Sales pitch to add MAX to our resale purchase

[terces]

We currently own 33,600 resale points at Las Vegas Blvd and just attended a presentation at the Elara. Much to my surprise they made us an offer to buy an extra deed of 3,520 points ey with $733 extra MF's and to allow all of our resale points for use in MAX. The cost is $26,990. We are late 60's and early 70's and felt that our travel would become less and not more and that we could be happy travelling to the existing HGVC resorts, so expanding into the plethora of extra MAX resorts around the world was not something we had considered. Plus we have become very good at getting exactly the dates we want booking 9 months out. But this offer is interesting and I just wanted to throw it out to the group and ask for advice.

 

[HuskerATL]

$27k for 3,520 points.... That speaks for itself

For comparison, that is about what we have paid for about 100k points and we have access to the DRI/HVC/Embarc properties further out than the Max 6 months so, not a very good deal in my opinion.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

3,520 points ... for use in MAX ... cost is $26,990. We are late 60's and early 70's ... this offer is interesting

It never ends. What causes this? A lifetime of watching info-mercials? May you live in "interesting" times, I guess.
Fundamentally, I don't understand how TS salesppl can make a living, until the next time I read something like that, and then BAM!!!!!!!!!

 

[WaikikiFirst]

not a very good deal in my opinion

Are you saying there's a chance?

 

[GT75]

We are late 60's and early 70's and felt that our travel would become less and not more and that we could be happy travelling to the existing HGVC resorts, so expanding into the plethora of extra MAX resorts around the world was not something we had considered.

It sounds to me that you have already answered with a hard NO.

Plus we have become very good at getting exactly the dates we want booking 9 months out.

It also sounds like the Legacy HGVC system is working well for you.

If you want access to more properties and more points then I would suggest that you spend ~$3000 on a 1BR Craig (MF $837; 7680 pts). This will give you access to DEX (much better than Max).

 

[pedro47]

Why does anyone needs to spend more hard earned money to access more resorts ?

 

[chapjim]

Why does anyone needs to spend more hard earned money to access more resorts ?

Is this a serious question?

 

[terces]

We currently own 33,600 resale points at Las Vegas Blvd and just attended a presentation at the Elara. Much to my surprise they made us an offer to buy an extra deed of 3,520 points ey with $733 extra MF's and to allow all of our resale points for use in MAX. The cost is $26,990. We are late 60's and early 70's and felt that our travel would become less and not more and that we could be happy travelling to the existing HGVC resorts, so expanding into the plethora of extra MAX resorts around the world was not something we had considered. Plus we have become very good at getting exactly the dates we want booking 9 months out. But this offer is interesting and I just wanted to throw it out to the group and ask for advice.

Why this caught me off guard is that I was under the impression that re-sale was blocked from joining MAX, so we went in quite unprepared to being offered to join at any price. I have never even bothered to look at the former Diamond resorts as we had the decision made for us that we were persona non grata. So yes my question was valid to ask if there is a benefit to having access to MAX at any price. I know when they started selling that a figure of $7500 was initially going to be offered to us low lifes but that the offer was withdrawn.

 

[T5travels]

We currently own 33,600 resale points at Las Vegas Blvd and just attended a presentation at the Elara. Much to my surprise they made us an offer to buy an extra deed of 3,520 points ey with $733 extra MF's and to allow all of our resale points for use in MAX. The cost is $26,990. We are late 60's and early 70's and felt that our travel would become less and not more and that we could be happy travelling to the existing HGVC resorts, so expanding into the plethora of extra MAX resorts around the world was not something we had considered. Plus we have become very good at getting exactly the dates we want booking 9 months out. But this offer is interesting and I just wanted to throw it out to the group and ask for advice.

You already received a lot of feedback on this, but I want to point out that (big surprise) the salesperson may be mistaken in that ALL your resale points would join MAX if you made the new retail purchase.

We did the same owner update as you at Elara a few weeks ago and our salesperson suggested an option for us to pay $25k to "legitimize" our recently acquired 11,200 resale deed at Boulevard and then have 11,200 MAX eligible points. After we said no, he cautioned us if we were ever back at an update with another salesperson and they tried to get us into MAX with a new small deed for $10k-$15k then ONLY those points would be MAX property eligible. Sounds like this is what you were offerred, but the only difference may be that $26,990 may be their full desired retail price per point (not sure if that changes what they can give you as far as MAX).

