How to decide the perfect amount of points for you?

[Sunshine Wanted]

So, as you all know I am very new to this; not an owner; but in the learning stages & HGVC seems like a great system. I guess our next step is to decide how many "points" are the right amount of points for us. So, how do we do that? Seems the trick is to have the right amount - not too many; not too few. Also, do you want to have enough points for ALL your vacations, or should you start small? Many of the vacations we like to take (location & types) are listed in RCI, so it seems we could make points work for all vacations (almost all anyway).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sunshine Wanted]

addicting...

Oh, and you are right... this timeshare/vacation planning is addicting! I can't wait to read responses when I get home from work.

 

[ricoba]

If you want a base to start from, I would suggest a minimum of 7000 points, which will buy you a platinum week in most HGVC locations and a gold week in Hawaii.

We only own 7000 points and though I would like to eventually have more, these points have given us some nice vacations, especially since we can borrow ahead with HGVC.

 

[benjaminb13]

Hi Sunshine,
Depends on your situation
Children?
How many weeks a year you go on vac.
When?
And where---- most often

I do the HGVC/Hyatt combo thing-
I have 3 weeks a year. Since my family loves Hawaii but lives in California, We have HGVC points for long hawaii stays and Hyatt points for quick tahoe or carmel getaways.

 

[linsj]

There are so many factors to consider, including size of room and when you want to travel. For example, I can get 3+ weeks--and all in Hawaii if I choose--out of 5,000 points when I choose a studio and travel off season (which is what I do most of the time).

 

[capjak]

So wish I would have purchased HGVC instead of Marriott recently. Points are so much more flexible and you can convert to Hilton Honors points for hotels if you get in a real pinch and now RCI has DVC resorts!

If I was going with HGVC it would be 7000 points at cheapest upfront (Vegas) and MF (I know I could find a reason to use the points, again worst case convert to Hilton Honors any left overs or bank into next year).

 

[alwysonvac]

One of the primary reasons to join HGVC is to have priority reservation access within their mini resort system. I suggest buying enough points depending on how often you want to stay at the HGVC developed resorts in Orlando, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Remember you can also bank and borrow if you don't want to go every year however you give up your home resort booking advantage when you do this.

I suggest using the other club usage options whenever you want something different from time to time.
NOTE: Most Club Partner Perks are not setup to save money. It just allows members to apply some of their HGVC expense towards other vacation options.

Regarding RCI - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=496304&postcount=37

The TUG polls might give you an idea of the number of points HGVC TUG members own and how they've used their points.
Link to HGVC ownership polls - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66136

 

[Sunshine Wanted]

Poll - elite?

I was looking at the point poll mentioned in the previous post. 25% of members have 14,000 or more and are elite, but then there is a category for 14,000 or more but not elite. How does one become "elite"?

 

[Sandy VDH]

Now you must buy a minimium of 14K from HGVC directly. You can purchase resale, accumulate over 14K but will NOT Become Elite.

I suppose it might be possible to own 1 property resale, and purchase a second property from Hilton directly and obtain Elite in that process. But still not cost effective, in my opinion.

There are 3 levels to Elite: Elite @ 14K, Elite Plus @ 24K, and Elite Premier at 34K. Very expensive to purchase these directly from Hilton.

I managed to get Elite via Resale, but that was before Hilton stopped allowing that to happen. That was about 4 years ago.

 

[Sunshine Wanted]

no elite for me then...

Now you must buy a minimium of 14K from HGVC directly. You can purchase resale, accumulate over 14K but will NOT Become Elite.

I suppose it might be possible to own 1 property resale, and purchase a second property from Hilton directly and obtain Elite in that process. But still not cost effective, in my opinion.

There are 3 levels to Elite: Elite @ 14K, Elite Plus @ 24K, and Elite Premier at 34K. Very expensive to purchase these directly from Hilton.

I managed to get Elite via Resale, but that was before Hilton stopped allowing that to happen. That was about 4 years ago.

Oh well - go ahead and dash my dreams of being elite. Doubt it will happen (as I can't afford developer prices)

 

[alwysonvac]

Also, do you want to have enough points for ALL your vacations, or should you start small?

There's this old thread....it might give you some other options to research

What complements Hilton? - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45261

 

[Sunshine Wanted]

Great thread to study... I'll have to come back to it tonight and do some clicking on the links. Thanks for posting.