Surprise upgrade to HGV Max

[Reddart]

Yep, after midnight, the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, I lost a glass slipper, and I have been re-Maxed. But still no free legacy HGVC reservations.

 

[GT75]

Yep, after midnight, the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, I lost a glass slipper, and I have been re-Maxed. But still no free legacy HGVC reservations.

Well, the HgvMax issue is consistent.

 

[HuskerATL]

Yep, after midnight, the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, I lost a glass slipper, and I have been re-Maxed. But still no free legacy HGVC reservations.

That is really odd that it is giving you Max but not that part. I wonder if you hang tight and when the billing comes out then it will be the Max amount and free booking. I have heard of folks who changed to Max, from Legacy, and getting a bill for the difference in club dues. Maybe the benefits part would kick in after paying the dues.

 

[Reddart]

My Max is gone after about a week.

Kewldoh, did it ever come back?

 

[Reddart]

That is really odd that it is giving you Max but not that part. I wonder if you hang tight and when the billing comes out then it will be the Max amount and free booking. I have heard of folks who changed to Max, from Legacy, and getting a bill for the difference in club dues. Maybe the benefits part would kick in after paying the dues.

I would wait and see, but I have the full 2024 bHC points from my resale burning a hole in my pocket, and want to make some reservations to park them while I figure out if I want to use them or pay for saving them (or some part of them).

 

[HuskerATL]

I would wait and see, but I have the full 2024 bHC points from my resale burning a hole in my pocket, and want to make some reservations to park them while I figure out if I want to use them or pay for saving them (or some part of them).

You can still use them but would just have to pay the reservation fee until you sort out the Max or bHC AI.

 

[ljmiii]

I would wait and see, but I have the full 2024 bHC points from my resale burning a hole in my pocket, and want to make some reservations to park them while I figure out if I want to use them or pay for saving them (or some part of them).

If you just make one big reservation to park them you'll come out ahead of the game - making one reservation is cheaper than $145 ($354 - $209) even assuming that they let you just pay the difference to upgrade to all inclusive. I'm in the same boat.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

As I (and @Eric B) noted over in the "Hilton Club access to other Hilton Club reservation windows" thread, The Central at 5th, The Quin, The Residences, and The District in DC all have "by Hilton Club Priority Reservation" windows of 104 days in addition to those shown in the graphic.

My understanding is that in the relatively recent past, anyone with bHC points from any bHC resort could both see availability between 90 and 104 days and make reservations online. What @Eric B pointed out is that language in the Club Rules from at least as far back as 2022 states that only those who own at one of those four resorts are eligible.

What I (and others) are now seeing is that the website is now showing only 89 day availability at the bHCs with bHC Priority windows. And I can confirm that the HGVC CSR couldn't make a reservation for me at 100 days at The District when just W57th ownership was showing as a "Home Resort" but that once The Quin showed as a "Home Resort" the CSR could make a 100 day reservation for me even though the correct window wasn't showing online.

Can anyone who owns at W57 confirm that they were previously able to use their bHC points to see and make 90-104 days reservations at The Central, Quin, Residences, and/or District?

W57 owner DP. We could see availability at Central 5th but could not book it early. We could not see it at the other properties.

 

[ljmiii]

W57 owner DP. We could see availability at Central 5th but could not book it early. We could not see it at the other properties.

Interesting...and thank you! I'm still at 'I can't see it on the website but the CSRs assure me that I can call to book (and they did do a 'dry run' test).

 

[CalGalTraveler]

BTW...I cannot see any availability past Club window at Central now. So it appears to be something they fixed.

 

[Reddart]

Update: was able to pay for the inclusive dues difference ($145) on my account. The CSR “un-Maxed” me again in order to do this. 2 speculative reservations made, so a wash in terms of money, but possibly may change at least one of those reservations in the near future, so worth it to me.

We’ll see if I am re-Maxed again tomorrow

 

[HuskerATL]

Update: was able to pay for the inclusive dues difference ($145) on my account. The CSR “un-Maxed” me again in order to do this. 2 speculative reservations made, so a wash in terms of money, but possibly may change at least one of those reservations in the near future, so worth it to me.

