New to HGVC and need advice

[NascarGuy]

Was recently at Waikoloa Village(OT)in Hawaii and did the sales presentation for the discounted stay. I am a Diamond and Marriott VC owner so i figured the presentation would be more of a knowledge seeking endeavor so what the heck. After leaving and being offered a high point/high dollar platinum season package at a ridiculous amount I left and got my Google on, ultimately finding TUGBBS. Wow what a God Send this forum is. I bought my MVC and DRI TSs private resale so I knew resale was the way to go but never really got good at getting the most benefits outs out of the purchase. MVC is definitely more limiting that HGVC from what I have read/learned so far. My MVC is deeded but pre-points system so exchanges and transfers are super limited (probably going to trade off the MVC for HGVC points and giveaway the DRI so yell if your interested ).

Anyway, my advice seeking is based around platinum and gold point usage. I picked up a Platinum annual TS AT Waikoloa right after the presentation (still waiting on ROFR) and want to collect some more points to get me closer to what would be needed to stay at the Waikoloa Ocean Towers once the renovation is completed. Can I use platinum points and gold points within the same reservation or would my platinum points get downgraded if I combined them? Of course Gold points are cheaper with a higher MF but much easier to acquire.

Thanks in advance and keep posting all of this useful HGVC brain food. Knowing more than they do at their own game almost makes me feel like I could play and win.

 

[dayooper]

Points are points. Gold points are used just as platinum points are. The only difference is the MF per point ratio. Platinum points give you more vacation time for your MFs. The only time when season matters for booking is your home week reservation. Then season matters as you get your home week/resort booking advantage.

Not sure how easy Ocean Towers will be during the club booking window. You may need the home week reservation window there. Hopefully, someone more learned on the Hawaii reservation windows at the various resorts can be of more help there.

 

[alwysonvac]

Was recently at Waikoloa Village in Hawaii and did the sales presentation for the discounted stay. I am a Diamond and Marriott VC owner so i figured the presentation would be more of a knowledge seeking endeavor so what the heck. After leaving and being offered a high point/high dollar platinum season package at a ridiculous amount I left and got my Google on, ultimately finding TUGBBS. Wow what a God Send this forum is. I bought my MVC and DRI TSs private resale so I knew resale was the way to go but never really got good at getting the most benefits outs out of the purchase. MVC is definitely more limiting that HGVC from what I have read/learned so far. My MVC is deeded but pre-points system so exchanges and transfers are super limited (probably going to trade off the MVC for HGVC points and giveaway the DRI so yell if your interested )...

Welcome to TUG

Definitely checkout the other TUG Forums to make sure you’re getting the most out of your resale weeks before getting rid of them. For example Marriott owners have priority access into their sister resorts via Interval International

TUG MARRIOTT FORUM - https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/marriott-vacation-club.29/
TUG DRI FORUM - https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/diamond-resorts-international-embarc-resorts.59/


For example

Suggestions for Good Marriott Trader

Can anyone tell me which Marriott resorts are amongst the strongest trading properties in the Marriott Vacation Club? We were initially considering another HGVC property but the destinations are more limited compared to Marriott locations. We live on the east coast and I feel that Marriott has...

tugbbs.com

For $15 become a TUG member (link) and checkout the TUG sightings forum (link)

 

[dsmrp]

I bought my MVC and DRI TSs private resale so I knew resale was the way to go but never really got good at getting the most benefits outs out of the purchase. MVC is definitely more limiting that HGVC from what I have read/learned so far. My MVC is deeded but pre-points system so exchanges and transfers are super limited (probably going to trade off the MVC for HGVC points and giveaway the DRI so yell if your interested ).

I think if you bought your resale MVC before 2010 you can still enroll your week in the Marriott Destination Club, for a reasonable fee.

 

[NascarGuy]

Welcome to TUG

Definitely checkout the other TUG Forums to make sure you’re getting the most out of your resale weeks before getting rid of them. For example Marriott owners have priority access into their sister resorts via Interval International

TUG MARRIOTT FORUM - https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/marriott-vacation-club.29/
TUG DRI FORUM - https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/diamond-resorts-international-embarc-resorts.59/


For example

Suggestions for Good Marriott Trader

Can anyone tell me which Marriott resorts are amongst the strongest trading properties in the Marriott Vacation Club? We were initially considering another HGVC property but the destinations are more limited compared to Marriott locations. We live on the east coast and I feel that Marriott has...

tugbbs.com

For $15 become a TUG member (link) and checkout the TUG sightings forum (link)

I will definitely read over these before making any changes. As far as my membership I willingly paid the $15 and added the codeword to my TUGBBS profile but it is still showing me as a guest. Hmmm.

 

[NascarGuy]

I think if you bought your resale MVC before 2010 you can still enroll your week in the Marriott Destination Club, for a reasonable fee.

I bought the MVC TS resale in 2018

 

[GT75]

If you are planning on keeping your TS for a long time, then gold season unit might not be your best purchase. I would suggest that you evaluate the buyin cost plus annual MFs over a period of time.

Which unit would you be interested in reserving at OT? I could check on-line. Also, how often would you be planning on going to OT?

 

[Karen G]

As far as my membership I willingly paid the $15 and added the codeword to my TUGBBS profile but it is still showing me as a guest. Hmmm.

Welcome to TUG. Perhaps this page will help: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/bulletin-board-help.248812/

 

[NascarGuy]

Welcome to TUG. Perhaps this page will help: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/bulletin-board-help.248812/

Tried this but no love for me

 

[NascarGuy]

If you are planning on keeping your TS for a long time, then gold season unit might not be your best purchase. I would suggest that you evaluate the buyin cost plus annual MFs over a period of time.

Which unit would you be interested in reserving at OT? I could check on-line. Also, how often would you be planning on going to OT?

