Sorry, this deal is no longer available. Do you want to be alerted about new deals as they’re published? Click here to subscribe to Frequent Miler's Instant Posts by email. |
Hilton Grand Vacations is currently offering a pretty nice vacation package that requires attending a timeshare presentation. This deal is scheduled to end tonight, but I just booked it myself and got an even better deal than advertised: 4 nights of hotel plus at least 110,000 Hilton Honors points for $349 + tax ($392 total). There are likely only a few hours left to book this, but it might be worth a phone call in my opinion.
The Deal
- Hilton Grand Vacations is offering a vacation package deal that includes 4 nights of accommodations in either Orlando or Las Vegas plus 100,000 Hilton Honors points for $349.
- Direct link to this offer
- Note: When I called, I asked for a better offer and eventually negotiated it to 110,000 Hilton Honors points. If I travel by 3/15, I’ll get an additional 15,000 points. More below.
Key Terms
- This offer expires January 27, 2020.
- 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.
- You must present personal identification such as a driver’s license or passport at time of sales presentation.
- Although anyone can visit our properties or purchase our timeshare resorts, our special preview packages are only available to persons whose combined gross annual income meet certain requirements and who reside in a state where our projects are registered for sale.
- You may not participate in this promotion if you have an open, incomplete package requiring attendance at a sales presentation, or have participated in a sponsor promotion requiring attendance at a sales presentation: (i) within the last year at the property or properties promoted in this offer, or (ii) within the last six (6) months at any other properties.
- Hilton Grand Vacations Club or Hilton Club Members, employees of Hilton Grand Vacations, Hilton Worldwide or their affiliates are not eligible.
- If married or living together, couples must attend sales presentation together; individuals may purchase separately.
- Offer valid one per family only.
- No groups, consisting of more than one couple traveling together, permitted.
- Reservations are on a space-available basis.
- Standard hotel room at a Hilton Honors™ portfolio hotel (valued at $175-$500/night) for up to four people.
- Upgrades may be available at an additional cost.
- Package includes accommodations and named bonuses only.
- All other charges, sales taxes, expenses, and the cost of travel are your sole responsibility and not included in this special rate.
- Holiday, high season or weekend rates may apply.
- Full pre-payment using a major credit card is required.
- This is a non-refundable, nontransferable advance purchase package.
- A $19.95 charge applies to each reservation change made up to 15 days of arrival.
- Should your plans change within 14 days of your scheduled arrival requiring a change of your reservation dates or arrival date, the equivalent of one night at the currently published rack rate will be applied to the cost of the package.
- The above fees do not apply when purchasing additional nights consecutive to an existing reservation.
- Earliest available check-in is 30 days from the vacation purchase date. Packages expire 12 months from date of purchase.
Quick Thoughts
I’ve done a couple of timeshare presentations before, but it’s been quite a few years since my last one. Luckily, I can read Stephen Pepper’s post to prep myself: Wyndham Timeshare Presentation Survival Guide: Get your “No” face on.
I first read about this offer over at Miles to Memories earlier this month. I intended to call the same day they posted and then write about it, but I came down with laryngitis that very night and my phone voice was out of commission for the better part of a week. After that, it kept getting pushed back as something I’d get to by the 27th — and now here we are on January 27th, the day it is set to expire. I apologize for not writing about this deal sooner, but I hope that it is better late than never for some readers.
This particular Hilton Grand Vacations offer is good for stays in either Orlando or Las Vegas. Both offers are the same — $349 (plus tax) for 4 nights and 100K Hilton points by agreeing to attend a 2-hour timeshare presentation. You buy the package now and then have 12 months from the date of purchase to use it, but you can not check in sooner than 30 days after purchase.
I knew from reading the comments on the Miles to Memories post that some people had been able to negotiate a slightly better deal. With that in mind, I called the number on the promotion page planning to see what they could offer. The rep I spoke with was polite and engaging and asked me to verify the offer I was seeing (obviously they have multiple offers out there and he wanted to know what I knew). I told him that the offer was for 4 nights and 100K points for $349.
After explaining what a great deal that was, he asked for my email address to get it booked. I politely told him that I was wondering if they had any better offers available. He asked what I meant by that and I told him that a friend of mine had gotten an offer for 120K points, but alternatively if he could get me a discount that would be even more valuable to me (I was hoping to maybe get it for $299 and probably should have said that flat out in hindsight).
