Reservations in November 2020

[elleny76]

I am confuse about the reservation window. I own in Orlando but I need to book a week in Cancun by November 26 2020 _ to December 3rd ..When do I check online or call to make the reservation? February 26? thanks so much Elle

 

[hurnik]

Club Points reservations are 9 months in advance, AFAIK.
But I think it's 9 months from check-out (in your case, since you want a week) and you cannot change/walk the Mexico resorts, so you'd have to book at like March 3rd or so (maybe March 4th).

 

[Hobokie]

@hurnik What do you mean you can't walk the Mexico resorts...??? Why not, that's terrible!!! How could they possibly include some but exclude other resorts?

 

[natarajanv]

@hurnik What do you mean you can't walk the Mexico resorts...??? Why not, that's terrible!!! How could they possibly include some but exclude other resorts?

They call it non changeable reservation

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[brp]

Club Points reservations are 9 months in advance, AFAIK.
But I think it's 9 months from check-out (in your case, since you want a week) and you cannot change/walk the Mexico resorts, so you'd have to book at like March 3rd or so (maybe March 4th).

For Club Reservations it's 276 days from check-out. Excel tells me that it's 2-March in this case.

Cheers.

 

[GT75]

They call it non changeable reservation

Yes, FA resorts booked via HGVC are non-changeable reservations. This change was made about 4-5 years ago. The other thing about these resorts are that FA must release the inventory to HGVC. This may occur prior to or after the start of the club booking window at 276 days before checkout.

 

[dayooper]

@hurnik What do you mean you can't walk the Mexico resorts...??? Why not, that's terrible!!! How could they possibly include some but exclude other resorts?

They are an external exchange with Fiesta Americana and/Grand Luxx.

 

[dsmrp]

Also too the FA resorts are mostly ( if not all of them) All Inclusive when booked thru HGVC. The words "All Inclusive" are part of the resort name.

That put me off making a reservation with them.

 

[terces]

Yes, FA resorts booked via HGVC are non-changeable reservations. This change was made about 4-5 years ago. The other thing about these resorts are that FA must release the inventory to HGVC. This may occur prior to or after the start of the club booking window at 276 days before checkout.

Could you elaborate on "FA must release the inventory to HGVC"? Is this also the case with the other Mexican affiliate - Vindanta? I was asking on a thread about booking into one of them for November 2020 and there is no inventory showing up at all. I would be curious to know if they in fact do release a decent amount of inventory and when it usually happens.

 

[hurnik]

Could you elaborate on "FA must release the inventory to HGVC"? Is this also the case with the other Mexican affiliate - Vindanta? I was asking on a thread about booking into one of them for November 2020 and there is no inventory showing up at all. I would be curious to know if they in fact do release a decent amount of inventory and when it usually happens.

Vidanta is a special case because it's actually via SFX "exchange" with Hilton
(or you can also use RCI Exchange)

The Mexico resorts with Fiesta Americana is like a "relationship" with Hilton, so the FA resort has to basically load/tell Hilton what they are willing to give up. (I'm assuming there's some contractual obligations). Vs. a native HGV developed resort like Vegas and Orlando where Hilton owns/controls everything. I'm simplifying quite a bit just to get the point though.

However, the FA resorts are now bookable online, so they have to load their inventory into Hilton's systems (or Hilton gets something and loads it in themselves). Sometimes there's a delay when this happens.

Vidanta sometimes does "bulk deposits" into RCI and SFX (every so often, they dump a bunch of rooms/dates into those systems and that's it). It's not usually an "ongoing" 9-month cycle type of thing where one month from now they dump a bunch more.

 

[terces]

Vidanta is a special case because it's actually via SFX "exchange" with Hilton
(or you can also use RCI Exchange)

oh boy, the myriad of complex relationships HGVC has never ceases to amaze. How will this affect me if I try to make a reservation at Vidanta? I made a call to HGVC the other day and found out I was early for the time I wanted to book and also that there was almost no inventory. I hope to make a reservation through HGVC because of they can be cancelled if necessary, whereas my experience with RCI is you loose the entire booking fee and I just want to avoid RCI as much as possible because of that and use my HGVC points for HGVC bookings. Does HGVC handle the transaction behind the scene with SFX? I understand that the regular cancellation policy applies, but do you need an SFX account in order to book into Vidanta through HGVC?

 

[hurnik]

oh boy, the myriad of complex relationships HGVC has never ceases to amaze. How will this affect me if I try to make a reservation at Vidanta? I made a call to HGVC the other day and found out I was early for the time I wanted to book and also that there was almost no inventory. I hope to make a reservation through HGVC because of they can be cancelled if necessary, whereas my experience with RCI is you loose the entire booking fee and I just want to avoid RCI as much as possible because of that and use my HGVC points for HGVC bookings. Does HGVC handle the transaction behind the scene with SFX? I understand that the regular cancellation policy applies, but do you need an SFX account in order to book into Vidanta through HGVC?