At the OT, I was planning on a 1BR L which at the presentation would be 16,800 pts for the week. We are definitely looking to keep the HGVC points for the long haul so maybe the extra in the front for the platinum points vs more MF in the rear would be the smarter choice. Currently I have 9300 platinum pts annually so I would need to bank one year to hit the 16,800 unless I could accumulate more points to get me to the 16,800

 

[Hobokie]

@NascarGuy, do you vacation a week always? I ask because HGVC is a points system and you may be limiting yourself to thinking in weeks based on prior timeshare experience. With HGVC you don't need to stay a whole week (although who wouldn't want to be in Hawaii for a whole week???) Might you consider shorter stays and island hoping (and using dollars or credit card miles to pay for your other nights).

Btw, banking pts costs money so, if anything, you always want to be borrowing pts (free) vs saving pts for next year...

I personally think most of the HGVC resorts (Hawaii included) are achievable (forget Marco Island though) if you a) are looking for less than 1 week, b) are persistent and check back OFTEN (i.e. keep a browser open and logged in at all times and refresh the page every time you think about it). Hawaii ownership doesn't make sense for me because the MFs are too high and I don't plan on using my timeshare in Hawaii every year. There was a post maybe a year ago about how many people use Home Week (the only reason to buy Hawaii HGVC, IMHO). It's not the majority... I'll see if I can find that post and link it!

Anyway, like our super helpful moderator @GT75 offered, I'd be happy to give you an idea on availability for OT if you give out some dates

 

[GT75]

Since the OP is trying to get enough points to book a specific unit at OT, he will be booking via club season.

 

[NascarGuy]

@NascarGuy, do you vacation a week always? I ask because HGVC is a points system and you may be limiting yourself to thinking in weeks based on prior timeshare experience. With HGVC you don't need to stay a whole week (although who wouldn't want to be in Hawaii for a whole week???) Might you consider shorter stays and island hoping (and using dollars or credit card miles to pay for your other nights).

Btw, banking pts costs money so, if anything, you always want to be borrowing pts (free) vs saving pts for next year...

I personally think most of the HGVC resorts (Hawaii included) are achievable (forget Marco Island though) if you a) are looking for less than 1 week, b) are persistent and check back OFTEN (i.e. keep a browser open and logged in at all times and refresh the page every time you think about it). Hawaii ownership doesn't make sense for me because the MFs are too high and I don't plan on using my timeshare in Hawaii every year. There was a post maybe a year ago about how many people use Home Week (the only reason to buy Hawaii HGVC, IMHO). It's not the majority... I'll see if I can find that post and link it!

Anyway, like our super helpful moderator @GT75 offered, I'd be happy to give you an idea on availability for OT if you give out some dates

I don’t necessarily always want to stay at the same resort nor book in weeks but figured the OT would be the most points heavy resort stay so I was thinking the 16,800 would be my high side points goal. Due to travel cost to get to Hawaii I think a week would be a minimum with a two week max. This past trip I did two weeks, one week on Oahu with Marriott at Ko Olina then island hopped to the Big Island to OT. The Marriott Ko Olina was on an upsell TS presentation package which we declined of course.

On years where we didn’t want to go to the OT I could use the annual points to travel to other resorts.

What’s the cost associated with banking points? I haven’t yet got my club enrollment info to get my account all situated?


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[Talent312]

What’s the cost associated with banking points?

$115 online or $125 by phone. OTOH, borrowing is free.
Hence, the expression: 'Tis better a borrower than a saver be.

 

[GT75]

Based upon how you plan to utilize your points in traveling, I would recommend that you purchase purely for points (considering both buyin costs and annual MFs). I assume that you have already seen this resource - link.

 

[alwysonvac]

You may be able to book Marriott Ko Olina via Interval International with your Marriott week.

How do you personally trade through II?

I have never traded through II as I am a VSN owner and love our properties. However, with us being able to have priority in trading to MVC and vice versa through II, I'd like to learn more. I am asking Marriott owners because I think if you have traded your Marriott time through interval your...

tugbbs.com

 

[NascarGuy]

You may be able to book Marriott Ko Olina via Interval International with your Marriott week.

How do you personally trade through II?

I have never traded through II as I am a VSN owner and love our properties. However, with us being able to have priority in trading to MVC and vice versa through II, I'd like to learn more. I am asking Marriott owners because I think if you have traded your Marriott time through interval your...

tugbbs.com

I have thought of this and exploring the possible exchange thru II but the annual II membership costs comes to play. If I had to keep the II membership just for the Marriott....

All worth thinking about.


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[alwysonvac]

I have thought of this and exploring the possible exchange thru II but the annual II membership costs comes to play. If I had to keep the II membership just for the Marriott....

All worth thinking about.


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If you have flexible travel dates, it’s worth it. I pay the annual II membership fee for my WorldMark timeshare. The Marriott II fees are listed at the bottom of the Marriott sticky thread (link).

There is still good availability in Interval but the key is to be very flexible with your travel dates. For example, most families will be looking to exchange whenever the kids are out of school (so expect lots of competition during school holidays and school breaks). So you’ll want to setup a search request for the entire summer instead of just one or two dates. If you have to travel during peak summer months, some schools get out early and others start school later, both are ideal travel periods to include in your exchange request. At some locations Spring break is easier to book than summer (i.e. Newport Coast Villas). Here’s another thread (see below). And also check out the Marriott sightings on the TUG SIGHTINGS FORUM (link)

Good Luck

Good II Trade

All, I'm happy to report another good trade via II -- interesting on a couple of fronts. I'd deposited an intact/prime time 2BR Shadow Ridge that was February 2018 reservation date. I made the reservation in January 2017 and have been sitting on it but it was a very high TDI week (I think...

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