I have spoken about various vacation packages that many timeshare developers offer in exchange for agreeing to sit through a timeshare presentation. I was recently targeted for a 3 Days / 2 Nights vacation package with Hilton Grand Vacations for a trip to New York City. This offer expires May 31, 2017.
The package being offered is for an upfront fee of $249 plus tax (total) in exchange for the following:
Interestingly, the offer indicates 5,000 bonus points but the fine print indicates that guests will receive 15,000 bonus points. Guests will receive 15,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points (valued at $100), a $100 Spend a Night on Us certificate, and a $100 Elevated Rewards card. If interested, I would definitely call and see if you can get the higher bonus points. 15,000 bonus points is not a ton for use at a Hilton but is definitely a good amount. As with all of these types of offers, there are various restrictions. This include income requirements and state of residence requirements. Additionally, if married, both spouses must attend. Additionally, you cannot participate in this offer if you have participated in a sales presentation at the New York City property within the last year or at any of the Hilton Grand Vacation properties within the last 6 months. This particular offer indicates that accommodations will be offered in a standard hotel room at a Hilton Honors portfolio hotel. The fine print does not say whether this will be a Hilton Garden Inn or a Waldorf Astoria. I am guessing that it will be at a lower quality property but two nights in New York City will almost always cost more than $249 per night. Per the details, the prices of the deeded weeks range from $8,490 to $377,300. As I argue in many other posts, timeshares are great provided that the initial purchase price is reasonable. Purchases on the secondary market will be exponentially less than purchases from the developer. In most situations, you will save thousands by buying on the secondary market and is generally the recommended strategy. Buying directly from the developer could be necessary in very limited situations such as if it is a new resort or you actually want to go to a specific resort year after year for the same week. Buying resale will generally be 70--90% off the developer prices with many timeshares being sold for $1.00. These timeshare offers are generally a fantastic deal but they do require 2 hours of your time to sit through a presentation. These can be easy going or can be very difficult. If you are thinking about taking advantage of this offer but not attending the timeshare presentation - JUST DON'T. Per the fine print: You must attend a two hour timeshare sales presentation in order to participate in this promotion. If you do not meet the qualifications of this promotion or attend presentation, the difference between the special package price and the currently published nightly rate for the applicable resort at that time, plus premium costs and taxes, may be charged to your credit card. Basically, they will charge you the going rate for the entire package which will be much more than the $249 fee. In other posts, I will discuss some general strategies for handling these timeshare presentations but I generally find that these can be very informative. Each timeshare system is complicated so these types of presentations and offers can be worthwhile to learn about the systems and get some great mini-vacations for cheap. I would never recommend buying during these offers despite their likely strategy of offering "deals only good for today" or other types of "limited perks" for purchasing today. You can buy a timeshare anytime you want - GUARANTEED, at prices for a fraction of their going rates. The offer link below seems to allow anyone to book so if you are interested, go for it. Unfortunately, the link does not provide a phone number or show the available dates. It seems as though you need to purchase the offer and then a specialist will call you to confirm everything and book your accommodations. Will you be doing this offer? Please leave comments below if you are and where they are offering to put you up.
Hilton Grand Vacations have some very nice properties and their Hilton Grand Vacation club is very popular. I have my guide to the Hilton Grand Vacations here.
I just received the following promotion to purchase directly ClubPoints directly from Hilton Grand Vacation. "For a limited time, you’ll also earn 600,000 Hilton HHonors™ Bonus Points when you purchase a minimum of 7,000 annual ClubPoints through the Hilton Grand Vacations Direct Department – the easiest, most convenient way to become a Hilton Grand Vacations owner. Use points toward resort stays, cruises and more!" More details of this promotion are found here: Here are the Details of Participation. A couple of things regarding this promotion. If you purchase 7,000 annual ClubPoints, you are given 600,000 Hilton Hhonors Bonus Points. Hilton states that the "Prices range from $8,940 - $377,300. Prices subject to change." I am a big fan of hotel points and frequently flyer miles as you can use them in luxurious resorts around the world to give you free vacations. 600,000 Hhonors points is a decent amount of points so this offer got my attention. According to Hilton, they value 600,000 Hhonors points as worth $6,000. From their details of participation: "Retail value of 600,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points is $6,000. Hilton HHonors Bonus Points do not count toward tier qualification." One of my favorite blogs about how to use and maximize points is the The Points Guy. Another good one is Upgraded Points. Although The Point's Guy values are just estimates, he values Hilton Hhonors points at .5 cents per point providing a value of $3,000. Based on my prior use, I would generally be able to use 600,000 Hilton Hhonors points for about a 2 week vacation at a very nice resort. You could also stretch these points for multiple weeks at lower end properties. I used points at the Grand Wailea in Maui and have plans to use points at the Hilton Los Cabos. Depending on the season, 600,000 points would get you a week at each resort during high season or even more during lower seasons and would value that around $4,000 depending on the season. I do not receive any compensation from Hilton or any other timeshare company so my intent on posting this is just to provide the information. If you do not already own a timeshare or are interested in purchasing one, you need to do some significant research. These types of promotions are definitely worthwhile if you were about to make a purchase but I would not jump into a timeshare purchase specifically based on this or any promotion. I believe that timeshares are very worthwhile if you know how to maximize their use but they are definitely not for everyone! Do you research before you buy! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe below! |
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