Surprise upgrade to HGV Max

[Reddart]

Looks like I’ve been un-Maxed today.

 

[HuskerATL]

Looks like I’ve been un-Maxed today.

Interesting. So they re-Max you and then un-Maxed you?

 

[Reddart]

Yes, it appears that’s what they have done.

 

[HuskerATL]

Yes, it appears that’s what they have done.

I guess we will see if they re-Max you at midnight again

 

[JimS]

For those who have "suffered" a surprise upgrade to MAX: Anyone successfully make a reservation? Asking for a friend

 

[Eric B]

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.

Re: Max driving sales, it did for me. I got to try out a stay at Cabo Azul using Max and liked it so much I picked up a Monarch Grand week (155 points = 9,300 new points) for a dollar on the resale market to get real access rather than the 6-month trickle of dribs and drabs. Seller paid the closing costs and said I could keep the dollar, too.

 

[Reddart]

For those who have "suffered" a surprise upgrade to MAX: Anyone successfully make a reservation? Asking for a friend

Interested in this as well!

 

[Reddart]

Monday morning, looks like I’ve been re-Maxed. Seems like I can book Kauai if I wanted to.

 

[HuskerATL]

Monday morning, looks like I’ve been re-Maxed. Seems like I can book Kauai if I wanted to.

They just won't let you go .... Let it ride for a bit and I suspect that you will get the benefits... If you want it

 

[Zenichiro]

Monday morning, looks like I’ve been re-Maxed. Seems like I can book Kauai if I wanted to.

We were just at the Hyatt in Kauai. Walked over to explore a bit and I would never stay there. They had the pool Hazard tapped off as well. Had to be some pretty upset people.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@Zenichiro We found the Grand Hyatt in Kauai amazing. Were you meaning they Hyatt Pools were taped off? or the Point @ Poipu?

 

[brp]

@Zenichiro We found the Grand Hyatt in Kauai amazing. Were you meaning they Hyatt Pools were taped off? or the Point @ Poipu?

We love the Grand Hyatt in Kauai. We have a 4 (maybe 5) night stay coming up in January on Hyatt points. We had also planned to walk over to Point@Poipu to take a look, and I'm assuming that that's the pool that's closed. The place doesn't sound appealing so far.

Cheers.

 

[GT75]

I picked up a Monarch Grand week (155 points = 9,300 new points) for a dollar on the resale market to get real access rather than the 6-month trickle of dribs and drabs.

So it looks like Cabo Azul is part of Monarch Grand Vacation Resorts. So since you picked up a Monarch Grand Week can you still trade into any of the Monarch Grand Vacation Resorts?

• Cabo Azul Resort, Los Cabos, Mexico
• Cancún Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa, Brian Head, Utah
• Desert Isle of Palm Springs, Palm Springs, California
• Palm Canyon Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, California
• Riviera Oaks Resort & Racquet Club, Ramona, California
• Riviera Shores Resort, Capistrano Beach, California
• Riviera Beach & Spa Resort, Capistrano Beach, California
• Tahoe Seasons Resort, Lake Tahoe, California

I am just trying to educate myself. This looks like a mini-exchange system maybe similar to GPX.

 

[Eric B]

So it looks like Cabo Azul is part of Monarch Grand Vacation Resorts. So since you picked up a Monarch Grand Week can you still trade into any of the Monarch Grand Vacation Resorts?

• Cabo Azul Resort, Los Cabos, Mexico
• Cancún Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa, Brian Head, Utah
• Desert Isle of Palm Springs, Palm Springs, California
• Palm Canyon Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, California
• Riviera Oaks Resort & Racquet Club, Ramona, California
• Riviera Shores Resort, Capistrano Beach, California
• Riviera Beach & Spa Resort, Capistrano Beach, California
• Tahoe Seasons Resort, Lake Tahoe, California

I am just trying to educate myself. This looks like a mini-exchange system maybe similar to GPX.

Yes. It turns out that the way this ownership works is that I get 9,300 points on June 1st of the even years and they are good for two years; I had expected it to be 9,300 annual points but am not terribly disappointed as I got to keep my dollar anyway and don't have to worry about saving points. It actually works well with the 4,500 free points I got that are Cabo Azul only, by saving one year's allocation of those I am getting a 2 BR in the odd years and this will give me a 2 BR in the even years. It's not really a mini-exchange system so much as a trust ownership that retains the structure from when it was originally sold as points with Monarch Grand Vacations. The documentation you get for how it works as a resale owner is pretty poor and a lot of the old stuff on TUG is a bit tough to find but still exists.

The ownership does come with access to DeX, by the way, as does the plain Cabo Azul points. There seem to be a fair number of these ownerships floating out there that people are trying to get rid of for free - I saw a batch of about 6 or so when I got this one.

 

[seaside2022]

Re: Max driving sales, it did for me. I got to try out a stay at Cabo Azul using Max and liked it so much I picked up a Monarch Grand week (155 points = 9,300 new points) for a dollar on the resale market to get real access rather than the 6-month trickle of dribs and drabs. Seller paid the closing costs and said I could keep the dollar, too.

