Questions about points ect.

[Mr.Ort]

I send a letter to recind my contract after i signup on the last presentation I attended. Saving myself 15k after learning about buying after market.

However, I am confused after looking at the listing. I see sales post about mentioning a property and a week number. I never heard about locking a specific week and specific property during the presentation. I only saw you can use your points to book at any affiliate property on the Hilton network.

Can someone explain how this works and If points can still be use somewhere else?

Sorry for newbie question.

 

[cd5]

If you were sold points it's unlikely they were HGVC as they have deeds with fixed weeks not points. You may have been sold HVC (former Diamond Resorts) which are generally points (right to use, not deeds). Without knowing where you were and what the contract said its hard to give you any more relevant info.

 

[Mr.Ort]

I was reading the contract and based on the wording looks like i purchase a membership. Like you mentioned its its a HVC and not a HGVC. Now the question is if I want to purchase after market what should I looks for? I asked Ai and told me that I can use the points of a HGVC to book other properties even if its tide to a property? Not sure how true its this.

 

[GT75]

Do you own HGVC currently? I wouldn’t recommending purchasing HVC, resale and certainly not retail.

 

[Mr.Ort]

I purchase retail recently but in process of rescinding in my 10 day window, letter already send. Looking in the after market instead

 

[PigsDad]

If you were sold points it's unlikely they were HGVC as they have deeds with fixed weeks not points.

They may have very well been sold a HVC points contract, but what you stated about HGVC deeds is not correct. Very few HGVC deeds are fixed weeks. Most of the fixed weeks in HGVC are affiliate properties, which usually only have a subset of their weeks as fixed, and event weeks (like Christmas/New years weeks) at some of the more mainline HGVC properties. The bulk of the HGVC deeds are not fixed weeks.

If the salespeople are pitching you a HGVC deed, they will often present it as a deed of X points. For example, a 2BR Platinum deed that is 11,200 points. For a person who is unfamiliar with HGV, it would be very likely they think they were buying "11,200 points", as the distinction between a HVC point contract and a HGVC deed is a more advanced topic.

Kurt

 

[geist1223]

HVC (formerly DRI) is broken into Collections (Hawaiian, USA, Cabo, etc) when you buy Resell you are restricted to only Booking directly into that Collection. So you need to find out if in fact these Points are formerly DRI. If they are you need to find out which Collection they are part.

 

[Mr.Ort]

I checked the contract and looks like what I purchase was 8000 into the US Collection. However, like I mentioned on my post I rescind my contract and looking to purchase after market. I am looking for something similar that is not tied to a specific property or week. All the post for sales I see are tide to some property, unit type and week number. I want something that I can book any Hilton property by using my points.

 

[brp]

I checked the contract and looks like what I purchase was 8000 into the US Collection. However, like I mentioned on my post I rescind my contract and looking to purchase after market. I am looking for something similar that is not tied to a specific property or week. All the post for sales I see are tide to some property, unit type and week number. I want something that I can book any Hilton property by using my points.

There are two primary systems here - the HGVC system and the HVC system. HVC is what was called Diamond before acquisition. Even now that they are under the same company, they behave differently. And even more so for resale folks.

The HGVC system allows using points across all of the HGVC properties (there is one property in NYC that is an exception, but that's in the details). Generally, you have 12 months to book at the resort you own and 276 days (around 9 months) for other properties. Here there are other exceptions for higher-end properties mainly in major cities (NYC, DC). But these HGVC resale points cannot book on the DVC (Diamond) side.

Buying on the DVC side has different rules and I know less about that as I don't own there, so I'll not try to address that.

I think that mostly covers the HGVC side, although there may be nuances I've missed.

So, where you want to stay (which side of the company, basically) matters for any resale purchase.

Cheer.

 

[Reddart]

I wouldn’t be too concerned about being tied to a particular property if the $/points is low enough, if it is the HGVC properties in general that you want to stay at (vs HVC). As an example, I own at Elara, but never stay there. I use the points to stay at other HGVC locations. The 2BR at Elara has a good $/point value, and for the most part, points are points in terms of staying at any location reserving at up to 9 months out (not counting bHC locations, other then when the club window opens for those particular properties).

Where a specific location does matter is like the case of my bHC W57th deed, where being an owner there gives you a longer reservation window, and access to the owner only lounge.

 

[ljmiii]

I am looking for something similar that is not tied to a specific property or week. All the post for sales I see are tide to some property, unit type and week number. I want something that I can book any Hilton property by using my points.

You’re misunderstanding how HGVC works and the advantages of owning a particular unit/season/resort.

Yes, your HGVC ownership allows you to make a Home Week (and in some cases a Home Resort) reservation where you own.

But if all you’re doing is making Club Reservations, your ownership determines where your HGVC points come from *not* where you can go with them.

And so in HGVC (and unlike in a Trust) you have a good deal of control over the MFs per point that you pay.

