Open Season Cash Discounts - Worth It?

[Hobokie]

Hello TUG community! I'm a newbie (ish... ~10 hrs of research in and I've barely scratched the surface!). I've always been curious about timeshares because I have met people who seem to love theirs and are saving a ton of money and I've met folks who believe they were scammed. This led me to believe that there was a wrong and a right way of getting into timeshares and that I could be a part of the latter. Anywho, my husband and I finally went to our first timeshare presentation (Hilton Elara) last week and now I am SUPER intrigued! Don't worry, we walked away timeshare-free and 10+ hrs of research in I've learned, thanks to this awesome community, that the way to go (if at all, still trying to understand if this is for me) is resale vs developer.

Ok, that was a long intro haha! (sorry, first post). Anywho, I'm wondering if anyone specifically uses their HGVC frequently for the open season cash reservations. If so, how much on average do you believe you are saving (% or dollars is fine). Do you get Hilton HHonors points if you take advantage of these or do you forfeit those? If you use these a few times per year, would you say this is a nice bonus/nice to have or a major advantage and reason to buy into HGVC?

Any advice/info will be greatly appreciated!!

(BTW, I imagine I'm not the first to ask this, I've tried to find this info on older threads and have been unsuccessful. If you'd like to point me to other reading vs answer directly, I'm open to that as well!)

 

[GT75]

Anywho, I'm wondering if anyone specifically uses their HGVC frequently for the open season cash reservations. If so, how much on average do you believe you are saving (% or dollars is fine). Do you get Hilton HHonors points if you take advantage of these or do you forfeit those?

Welcome to TUG. I personally have never used open season. In general, HGVC raised the open season rates a few years ago to price it too high. There are a few situations, I believe some members have been able to utilize this feature of the program. I do know that last year, I would have utilized open season to book 3 days at Valdoro Mountain Lodge during ski season but I didn't have all 3 days within the 30-day window. I thought that would have been a very good deal but I ended up using points instead to ensure that I got the reservation.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Open season cash used to be a better deal, but the prices have come up in recent years and now it makes more sense in markets that a priced higher. It does not make sense in Orlando and Vegas at lot of times as there are often cheaper comparable options available.

Hawaii makes sense, but then again so many dates are picked off that they are coming harder to come by, but there are at times deals to be had.

The rates can be found on various pages of the document linked below. They are likely to be adjusted again in 2019. They have been on the move higher on an annual basis lately, they have been fixed for a long time that was why they were a good deal across the board, but not so much any more. They have also recently split them by location which does help out the pricing a bit. (In the past, a few years back, there was 1 set of Open pricing that varied by size and season and NOT by location.)

https://d1m2ucn09z2f8d.cloudfront.n...07af0/2018-HGV-Club-Points-Open-Season-v6.pdf

 

[tombanjo]

Thanks for posting the pdf of open season costs. I am still researching buying and there’s looks of interesting stuff there. Amazing how a two br can be so much more the cost of a studio.

I should note I was looking at W57th.

 

[Hobokie]

Open season cash used to be a better deal, but the prices have come up in recent years and now it makes more sense in markets that a priced higher. It does not make sense in Orlando and Vegas at lot of times as there are often cheaper comparable options available.

Hawaii make sense, but then again so many dates are picked off that they are coming harder to come by, but there are at times deals to be had.

The rates can be found on various pages of the document linked below. They are likely to be adjusted again in 2019. They have been on the move higher on an annual basis lately, they have been fixed for a long time that was why they were a good deal across the board, but not so much any more. They have also recently split them by location which does help out the pricing a bit. (In the past, a few years back, there was 1 set of Open pricing that varied by size and season and NOT by location.)

https://d1m2ucn09z2f8d.cloudfront.n...07af0/2018-HGV-Club-Points-Open-Season-v6.pdf

Wow, ok so 10+ hrs of research so far and I hadn't even realized the rates for 2018 and actually posted! THANKS FOR SHARING! @Sandy VDH, I am a bit of a last minute booker compared to probably the average timeshare owner (hence the hesitation on whether time shares are actually right for us). Could you give me an idea of whether Elara in Vegas is available, say, ~2ish weekends from now (9/14-9/17, let's say) in open season? What about Big Island resorts such as Kohala, The Bay Club or Kings' Land on 9/20-9/25? Sorry, I know this is quite specific, I am just wondering if open season is something that should be factored in my decision or not. If you could look for these specifically and give me a real time view on whether I could get these today if I was an owner I would appreciate it! (BTW, I have many MANY more questions, but since I am more of a spontaneous last minute type person I figured I would start with this question). Also, in case you are wondering why I picked these resorts: 1) I live in San Jose, CA and am therefore close to Vegas (and love it!) 2) I love Hawaii and am headed there for the 2nd time this year in about 2 weeks... the first trip we took in June and knew we were going about 9 months in advance but waited until about April before we booked a hotel; the 2nd trip we knew about since last year, we are headed to a Marriott timeshare presentation LOL Hilton and Marriott timeshare presentations back to back.... FUN TIMES!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hobokie]

Thanks for posting the pdf of open season costs. I am still researching buying and there’s looks of interesting stuff there. Amazing how a two br can be so much more the cost of a studio.

I should note I was looking at W57th.

@tombanjo , ditto still researching. Curious: are you leaning towards HGVC? I feel slightly overwhelmed as the majority of research/reading I've done is specific to Hilton (because that was the timeshare presentation I attended, like the brand and am now intrigued. Curious to see what you're considering and why. Also your general geographic location and if that is impacting your decision (I'm an East Coast gal but presently live in San Jose, CA.... no idea if we will be here "forever").

