r/HiltonGrandVacation

I genuinely love HGVC properties. Every time I stay at one, I'm impressed with the quality of the accommodations, and I really like the consistency of the experience.

I've also figured out a pretty good way to get access to them without owning: I do a sales presentation maybe 1-2 times a year. Usually I'll get something like 100k-150k Hilton Honors points for each presentation, plus 3 nights in Las Vegas or Orlando. At this point, I actually enjoy the presentations because the incentives are pretty damn good.

Eventually, I'd love to become an HGVC owner through the resale/secondary market. But every time I run the numbers, I just can't make it work for me.

The $70 fee to make a booking outside of your home week really bothers me. Then you have maintenance fees, the upfront purchase price, and all the other ownership costs. Meanwhile, I can stay at HGVC properties through these promotional stays, earn a pile of HH points, and avoid being responsible for a timeshare year-round.

Obviously, the big catch is that I'm probably going to get blacklisted from sales presentations eventually. 😂

So I'm curious what existing owners think:

Am I actually better off just continuing to play the sales-presentation game for as long as they'll let me?

Or is there a point where owning through the resale market makes financial sense despite the maintenance fees and booking fees?

I'm not looking for the usual "never buy a timeshare" lecture. I already understand the arguments against developer purchases. I'm specifically wondering whether resale HGVC ownership provides enough value over the long term to beat my current strategy of getting 3-night stays + 100k-150k HH points for sitting through a presentation once or twice a year.

Would love to hear from people who actually own resale and have run the numbers.

TLDR: never ever buying a timeshare, but happy to collect the perks from attending presentations.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous that HGVC owners are being charged $70 just to make a reservation using their own points?!

You already paid a significant amount of money to own the timeshare. Then you pay annual maintenance fees, and those fees keep going up. The entire point of owning points is that we can use them to book stays.

And yet, every time you actually want to use those points, there’s another $70 booking fee.

It feels especially absurd when the reservation itself might only be a few nights. At that point, the fee starts to feel less like an administrative cost and more like a penalty for actually using the product you paid for.

I understand charging a fee for things like changes, cancellations, or certain special services. But $70 simply to make a reservation with points you already own? That seems excessive.

For longtime HGVC owners: has this always been the case? And do you consider the $70 reservation fee reasonable, or is this just another example of the nickel-and-diming that comes with timeshare ownership?

This is a weird post. But I want to come here to share my story and ask if they have done this to others.

Soooo to begin I called in to book a free night stay I had with Hilton. Was transferred to sales and was sped talked into the package (getting some of my personal information wrong which will come in later). However some extra fees were not informed to me at the time. After months of saying my intentions and dates I wanted to multiple agents. I was finally informed there’s an extra seasonal fee and a suite fee. I canceled my stay. I told them as such. Queue about a few months of back and forth and a BBB complaint (every step of the way they kept saying that the package was there if I wanted to book still) but I insisted I didn’t. Finally they issued me a refund.

Now fast forward a few months after getting my refund and I’m now getting calls from people claiming I have an unclaimed package that’s expired worth around 1200 dollars and they would like to help me book it. I explained to them I’m not interested in traveling. And I do not know what package they speak off (my Hilton package is the only one I ever got in my life, and it was early early 2026 this year.). They then proceed to claim the package was from 2022. Their supposed package purchase has the exact same errors Hilton grand vacation had. Including a unique major error in my name. (Think instead of smith, they had it as shith or something similar). They also claim I purchased the package with an email I didn’t make until 2025 (same email I used for Hilton grand vacation, and besides utilities, only HGV was used on this email). When asked they claim the account was updated with the email in March of 2025, which once again. Email wasn’t even made until later of 2025.

This is honestly an insane prospect to me that I canceled my stay and they just sell my package to the highest bidder. So I’m trying to figure out if others have had similar experiences and I’m not crazy.

We upgraded our HGV from alternate years to annual and received 5000 bonus points for a trip. Seeking suggestions & best season from the following please:
Maui, Waikoloa, Oahu, or Cabo San Lucas (been to Las Vegas & Orlando).
We aren’t really “beach people” -
Prefer sights, food, culture. Thanks in advance!

Im traveling this weekend and I was already planning on visiting Washington DC before I bought the package so it was a good deal. Cut the cost nearly in half of what I was going to pay for a room elsewhere. Now I've got this required presentation that I really don't want to sit 2 hours for because I wanna be out sightseeing. So is there anyway I can leave early without them charging me for the full price of the stay?

We attended a presentation yesterday and during it they talked to us about how owners have the ability to buy a cash rate at a heavy discount. The example they showed us was 7 nights in a 2 bedroom for $950. Obviously this rate is only for HGV owners. I asked if I became an owner how far the rate extends, could I buy for family or friends and the answer was yes.

