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Just left timeshare sales presentation (HGV)

shanetoast

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Good afternoon,

I just left a timeshare for Hilton Grand vacation. I am a Diamond member and used one of their promotional 199$ timeshare deals. The offer price they gave me was 10k, with a monthly fee of 126 a month (I’m guessing that was on a 10 year term). I didn’t do much research into the timeshare before hand, since I had zero interest in purchasing one. Leaving the timeshare I kinda thought it could be somewhat beneficial.

My questions are….

1. If I were to pay the 10k “ownership” fee to buy in. What would my fees be yearly after I’ve already paid for my 10k ownership?

2. Are the points you get easily redeemable for the locations you want to go to?

3. What are the negatives/positives about buying into this program that the average person wouldn’t know about?

Side note: I work for an airline and vacation/traveling is very easy for me. But I never really pick a location or purchase a hotel until I land, since the majority of my flying is standby.

Thank you again for any advice you can throw my way!!
 

brp

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HGVC: W. 57th, Vegas Strip
DVC: Boardwalk Villas, Beach Club villas
We need more details in order to even start on your questions:

1. What location were they trying to sell you?
2. How many points?
3. Annual or Every Other Year?
4. Is this "126 a month" a loan for the purchase?

Provide some more details on what they offered and we can go from there. In general, though, buying resale is better than buying from them.

Cheers.
 
Last edited:

shanetoast

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We need more details in order to even start on your questions:

1. What location were they trying to sell you?
2. How many points?
3. Annual or Every Other Year?
4. Is this "126 a month" a loan for he purchase?

Provide some more details on what they offered and we can go from there. In general, though, buying resale is better than buying from them.

Cheers.
1. I believe the offer was for any of their “Grand Vacation” locations around the world.

2. The points were for I believe 7500-8k a year. If that sounds right..

3. I think it’s annually. But once you paid off your “ownership” of 10k. You wouldn’t have to pay again and you keep getting the same amount of points, unless you paid to upgrade for more.

4. I do believe the 126$ was per month for the loan amount. If you decide not to pay it all off upfront. After paying 20% of the ownership cost
 

brp

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DVC: Boardwalk Villas, Beach Club villas
This doesn't sound like anything that they off. All points are for a specific location. And there is no such thing as "never pay again" as there are annual Maintenance Fees.

But, this program can be very worthwhile. I'd suggest hanging around here and doing some reading, specifically about 'Resale."

Cheers.
 

shanetoast

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We need more details in order to even start on your questions:

1. What location were they trying to sell you?
2. How many points?
3. Annual or Every Other Year?
4. Is this "126 a month" a loan for he purchase?

Provide some more details on what they offered and we can go from there. In general, though, buying resale is better than buying from them.

Cheers.
1. I believe the offer was for any of their “Grand Vacation” locations around the world.

2. The points were for I believe 7500-8k a year. If that sounds right..

3. I think it’s annually. But once you paid off your “ownership” of 10k. You wouldn’t have to pay again and you keep getting the same amount of points, unless you paid to upgrade for more.

4. I do believe the 126$ was per month for the loan amount. If you decide not to pay it all off upfront. After paying 20% of the ownership cost
This doesn't sound like anything that they off. All points are for a specific location. And there is no such thing as "never pay again" as there are annual Maintenance Fees.

But, this program can be very worthwhile. I'd suggest hanging around here and doing some reading, specifically about 'Resale."

Cheers.
I knew there would have to be some type of “fee” per year that you’d have to pay. Even if you paid everything upfront. But I wasn’t really listening to what that could be.

They really made it seem like you can use your points at any of their locations at anytime world wide.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread. Sorry i don’t have more info regarding everything they said.
 

GT75

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I just left a timeshare for Hilton Grand vacation.
I agree with @brp in that we need more info. HGV currently sell three different retail products, by Hilton Club (HC) {deeded property}, Hilton Grand Vacations Club (HGVC) {deeded property} and Hilton Vacations Club (HVC formerly Diamond Club) {trust points}. I suspect that you were offered HVC trust points because that is what they are currently pushing. With trust points you actually don't own a particular property but own in a collection such as HI, US, European etc.

btw, if you were being offered HGVC, then they would be discussing a particular resort, unit, season etc (deed).
 

CalGalTraveler

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Welcome to TUG. Please ignore (or rescind if you signed a contract) and stick around and perform research here and elsewhere if you are truly interested. No matter what the sales person says, whatever "deal" they offered you will be there in the future if you find it is the best offer. (I doubt it will beat resale because $4 - 7k will buy you a nice resale package.)

