Silver season

[mjack47]

I am already an owner with 7000pts. Looking to add a few pts. I know the silver season is less desirable and often cheaper to purchase. If you seldom plan on using this home resort but trade into club pts elsewhere are there any other disadvantages to buying a silver season just for the points. As I often read here points are points. You Tuggers have been great answering my questions. Perhaps some day Ill know enough to give advice.

 

[GT75]

If you are only looking for points, then points are points. It doesn't matter where they come from, as you already understand. It will however be (much) higher MFs/points ratio. I assume you understand that MFs (for most HGVC resorts) are determined by room size. So you will pay the same MF for a Silver season room and a Platinum season room in the same room size. You will need to weigh both the initial purchase cost and MFs over time. So, I would suggest you factor that into your purchase decision also.

 

[Bill4728]

If you are only looking for points, then points are points. It doesn't matter where they come from, as you already understand. It will however be (much) higher MFs/points ratio. I assume you understand that MFs (for most HGVC resorts) are determined by room size. So you will pay the same MF for a Silver season room and a Platinum season room in the same room size. You will need to weigh both the initial purchase cost and MFs over time. So, I would suggest you factor that into your purchase decision also.

I would never want to pay a yearly MF of two times what I'd pay for platinum pts buying silver points. If price is limiting buy Gold points not silver

 

[thare]

Probably depends on the price for me. I consider break-even on timeshares around 10 years, or generally 7% return. You should be able to run it quickly in excel to see how long the lower price takes to burn off against higher maintenance fees. Points ARE points, but the fees associated with each can make them worth more/less.

 

[tompalm]

5000 points seem to be a sweet spot. You can get that for a low cost and still have a good points to maintenance fee ratio. 4800 points is usually a one bedroom and even a better maintenance fee to point ratio.

 

[Tamaradarann]

5000 points seem to be a sweet spot. You can get that for a low cost and still have a good points to maintenance fee ratio. 4800 points is usually a one bedroom and even a better maintenance fee to point ratio.

I agree the 5000 points(2 BR Gold) seems to be a sweet spot and I am not sure why. There are very few Silver and Bronze Weeks at HGVC resorts, some resorts don't have any. So if one doesn't want to pay the Platinum purchase price premium, which gives the highest number of points for the maintenance fees you go for Gold. However, why the 2BR Gold? Perhaps because the point amount is so close to the 1BR Platinum. So if one wants to get the number of points for a 1BR Platinum they can look at the cost of the !BR Platinum versus the cost of the 2BR Gold.

 

[hurnik]

I agree the 5000 points(2 BR Gold) seems to be a sweet spot and I am not sure why. There are very few Silver and Bronze Weeks at HGVC resorts, some resorts don't have any. So if one doesn't want to pay the Platinum purchase price premium, which gives the highest number of points for the maintenance fees you go for Gold. However, why the 2BR Gold? Perhaps because the point amount is so close to the 1BR Platinum. So if one wants to get the number of points for a 1BR Platinum they can look at the cost of the !BR Platinum versus the cost of the 2BR Gold.

I'd say you're spot on.
A few years ago when I was looking at more points it was:
5,000 Gold (MF like around $850?) for $2500 for LV Strip/Blvd
or
7,000 Platinum (MF like around $800) for $9k for LV Strip/Blvd

That would've been "too many" points for me, plus on a pure cost basis I think it would've taken "too long" to recoup the cost on the MF.

Ideally I'd love to have been able to sell all my golds and get one or two platinums, but there's no way I'd ever recoup the cost savings even at 25 years.

 

[WalnutBaron]

If you are only looking for points, then points are points. It doesn't matter where they come from, as you already understand. It will however be (much) higher MFs/points ratio. I assume you understand that MFs (for most HGVC resorts) are determined by room size. So you will pay the same MF for a Silver season room and a Platinum season room in the same room size. You will need to weigh both the initial purchase cost and MFs over time. So, I would suggest you factor that into your purchase decision also.

I'll add one other consideration when purchasing a silver season points plan: resale. It might seem counter-intuitive, but I actually think you're risking more upfront over time by buying silver than platinum. Platinum weeks are the ones in demand and, therefore, much easier to sell when the time comes to unload them. Not only that, but I'd argue they retain their value (as long as they're bought resale) better than silver or gold weeks. GT is correct: points are points. But when the time comes to sell what you own, points associated with a platinum ownership will make your life a little easier.