout days.
So I call the Diamond desk to use my honoros points and I'm told "Flamingo is a property that you have to book directly through HGVC"

So they transfer me.. the HGVC person says.. NO.. we cannot touch your honors points, you have to go through Hilton.

SO they transfer me back and I get a different person.. they say " ohhh this room is only avaliable for cash stays" I said .. I thought Diamond members can always use points. .. he said "not at the HGVC's these are week owned by owners.. I said they why are they renting it for $300/night
I own at Flamingo and I can;t rent my week through Hilton.

So anyway.. I was pretty frustracted with the answer and I ended up booking at the Karen property.

Open season is still a fantastic deal.

When I checked most regular Vegas hotels.. they were in the $300/night range.

 

[sb1070]

Dave
I will not debate whether or not you believe Open Season is a fantastic deal, but on several different occasions I've seen Seaworld, Vegas Strip and one of the south FLA locations available through RCI extra vacations for 350 a week for a 2 bedroom.
So if I was looking to book, I'd book 6 nights for 350 @58 a night before I'd book open season for 720 @120 a night. Doesn't seem like a "Fantastic Deal" to me.

Scott

 

[CaliDave]

Dave
I will not debate whether or not you believe Open Season is a fantastic deal, but on several different occasions I've seen Seaworld, Vegas Strip and one of the south FLA locations available through RCI extra vacations for 350 a week for a 2 bedroom.
So if I was looking to book, I'd book 6 nights for 350 @58 a night before I'd book open season for 720 @120 a night. Doesn't seem like a "Fantastic Deal" to me.

Scott

Yeah, you are right .. actually we are both right.. You are comparing it against extra vacations. I am comparing it against nice hotel accomadations.

I would never book a week using open season. I would find a last minute deal if I needed a wek.
I drive to Vegas for the weekends and typically I can't be too flexible and wait for an extra vacation.

So I guess for my particular use, open season is great. For others it might not work out as well.

I wish we could book only two nights during club season. I "almost" never stay 3 nights and inventory goes really fast for weekends at Flamingo.

 

[hurnik]

Dave
I will not debate whether or not you believe Open Season is a fantastic deal, but on several different occasions I've seen Seaworld, Vegas Strip and one of the south FLA locations available through RCI extra vacations for 350 a week for a 2 bedroom.
So if I was looking to book, I'd book 6 nights for 350 @58 a night before I'd book open season for 720 @120 a night. Doesn't seem like a "Fantastic Deal" to me.

Scott

Pardon my ignorance, but what's an RCI Extra vacation? Is this something available to HGVC members if they deposit with RCI? Or only if you own RCI directly?

 

[biswassb]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's an RCI Extra vacation? Is this something available to HGVC members if they deposit with RCI? Or only if you own RCI directly?

RCI has a large number of low demand weeks all over the world under the name of " Extra vacations". They make them available to RCI members at low cost and it is a nice previlege of RCI membership and does not require an available week for exchnage or RCI points as well as any exchange fee. I will give you an example. I was looking for a week in Spain area for March 07. I logged into my RCI account and checked for about 10 seconds, got about 50 available resorts in the area and two actual resorts are listed as follows:

Club la Costa at Marina del Rey (#3733)
Málaga, Spain
*Price from: $ 296.99
Available Unit Size: 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range: 3/3/07 - 3/18/07

Club la Costa at Benal Beach (#1460)
Málaga, Spain
*Price Range: $ 263.99 - $ 285.99
Available Unit Size: 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range: 3/3/07 - 3/24/07

Club la Costa, is at least a four star and I stayed there (#3733) before. All units overlook mediterranean and gorgeous. One week in 1 BR for less than $300 is simply incredible. Club la Costa is like HGVC of Europe and has some direct connection to HGVC as a matter of fact and comparable quality except that they provide room service every day not once a week. HGVC owners can exchange their HGVC points to get Club la Costa quite easily. HGVC would be great there. If you run out of points, then you have problem. If you 14000 HGVC points then you would not need extra vacations any way. If you can afford 14000 or more points that may solve your vacation problems. With only 7000 points, we were having problems.

For HGVC, in theory, you can get such weeks as Extra vacation without using HGVC points. But you have to call the HGVC desk and talk to the counselors. Some posters stated that they got extra vacations through HGVC desk but I never could. I got fed up with the HGVC desk. I really got frustrated and so I bought a separate RCI week and that worked well so far with RCI online or by telephone. They (RCI and operators) have been great and more than I expected.

 

[alwysonvac]

Club la Costa, is at least a four star and I stayed there (#3733) before. All units overlook mediterranean and gorgeous. One week in 1 BR for less than $300 is simply incredible. Club la Costa is like HGVC of Europe and has some direct connection to HGVC as a matter of fact and comparable quality except that they provide room service every day not once a week. HGVC owners can exchange their HGVC points to get Club la Costa quite easily. HGVC would be great there. If you run out of points, then you have problem. If you 14000 HGVC points then you would not need extra vacations any way. If you can afford 14000 or more points that may solve your vacation problems. With only 7000 points, we were having problems.