I'm not entirely sure how Hilton handles this, but I'm fairly certain once you book into SFX via HGVC points, that you can't cancel it and have the points go back into your account. I think it's treated just like an RCI exchange is (RCI via HGVC is "points" based, you don't really deposit your week per se, but once you book RCI via HGVC, if you cancel that RCI stay, all your points are gone, bye bye, unless you purchased the Points Protection although I'm not 100% sure if that'll return the points back to RCI or they refund you something or whatever that RCI offers, AFAIK).

No, you do not need an SFX account to book Vidanta via HGVC directly.

I would call HGVC and clarify the cancellation policy for both RCI and SFX if I were you since you want something "cancellable" but it's for something booked "outside" of the HGV system.

I know with SFX, if you were to deposit your HGV week (you can deposit a POINTS club week and not your home week, BTW), that you can purchase optional cancellation protection and I think what they do is "redeposit' your week within their internal system so you can rebook that exchanged/deposited week at the original or different location. But I'm not sure about the timeframe (ie, you deposit a week with SFX, and then have to cancel it, you get X more days to re-use that week, I just don't recall if it's 6 or 12, or whatever months). I think you lose the exchange fee though (although that's typical of RCI/II as well if I'm remembering correctly).

 

[natarajanv]

I'm not entirely sure how Hilton handles this, but I'm fairly certain once you book into SFX via HGVC points, that you can't cancel it and have the points go back into your account. I think it's treated just like an RCI exchange is (RCI via HGVC is "points" based, you don't really deposit your week per se, but once you book RCI via HGVC, if you cancel that RCI stay, all your points are gone, bye bye, unless you purchased the Points Protection although I'm not 100% sure if that'll return the points back to RCI or they refund you something or whatever that RCI offers, AFAIK).

You only loose points within 30 day window

 

[PigsDad]

... if you cancel that RCI stay, all your points are gone, bye bye, unless you purchased the Points Protection although I'm not 100% sure if that'll return the points back to RCI or they refund you something or whatever that RCI offers, AFAIK).

I've canceled an RCI reservation more than 30 day out, with no Point Protection, and all my points were returned to where they came from (not put into the RCI bucket). All I lost was my reservation fee.

Kurt

 

[hurnik]

I've canceled an RCI reservation more than 30 day out, with no Point Protection, and all my points were returned to where they came from (not put into the RCI bucket). All I lost was my reservation fee.

Kurt

Yes, I forgot about how far in advance you cancel (and were they saved points, etc.) Nataranjav posted the actual rules for RCI. I'm used to traveling with old people (LOL - parents) so you never know when something's gonna happen last minute (although even with young people you never know).

Thank you.

Although I'm not sure if those same rules apply to the SFX exchange, interestingly the rules (in the PDF) are silent on that and I say "Exchange" because that's how it's listed on the HGV website for SFX.

HOWEVER, on the website, when you select the SFX Preferred Resorts under the RCI and Exchange option I see this at the bottom:

Club reservation fee and cancellation policy applies.

I then wonder if HGV applies the other rules/policies to the SFX exchange then? (ie, changing vs. cancel?) Wonder if they would offer the points protection then (especially if it's non-changeable)?

IF one is planning on an exchange that they can cancel then:
RCI eats up the what, $289 exchange fee that you'd lose.
SFX eats up more HGV points and appears to be the $69 club reservation fee (?)

On the other hand, if one is planning on actually going, then RCI also adds on the extra Vidanta-imposed resort fees (and for a 2 BR can add up).

 

[PigsDad]

It can be confusing when talking about getting a Vidanta reservation, because as a HGVC owner, there are really 3 different ways of obtaining the same thing:
1) RCI exchange
2) Direct booking from HGVC
3) Create an SFX account, deposit a week, and then use them to exchange into a Vidanta reservation.

Each has pluses and minuses -- different exchange/reservation fees, different resort fees, different cancellation policies, different amounts of points needed, etc. One should really look into all three options to see what works best for them.

Kurt

 

[hurnik]

It can be confusing when talking about getting a Vidanta reservation, because as a HGVC owner, there are really 3 different ways of obtaining the same thing:
1) RCI exchange
2) Direct booking from HGVC
3) Create an SFX account, deposit a week, and then use them to exchange into a Vidanta reservation.

Each has pluses and minuses -- different exchange/reservation fees, different resort fees, different cancellation policies, different amounts of points needed, etc. One should really look into all three options to see what works best for them.

Kurt

Completely agreed.

I credit the OP with the wisdom to inquire BEFORE booking something.

Until today I had not thought about (nor seen anyone inquire) about the cancellation process with doing #1 or #2 from your list above as it pertains to HGV and Vidanta.