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Wanting to buy (resale) and need advice

Zac495

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Hi All,
We were roped into a timeshare presentation again. During Covid, we just gave in and bought a 3 night package. Yesterday we attended and were very impressed with HGVC. We've owned (and sold) Marriott in the past. Now that we're retired, we don't want to go to the same places each year. We liked the idea of points to get into club places such as Tuscany, Cabo, Crete (they said that one isn't finished yet), CA, etc. During the presentation, of course we were lulled into buying, but are canceling immediately and buying resale. We already found a lovely person through TUG to purchase - she has most everything. She told us to be sure we get enough points for what we want to do.

Salesperson said anything new will not be available to resale purchasers. Resale agent cried foul on that. She (resale agent ) also said just buy something like Vegas with lower fees and enough points.

So how easy is it to book exactly 9 months out in Tuscany? Cabo? France? I understand 12 months out is the best for owners - but we're not interested in buying one place so we will go with 9 months out. We don't need to travel on holidays, but of course would prefer the better weather - so probably a lot of gold - but maybe some silver such as Tuscany in October ( I assume that's silver).

How many points (in the new numbers) do we need if we wanted to stay at clubs one bedroom 2 times .... possibly 3 per year? We also love the last minute deals on RCI which will work as we're retired.
THANKS for any thoughts.

Cheers,
Ellen
 

dayooper

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Hi Ellen, welcome to the Tug HGVC forum! I’ll try and give my honest answers to your questions.

Salesperson said anything new will not be available to resale purchasers. Resale agent cried foul on that. She (resale agent ) also said just buy something like Vegas with lower fees and enough points.

While there has been no official word, I believe that as long as HGVC remains a deeded based system (not a trust), new resorts will be available to all of us enrolled in HGVC. There has been communication to members from people very high up in the company that had said as much. The only caveat I have is that we still aren’t sure what Max will be. If it becomes a separate club, than I believe that anybody that’s not a Max member won’t have access to new resorts. That being said, all present indications say that it’s just a cross booking platform with some added perks.

If you are looking to use the club for booking with points, Vegas would be a great location to buy. I would avoid Trump Tower and Flamingo 1 bedroom units (very high MF to point ratios) There are other places that have great ratios. Scotland is another popular place as well. @GT75 has a great spreadsheet that lists the best MF per point ratios in the system. Ad a rule of thumb, better the point ratio, the more it will cost to purchase. You will make up the difference in the end, though.

So how easy is it to book exactly 9 months out in Tuscany? Cabo? France? I understand 12 months out is the best for owners - but we're not interested in buying one place so we will go with 9 months out. We don't need to travel on holidays, but of course would prefer the better weather - so probably a lot of gold - but maybe some silver such as Tuscany in October ( I assume that's silver).

I believe Cabo is pretty difficult, but if go during non peak times, I believe it’s possible. I’ve never tried to book Cabo, so Im not sure. Tuscany in off season is possible as well. There is no HGVC resort in France. The salesman was referring to a DRI resort that would only be able to be booked in Max at 6 months.

As far as how many points you will need, it all depends on where you want to go. Some of the resorts have a standard points while others are much higher. Tuscany is pretty standard while La Pacifica in Los Cabo’s is very high. I would purchase nothing smaller than a 2 bedroom platinum worth 11,200 points. You may need more of you can book Cabo often, but that size deed would be a good start.

Welcome again!
 

letsgobobby

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Nine months - depends entirely on where/when. Less expensive units more difficult to find than more expensive units. For example Lagoon Oahu is hard in peak season, suck as during sitting break, so we own there. Big Island is easier, but the lower prices units at Kingsland fill up fastest. I've never tried to book at Tuscany or Portugal or Scotland so can't comment on those. I looked at SW Florida once and there was basically nothing. Orlando has a lot of availability. New York Chicago DC can vary but I've been able to find what I need with some flexibility.
 

atl

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We don't need to travel on holidays, but of course would prefer the better weather - so probably a lot of gold - but maybe some silver such as Tuscany in October ( I assume that's silver).

Hi and welcome.
October-November in Tuscany, [edit] Italy, is Gold Season. Since it's a high-demand resort, it only has Gold and Platinum seasons.
If you wanted to go into detail on seasons (and it's a lot of info) you can find that at the end of the club reference document.
 
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dayooper

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@Zac495 The Crete resort is new to me. There are times salesman take rumors and run with them. We have heard reports of salesman say there will be new resorts Turtle Bay, Boston, San Francisco (not Club Donetello) and others. There very well could be a new resort coming in Crete, but it hasn’t really been discussed here.

Also, most of the Cali properties are also DRI and will only be available to HGVC owners in Max at 6 months. The HGVC Cali properties are all in Carlsbad, and the only property that is fully HGVC is MarBrisa.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Scotland is bookable. I just booked a late summer week. Tuscany is bookable but you should plan 9 months out. Portugal only has a few units and is difficult. Suggest that you trade via RCI as it has more Portugal properties but need to be flexible with weeks.

Also remember that the points can transfer to Hilton at about 12x so you can also book hotels using honors points. But not sure if resales will be allowed to do this for much longer if you are not grandfathered before April 4, 2022. I have heard Portugal has some good value properties for honors points.
 