For HGVC, in theory, you can get such weeks as Extra vacation without using HGVC points. But you have to call the HGVC desk and talk to the counselors. Some posters stated that they got extra vacations through HGVC desk but I never could. I got fed up with the HGVC desk. I really got frustrated and so I bought a separate RCI week and that worked well so far with RCI online or by telephone. They (RCI and operators) have been great and more than I expected.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look at Club la Costa.
Have you found and/or stayed at other resorts in Europe via RCI that have comparable quality to HGVC?

 

[alwysonvac]

This was wrong.. I have 800K honors points and I made a reservation with my left over points .. at a 20-1 conversion..
However.. my plans changed a few days later and I had to cancel that reservation and all the points stayed in hilton honors. Which have no expiration date

Thanks for the info.

Thank goodness, I didn't have many HHONOR points in my account at the time but it still bothered me.

 

[biswassb]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look at Club la Costa.
Have you found and/or stayed at other resorts in Europe via RCI that have comparable quality to HGVC?

Club la Costa has many resorts primarily in Spain, UK, Scotland and Austria. In France and Italy, there is Residence Vacances, high quality. Another nice resort that I only visited is Macdonald resorts from UK but they have several in Costa del Sol in Spain. I visited Dona Lola and Leila Playa both are HGVC quality. I might go to Leila Playa next March.

 

[sb1070]

FYI Dave

RCI Extra Vacations Are Available For Nightly Reservations The Nightly Rate I Quoted In My Last Post Was A General 2 BR Rate, And Even Though Rates Vary, Nightly Rates Are Never More Than 89 A Night With A 2 Night Min.

 

[dvc_john]

So if I was looking to book, I'd book 6 nights for 350 @58 a night before I'd book open season for 720 @120 a night. Doesn't seem like a "Fantastic Deal" to me.

6 nights in a 2-br doesn't cost $720. $120 is only for Fri/Sat. Other nights are $100.
So 6 nights would be either $620 or $640 ($558 or $576 for elites).

I usually use open season to fill in gaps of 2, 3, or 4 days when I don't need a full week. If I want a full week, I usually do an I.I. getaway.

 

[sb1070]

John

You're right, $100 and not $120 is a big difference when compared to RCI nightly rates of $58 to $89. Thanks for setting the thread straight.

Scott

 

[biswassb]

Scott and CaliDave; It will be helpful if you could share your experience with the following:

1. Have you ever got a RCI Extra Vacation week or Last Call week through HGVC? IF affirmative, which resort and year.
2. Have you ever got RCI week reservation through HGVC? In 0-10 scale with 10 being the most difficult, what was the level of difficulty?

I an having incredible amount of difficulty doing so with HGVC. It could be just my bad luck!

Thanks.

 

[ricoba]

2. Have you ever got RCI week reservation through HGVC? In 0-10 scale with 10 being the most difficult, what was the level of difficulty?

I an having incredible amount of difficulty doing so with HGVC. It could be just my bad luck!

Thanks.

I am not Scott or Dave, but I have successfully traded twice into two very nice resorts using HGVC phone reps.

First was an almost last minute exchange into the Aviawest Rosedale on Robson in downtown Vancouver. Great location, wonderful exchange for us.

Second we traded into Shell Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix. It was a very large and spacious suite and was as nice or nicer than our own unit at the HGVC at the LV Hilton.

RE: your question about last call...unfortunately those of us with ONLY HGVC can't get Last Call because we don't have a separate RCI identity. This I will agree is a downside of HGVC.

Rick

 

[CaliDave]

Scott and CaliDave; It will be helpful if you could share your experience with the following:

1. Have you ever got a RCI Extra Vacation week or Last Call week through HGVC? IF affirmative, which resort and year.
2. Have you ever got RCI week reservation through HGVC? In 0-10 scale with 10 being the most difficult, what was the level of difficulty?

I an having incredible amount of difficulty doing so with HGVC. It could be just my bad luck!

Thanks.

I have never gotten an extra vacation or last call week thru HGVC. I have a seperate rCI account .. so online searching is much easier. I have never even tried.

I have done 3 exchanges
1) spring break Pueblo bonita Cabo .. came through 2 weeks after searching
2) Embassy Kauai .. came though after 3 months. but its because they dont deposit until 6 or 9 months.. I forget which
3) Direct exchange with a tugger - 2bd week at Marriott Waiohai in Kauai for next summer..

I wouldnt buy HGVC if I was mostly going to trade with RCI, but it does have good trade power.. one thing I dont like is the 300 resort limit.. or whatever it is.

 

[sb1070]

Biswassb

For the first 3 years I was a member of HGVC I tried constantly to get extra vacations and RCI nightly reservations without success. Everytime I called I heard NO! I personally believe Hilton lies about availability to force you into their locations, because I tried all over the country at lots of different times, sometimes I would make bogus calls just to see if something was available and nothing ever was so I stopped giving them the satisfaction.

As far as RCI trades I never tried to trade my points because I decided I would use my other holdings to trade and roll my Hilton points into Honors. I also booked several Last Call reservations using my RCI weeks membership, plus call me a control freak but I prefer to do my own searches and we all know Hilton doesn't allow that.

Scott