Owners Update Elara

[Mitzi Witt]

Caved and agreed to sit in on owners update at Elara - mostly because agent referenced being to see some of the new units being built out on higher floors. Interesting pitch - trying to sell me on new, but kind of secret Elite level. (I am one of those suckers who has Elite Premier status.)

New level is at 40k pts - also referenced as "million pointers" (conversion) and 401V. Benefits with a lot of catches as near as I can remember:
- Points never expire. However, the explanation seemed to be since you have so many points, you roll your current year into the 1MM HHonors points at the beginning of every year and then borrow from next year for current year and - voila - points never expire.
- Also, since you have 1MM HHonors points, you could use towards airfare and rental cars and never pay a cent for vacation. Ever. Really.
- She also said you could book in one night increments, I think there was a catch there as well, but don't remember what
- She implied there would be greater access to inventory at the "boutique" properties that are hard to get - did not probe that either - but think it was same catch as with one unit
- Book Hilton rooms - all properties including resorts - at a max of 76k points/night.
- Make vacation points go further, because I can book lowest level HGVC units and get that elite upgrade to higher point rooms. I'm here to tell you those upgrades are few and far between

Most of the supposed benefits are options currently available - more useful just because there are so many points. Seemed a bit dodgy. No written info regarding this new status.

The deal they were offering (an amazing opportunity, in their opinion) was to upgrade my 7.8k Elara points to 11.4k for $45k. Ouch!

Finally, the sales center was on 57th floor - and she did say they were currently building out top three floors to units that would be available for Elite owners. I don't think there are any Elite-only units, so found that doubtful as well. Maybe Elite-access only for limited time. Whatever it is, will be awesome views!!

 

[brp]

Thanks for sharing. Several "she implied" and other verbal things that will never be in writing, as you already surmised. Weasel talk.

I've heard about the "book Hilton rooms at a discount," and when I asked how to access the site, I was given info that, when used later, brought up standard pricing.

And certainly, any sales angle that pitches HGVC-> HHonors as a selling point clearly assume that the listener knows little about how this all works (which is likely usually true )

Cheers.

 

[Anthony Schmid]

Caved and agreed to sit in on owners update at Elara - mostly because agent referenced being to see some of the new units being built out on higher floors. Interesting pitch - trying to sell me on new, but kind of secret Elite level. (I am one of those suckers who has Elite Premier status.)

New level is at 40k pts - also referenced as "million pointers" (conversion) and 401V. Benefits with a lot of catches as near as I can remember:
- Points never expire. However, the explanation seemed to be since you have so many points, you roll your current year into the 1MM HHonors points at the beginning of every year and then borrow from next year for current year and - voila - points never expire.
- Also, since you have 1MM HHonors points, you could use towards airfare and rental cars and never pay a cent for vacation. Ever. Really.
- She also said you could book in one night increments, I think there was a catch there as well, but don't remember what
- She implied there would be greater access to inventory at the "boutique" properties that are hard to get - did not probe that either - but think it was same catch as with one unit
- Book Hilton rooms - all properties including resorts - at a max of 76k points/night.
- Make vacation points go further, because I can book lowest level HGVC units and get that elite upgrade to higher point rooms. I'm here to tell you those upgrades are few and far between

Most of the supposed benefits are options currently available - more useful just because there are so many points. Seemed a bit dodgy. No written info regarding this new status.

The deal they were offering (an amazing opportunity, in their opinion) was to upgrade my 7.8k Elara points to 11.4k for $45k. Ouch!

Finally, the sales center was on 57th floor - and she did say they were currently building out top three floors to units that would be available for Elite owners. I don't think there are any Elite-only units, so found that doubtful as well. Maybe Elite-access only for limited time. Whatever it is, will be awesome views!!

Hilton honors points Do expire. Be careful

https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/do-hilton-points-expire/

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[GMan82]

The salesman in Scotland at Craigendarroch Lodges told me that Hilton was in the middle of making elite status more beneficial. He didn’t know details though. That salesman is also of the opinion that current elite benefits aren’t worth it in their current stage.

