Newbie here to the HGVC program (bought at presentation and had a few questions for owners)

[jmt4m]

Greetings all! So, we had an "encore VIP" return package that we used and attended the sales pitch. We own EOY at Marriott already and figured that if we buy anything else ever, we'd get a different company to expand portfolio access.

Just trying to gather some opinions on what we purchased and if it's "ok" pricing. Then most importantly, overall experiences with actually getting into the places you want with your points (or even getting back to your "deeded" location for the points)

1. We selected Hilton Head Ocean Oak as the home-base, because we like HHI. They told us that you get an additional 3 month window to access booking, by being the "owner" of that location. We bought EOY option to fill in the years that we did not have anything. The cost was $15000 for 6500 points EOY (We paid like $14K something, since they gave us back the week vacation that we paid for in this return package). Maintenance fees are about $1500 to be paid on the year we use the points. Vs getting Oceans Enclave at Myrtle, where fees are $1100.

Trying to ask other owners is there truth to purchase the home resort that you would at least like to most go back to. I'm a bit leery in that Hilton Head property only has 65 units. Seems like it'd be difficult to get in....any one have experience there.

2. They gave us 13,000 bonus points to use within 2 years as well. I was reading somewhere that a lot of places that you can go to are NOT HGVC resorts and you essentially have to convert your ownership points to Hilton Honors points, which dilutes the values.


Basically, I had sworn we would never buy anything again, as I feel like with Redweek and other regular options, you aren't at the mercy of someone telling you something isnt' available (AFTER you already paid Up front). WIth other options, you can at least have more control.


I am really just trying to gauge people's experiences with actually being able to use their points to go where they want. I understand you will have to get in early for the request. I just hate how I couldn't see the success rates....just at the mercy of the sales pitch. Please advise and thank you in advance!

 

[vacationtime1]

When did you make this purchase? Where?

 

[HuskerATL]

If you like HHI, Ocean Oak is a good place to own since it is hard to book in peak season. It looks like you bought a Silver Season 2 bd + which will be very hard to use unless you just want Weeks 1 - 7 or 48 - 50. To me this is a terrible ownership. You can't afford to go any other weeks in the year and since it is EOY, you would need to save up for two point cycles to use it. Now, you can use those points in other places but it just isn't very many points. On top of that, it would be very hard to dump if you want to sell it. Nobody wants a silver season ownership. Just to add, maintenance fees are by unit size so the gold and platinum season owners are paying the same as you but get many more points.

If you are in your period to rescind, I would and then do more research for retail and resale.

Here is the points guide for Ocean Oak:

 

[GT75]

6500 points EOY

I have attached the point chart for Ocean Oak. Was your purchase actually 6560 EOY points? which would be silver week in a 2 BR Plus unit. Home week advantage will only work for booking that specific unit (2Br Plus or whatever you bought) for the full week (Saturday-Saturday) in the season which you bought (Weeks 1-7, 48-50).

IMO, I would never go to HHI during that timeframe.

y

I'm a bit leery in that Hilton Head property only has 65 units.

There are actually 125 units at Ocean Oak but still it is one of the most difficult to book in open season. Basically, the units book exactly when the club booking window opens. But, it is still doable because I do it and others also.

I was reading somewhere that a lot of places that you can go to are NOT HGVC resorts and you essentially have to convert your ownership points to Hilton Honors points, which dilutes the values.

True, so I would recommend using to book within HGVC.

Maintenance fees are about $1500 to be paid on the year we use the points.

MFs were $1268.93 in 2022 and club dues were $193. You will pay club dues every year for an EOY deed.

 

[jmt4m]

When did you make this purchase? Where?

Hi. Bought last Monday Aug 8th in Orlando. On Day 9 now of rescission period......and after seeing the next post, I got a much clearer picture!

 

[HuskerATL]

On Day 9 now of rescission period

My advice, rescind. You can always go to another sales update and buy one or look at resale. Resale is much cheaper for more points. If you decide to rescind, follow the directions in your contract.

 

[Nowaker]

6500 points EOY (...) Maintenance fees are about $1500

That's extremely bad. Good deeds have a $0.10 MFpp ratio and below (e.g. Flamingo 2 BR Platinum - 11,200 pts, $1142 MF). Okay deeds are $0.12 MFpp (e.g. Blvd 2 BR Gold - 8,000 pts, $944.41 MF).