You wouldn't spend $10k on anything without research so don't buy this.
 

shanetoast

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I agree with @brp in that we need more info. HGV currently sell three different retail products, by Hilton Club (HC) {deeded property}, Hilton Grand Vacations Club (HGVC) {deeded property} and Hilton Vacations Club (HVC formerly Diamond Club) {trust points}. I suspect that you were offered HVC trust points because that is what they are currently pushing. With trust points you actually don't own a particular property but own in a collection such as HI, US, European etc.

btw, if you were being offered HGVC, then they would be discussing a particular resort, unit, season etc (deed).
Ahh there it is. HVC is what I believe the offer was for. So in that case I’m really just buying points for locations?
 

GT75

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IMO, HVC is a terrible product. It will certainly have no resale value and might even need funds to unload it. Now, I love HGVC (but buy resale). HGVC treats their resales owners very well (maybe even best of all of the TS systems). But my suggestion to you is to take your time and research the various system by asking questions to determine what if any system is right for you.
 

SmithOp

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Ahh there it is. HVC is what I believe the offer was for. So in that case I’m really just buying points for locations?

Yes, all the deeds are held in a trust and the point values are then sold. There are several geographical trusts, so you need to find out which one, and your points would be used at any of those locations.

Honestly, timeshares do not fit your travel profile if you travel standby and book when you arrive. Timeshares are best planned 9 months or more in advance.
 

GT75

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Honestly, timeshares do not fit your travel profile if you travel standby and book when you arrive. Timeshares are best planned 9 months or more in advance.
@SmithOp, wow, very good point. That was the first lesson that I learned after purchasing. TS isn't like booking a hotel. TS got me into planning a year or two ahead and then booking exactly when the booking window opens for that system. In HGVC, that is 276 days before checkout. This also means I stay up until 12 midnight EST to make some of these hard to get bookings.
 

Reddart

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@SmithOp, wow, very good point. That was the first lesson that I learned after purchasing. TS isn't like booking a hotel. TS got me into planning a year or two ahead and then booking exactly when the booking window opens for that system. In HGVC, that is 276 days before checkout. This also means I stay up until 12 midnight EST to make some of these hard to get bookings.
Yes, that is one of the big problems about the sales presentations…they make it seem like “look at all these places you can stay, at just the push of a button “, but neglect to tell you “yeah, you’ll need to reserve 9 months in advance to ensure you can book what/where you want”.

Once I learned that, walking reservations, and borrowing vs saving points, the system became much more valuable to me.
 

Mowogo

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Yes, all the deeds are held in a trust and the point values are then sold. There are several geographical trusts, so you need to find out which one, and your points would be used at any of those locations.

Honestly, timeshares do not fit your travel profile if you travel standby and book when you arrive. Timeshares are best planned 9 months or more in advance.
It depends on where you want to go, as some destinations have a lot more availability than others, and how much flexibility you have. Barring super special events, Vegas has solid availability 2-3 months out. I put together a nice stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village a month out. Yes there are many properties which require regular walking, and if needing traditional holidays that can be more of an issue.
 

alexinorlando

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From the sounds of it, this appears to be an old “Diamond” points long term trial membership thing. It’s basically like owning for 10 years without any additional obligations. It’s kind of like a car lease. You get to use it for 10 years like an owner with a yearly amount of points that refreshes every year like a traditional ownership (not sure if you have additional maintenance fees, but from what I understand there are no additional maintenance fees with this product) and then after 10 years (if you don't upgrade it) then it just goes away. With no other additional obligations. In the mean time every time you use the points at a resort they try to get you to upgrade to a full ownership and would apply what you paid with this product towards a bigger purchase which would most likely be a traditional ownership.
 

Tamaradarann

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1. I believe the offer was for any of their “Grand Vacation” locations around the world.

2. The points were for I believe 7500-8k a year. If that sounds right..

3. I think it’s annually. But once you paid off your “ownership” of 10k. You wouldn’t have to pay again and you keep getting the same amount of points, unless you paid to upgrade for more.

4. I do believe the 126$ was per month for the loan amount. If you decide not to pay it all off upfront. After paying 20% of the ownership cost

I knew there would have to be some type of “fee” per year that you’d have to pay. Even if you paid everything upfront. But I wasn’t really listening to what that could be.

They really made it seem like you can use your points at any of their locations at anytime world wide.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread. Sorry i don’t have more info regarding everything they said.
Let me try to fill in some of the gaps since we are owners since 2006 and have been to many presentations. Unless they are selling you just points, which is not the HGVC way of doing business but was the Diamond way of doing business, you would be an owner at some resort. In addition to the $126 loan amount for the cost of buying the timeshare at that resort or owning the HGV points, you would have to pay an annual maintenance fee to the resort you own or for the points you own. The rest of what you said seems true as far as costs.

You "CAN" use your points at any of the locations at anytime world wide SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. Understanding the time frames of when you can start booking is extremely important at locations that are highly sought after like Hawaii. At either 9 months or 6 months before checkin most of the resorts open up availability to owners that don't own at that resort. That is when there is maximum amount of availabilty for that time frame. If you wait until a few months before checkin there will be less availability and sometimes none.

