Plantinum vs Gold bi-annual

[icul8rg8r]

Glad I found this board! We stayed at the HGVC Waikaloa earlier this month and loved it so much, that we got suckered into purchasing at the tour. Luckily we were able to rescind on DAY 6 (whew! still waiting for our refund) and the plans are now to buy resale (for $1000's in savings).

I have a question and hope someone out there has an opinion or two....

Which is better: 7000 point PLATINUM bi-annual or 4800 (or 5000) point GOLD annual? Location isn't really important to me (I'd like the cheapest Maint Fee's/taxes possible - preferably less than $800 year).

We live in Seattle year and we love Hawaii - will plan to go every few years, and Whistler is within driving distance (Club Intrawest - love that resort). I can see us using RCI for exchanges, as well.

I'm just not sure how many points we need since we usually only go on a nice vacation every-other year or so, and we don't mind traveling shoulder and/or off-season (hate crowds).

If you were in our shoes, which would you choose - EOY 7000 pt Platinum or Annual 4800/5000 pt Gold?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Talent312]

Two thoughts:

1. MF's are assessed at each resort -- Vegas+Orlando are the lowest -- by the size of the unit (# of BR's), not the season, thus for same size unit, a platinum unit will give you more pts/MF$ than a gold or silver.

(B) Borrowing or banking points makes annual travel with a biannual pkg doable. However, 7K is only 3,500/year... Fine for couples who stay in 1BR's on the mainland, but for Hawaii or families who need two or three BR's, not quite enuff. Only if you alternate short getaways and major vacations would it be realistic.

 

[linsj]

(B) Borrowing or banking points makes annual travel with a biannual pkg doable. However, 7K is only 3,500/year... Fine for couples who stay in 1BR's on the mainland, but for Hawaii or families who need two or three BR's, not quite enuff.

Your statement is incomplete. 3500 points gets a studio for two + weeks at HHV off season (the best time to travel IMHO).

 

[cheryltwin]

We also save a lot of points by staying for 4 nights during the week... For our 7,000 points we can generally get a 2bdr twice a year... a few days at Waikoloa and a few days at Club Intrawest Zihuatanejo...

 

[Talent312]

Your statement is incomplete. 3500 points gets a studio for two + weeks at HHV off season (the best time to travel IMHO).

True enuff, but IMHO, staying in a TS studio is equivilent to a hotel room (a small one at HHV), and not worth a commitment to a TS. I relegate studios to those times when I have a just few points left that I would otherwise lose.

 

[SmithOp]

True enuff, but IMHO, staying in a TS studio is equivilent to a hotel room (a small one at HHV), and not worth a commitment to a TS. I reserve studio stays to times when I have a few points left-over that I would lose otherwise.

Agree completely, the Kalia Tower studios are converted hotel rooms.