Trying to ask other owners is there truth to purchase the home resort that you would at least like to most go back to. I'm a bit leery in that Hilton Head property only has 65 units. Seems like it'd be difficult to get in....any one have experience there.

Only this available in 2022:

2023:

Note however that timesharing is a game of planning ahead. Availability below 6 months isn't something to really look at.

Also, since January and February are easily bookable with points (no home week needed) - 6,560 points for 2 Bedroom Plus - Partial Ocean View (2BP). With my Las Vegas points, it would cost me 6560 * $0.105 = $688.80. Half of what you're paying in MF.

This deed is beyond bad, and has a negative value.

Recommendation:

1. Rescind if you still can.
2. Give up for free if you can't. Then do your research and acquire something that makes sense MFpp wise, or homeweek wise (as your current deed makes no sense for either). Don't be a victim of sunk cost fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Fallacy_effect

 

[HuskerATL]

This deed is beyond bad, and has a negative value.

Nowaker will always give you honest input...

 

[jmt4m]

If you like HHI, Ocean Oak is a good place to own since it is hard to book in peak season. It looks like you bought a Silver Season 2 bd + which will be very hard to use unless you just want Weeks 1 - 7 or 48 - 50. To me this is a terrible ownership. You can't afford to go any other weeks in the year and since it is EOY, you would need to save up for two point cycles to use it. Now, you can use those points in other places but it just isn't very many points. On top of that, it would be very hard to dump if you want to sell it. Nobody wants a silver season ownership. Just to add, maintenance fees are by unit size so the gold and platinum season owners are paying the same as you but get many more points.

If you are in your period to rescind, I would and then do more research for retail and resale.

Here is the points guide for Ocean Oak:
View attachment 62690

Oh my....see, that is what I DID NOT KNOW.....that it's Weeks 1-7. You are right....I would never go then. If anything, August timeframe is when I'd usually go.

Based on your chart (which I NEVER saw any of this), this week would be week 33 and be considered Platinum. With my 6560 points, i'd be able to go only a few days, esp if the weekend jumps to 2688. I don't necessarily need 7 days, but doesn't even look like I can get 5 days out of this in August.

Pretty slick of them to sell me something that makes me think I'm getting a great deal.

When you put into context about point usage and peak season, I understand that much more now. Thank you for this info!!!

 

[Nowaker]

Nowaker will always give you honest input...

Always!

From a financial point of view, owning this deed for another year puts one in an even deeper hole, compared to dumping it immediately, and getting cheap Vegas.

 

[dayooper]

Unless things are different at Ocean Oak, you only get a 3 month booking window in your home season. If you have 6500 points, that’s a plus unit in the silver season (weeks 1-7 and 48-50). You would only get your early booking window then.

We absolutely love Ocean Oak, favorite resort in the system. In talking with the front desk, they are booked to capacity except for January through early March. No need for the 3 month window then.

I can’t stand how these sales people twist the truth to make a sale. They conveniently left off the rule of the home booking window. A new owner to the system wouldn’t know the difference and they prey on that. It’s such BS and makes the system look so bad.

Edit - I leave my response for a half hour and you all give the response in that time. I guess I’m just old and slow.

 

[HuskerATL]

Oh my....see, that is what I DID NOT KNOW.....that it's Weeks 1-7. You are right....I would never go then. If anything, August timeframe is when I'd usually go.

Based on your chart (which I NEVER saw any of this), this week would be week 33 and be considered Platinum. With my 6560 points, i'd be able to go only a few days, esp if the weekend jumps to 2688. I don't necessarily need 7 days, but doesn't even look like I can get 5 days out of this in August.

Pretty slick of them to sell me something that makes me think I'm getting a great deal.

When you put into context about point usage and peak season, I understand that much more now. Thank you for this info!!!

You are right. Many people don't stay 7 days and can point stretch by Sunday to Thursday or Monday to Friday. Weekends are 60% of a weeks worth of points. So you could use it for less than a week but your challenge would be actually booking it. Ocean Oak is competitive to book. Look at the other resorts that you may use, like MB and if you see others that you could see yourself splitting time with, then just buy a cheap Vegas resale with, at least 11k points. The MFs would be cheaper and then just use the points where ever. If you want to go to HHI, then you would start playing the 9 month booking game....like the rest of us non-Ocean Oak owners do.

 

[jmt4m]

That's extremely bad. Good deeds have a $0.10 MFpp ratio and below (e.g. Flamingo 2 BR Platinum - 11,200 pts, $1142 MF). Okay deeds are $0.12 MFpp (e.g. Blvd 2 BR Gold - 8,000 pts, $944.41 MF).