We’ll see if I am re-Maxed again tomorrow

I bet you do....report back about after the carriage turns back into the pumpkin...

 

[Lodemia]

I’m in some strange hybrid where I get free reservations, unlimited guest carts, but no upgrades. Somewhere between an elite premium (or whatever) and max. lol

 

[HuskerATL]

I’m in some strange hybrid where I get free reservations, unlimited guest carts, but no upgrades. Somewhere between an elite premium (or whatever) and max. lol

Do you get the upgrade option when you book? When you aren't booking the premier unit type since you don't get that option when you book the top unit type, only when you book a lower unit.

 

[Reddart]

Upgraded to Max again today.

 

[HuskerATL]

sounds exactly like what others have said...at midnight when the system refreshes, they are put back and have given up since CS can't fix it...other than momentarily that day...until midnight.

 

[letsgobobby]

Yeah, I think I will eventually try the CS route…I guess it can either go “oh, yes you are in Max and should have no reservation fees” or “wait, you shouldn’t be in Max, you should just be legacy HGVC” , in which case I’ll request AI.

is the Max fee more or less than the AI club fee? what is the reason you want out of Max?

we already had W57th, then added a different resale and got Maxxed. So I already had AI for the year.

 

[Reddart]

If Max worked like it should (no reservation fee) I would have just kept quiet and went with it. But for some reason my Max wasn't fully functional ($69 reservation fees for legacy and bHC bookings), and I really wanted the free reservation booking, so I got CS involved to get the Inclusive dues. I think Max dues are $299 and all inclusive is $354?

Not sure if someone who is Maxed will actually get the dues for Max…I get the feeling that the HOA dues may be a separate thing, and the “Max update” is a computer glitch in the reservation system. Will be interesting to see if it actually will tie back to your dues come renewal time.

I also get the feeling that they are quite aware of the glitch and annoyed about it themselves, and that there is a strong possibility sometime in the future they will solve it and it will just disappear for everyone that has been “Maxed”.

But we’ll see if that happens.

 

[HuskerATL]

I think they should just Max everyone for free and be done with it. It would be better for the program, easier to maintain, and would help the exchange. This money grab and come back to bite them.

 

[dioxide45]

I think they should just Max everyone for free and be done with it. It would be better for the program, easier to maintain, and would help the exchange. This money grab and come back to bite them.

Just imagine the howls from people who bought into HGV direct because they were promised that was the only way to get Max. That said, I would agree. They've created a mess with what they have and it would have been so much easier to just give everyone Max up front. I doubt this has really done anything to increase sales except perhaps to some HVC/DRI owners who wanted access to HGVC properties.

 

[HuskerATL]

Just imagine the howls from people who bought into HGV direct because they were promised that was the only way to get Max. That said, I would agree. They've created a mess with what they have and it would have been so much easier to just give everyone Max up front. I doubt this has really done anything to increase sales except perhaps to some HVC/DRI owners who wanted access to HGVC properties.

They had no issues undercutting all the retail Elite folks...

 

[ljmiii]

I think they should just Max everyone for free and be done with it. It would be better for the program, easier to maintain, and would help the exchange. This money grab and come back to bite them.

At first MVC charged owners to enroll and then they later made it free (at least for owners of pre-June 2010 weeks). I don't think HGV would ever make Max free since it also eliminates many fees...but at some future date I do see them offering Max for a flat fee.

In fact, a month or three ago I received a survey talking about Max...and asking if one if the reasons I hadn't upgraded was the purchase/upgrade requirement.

 

[HuskerATL]

The club fee is higher so that is something. Buying in is an option but I doubt many folks would pay the $7k that has been in the documented.

 

[dayooper]

I think they should just Max everyone for free and be done with it. It would be better for the program, easier to maintain, and would help the exchange. This money grab and come back to bite them.

I actually think this is the way it’s heading. Everyone is enrolled on Max and the 6 month window stays.

 

[HuskerATL]

I actually think this is the way it’s heading. Everyone is enrolled on Max and the 6 month window stays.

I also think that they are going to do something with DEX since they have opened it to Craig owners. It actually has much better availability and further out...up to 2 years out for DRI/HVC and a year out with Embarc.