Interesting. What is the maintenance fee - price per point? Are these equal to 9,300 HGVC pts?

 

[Zenichiro]

We love the Grand Hyatt in Kauai. We have a 4 (maybe 5) night stay coming up in January on Hyatt points. We had also planned to walk over to Point@Poipu to take a look, and I'm assuming that that's the pool that's closed. The place doesn't sound appealing so far.

Cheers.

Yes Hyatt Kauai was great. If you want guest of honor gifted just let me know I have a few I won’t use. It will get you into the lounge.

We would never stay at point at Poipu unless they made some major upgrades. Sad at best from what we could tell. No beach, no pool, dark and dated.

 

[Zenichiro]

@Zenichiro We found the Grand Hyatt in Kauai amazing. Were you meaning they Hyatt Pools were taped off? or the Point @ Poipu?

Yes the pool had hazard tape around it. Most people we either at the tiny bar outside the pool or walking to the beach outside the Grand Hyatt

 

[brp]

Yes Hyatt Kauai was great. If you want guest of honor gifted just let me know I have a few I won’t use. It will get you into the lounge.

Thanks. We're Globalist, so we also have some that we won't use And trying to use a Suite Upgrade does not seem very possible as there are very few standard suites. We'll have to hope for an upgrade at check-in.

Cheers.

 

[Zenichiro]

Thanks. We're Globalist, so we also have some that we won't use And trying to use a Suite Upgrade does not seem very possible as there are very few standard suites. We'll have to hope for an upgrade at check-in.

Cheers.

So there is a slight trick to the suite upgrade. If the standard suite room is available for cash (Doesn’t always show for points) then you can apply. I think it’s a pool suite not standard suite at Hyatt Kauai. You can set an alert on open hotels alert to text you when it is available as people cancel a lot.

We didn’t have luck but we went in July prime time. I did get an upgrade to ocean view 2 QN bed which was decent. It had a nice lanai and pull out sleeper sofa. You can also get a roll away if you have kids. The rooms are pretty large. Only down side to the resort is that you walk about 2 miles per day lol.

 

[Eric B]

Interesting. What is the maintenance fee - price per point? Are these equal to 9,300 HGVC pts?

Haven't got a bill yet. It is 155 Monarch Grand points adjusted to 9,300 but only usable in the Monarch Grand resorts. IMHO it's more useful in some aspects than HGVC points because I can actually book at Cabo Azul, which was my goal with these. I have plenty of HGVC (really bHC) points at a decent price to use within HGVC - I picked these up after noting the somewhat disappointing availability there in Max (though I actually did manage to make a reservation that way last year).

 

[brp]

So there is a slight trick to the suite upgrade. If the standard suite room is available for cash (Doesn’t always show for points) then you can apply. I think it’s a pool suite not standard suite at Hyatt Kauai. You can set an alert on open hotels alert to text you when it is available as people cancel a lot.

We didn’t have luck but we went in July prime time. I did get an upgrade to ocean view 2 QN bed which was decent. It had a nice lanai and pull out sleeper sofa. You can also get a roll away if you have kids. The rooms are pretty large. Only down side to the resort is that you walk about 2 miles per day lol.

Yeah, I was looking at cash availability since I know that that's the requirement. I do see pool suite, but didn't realize that that was the SUA category. I had read elsewhere that there is a "standard" but only like 5 of them. Open hotels alert also shows a standard suite (unavailable). I will set an alert. Thanks.

Cheers.

 

[Zenichiro]

Yeah, I was looking at cash availability since I know that that's the requirement. I do see pool suite, but didn't realize that that was the SUA category. I had read elsewhere that there is a "standard" but only like 5 of them. Open hotels alert also shows a standard suite (unavailable). I will set an alert. Thanks.

Cheers.

I looked through several months and never saw Standard suite but if they only have 5 then that would make sense. I’m pretty sure I did see Pool Suite as an option with points though.

 

[brp]

I looked through several months and never saw Standard suite but if they only have 5 then that would make sense. I’m pretty sure I did see Pool Suite as an option with points though.

It is, but it's not the type that can be upgraded into in advance, unfortunately.

For our nights, for example, standard King resort view is like $1096/night. Pool suite is $2784. They ain't gonna advance upgrade us into that.

Cheers.

 

[Zenichiro]

It is, but it's not the type that can be upgraded into in advance, unfortunately.

For our nights, for example, standard King resort view is like $1096/night. Pool suite is $2784. They ain't gonna advance upgrade us into that.

Cheers.

Yes we had the same issue. I just figured July it wasn’t going to happen. Was still a great stay. It was tough going from Grand Waikikian 2bd to the standard ocean front but it was a better view than GW.

 

[Lithoboy]

Al

For those who have "suffered" a surprise upgrade to MAX: Anyone successfully make a reservation? Asking for a friend

Also wondering if anyone who has “suffered” a surprise upgrade to max has attended an owners update? I assume at the owners update they will catch the incorrect max status and likely “downgrade” the account again?