Only this available in 2022:

View attachment 62689

2023:

View attachment 62691

View attachment 62692

View attachment 62693

Note however that timesharing is a game of planning ahead. Availability below 6 months isn't something to really look at.

Also, since January and February are easily bookable with points (no home week needed) - 6,560 points for 2 Bedroom Plus - Partial Ocean View (2BP). With my Las Vegas points, it would cost me 6560 * $0.105 = $688.80. Half of what you're paying in MF.

This deed is beyond bad, and has a negative value.

Recommendation:

1. Rescind if you still can.
2. Give up for free if you can't. Then do your research and acquire something that makes sense MFpp wise, or homeweek wise (as your current deed makes no sense for either). Don't be a victim of sunk cost fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Fallacy_effect

Thank you Nowaker. Part of me didn't want to come out to these forums, b/c I knew it would confirm some of my suspicions. It just seemed to good to be true, in that I would be in the plus....get HHI and also have the overall cost through the original seller seem palatable. I understand now about how MF can differ based on location, even though it could be the same amount of points. I would not go to HHI in January, which means I'm paying for the same amount of points, a higher MF than you with your LV points. You can also easily get my same "week", due to it being available and not a popular time. Even I would be priced out of trying to go in August, since that's considered weeks 31-34, give or take, which makes it Platinum.


Dang it, this is the info that I did not have. The sellers knew we weren't going to spend over 20K and up, so they found this in a Silver season, without really explaining to us about it....UGH.....

Again, THANK YOU!

 

[jmt4m]

Unless things are different at Ocean Oak, you only get a 3 month booking window in your home season. If you have 6500 points, that’s a plus unit in the silver season (weeks 1-7 and 48-50). You would only get your early booking window then.

We absolutely love Ocean Oak, favorite resort in the system. In talking with the front desk, they are booked to capacity except for January through early March. No need for the 3 month window then.

I can’t stand how these sales people twist the truth to make a sale. They conveniently left off the rule of the home booking window. A new owner to the system wouldn’t know the difference and they prey on that. It’s such BS and makes the system look so bad.

So we originally were offered the Vegas location, but then wife was more interested in trying to get deeded to a place that we would actually want to go back to (e.g. Myrtle Beach, HHI (we didn't know that Ocean Oak existed!)) The sales people told us that these are hard places to book and that non deeded owners could start the process of trying to book 9 months out from when they want to go. They told us that as an owner, we got 3 additional months, from when we want to go to book it....so essentially an advantage.

Of course we don't want to may more MF, but they made it seem like this was more of a guarantee.....there was nothing mentioned about Silver season and how those are really undesirable weeks....I wouldn't even want to go then myself!

 

[elaine]

I think you have 10 days to rescind, go ASAP to post office and pay for certified mail with receipt of mailing and receiving. Everyone on deed needs to sign. So if its you and spouse, get both signatures. The key is to have proof that you mailed during rescission. We like HGVC very much. Do your research and find something that fits your needs better.

If you buy a Florida timeshare, you can cancel the timeshare contract up until midnight of the 10th calendar day following the date you signed the contract or the day on which you received the last of all required documents, whichever occurs later. Under Florida law, this right of cancellation can't be waived. As you bought in FL, but it was a SC TS (5 days rescission), I think FL law applies:

(c) All timeshare accommodations or facilities which are located outside the state but offered for sale in this state shall be governed by the following:
1. The offering for sale in this state of timeshare accommodations and facilities located outside the state is subject only to the provisions of ss. 721.01-721.12, 721.18, 721.20, 721.21, 721.26, 721.28, and part II.
721.06-10 Deal with Cancellation.

Good luck!

 

[Nowaker]

I can’t stand how these sales people twist the truth to make a sale. They conveniently left off the rule of the home booking window. A new owner to the system wouldn’t know the difference and they prey on that. It’s such BS and makes the system look so bad.

That's the tactic:

1. Salesweasel to get the foot in the door by selling total shit for $15K. PROFIT.
2. Customer to realize that as all they can book is January-March and that happens when they get online access after the rescission period is long gone.
3. Customer to go to owner's update to complain.
4. Salesweasel to rely on sunk cost fallacy to legitimize a costly $15K upgrade to a Gold/Platinum season deed. PROFIT.