As others have said it is best to hang out here on TUG to learn about timeshares and the much lower cost of buying resale.
 

geist1223

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Sounds like they are trying to sell you the MAX Program. RUN. If it is the MAX Program then you can use your DRI Points to Book into HGVC Resorts but only 6 months before checking. However you also lose any status you have with DRI and if you have Club Select/Club Combination you also lose that.
 

shanetoast

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Thank you to everyone that has responded. I really appreciate all the help and I think I’m going to stick around here and read a lot more to help me understand what I’m signing up for.

Again thank you to everyone that responded!
 

RX8

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Thank you to everyone that has responded. I really appreciate all the help and I think I’m going to stick around here and read a lot more to help me understand what I’m signing up for.

Again thank you to everyone that responded!
There is nothing wrong with taking your time. I took 1.5 years after I joined TUG before I even purchased a timeshare. I think I read every post and asked lots of questions in those 18 months.

Did they offer the VIP to you? With it, you get up to 11,500 points to use in the next 18 months, subject to availability. Cost is $1695 (credit card) or $1795 (paid over a period of months). Downside is another presentation so you must have the ability to say no under pressure. I don’t think the VIP is for everyone but for you, it would give you a taste of HGV at a cost that would be cheaper than the annual maintenance for the roughly 8000 points they offered.
 

alwysonvac

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Side note: I work for an airline and vacation/traveling is very easy for me. But I never really pick a location or purchase a hotel until I land, since the majority of my flying is standby.
Timeshares might not work for you.

Unlike hotels, most high demand timeshare resorts and weeks are booked months in advance. Some are reserved as soon as the booking window opens.
Folks have prepaid each year and now have to compete with each other for available space. High demand resorts/locations and/or high demand travel periods tend to book up first.
Overbuilt timeshare areas such as Orlando and Vegas are easier to book due to the overwhelming supply vs demand.
 

shanetoast

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There is nothing wrong with taking your time. I took 1.5 years after I joined TUG before I even purchased a timeshare. I think I read every post and asked lots of questions in those 18 months.

Did they offer the VIP to you? With it, you get up to 11,500 points to use in the next 18 months, subject to availability. Cost is $1695 (credit card) or $1795 (paid over a period of months). Downside is another presentation so you must have the ability to say no under pressure. I don’t think the VIP is for everyone but for you, it would give you a taste of HGV at a cost that would be cheaper than the annual maintenance for the roughly 8000 points they offered.
I believe that was one of the last options they pitched to me after I said no. But if im not wrong. I believe the locations were all domestic. Which isn’t terrible, but you’re right. The cost of that package wasn’t terrible. I walked out of there thinking man all this sounded pretty good. But I had done zero research, and couldn’t justify making a rational decision in 30 minutes of running numbers.
 

RX8

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But if im not wrong. I believe the locations were all domestic.
As others have pointed out, timeshares aren’t for last minute travelers. In addition, as bad as last minute is for US based timeshares, if you are hoping for international exchanges it is even more challenging.

I bet the timeshare salesperson never shared with you how difficult it would be to use your purchased timeshare as you intended. Commissions tend to make salespeople forget those details.
 

letsgobobby

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I believe that was one of the last options they pitched to me after I said no. But if im not wrong. I believe the locations were all domestic. Which isn’t terrible, but you’re right. The cost of that package wasn’t terrible. I walked out of there thinking man all this sounded pretty good. But I had done zero research, and couldn’t justify making a rational decision in 30 minutes of running numbers.
you aren't a good candidate for a timeshare and this isn't a deal even if you were.
 

WaikikiFirst

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Sorry i don’t have more info regarding everything they said.
if you can't repeat and don't clearly understand everything they said, you shouldn't sign to buy anything from them. Isn't this OBVIOUS????????????????
Save me Suzie Orman. Save me Pee-Wee Herman. Save me.
 

weems637

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Welcome to TUG, and you are to be congratulated for not taking the hook on your first sales/update meeting. Please do lots of research here on TUG before attending anymore discounted visits. Timeshares require a lot of advance planning, especially for hot demand locations. After more study, with your current life style, as others have said, this may not be your cup of tequila.
 

Chris-ATX

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@shanetoast - welcome to TUG.

I believe you mentioned you work for an airline. Is this correct?

If so: In a prior life, a long time ago, I worked for an airline as well. If things are generally the same today as back then - don't bother with a timeshare.

Enjoy your great travel perks with the industry discounts and the amazing flexibility to go wherever your fancy takes you - leverage the ID95 plane tickets to get places than then enjoy the great hotel discounts usually offered to those in the industry. you have both flexibility and great pricing.

Timeshares are best when you are planning in advance and know exactly where you want to go and when. They are great for my current situation, but as I remember my airline days - the incredible flexibility was amazing and I'd still just do that if I were still there.

Hope this is useful.
 
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