Trades with your Hilton?

[Zac495]

I'm seriously considering getting rid of both of my Marriotts. My aruba property's fees are going up to over 1600 next year PLUS 2 additional assessments over 2 years. My Manor Club, which I traded for points, is no longer a good thing as Marriott devalued their points! I am not a happy Marriott owner.

I own 5000 pts with Hilton,but never got more as Orlando, vegas, and Hawaii are the main places to go.

So my question to you:
How many of you have traded into affiliates?
How about RCI trades? Where are you going with them and what is the quality of the resorts? I'm so spoiled by Marriott and Hilton. THANKS

 

[pianodinosaur]

ZAC 495:

HGVC has enabled us to travel all over the world in a way that I would not have considered prior to entering the world of timesharing. We are taking a cruise roundtrip cruise from Bacelona to the Canary Islands in late February and early March in 2009. We have a TS exchange already booked for my wife's birthday at the north side of Lake Tahoe for October 2009. We stayed at the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya in May 2008 and Club Intrawest Whistler in August 2008. We have used RCI to stay in Newport RI, Aruba, and Colorado. We have used HHonors to stay in Los Cabos, San Diego, Lake Tahoe, Scottsdale, San Juan Puerto Rico, Budapest, and Amsterdam. We have been to Hawaii and Las Vegas the most.

The Marriotts in Aruba are among the finest TSs I have seen. I have not stayed there but I am certain that it does cost a great deal to keep the resorts well maintained. If you want to go to Aruba every year or every other year, you may wish to keep your Marriott just because its the best property in Aruba. If the MFs are getting too high, trading into Aruba with HGVC is no problem at all.

 

[nonutrix]

Ellen,

In the two and a half years we have been HGVC owners, we have stayed using points at:

- York Hilton Hotel, England
- Edinburgh Caledonian Hotel, Scotland
- Hilton Craigendorach TS, Scotland
- Hilton Coylumbridge TS, Scotland
- Kalia Tower TS, HHV
- Lagoon Tower TS, HHV
- HGVC Waikoloa TS

We also have a week at the London Park Lane Hotel, four nights at the Beverly Hilton, and five nights at the Marbrisa coming up.

We are true believers!

nonutrix

 

[linsj]

Whenever I've checked the Mexican affiliates (Fiesta Americana), there has been availability. I went to Los Cabos last February; the resort is comparable to Hiltons. I had booked Acapulco for next year but changed it to Hawaii when my fall Hawaii trip changed to somewhere else.

There's another thread here about trades, but I don't have time right now to look it up.

 

[alwysonvac]

Hotel loyalty programs, airline frequent flyer programs and card reward programs go through devaluation all of the time. So expect the same thing to continue to happen with all programs. Sadly the hotel based timeshare programs don't normally adjust the conversion values to make up for the difference.

I haven't used my Hilton for trades. I have another timeshare that I use for trading. I'm not tied to a school calendar so exchanging has been fine for me since I prefer to vacation during the slow season.

At popular destinations, whenever the kids are out of school, demand is usually higher than availability. So if your vacation time is tied to a school calendar, I believe you will be more successful if you own where you want to go or belong to a timeshare system that gives you internal priority to book during peak season.

 

[AlmTravel]

Not that I've had the need to convert to HHonors yet, but they raised the conversion rate to 25:1 last year. That would give you 175000 HHonors for 7000 HGVC points. The 175000 can get you 6 nights at any top Hilton hotel property.

 

[alwysonvac]

Not that I've had the need to convert to HHonors yet, but they raised the conversion rate to 25:1 last year. That would give you 175000 HHonors for 7000 HGVC points. The 175000 can get you 6 nights at any top Hilton hotel property.

Just for comparison


Aloha Spirit Award (6 nights for two at a Hilton Hawaiian Resort)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points

Golf Getaway (6 nights for two at a selected HHonors Golf Resorts in the US)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points

Going Global (6 nights for two in a non-category 6)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
7,500 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 150,000 HHonors points

Going Global (6 nights for two in a category 6)
6,550 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 150,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points


Along with point level increases Hilton hotel category level also increase over time - For an example see http://www.hiltonhhonors.com/processLanding.aspx?lp=categorychangehilton

Other Old threads
Anybody noticed? New (higher) HHonors Award-levels from 6/1/2003! - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128183
Effective June 1, 2006: Hilton HHonors Reward Category Changes - 900+ Properties - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=510159
Hotel loyalty programs undergo point value changes - http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/travel-reward-credit-card-points-for-stays-1277.php

 

[Zac495]

Just for comparison


Aloha Spirit Award (6 nights for two at a Hilton Hawaiian Resort)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points

Golf Getaway (6 nights for two at a selected HHonors Golf Resorts in the US)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points

Going Global (6 nights for two in a non-category 6)
4,350 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 100,000 HHonors points
7,500 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 150,000 HHonors points

Going Global (6 nights for two in a category 6)
6,550 Clubpoints from my 2003 Membership Guide / 150,000 HHonors points
8,750 Clubpoints from my 2008 Membership Guide / 175,000 HHonors points


Along with point level increases Hilton hotel category level also increase over time - For an example see http://www.hiltonhhonors.com/processLanding.aspx?lp=categorychangehilton

Other Old threads
Anybody noticed? New (higher) HHonors Award-levels from 6/1/2003! - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128183
Effective June 1, 2006: Hilton HHonors Reward Category Changes - 900+ Properties - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=510159
Hotel loyalty programs undergo point value changes - http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/travel-reward-credit-card-points-for-stays-1277.php

This post is confusing to me (NOT your fault I'm sure). what are all these things? Can I get them with Hilton points? Thanks for all the replies so far.