With that said, can someone confirm this? Could I just become an owner and spend all my free time reselling rooms to my friends and family’s for a slight up charge and make all my money back?

I just signed up for hgv max with my partner where we receive 5500 bonus points every other year but an extra 5500 for signing up. The cost was $8900 with about $1k in fees per year so that alone wasn’t enough to sway us. Our salesman told us that using their platform we could get up to 75% off flights and cruises, and if we sign up for a room 60 days before check in the cost of points is 50% less, and if we sign up 2 weeks or less it can be around 80% off the points. He even said for us that a studio or 1 bedroom would always be available, and only stuff like 5 bedrooms we might not get. I looked through all the paperwork we signed but didn’t see any of those benefits and online I never saw anyone talking about that. Our salesman claims that he does that for his trips and is able to get a room in Italy for less than 200 points a night, and he did say he’ll send us the paperwork stating that on Monday, but has anyone else had these benefits too? Please let us know, as we have until midnight Tuesday to rescind our contract.

I’m getting more nervous and so I want to come here to ask peoples thoughts. I was at D23 today, chilling in the Hilton lobby when a gentleman came up to me trying to pitch a vacation package. Usually they're smart enough not to approach me because I’m young and don’t look like I make enough money. However, I fell for it and caved. I purchased a travel package in exchange to listening to a timeshare pitch. After reading the fine print and talking to my parents, it says I have to meet income eligibility or else I may be disqualified and have to pay for the whole trip. however, I talked to two reps and called the number and they insisted that since I’m a Hilton member, that’s the only eligibility I need, which is unusual for these things. They insisted it’s a special promo they’re doing for D23 and that the income eligibility is only for those who aren’t members. should I be concerned and try to get a chargeback? Or is it normal for them to waive this policy sometimes?

Upgrade to get access to better resorts in the Hilton Grand Vacation network. They showed us villa and luxury home options as well. That is more likely our style of travel. Can we buy upgrade option on resale sites? Does anyone have experience booking homes/villas through HGV? Thank you

A few weeks ago we were staying at Embassy in Omaha. There was a booth there where two folks were selling promotional stays through HGV/Bluegreen Vacations. Anyways the guy there starts talking to me, he offers me a four night stay at one of their locations for $299. I’m like hey “this sounds alright.” The guy who I let sell this to me said I’d have to attend a “tour” of one of their HGV locations. From what I understand the “tour” is essentially a sales presentation by HGV/Bluegreen for a timeshare. Anyone have any experience with this? What the heck am I in for?

There’s a shocking amount of negativity in this subreddit around HGV and Bluegreen, but I’m thoroughly convinced my wife and I got a great deal.

About two months ago we bought 8,000 points for $2.41 per point. That gave us access to all Bluegreen resorts plus HGV Max, since they’re currently in the process of integrating the two. We also received three certificates for free 7-day vacations through RCI (we just pay the $300 exchange fee). We’ve already booked one of them for Orlando next week, and it was exactly what they said it would be.

I was a little hesitant at first and had some buyer’s remorse, but we can afford it and we prioritize taking a few trips every year, so it felt like a solid decision. I work in sales myself, so I usually see through the sneaky tactics and try to make educated calls on things like this.

Today we went to our “Orientation” where they walked us through the Bluegreen portal, explained our benefits, and talked about how the HGV acquisition will open up even more options. They mentioned that most Bluegreen members had to buy into HGV Max by purchasing an additional 10,000 points minimum at around $4.75 per point. They also said that as Bluegreen continues integrating into HGV, the cost of buying more points will keep rising.

I fully expected them to try selling us more points before “the price goes up,” but the conversation went a little differently. They initially pitched additional points so we could get access to Hilton Grand Vacations… except they didn’t realize we already had that access. When I pointed out that we already had HGV Max access and only paid $2.41 for it, they looked into it and both acted completely shocked. They basically said whoever sold us the original 8,000 points may have messed up and given us full access to both Bluegreen and HGV.

At that point I told them I wasn’t interested in buying more points at $4.75. I said if they were willing to honor our original $2.41 price, we’d consider getting more points within the next year. The sales rep left, talked to someone in corporate, and came back acting blown away that they were going to honor the original price. Both of the people we spoke with were very friendly and seemed genuine, they are also both Bluegreen owners themselves and they shared some info about what they paid for their points and it further assured me that we got our points at a great price. They offered us the ability to buy an additional 12,000 points at $2.41 per point.

We decided to go ahead and do it. We figure we’ll want more points down the road, and it sounds like there’s no way we’ll ever see this price again.

Curious what other owners think — did we actually luck into a solid deal, or are we missing something? Happy to hear other thoughts as well.

Thank you!!

I did my first owner’s update since owning resale for 5 years. Usually HGVC declines offering me update since I bought resale. 60k HH or $175gc plus 2nt stay for update.