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Zac495

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Wow thanks for all of the information. What does IN MAX mean? Do you mean only look 6 months out?
11,200 pts....... the salesman sold me 6400 for 24K! I don't know how we said yes - but we will carefully cancel it.
So
The salesman also talked about buying the point system (outside of HGVC) which is what he wanted me to buy at first. Those points aren't deeded, but are used the same way - they can be converted to hotels at 32X the amount (vs 16X for HGVC). At least that's what he said.

He did talk about the Diamond properties, but said they're easy to get.

Now that we're retired, we can be quite flexible. When I was teaching - we had to travel summer only. We have zero interest in Florida properties. Charleston looked awesome, but the resale lady said that's super hard to get into. Of course the salespeople said it's easy.

How much do you think 11K would cost?
THANKS so much!
Ellen
 

SmithOp

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Just want to point out there is a resort called Tuscany in Orlando FL and there is also a resort in Italy so it's best to distinguish which one since FL is easy to book, Italy is not.

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Zac495

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Oh - I meant Italy. So if I try to book 9 months out, I still might not get it?
 

Zac495

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Oh also - we loved the RCI last chance (within 60 days) that comes with the HGVC. I assume resale is the same. Husband wants to know if one can just buy an RCI membership to use the last chance. Does anyone use those? Being retired, I would think that would be great.
 

CalGalTraveler

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If you are super flexible Italy looks like it has some availability (Covid Cancellations?) and reasonable Open Season Rates this month. Summer/Sept is completely booked with a few 3 - 4 day pockets (but close in to dates). Early 2023 is wide open but 9 months is only Feb (very early shoulder)

1652637659044.png
 

dayooper

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Oh - I meant Italy. So if I try to book 9 months out, I still might not get it?

That’s what thought regarding Tuscany. FYI - I am a current teacher and love the system! I have been to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Chicago and Vegas. It’s very flexible and if you book at 9 months, you can get to many places. I believe Italy should be bookable at 9 months in gold and silver season.

Just for reference, I have bought a total of 22,400 resale Vegas points for a total of $10,000 (purchase price, closing costs and HGVC fees). I have been treated very well every time. I avoid all sales presentations and have have very good vacations and wouldn’t hesitate to buy again if the deal arises.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Oh also - we loved the RCI last chance (within 60 days) that comes with the HGVC. I assume resale is the same. Husband wants to know if one can just buy an RCI membership to use the last chance. Does anyone use those? Being retired, I would think that would be great.

You mentioned that you previously owned Marriott. Did you have an Interval International (II) account with that? If so you might be grandfathered to use that account if you still have the number. Some owners keep their exchange accounts open after they sell the timeshares to get the last minute deals and cash getaways. II has similar last minute deals to RCI and IMO better properties because it has MVC, Hyatt, Westins and Disney.

If not, you may want to consider a resale HGVC that has access to both II and RCI for maximum flexibility. HGVC Scotland has this feature. There are others but not sure which exactly.
 

dayooper

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If not, you may want to consider a resale HGVC that has access to both II and RCI for maximum flexibility. HGVC Scotland has this feature. There are others but not sure which exactly.

Many of the SW Florida affiliates are dual enrolled.
 

Zac495

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Yes, I did have II - no clue if I still have that.......... I checked - I don't. I wouldn't mind buying a membership just for the getaways if I don't buy HGVC. Can one do that?
I won't use RCI or II for trading. I never liked that when I owned Marriott. I really want the ease of getting into these great club resorts - but if it won't be easy....

I was a teacher too!
Thanks for the Tuscany reference. I'm beginning to wonder if this is really for us. We want to go where we want to go. We can do that by just booking hotels. I knew those salespeople were slimy - what was I thinking?!!!
 
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CalGalTraveler

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@Zac495 check over on the Marriott forum to see if there is a way to revive your II account.
 

elaine

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We decided not to stay at the resort in Italy, even if we got it at 9 months because most said that you really need a car. We didn't want a car and didn't want to be driving on windy road in the dark if we lingered after dinner. We've found for Europe, as we frequently want to be in city centre, that staying in hotels works best for us. We own a SW FL affiliate and are very happy both with using our week and the option to use HGVC points when we don't. However, I wouldn't buy anything until the new HGV Max program rolls out and we see how it affects resale owners.
I also kept my II account just for getaways--no timeshare deposit for over 5 years.
 

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So how easy is it to book exactly 9 months out in Tuscany? Cabo? France?

These are all my HGVC bookings (in green), and how many days out they were booked.
Above 274 (9 months out) = I started walking the reservation before my target dates.
Based on the target destination and unit size, and how many days ahead of time, you can figure out how easy or hard it is to book respective resorts/units.

Hope it helps.

1652730018090.png
 

Zac495

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We decided not to stay at the resort in Italy, even if we got it at 9 months because most said that you really need a car. We didn't want a car and didn't want to be driving on windy road in the dark if we lingered after dinner. We've found for Europe, as we frequently want to be in city centre, that staying in hotels works best for us. We own a SW FL affiliate and are very happy both with using our week and the option to use HGVC points when we don't. However, I wouldn't buy anything until the new HGV Max program rolls out and we see how it affects resale owners.
I also kept my II account just for getaways--no timeshare deposit for over 5 years.
Oh very helpful. Good point about Europe!

These are all my HGVC bookings (in green), and how many days out they were booked.
Above 274 (9 months out) = I started walking the reservation before my target dates.
Based on the target destination and unit size, and how many days ahead of time, you can figure out how easy or hard it is to book respective resorts/units.

Hope it helps.

View attachment 55054
Yes this is helpful! THANK YOU!
 
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