OH - I only own 5000 pts. If I get rid of my Marriott (I'm thinking of getting rid of one of them) how many more points should I buy? We like to travel 2 weeks each summer - the Marriott covers one week. We always need 2 bedrooms. We also like 4 or 5 days during spring break. I understand points - 7000 for 2 bedroom. I understand the redweek conversion.

But I'd like to be able to do just about anything - so I'm thinking maybe a 7000 package?

 

[alwysonvac]

This post is confusing to me (NOT your fault I'm sure). what are all these things? Can I get them with Hilton points?

Sorry the confusion.

The post has nothing to do with timeshare exchanges. It was illustrating how point usage has increased for hilton hotel stays using HHonors VIP rewards.

 

[alwysonvac]

Exchanging into HGVC affiliated resorts

There is limited availability at most HGVC affiliate resorts. Here's a list - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=474720&postcount=4

Here are some other threads that you might find useful regarding HGVC affiliated resorts
HGVC - better off with or without affiliates? - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73262&highlight=Affiliate+availability
Club Reservations; Are they Difficult? - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71516&highlight=Affiliate+availability

 

[pianodinosaur]

Zac495:

I have yet to convert HGVC points to HHonors points. Its just that points accumulate much faster with HHonors than with Marriott Rewards. We have Hilton AmEx, Starwood AmEx, and Marriott Rewards depending upon where we are traveling. The Spain Canary Island cruise is not our first cruise with HGVC either. RCI exchanges go for 4800 HGVC points for a 2 bedroom unit for one Red week. This is explained in the manual that can be visited online.

If you were to purchase 7000 points in addition to the 5000 that you have already, you would be in an excellent position to either cruise or TS all around the world. The way I see it, my HGVC membership has not gone down in value but gone up in value. Hilton has been a pleasure to deal with. Ask Seth Noth what he thinks. I think you purchased your Marriotts from him and he certainly knows the industry as well as anyone.

 

[UWSurfer]

It get's confusing because there are several ways to use your points. You already know about converting HGVC (club) points to Hhonors points, but you can also deposit or book an RCI property with club points.

A two bedroom week in RCI red (high) season takes 4800 club points. White season is 3400 points, Blue 2400 points. Club points deposited in RCI are good for two years from date of deposit.

Also note, since you are essentially dealing with RCI points, IF there are points inventory available, you can book fractional weeks (3 days or more) in this manner and it takes less points obviously for less days. Generally, HGVC will only book Gold Crowns (a few exceptions are out there), and they are supposed meet the higher quality standards. My wife stayed in Wyndham Nashville this way and was very happy.

This flexibility is what makes HGVC get complicated and confusing...but with a little understanding and a helpful HGVC counselor it can be adventageous.

To deposit or book an RCI property, you still call the HGVC # and deal with an RCI specialist.

 

[AlmTravel]

alwysonvac, I guess my window of comparison was not wide enough. Your evidence shows one should always expect a devaluation in hotel points systems. It's interesting how timeshare sales people always use the hotel points conversion as an advantage.

Thanks.

 

[alwysonvac]

alwysonvac, I guess my window of comparison was not wide enough. Your evidence shows one should always expect a devaluation in hotel points systems. It's interesting how timeshare sales people always use the hotel points conversion as an advantage.

Thanks.

Even with the devaluation in hotel points, there is still some advantages if you use your points wisely. We use HHonors points for expensive hotel stays. Over the years (even before we were HGVC members), we have used HHonors points for stays in Europe.

Converting our HGVC points to Hilton HHonors points for our trip this year (7 nights in Paris followed by 4 nights in Rome) saved us a lot of money when I compare our annual out of pocket expense for HGVC points vs how much it would have cost us if we paid cash for these rooms.

 

[pianodinosaur]

alwaysonvac and almtravel are quite correct. I have seen numerous Hilton level five hotels upgraded to category six and several Hilton category six hotels are now in the Waldorf collection. This certainly seems like a devaluation in the Hilton Honors program. On the other hand, numerous upgrades have been made at many of these facilities.

I remember when the Las Vegas Hilton was a category 4. It is currently a category 5. The Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe was a category 5 hotel. It was upgraded to a category 6 hotel. Then it was returned to a category 5 hotel. Hilton Hawaiian Village has always been a category 6 hotel. Hilton has recently opened a new category 6 hotel in Kauii. In fact, Hilton has opened numerous hotels since I joined HGVC in 2001. This has expanded my travel options but it seems to come at some kind of a price. I do not think we have been shafted the same way that Marriott owners have been shafted. I think the HGVC program and HHonors program has essentially improved since 2001. Much of this improvement comes from the arrangements with The Grand Mayan and Club Intrawest. (I have never converted HGVC Points to HHonors since joining HGVC. My current HHonors Platinum status was gained just by having to travel. I anticipate reverting to Gold status next year.)