 

[Ben Breier]

Wait a second. What was said by the sales person wasn't completely inaccurate. You do get a 3 month "advantage" in the booking window, you just don't have enough points for an entire week during non-silver weeks. The home week may be Jan-Mar, but you can use the points to go any time, you are not restricted to only those times. Granted, you may be overpaying for the privilege, but it may still have value to you.

 

[dayooper]

Wait a second. What was said by the sales person wasn't completely inaccurate. You do get a 3 month "advantage" in the booking window, you just don't have enough points for an entire week during non-silver weeks. The home week may be Jan-Mar, but you can use the points to go any time, you are not restricted to only those times. Granted, you may be overpaying for the privilege, but it may still have value to you.

No, a Silver deed does not have the ability to book a platinum or gold week with the 3 month advantage (home week reservation). They have to wait till the club booking window at 9 months.

Example, I have a platinum deed at the Flamingo. Even though I have enough points to book a gold week in the home season window (12 months), the system won’t let me make that reservation because it’s not my home season.

 

[Nowaker]

Wait a second. What was said by the sales person wasn't completely inaccurate. You do get a 3 month "advantage" in the booking window, you just don't have enough points for an entire week during non-silver weeks.

False. "Home week booking window" is 12-0 months. "Club booking window" is 9-0 months. HGVC has no notion of "home RESORT booking window", except one or two Hilton Club properties, which HHI Ocean Oak is not.

 

[Ben Breier]

Well, I guess I need to slink back to my corner...
We do get a booking window with our NYC property outside of Home Week bookings and I get confused occasionally, thinking it is the same for all. Sorry about that.

 

[HuskerATL]

Well, I guess I need to slink back to my corner...
We do get a booking window with our NYC property outside of Home Week bookings and I get confused occasionally, thinking it is the same for all. Sorry about that.

No slinking required...it does get confusing because the reference guide does mention home resort priority but if you look in that section, it is only a couple bHC properties.

 

[dayooper]

Well, I guess I need to slink back to my corner...
We do get a booking window with our NYC property outside of Home Week bookings and I get confused occasionally, thinking it is the same for all. Sorry about that.

Nope, no need to slink at all. There are so many different rules for different resorts that it gets confusing.

 

[Mr Smith]

To give some clarity on buying the resort you want to stay at vs buying points with cheapest MF cost, I can explain my position as I own one of each type. I own at Lagoon tower to get the booking advantage for my home week. I also own at Elara which has one of the better MF/point.

The Lagoon tower is typically very difficult to reserve in summer/spring break as demand is very high due to school being on break. As I own the exact unit I want (room type and season), I have the ability to reserve the unit at the 12 month mark before the 9 month club booking window (3 month advantage). This basically guarantees my ability to reserve this unit every year without stress. I pay a higher MF for this convenience. If you can snag my unit in the club booking window it will be cheaper but a slight gamble if you don't put in the work to manipulate the system. I always book my home week since trading higher fee points to a cheaper fee resort makes little sense. One rarely discussed advantage about buying a high demand property is you can rent your home week if you don't want to go that year. This is allowed by HGV for home week only, not club booking. I was able to take advantage of that this year and rented the unit for $1,000 more than my MF.

I use my Elara unit/points to complete my club bookings. I have never used my home week for this ownership. Although I have stayed at Elara many times, I like the flexibility of not having to book the whole week as I usually just go for 3-4 days. I also use my points to book other resorts when I want to go somewhere outside of my owned locations.

If you always want to stay at the high demand location, pay the higher maintenance fees for that location. If you only intend to go to that location once in awhile, buy the lower fee properties. You then trade to the location when you want to go and use the points elsewhere when you don't. Don't trade higher MF property to reserve a lower MF property. Equivalent to booking a hotel that costs $49/night but insisting you pay $99/night.

Hopefully you are able to rescind. You will likely be able to buy the same unit on resale market but in platinum season with every year usage for same cost or less. You will do even better if you buy a location that has chaper mf/point as they usually aren't high demand properties. For example, my Elara unit cost around $8,000 resale (original owner paid around $70k) and I get 12,480 points every year. That means I get 24,960 every two years to your 6,560. As for maintenance fees, I will roughly pay around $2,000 for 2 years ($1,000/year) to your $1,700 (1,500 one year, 200 club dues off year). Almost four times the points for $300 more in fees.

The other advantage of buying resale is if you hate the system/property, you can likely find someone to buy it around the same price (or a little less). If you buy developer, prepare to get 10% back if you are lucky.

Hopefully this helps, just my 2 cents.