 

[Blues]

"Could you give me an idea of whether Elara in Vegas is available, say, ~2ish weekends from now (9/14-9/17, let's say) in open season? What about Big Island resorts such as Kohala, The Bay Club or Kings' Land on 9/20-9/25? Sorry, I know this is quite specific, I am just wondering if open season is something that should be factored in my decision or not. If you could look for these specifically and give me a real time view on whether I could get these today if I was an owner I would appreciate it!

I'm not SandyVDH, but I was here so I thought I'd give it a shot. Note that Open Season books up very rapidly as soon as it opens at 30 days out. 2 weeks is a short fuse, likely to give poor results. As of 10:30pm PST on 8/27:

Elara - nothing open in any size category for Fri or Sat nights, 9/14-15. A little bit of availability for Thurs or Sun nights, in some size categories.

Kingsland has some availability in 2BR plus, 2BR premiere, and 3 BR categories for that same weekend. About the same for 9/21-22. There's even a 1BR premiere open for 5 days, 9/19-24.

Kohala Suites has pretty good availability for both weekends, indeed for as many consecutive days as you want, for the most part. Note that this property only has 2BR units.

Bay Club has a smattering of availability in 1BR, and somewhat better availability for various flavors (but not all) of 2BR units, for both weekends in question and somewhat in the middle of the week.

HTH.

 

[Hobokie]

I'm not SandyVDH, but I was here so I thought I'd give it a shot. Note that Open Season books up very rapidly as soon as it opens at 30 days out. 2 weeks is a short fuse, likely to give poor results. As of 10:30pm PST on 8/27:

HTH.

WOW! So much for "Hawaii is impossible" to get :-X K, further research needed on my end, but this was extremely helpful. Thank you, all!

 

[Blues]

WOW! So much for "Hawaii is impossible" to get :-X K, further research needed on my end, but this was extremely helpful. Thank you, all!

"Hawaii is impossible" is too broad a statement. In fact, Oahu is nearly impossible in the time frame of Open Season. The Big Island, however, is much easier, and that's what you asked about.

 

[Hobokie]

Again, REALLY appreciate your replies and help @Blues ! May the universe and timeshare gods repay you someday

 

[tombanjo]

I’m in Florida and waiting on ROFR for Hilton Club NY. So I do not plan on using points for anywhere else unless I get a low MF deal to trade. However, open season prices mean I don’t need to buy points, but obviously have less availability and long term planning. Still, I am sure one can find deals if one is flexible.

 

[brp]

(I'm an East Coast gal but presently live in San Jose, CA.... no idea if we will be here "forever").

Welcome. New York boy here now living just outside of San Jose. Been here since '86, and this is highly likely forever...although we are headed to NYC this weekend for, you guessed it, a HGVC special stay-and-presentation package :)

Cheers.

 

[GT75]

However, open season prices mean I don’t need to buy points, but obviously have less availability and long term planning. Still, I am sure one can find deals if one is flexible.

I would agree with this. I would also say that since you will be in the bHC, you may also have added benefits. I know that we only in HGVC can not book open season in bHC. I think that you will have open season available to you at your deeded property 30 to 1 day prior to check-out with 1 day minimum. I don't know how beneficial this will be but like you said, if it fits and saves money/points/cheaper than another hotel, then worth using.

As previously stated, I think open season was a nice benefit for us HGVC owners greater than 4 years ago but now it is much harder the find value. I definitely wouldn't recommend buying into HGVC as this being the main benefit to utilize.

 

[presley]

Open Season isn't a good enough value to buy into a timeshare plan. there are times when booking on the Hhonors site for cash is less expensive than using HGVC.

 

[PigsDad]

WOW! So much for "Hawaii is impossible" to get :-X K, further research needed on my end, but this was extremely helpful. Thank you, all!

Realize that not many people can just go to Hawaii on short notice. Flight costs, travel time, etc. means that people tend to plan further out and stay longer in Hawaii than locations like Las Vegas. The open season availability you see in Hawaii tends to be from cancellations, not excess availability, as it is usually booked out close to 9 months in advance. Also, you asked about September, which is a lower-demand time as kids are back in school, summer is over, etc. This would change dramatically if you were looking for something around the holidays, spring break or summer.

Open Season can still be an OK deal for certain properties. Since I am in Colorado, I do use Open Season at Valdoro during ski season, as it is better than alternatives. But the availability is very, very slim. Luckily, I have a very flexible schedule, so if I happen to see a couple mid-week days available a couple weeks away, I can grab it. Weekends during ski season? Forget about it, as it is not going to happen. I personally treat Open Season as a nice-to-have perk with my HGVC ownership, but it is nothing that I would rely on and definitely not a major reason to buy, IMO.

Kurt

 

[Jason245]

I have used open season in orlando multiple times. . Given my cost per point it comes out on par or sometimes a little cheaper than using hgvc points for a stay there.

Personally I can't find accommodations of similar size and price (2br) elsewhere all in so I view it as a decent deal. Similarly. .. open season miami beach is a bargain IMHO. . But to each their own.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Sandy VDH]

Also, as mentioned Big Island always has more availability than Oahu, however I think you might have to factor in the Volcano and Hurricane Lane to add more availability short term than is normally there. I think that availability it a bit of an anomaly, but there is more availability in Big Island than Oahu ALWAYS.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Amazing how a two br can be so much more the cost of a studio.

It is often 2 or 3 times the space of a studio. It has multiple bathrooms and a large full kitchen instead of a kitchenette, which is all that HGVC studios have. So it is likely 2 or 3 times the price too.