So I don't know which of our salespersons are correct, or if the truth lies somewhere in the middle - but good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[kanerf]

I recently purchased a resale at HGVC Parc Soleil in Orlando and when the points showed up in my account all of a sudden I was HGVMax. I own retail at The District.

 

[T5travels]

Why this caught me off guard is that I was under the impression that re-sale was blocked from joining MAX, so we went in quite unprepared to being offered to join at any price. I have never even bothered to look at the former Diamond resorts as we had the decision made for us that we were persona non grata. So yes my question was valid to ask if there is a benefit to having access to MAX at any price. I know when they started selling that a figure of $7500 was initially going to be offered to us low lifes but that the offer was withdrawn.

There are a few benefits that I felt were worth exploring MAX to some degree. More properties, No booking fees, free guest certificate, free cancellation window, 2 day minimum stay for points, longer open season booking window (some of these may depend on the property, and I don't have direct access to MAX to know for sure). Cons are you will likely end up with a less-optimal MF/Point ratio and the dues are almost $100 more per year, so depending on how far out you plan and whether its lots of short trips vs. fewer long stays factors into the value equation. Very tough sell for me though at the prices they seem to be asking.

 

[Yzfguy06]

I like the idea of max but I don’t want to pay their price for it. If it was a nominal fee then I’d be down. Access to more resorts is never a bad thing. For example for Hawaii it would open a few more resorts to stay at. Take Maui for example… for us that don’t have max there is only one resort on Maui that we can stay at. Max has 2 or 3. Kauai has 0 for hgvc. Yes you can trade into something else but for hgvc it’s kind of limited.

 

[HuskerATL]

You already received a lot of feedback on this, but I want to point out that (big surprise) the salesperson may be mistaken in that ALL your resale points would join MAX if you made the new retail purchase.

We did the same owner update as you at Elara a few weeks ago and our salesperson suggested an option for us to pay $25k to "legitimize" our recently acquired 11,200 resale deed at Boulevard and then have 11,200 MAX eligible points. After we said no, he cautioned us if we were ever back at an update with another salesperson and they tried to get us into MAX with a new small deed for $10k-$15k then ONLY those points would be MAX property eligible. Sounds like this is what you were offerred, but the only difference may be that $26,990 may be their full desired retail price per point (not sure if that changes what they can give you as far as MAX).

So I don't know which of our salespersons are correct, or if the truth lies somewhere in the middle - but good luck with whatever you decide.

They will always have the same deals. That sales person was just trying to make the sale. Many people have gone down this path and gotten their resale counted in Max. In the other hand, they can be wrong and sell it to you then your current deeds don't count. That is what would have happened to us with our Craig weeks, if we would have did this. Whatever folks do, make sure it is in writing.

 

[HuskerATL]

I like the idea of max but I don’t want to pay their price for it. If it was a nominal fee then I’d be down. Access to more resorts is never a bad thing. For example for Hawaii it would open a few more resorts to stay at. Take Maui for example… for us that don’t have max there is only one resort on Maui that we can stay at. Max has 2 or 3. Kauai has 0 for hgvc. Yes you can trade into something else but for hgvc it’s kind of limited.

The other gotcha though, is that only retail purchases would raise your Max Tier level moving forward... If that was of interest.

If you only want access to more properties, then do what GT75 suggested and buy a resale Craig Lodges week for a few thousand, enroll in DEX EU, and then deposit your week there. You then have access up to 2 years out reservations not the short 6 month Max window

 

[HuskerATL]

There are a few benefits that I felt were worth exploring MAX to some degree. More properties, No booking fees, free guest certificate, free cancellation window, 2 day minimum stay for points, longer open season booking window (some of these may depend on the property, and I don't have direct access to MAX to know for sure). Cons are you will likely end up with a less-optimal MF/Point ratio and the dues are almost $100 more per year, so depending on how far out you plan and whether its lots of short trips vs. fewer long stays factors into the value equation. Very tough sell for me though at the prices they seem to be asking.