After a hold to “speak with his manager” and telling me that he was sure they couldn’t do more points, he came back and said they could offer me the “Diamond package” since I was more concerned with a better price. This package was 4 nights + 25K points for $199, but the manager agreed to kick in an additional 5,000 points to “roll out the red carpet” right now. That’s about 0.67c per point — I’d be giving up a lot of value by taking this offer. Put another way, the $349 offer gave me the opportunity to buy an additional 70K points for $150, which is a trade I was happy to make. Getting this $199 offer was really my mistake: in hindsight, I had made it sound like price was more important to me than points, but in reality I wanted the same points for a better price.
I explained that I was looking for either more points or the same package for a lower price and said I’d have to think about it and call back. After a second brief hold, he offered me an additional 10K points, so in total I got 110K points + 4 nights for $349 plus tax. With tax, that came to just over $392. That’s about 0.36c per point. I’d be a buyer of Hilton points at that rate (indeed, I’ve bought them at half a cent each a few times, like during the current sale), so to me the 4-night stay (with no resort fees) is icing on the cake. If I’m able to use the package by March 15th (which is doubtful given that the earliest check-in is 30 days from purchase date, but not impossible), I’d be at around 0.31c per Hilton point. I’m willing to trade two hours for 4 nights and the chance to buy Hilton points that cheaply.
There are of course some restrictions and blackout dates. Travel from December 21st to 31st would incur an additional $199 fee. You have to attend the timeshare presentation. If you’re married, you have to attend with your spouse. See more in “Key Terms” above and on the promotion page. Note that the points will not post until after you travel, so you won’t get the points instantly.
Keep in mind that hotels in Orlando and Las Vegas can be pretty cheap. The price of the package ($349) isn’t bad for four nights of hotel in either city, but neither is it an amazing offer. What makes this a deal is the combination of accommodations plus points. I’m sure that I’ll get more than $392 in value out of the points and I was already contemplating a trip to Orlando either late this winter or next January, so this deal was a no-brainer for me — I just had to get around to booking it.
Again, the deal is set to expire tonight (1/27/20). It’s not impossible that it gets extended, but this is quite a bit better than their usual timeshare offers. It was worth it for me, but YMMV in terms of how useful you find Hilton points. While they aren’t my favorite currency, I know I’ll get my money’s worth out of this offer.
[…] bought a timeshare deal at the beginning of this year (n.b. I bought a package that included a few nights and more than 100,000 Hilton points with the requirement to attend a presentation; I did not buy a timeshare) with the intention to […]
I’m actually looking to accumulate HH points to extend a stay in HI this summer. I would’ve liked to take advantage of this offer, but I got the email from Frequent Miller on the morning of the 28th, when it expired on the 27th. Is there a way to get these emails earlier? Not the first deal I’ve missed out on.
Yep! It sounds like you’re subscribed to our Daily email newsletter. See this paragraph at the bottom of your daily email to change that:
Want more (or less)?
You’re subscribed to Daily email alerts, where you receive one email each day with that morning’s post and all posts from the previous 24 hours. We alternatively offer instant email alerts for those who want to know about each story as soon as it breaks and weekly emails for those who prefer one email each week with summaries of the major stories. Want to change your subscription setting? Click below to unsubscribe and then see our subscription page (click here) to sign up for a different list.
DON’T DO IT! YOU’LL RUIN YOUR VACATION.
Hi Nick,
I did a similar promotion for Hilton Grand Vacations club two years ago. It wasn’t quite as good as this one with respect to earning 100k hilton points. But the price for the stay was a bit cheaper.
For this promotion, I stayed at the Hilton Elara which is pretty much right on the strip. My stay included New Year’s eve and New Year’s day which was really cool; of course I had to pay an extra $50 for those premium nights, but to me it was worth it.
The time share presentation/pitch was what you would expect. Hilton Grand Vacations have some pretty seasoned salespeople working for them. They can be really good at appealing to emotion, feeling, and dreams. They are really good at being aggressive and pushy without seeming overtly so. And of course they are going to highlight the “potential savings on investment” and not the potential sunk cost of maintenance fees and other recurring costs.