 

[brp]

Hilton honors points Do expire. Be careful

https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/do-hilton-points-expire/

But since one is wise to transfer points from HGVC->Hhonors each year, it will reset and never expire

But the reality is that any use at all (add, subtract) within 12 months resets this. Really hard not to do that if one travels.

Cheers.

 

[Anthony Schmid]

The salesman in Scotland at Craigendarroch Lodges told me that Hilton was in the middle of making elite status more beneficial. He didn’t know details though. That salesman is also of the opinion that current elite benefits aren’t worth it in their current stage.

I own 6 weeks in Scotland and I am Elite Premier. I spent under 40K USD to get to Elite Premier. People who buy HGVC in the USA spend nearly 250K to get to Elite Premier

 

[dougp26364]

Wow, this sounds amazingly like the stuff Marriott was pushing several years back, only with Marriott Rewards points. The suggestion was becoming a Marriott Rewards Millionaire. They weren’t selling the Elite status as I recall because it wasn’t a big thing back then.

A lot of these sales execs move from one company to another. I wonder if there’s a former Marriott sale exec amount the Hilton suits now?

 

[Mr Smith]

I have one of the 7.8k units there as well. Guaranteed to be on the top 5 floors. If it means I have to stay on the bottom 2 of the top 5 floors to save $45k, I’m good where I am. I doubt you’ll ever realize the difference in views. Upgraded rooms? They are already nice. They won’t be any bigger either.

For $45k I could buy another 5 of the 7.8k point units. That would give you an additional 39,000 point per year.

I agree with the others, they can promise the world as sales people. In your contract it will specifically state that what the salesperson said does not override what is written in the contract. Even if you had a video of what they said it likely won’t hold up in court because of that statement. If it isn’t in writing on the contract, you cannot enforce it. The same thing they do in new/used car contracts. The salesman can tell you the Ford Focus has 500hp with no consequence.

 

[GT75]

Sounds like sales talk with nothing to back up his/her statements. I wouldn’t believe one word.

 

[brp]

Sounds like sales talk with nothing to back up his/her statements. I wouldn’t believe one word.

I would. The pricing

CHeers.

 

[Mr Smith]

I would. The pricing

CHeers.

Hilarious yet still true

 

[Sandy VDH]

The salesman in Scotland at Craigendarroch Lodges told me that Hilton was in the middle of making elite status more beneficial. He didn’t know details though. That salesman is also of the opinion that current elite benefits aren’t worth it in their current stage.

NY rep said the same thing.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

When we visited Elara we noticed separate VIP elevators on the second floor next to the workout room. Do those elevators go up to these new elite units? Are the 7800 pt "Grand" units on these floors?

 

[Mitzi Witt]

Main purpose of elevators seemed to be to go express from 3rd floor check in to 57th floor sales center. Those elevators do also have buttons for 2,4 and then top three floors. Main elevator banks will also go to top three floors.

They are just starting to build out those top floors - possibly available for booking 2021. Sales person said there would be a variety of options - 1BR, 2BR - and I'm sure combine-able as other floors. I would expect new tier of points for these as well??

 

[dayooper]

Main purpose of elevators seemed to be to go express from 3rd floor check in to 57th floor sales center. Those elevators do also have buttons for 2,4 and then top three floors. Main elevator banks will also go to top three floors.

They are just starting to build out those top floors - possibly available for booking 2021. Sales person said there would be a variety of options - 1BR, 2BR - and I'm sure combine-able as other floors. I would expect new tier of points for these as well??

My guess is the points total will be pretty large. HGVC has been increasing point totals on premium rooms for a while. Since there are already high point totals at Elara, I think they will be very high.

 

[OMC]

The express elevators also stop on 56 which is the last "normal" floor. When we were at Elara in November our 7800 pt grand 1 bedroom was across the hall from the little hallway that took you to the location where the elevators are. There was a good view up the strip and of the high roller ferris wheel from the space in front of them. We couldn't get to the higher floors or use them to get up to the 56th floor but we used them to express down to the main floor any time we were going out. We would occasionally run into sales people and their marks coming off on 56 to see the big four bedroom suite on the front of the building.