Offered me $31k to convert my 8k points to MAX. Maintenance fees would be lower, no reservation fees, dining credit $50/day with MAX. Converting changed my home resort so it lowered MF by $500/yr if I remember correctly. Thats 62 years to even recover $31k, I’m not including reservation fees and dining credit since $31k invested has a higher rate of return. I replied no for same points and $31k.

2nd offer was $14k for 2500 EOY to try MAX. My old resale deed unchanged.

3rd offer was MAX VIP for $1,799 for 11500 points. Plus 130k HH points. this guy was too arrogant even though I was considering extra points just to go places. Point value was cheap. I would have bought this to add couple of trips 😆

Wife and I went to and sat through the presentation. We declined and were given the certificate for up to a 7 day cruise. Just paid the deposit to book the cruise which points you to the website for details that are non existent. I called the number on the receipt and they say that they have to “process” it and I’ll hear back in approximately 14 days and then can select everything. I did a search on here and most experiences had to do with the presentation and stay related. I couldn’t find anything on booking the trip if you have already done the sales pitch. Anyone have any experience with this?

I just had the absolute WORST experience at the HGC presentation. We are staying at the Elara in Las Vegas and we had the rep named Denny aka Dsource. He is a sports writer in the Philippines and apparently used to have a promising career in the states. We only know this because he spent an hour talking about himself and his career showing off pictures of him with celebrity athletes during his “career peak”. Idk if this was a sales tactic to make himself look cool or if he just genuinely just wanted to brag but it was super cringey.

He decided he didn’t want to do the traditional tour where to walk around and explore the property because his boss “let him do things his way.” He instead scrolled through photos in his phone showing us his vacations (cool to see other properties), talk shit about his coworkers (I don’t care about your work gossip), and honestly just rant.

Here’s where I got uncomfortable. He started talking about how he’s the “leader of the workplace culture and makes the workplace fun.” He showed us a meme in his work group chat that was something along the line of a someone saying “I promise I’m not gay.” He started tell us about one of his coworkers who they are “giving shit to” because he has a crush on someone (very high school but okay). He said they were giving him shit because, and this is a direct quote, he didn’t know his crush was a “lady boy.” And then he goes on a rant about how they were looking at the persons listed gender which was female and Denny “just knew that wasn’t true” and “used his journalistic skills” to find out that she was trans. The trans and homophobic rhetoric made me extremely uncomfortable, especially as someone who is bisexual and has trans friends.

At this point I knew this man was 1- a shitty person and 2- highly unprofessional but we were already there for an hour and essentially trapped there and at this man’s will.

He then decides now it’s time to actually get into the sales portion of the presentation (we’re already past if not approaching the 90 min). He tells us again he’s going to do the presentation his way. He says that usually at the end he has to send in his manager Angie, he’s going to “make up something so she doesn’t have to come. I’ll probably just lie and say you’re rude. You’re not, but that will save you time.” Foreshadowing. He decides he wants to show us the cheat code and the cheapest way to get in as an owner. During this time he starts showing us text messages from other owners (showing us names, photos and phone numbers) of Hilton owners who were reaching out to him via text because they are “friends” once you buy through him. The reaching out to him personally I actually thought was a nice touch but I doubt these owners have given you permission to show us their texts, phone numbers, names and even photos.

He keeps presenting and then we get to the point where we’re boiling down to numbers. He is saying we should open a Hilton card to finance the 15k for the cost of the plan. This was a hard no for me. The card was 0% for the first year and then something like 18-28% apr after that. I was absolutely not putting 15k on credit card and scrambling to pay it off within 12 months. I told him from there I would rather wait until I have the whole amount for the plan and then only need to worry about maintenance fees (which were expensive in itself and rising every year). This is where I visibly see him start to get anger.

He starts ranting about “so this whole presentation was a waste of time” and “you were going to say no matter what I said”. I told him that wasn’t true but I also was not opening a credit card. He starts to say “well you know how this goes you do this all the time”and “you guys are timeshare pros.” We’ve done the presentation only once before. We were genuinely interested in becoming owners. My bf and I don’t have kids and love to travel. We were intrigued with all the perks and discounted stays, and we discussed seeing how much the cheapest ownership fee was. So implying we are “timeshare pros” is both untrue and insulting.

He then starts asking us about our credit. He goes on to say “if you don’t want to open a 0% card you must have bad credit. Just tell me if you have bad credit.” He then pulls out a PHOTO of someone who tried applying for the card holding up their credit score of like 580. He then shows us another photo of someone holding up their declined application. These are photos HE took of CUSTOMERS and used them as an opportunity to laugh at others financial situations. He did preface with “I took these with consent” but I was appalled either way. Humiliating others to try and bully us into a sale is disgusting. He goes on to say that if we’re one of these people then just tell him. I put my foot down and say I’m not financing 15k on a credit card. He then saying if you’re broke and didn’t come whole then we wasted our time. Speaking of time, we are now way past 90 min. He tried to walk back the broke comment, but what’s said has been said. At this point I’m furious and he’s furious, but I’m know the best way to further piss off someone mad is to stay calm and unmoved. So I sit there and let him talk.