Some of this is incorrect. Max does not change open season, you don't get a different cancellation window, there are no 2 day reservation in HGVC except open season.

Your core benefits don't change with Max. If you are HGVC, then you have the same core benefits as a Legacy owner. Max is just an exchange/program that adds to your other benefits. You do it a free guest cert but the number depends on your Max level. Legacy Elite Premier have unlimited free guest certs. Something that no Max Tier has. You do get free reservations but, again, so does Legacy EP.

So far, the cost to join Max doesn't seem worth it to me versus, strategically buying elite qualifying resale to get to EP and using DEX EU.

 

[Reddart]

I recently purchased a resale at HGVC Parc Soleil in Orlando and when the points showed up in my account all of a sudden I was HGVMax. I own retail at The District.

Another free-Max here!

 

[brp]

Some of this is incorrect. Max does not change open season, you don't get a different cancellation window, there are no 2 day reservation in HGVC except open season.

Your core benefits don't change with Max. If you are HGVC, then you have the same core benefits as a Legacy owner. Max is just an exchange/program that adds to your other benefits. You do it a free guest cert but the number depends on your Max level. Legacy Elite Premier have unlimited free guest certs. Something that no Max Tier has. You do get free reservations but, again, so does Legacy EP.

So far, the cost to join Max doesn't seem worth it to me versus, strategically buying elite qualifying resale to get to EP and using DEX EU.

I'll add to this that, while the "access to more resorts" that the posters mentioned is true, this availability is only at 6 months, so amounts to whatever is left over at that point. For higher demand locations/time periods, the pickings could be slim.

Cheers.

 

[Yzfguy06]

The other gotcha though, is that only retail purchases would raise your Max Tier level moving forward... If that was of interest.

If you only want access to more properties, then do what GT75 suggested and buy a resale Craig Lodges week for a few thousand, enroll in DEX EU, and then deposit your week there. You then have access up to 2 years out reservations not the short 6 month Max window

Is that another system like RCI? Where are the properties?

 

[HuskerATL]

no 2 day reservation in HGVC except open season.

Let me correct this. There are 1 and 2 day reservations, using points, in Hilton Club but not HGVC.

 

[Reddart]

Let me correct this. There are 1 and 2 day reservations, using points, in Hilton Club but not HGVC.

There are also 2 day reservations available for the Max HVC properties, but not the legacy HGVC properties, if you have Max.

 

[HuskerATL]

Is that another system like RCI? Where are the properties?

Destination Xchange (DEX) is the exchange system for The Club. The EU part is the European version of it but it still has access to all the same properties as the US version. In essence, HGVC Max folks get access to DEX lite since Max doesn't get access to all the properties in The Club and it is only a 6 month window.

Anyone wanting to get access to The Club properties is better of going the Craig Lodges route... Cheaper, better access, and the option to not use it then use your points in HGVC, as usual...or RCI...or convert to HH.

 

[HuskerATL]

There are also 2 day reservations available for the Max HVC properties, but not the legacy HGVC properties, if you have Max.

Ah...I didn't think about The Club properties in Max.

 

[HuskerATL]

I recently purchased a resale at HGVC Parc Soleil in Orlando and when the points showed up in my account all of a sudden I was HGVMax. I own retail at The District.

This has happened to a few folks... Whether they wanted it or not.

 

[Yzfguy06]

Destination Xchange (DEX) is the exchange system for The Club. The EU part is the European version of it but it still has access to all the same properties as the US version. In essence, HGVC Max folks get access to DEX lite since Max doesn't get access to all the properties in The Club and it is only a 6 month window.

Anyone wanting to get access to The Club properties is better of going the Craig Lodges route... Cheaper, better access, and the option to not use it then use your points in HGVC, as usual...or RCI...or convert to HH.

How do you get access to that? Do you have to sign up? I own in Italy and Barbados currently. Or is it specific to Craig Lodges?

 

[GT75]

Or is it specific to Craig Lodges?

Specifically Craig Lodges.

Depositing Craig Lodges and other HGVC weeks into DEX

I thought it would be good to have a thread about this topic since a number of us are currently going through it with Craig Lodges and they have offered it for Plantation. I am going to add some of the documents that we have collected so far and provide updates on the process. Others, please...

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