They say the presentation is two hours. But for us, it was more like 2.5 to 3 hours. It can be a challenge to get out of it earlier. No matter how many times you say no, they will present you an offer that seems better or “limited/one time only” or “what would it get you to buy now?”. And when you say no no no, you will likely see a supervisor, manager, possibly a current “owner” who raves about the benefits of vacation “ownership” and then a last person at checkout who will make one final pitch.
Yes, they are professionals. We probably saw 5 people before leaving. We have done time share presentations several times (maybe 4 or 5?) and they are all the same. Actually, there was this one time we did it Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn and we were off the hook from the time share presentation because the salesperson was out sick on the day my presentation was scheduled and there was no alternative. Score! A hugely discounted beautiful stay plus 10,000 hyatt points with NO 2 hour presentation. That was awesome. But that’s the only time it happened to us.
Overall, the experience was fine. I would do it again for a four night stay on New Year’s eve and day on the Las Vegas strip! 🙂
The link seems to be working, not dead yet. What if they don’t have the dates I need? I can only go over spring break in April.
Then I would recommend you ask if they can check availability and book it for you before you pay for a package you can’t use.
How did you hear about the deal to start with, @Nick Reyes? I get phone calls from “Unknown Numbers” or from what seem to be local numbers about time share stuff, but I always figure they are “Spoof Calls”.
How do I know which are legit, or where do I look online for these?
When I was in Hawaii the locals TOAD me don’t buy a Timeshare . Never met a salesperson I liked and I think everyone has been offered that So called Deal.
CHEERs
Not to put words into Nick’s mouth, but I think implicit in this article is DO NOT PURCHASE a time share. As one Thai politician advised voters when his opponent was openly offering to buy votes “Take the bait, but not the hook”.
I know all about TS’s had one 30 years ago and I Loved it then sold it to a buddy ($1) .He made out better then me when he sold it . When u go to the sales meeting and not wanting to buy one ur no better then they are . Their trying to Con u and ur trying to Con them .I have no time for BS I can get deals anywhere I don’t need to Con anyone on anything .
LOL
CHEERs
Called and they said they couldn’t do anything about the price but I got a 1 bedroom suite upgrade and 5k extra Hilton points for the $349 and 100k promo. Kinda wished I asked for more points now and threatened to call another time.
I tried for the upgrade as well but they would only give it to me at a resort property…I wanted the WDW partner amenities at the Springs hotel, so I settled for a 200 dollar free night voucher.
Should one expect any arrival, stay, departure or resort fees?
I asked and was told no
Be warned, Hilton Grand Vacations is very far removed from Hilton and basically run by scam artists with these offers.
I attended a timeshare presentation and was given a $200 spend a night on us mail in rebate certificate. Completed the stay and met all the requirements sending in all necessary documentation. Months later they only send $100 of the rebate. When I called they claimed they made a “mistake” and would send the rest. Kind of surprised I actually got the remaining $100 as I could tell they are really just unethical thieves.
Luckily I didn’t fall for their deceptive timeshare tactics, but ever since then they routinely spam my number with calls for more offers to attend timeshare presentations.
So if anyone does this offer, don’t be surprised if they only give you some of the points. And if you call for a better offer, make sure you record the phone call as they will probably lie and claim they never gave you such an offer.
How pushy are these people? I’m so weak in these things 🙁
Assume very very pushy. Then assume about twice as pushy as that. And then you’re done with the first person and get person #2. And you still have the “manager” to deal with after saying no to salesperson #2. A timeshare presentation isn’t for the weak.
I had my kid at one of these and she ran around and was grabbing stuff to the point that they were happy to get rid of me. Toddler 1, timeshare 0
think they have language in the deal allowing them to bar anytime except the mark plus spouse from the presentation — possibly from the trip at all.
I did one on Cozumel years ago (to get use of a VW big for the day) and found that simply asking pertinent questions about ownership and value was enough for them to realize we weren’t going to be “purchasing” twenty years advance rental of a hotel room at above-market prices.
I got three nights + 15K points + $200 future stay cert (for one night) for $168. Just so happened I was gonna be in Orlando in March anyway so it worked out well. Assuming the hotel room I get for the cert is worth $150 (I already know what hotel and when I’m gonna use it), then I get 3 nights and 15K pts for $18. Pretty hot deal in my book….