He then says if we don’t purchase or apply for the card the manager needs to speak with us before we can leave. I’d love to speak to her at this point. He comes back a few minutes later, no manager. He says “you know you can’t keep coming back right? I let my manager know you aren’t interested and Hilton probably not going to do this again.” Fine by me. He the shows us one more pitch of like 10k. We say no and he leaves. Doesn’t say anything about anyone else coming to get us, just leaves us at the desk. Then a guy names chip comes, he’s got a much friendly demeanor, sits down and says “so how was your experience?”

I say “do you want the honest answer?” “Unfortunately yes.” I then say that Denny was rude, unprofessional, and has turned me off to Hilton for good. I’m like so angry my voice is shaking, I’m trying not to cry. He apologizes on behalf of Hilton. Offers us an “introductory package” that’s like 1800. I say now’s not the time I really want nothing to do with Hilton rn. He says let me give you my number, I going to talk with my manager about compensating you for your experience. I take his number and give him mine. He says he’ll be back on Sunday and invites us back for the “compensation”.

I don’t want to go back, but I do want to voice my concerns and see what this “compensation” is. Should I go and see what they have to say or am I walking into another sales pitch that will further ruin my trip?

I also know these presentations are recorded. He mentioned that several times during the presentation. If anyone from Hilton sees this, I urge you to review the recording. If what I’ve described isn’t accurate, the recording will show that. If it is, I hope you’ll be just as appalled as I was.

TLDR; sales rep makes homophobic, transphobic remarks, calls us broke timeshare pros, shows us photos of customers holding up their low credit scores to embarrass them, shows us names, phone numbers, text messages and photos of other owners, and keeps us way past the 90 minutes.

I just attended the seminar in Hilton Head, SC.

My overall experience was mildly stressful from start to finish. Before the event, in addition to the negative reviews I'd read online, I felt pressured to attend — the sales office called me periodically to remind me of the "penalty" for not showing up, subtly implying they still had my credit card on file.

When I arrived, I encountered a disgruntled timeshare owner at the front counter venting to a staff member about being "lied to" regarding services that were promised but never delivered. Staff brushed him off, saying that as sales personnel they had no power to help him, and politely redirected him elsewhere. I couldn't help remarking that everyone in the company seemed to give customers the same runaround. When I mentioned this exchange to my own sales agent, he had a pre-packaged response ready: "There's always going to be an unhappy customer for every product."

The hour-long presentation was entertaining in parts but weighed down by needless repetition that left me drained. Afterward, I reiterated what I'd said at the very start — that I was not prepared to invest $100,000 without doing my own due diligence. My agent lightly pressured me to sign anyway, cycling through sales figures and cost breakdowns while brushing past the firm position I'd already made clear.

When I didn't purchase a package, he sent over a colleague under the guise of "taking a survey," though it was clearly a last attempt to close the sale. She was cold and dismissive throughout. I told her the seminar had been too long and tiring. Her response: "We're a billion-dollar company, so what we're doing is right" — the implication being that I had no standing to question their business model.

I explained I wanted to review the numbers at home, and showed her some of the paperwork I'd been given. She abruptly took the materials back, telling me, "You weren't supposed to get copies of those," as though I'd been handed classified documents. I also reminded her that I informed the sales agent at the very start there was no chance I'd be purchasing that day — he chose to push forward anyway. Her only reply: "This is how he makes a living," delivered without a smile or any pleasantness, as if the word had already gone around that I was wasting everyone's time. Actually they were wasting mine.

Overall, this felt like a shameful representation of the Hilton brand — one I won't easily forget.

I've yet to have a good Hilton Vacation Club experience. As of today, I'm effectively 0/2 in good experiences.

My first attempt was at the Hilton Vacation Club in Chicago. I did actually take that on a timeshare intro and what the sales person had tried to say on a recorded line was such a bait and switch that the hotel reimbursed me every dollar. That said they didn't give me my time back ...

I needed a night stay over recently in Virginia Beach though and picked the Hilton Vacation Club Virginia Beach Oceania. It was awful. We got there after 4 pm (which is the standard check in) and by 6 pm they still didn't have our room ready.

The valet was getting pissed at customers that were getting pissed at him, because they were waiting over an hour to get their car.

But even at that, the hotel cost $700/night and at that level, that hotel better come prepared to deliver. It did not - I didn't even come close.

Altogether, total shit show.

I ended up booking the Hyatt Place next door just to get a room at a reasonable hour. They were near full, but got us right in and had valet staff that cared. It was a night and day difference.