 

[Mr.Ort]

You’re misunderstanding how HGVC works and the advantages of owning a particular unit/season/resort.

Yes, your HGVC ownership allows you to make a Home Week (and in some cases a Home Resort) reservation where you own.

But if all you’re doing is making Club Reservations, your ownership determines where your HGVC points come from *not* where you can go with them.

And so in HGVC (and unlike in a Trust) you have a good deal of control over the MFs per point that you pay.

So, you are saying that even if my timeshare is tied to a particular property, I can use my points to book somewhere else?

 

[ljmiii]

So, you are saying that even if my timeshare is tied to a particular property, I can use my points to book somewhere else?

Absolutely yes. Most HGVC owners never see their home resort much less stay there.

There are some exceptions. First and foremost are the NYC and DC bHC properties. The maintenance fees are too expensive to use elsewhere (other than occasionally), but the ability to make Home Resort, bHC, and Open Season reservations in addition to Home Week reservations as well as lounge access more than make up for this.

Ski Weeks at Ski resorts, Summer on Hilton Head Island, and the Lagoon Tower on O’ahu are some other examples of weeks that are usually booked via a Home Week reservation.

But almost anything else is booked during the Club Reservation window.

 

[Mr.Ort]

Absolutely yes. Most HGVC owners never see their home resort much less stay there.

There are some exceptions. First and foremost are the NYC and DC bHC properties. The maintenance fees are too expensive to use elsewhere (other than occasionally), but the ability to make Home Resort, bHC, and Open Season reservations in addition to Home Week reservations as well as lounge access more than make up for this.

Ski Weeks at Ski resorts, Summer on Hilton Head Island, and the Lagoon Tower on O’ahu are some other examples of weeks that are usually booked via a Home Week reservation.

But almost anything else is booked during the Club Reservation window.

Okay I am understanding now. Correct me if I am wrong. So, let's say I want to purchase a timeshare or get it for free like I see in the forums. I can pick a location with low MFs, and the points associated with this use it to reserve anywhere else, correct?

 

[ljmiii]

Okay I am understanding now. Correct me if I am wrong. So, let's say I want to purchase a timeshare or get it for free like I see in the forums. I can pick a location with low MFs, and the points associated with this use it to reserve anywhere else, correct?

Absolutely yes. The ‘trick’ is to balance the initial cost vs the benefit of a low MF/point cost over time (keeping in mind that you’ll have to pay around $1,000 in activation fees and closing costs…if not a bit more).

The deeds you see offered for free are often hideously expensive once you take their MF cost into consideration.

 

[Mr.Ort]

Absolutely yes. The ‘trick’ is to balance the initial cost vs the benefit of a low MF/point cost over time (keeping in mind that you’ll have to pay around $1,000 in activation fees and closing costs…if not a bit more).

The deeds you see offered for free are often hideously expensive once you take their MF cost into consideration.

Can you give me some recommendations on what to look for when looking to buy or get for "free" I seem people offering to pay the "closing cost". what is the sweet spot for MF/point cost?

 

[jeffox]

I can give examples in Las Vegas. There are several different resorts that have different maintenance fees but get the same number of points based on season, Gold or Platinum, so the more points have a better MF ratio (points cost less). A gold week at can usually be had for just the cost of closing and transfer fees. Because Platinum weeks are more valuable, they don't come up as often and cost a couple thousand over closing costs.

The only time where you own matters is if you need a specific week at a specific time. There was a person that spent $100k+ resale to get the specific Hawaii week they wanted every year as HGVC doesn't sell weeks there anymore, only points, and that wasn't going to get them what they wanted, no matter how much they spent with the developer since they would be stuck with the 9 month or 7 month window.

If you are flexible, at 9 months HGVC deeded points are the same across the system except for NYC and a few others. Stay away from collection points, they can be had for free with no costs, but they are very limited, have higher MFs and have other fees.

 

[dayooper]

Can you give me some recommendations on what to look for when looking to buy or get for "free" I seem people offering to pay the "closing cost". what is the sweet spot for MF/point cost?

Your sweet spot for cost vs MF's would be 2 bedroom platinum deeds at Boulevard and Paradise in Vegas or 2 bedroom platinum units at Craigandarroch. The free deeds are nice, but they are free for a reason, the amount of points you get for for the MF's you pay is very high. I own at The Boulevard and I pay just over $1000 for my 11,200. Those same 11,200 at Seaworld in Orlando would cost you just over $1700. That's a huge difference! That's why owners will pay closing costs on their deed they are offering for free. It's just as important to purchase a deed that you can easily divest yourself of if you need to and the better the MF per point ratio, the easier it's to get rid of. There are deeds that have a better ratio than those I listed above, but their upfront costs are higher.

This handy database our illustrious moderator @GT75 creates every year ranks the best MF ratios in the system: http://hgvcmfs.com/fees_points_by_year.aspx