The Painful Process of Becoming a Hilton Grand Vacations Member!
This is the most honest review about the painful process of becoming a Hilton Grand Vacations member. I have been a member since January 2020.
The Offer
I don’t remember if I was checking a bill or booking a hotel room but the agent on the phone asked me to hold on if I wanted an extra 500 Hilton Honors Points. Sure, why not?! The next thing I know is that I’m booked for a 4 night stay at an amazing resort in Orlando, Florida. I was promised a free nights stay for paying a nominal fee which equated to a one nights stay as long as I attended a 2 hour presentation. A free stay for a presentation. Heck Yeah! You wouldn’t believe what my wife said when I told her we were going to DisneyWorld. What do you think she said?
The Presentation
We walked through the front door and registered. A man in a suit greets us and takes us to a lobby-like area where we saw other people that were attending a presentation as well. There was a great assortment of drinks and pastries. Be sure to get your 20K worth before they take you in the back.
Our agent comes out as we are finishing our snacks and we exchange warm greetings and then its off to the cubicle. The presentation was about an hour long as we got to know each other better and he presented us with what a membership with Hilton Grand Vacation would look like. Being that I’m from Hawaii and now in Alabama, those beautiful pictures of the Resorts in Hawaii sold me.
You have just known this person for an hour and he has just presented you material on something you weren’t even planning on buying, do you really think you should even be considering making a big decision? Let me quickly teach you something about marketing, something I wished I knew before hand… people buy on emotion and justify with logic.
Anyway, moving on… Another agent comes out with a calculator and he basically works with us to find a package that’s right for us that we can afford financially. Once that’s done, all the agents are in the backroom congratulating each other and we are escorted to the person responsible for all the paperwork.
Be prepared to be there for another 1.5 hours.
Buyers Remorse
You have been suckered! That’s exactly how we felt. Thoughts going through my head were… Well there goes our downpayment for our investment property… There goes the money that we were gonna use to buy a Tesla… There went the kids college fund… Was this really the right thing to do?.. Should we rescind?
Up until your very first vacation as a member, this will probably haunt you. I can tell you one thing is for sure though, this whole thing you got yourself into, myself included, it’s good for your credit. Make the payments on time! If you don’t happen to rescind, get the loan refinanced at a lower rate.
The Upsell
During your first or second stay as a member of Hilton Grand Vacations, they will have you come in for a shorter presentation to see how you are doing. Right!?!?! I couldn’t believe they have the audacity to try and upsell us and we hadn’t even paid off our loan. Of course our answer was NO! After numerous times of trying to convince us to upgrade, the answer is still NO, at which they now bring in a person to make an offer called the VIP. It’s actually a great offer and definitely worth it.
We got something like 7 nights at the Grand Waikikian for a super great price, stays at that property run between $400-$800 a night. Take it or leave it, I’m down for Hawaii any time.
If you aren’t financially in check, don’t agree to either. You already have enough on your plate. Just enjoy the rest of your vacation. I’d be willing to bet, in a few months, someone will call you to see how you are doing. I know this!
Now What?
Many people attempt to get rid of their timeshares because regardless of whether you use it or not, you have to pay those maintenance and club fees, it’s FOREVER. Sometimes life events happen or the family you thought you’d leave it to just have no interest. You could just give it back to Hilton Grand Vacations. You could try and sell it for a small profit. You could sell your points in the form of a certificate to someone else. You could convert it to Hilton Honors Points (Ouch!). What you purchased was not a great investment in regards to money, but it was a great investment in experiences. Many love HGV so much, they upgrade.
Would I Do It Again?
If I had to do it again, I’d probably research the different properties and find out what other people paid for a particular package so I’d have something to compare, going in. There are a few HGV groups on Facebook you can join and there is definitely more engagement there than in forums. Ask away and you will understand what people paid, their own experiences and also learn of other opportunities to get more points through second hand sales. Just thought about this while writing this article, if you have a problem saying NO, ask for absurd amount of bonus points like 200,000 HGVC bonus points. They would never be able to honor that and there is your NO.
Here’s A Tip
If you are already a Hilton Grand Vacations Member with a Hilton Amex Credit Card. Consider making additional principal payments with your card 15 days after your monthly auto payment. You will definitely get rewarded points for that payment, up to 15x depending on the Hilton Amex Card. It may help you move up to the next Hilton Honors member tier.
Since I personally am invested in Hilton, my number one credit card to use is the Hilton Amex Credit Card. Since the COVID Pandemic, I do not travel much, so credit card spend works for me instead. Amex has all kinds of offers you can opt-in to increase point rewards, like purchases at BestBuy or just for purchasing fuel. Here is another tip! As a holder of the Surpass card, if you reach 500K points, you automatically become a Hilton Honors Diamond member for the year you achieve this and the next. Thats just one way to reach Diamond status. You can also refer family and friends for an extra 20K bonus a pop.
Summary
In summary, the Hilton Grand Vacation Club offers amazing properties to stay at and have many affiliate properties that they work with in their program. You will definitely have vacations to remember for the rest of your life. Enjoy the experiences because for many that have landed on this path, its best to make the best of it. Happy Travels!
Hold on… I have a FREE travel check list template you can have, we always use this on travel and it helps us to not forget anything.
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