My Latest Hilton Timeshare Offer & How I Got Them to Give Me More!
I have shared quite a few timeshare offers in the past. A few have been from Hilton but the best one ever was from Hyatt, I still kick myself for not taking that one. I have always decided not to accept them, mainly because I don’t like to pay for travel. But with banks cracking down, and me kind of being on 5/24 ice, I have decided to travel cheaply where it does make sense now. The timing of the offer and the price finally worked out for my latest Hilton timeshare offer so I accepted it. But I didn’t accept the first offer, I will share why, and I wanted to share my plans for the presentation as well.
How I Received the Offer
Usually I receive my timeshare offers by email, and occasionally via snail mail (USPS). This time I got it by calling into Hilton customer service. It sounds like anyone who wants it can call in and get this offer.
Last wee while making a last minute booking, inside the cancellation window, I put in the wrong date. Since I couldn’t fix my error online I had to call into customer service to get it fixed. The lady was super helpful and fixed my issue pretty quickly and without a fight, another reason Hilton is the anti Bonvoy. At the end of our call she said I would get 500 points for listening to an offer. I said I was too busy and I knew it was a timeshare offer but she asked me again nicely. I asked her if it would help her if I accepted it (assuming she has a quota) and she said yes. So I accepted since she was so helpful and nice on the phone.
I totally expected to tell the Hilton Vacations agent thanks but no thanks and please give me my 500 points but I listened to the offer anyway. When she listed off Orlando as an option I decided to listen a little more intently since we have a trip upcoming for my kids’ birthday.
Details of the Original Pitch
The original offer was for 3 nights, 4 days in one of the following 3 cities:
- Orlando
- Las Vegas
- Myrtle Beach
The cost was $199 plus tax for the booking which is a decent deal but nothing great.
How I Got More
I have learned from numerous comments on my other time share posts to always ask for more so that is what I did. I asked why there was no points with this offer. She came back and said I can add 20,000 Hilton Honor points to the offer. That is worth $80-$100 to me. She said she had to get it approved by her manager (total salesmanship lie) but they gave her the okay.
I was still hesitant on the phone to see if she would go lower (although I probably was going to take it anyway). She then dropped the purchase price to $149 plus tax if I booked it within 45 days. I didn’t have to travel within 45 days I just had to have it booked. That sold me! I probably should have squeezed her for more, like a property credit or an extra night etc. But I really was in a time crunch and it was still a pretty good offer. Three nights in Orlando for a net of around $60 will work for me!
Booking the Offer
I called in a few days later to book the hotel. When I originally booked it she said almost all of their Hilton properties in Orlando where an option. My plan was to get one of the options on the Hilton Resorts list so I could use my wife’s Aspire property credit while we are there.
Luckily I had a little wiggle room because the first dates I tried were all booked since it butted up to a holiday weekend. He asked if I could move it up one day, which I could, so we were in business. The first option he gave me was the Hilton Orlando on International drive which looks like a good property. It is also next door to the Hyatt Regency that I took my kids to on my 1 dad, 2 kids trip. I liked the location and was happy with that option but asked what else was available.
That is when he got me really excited. He said he could do Hilton Bonnet Creek which looks like one of the best Hilton properties in Orlando and right next to Disney Springs. But he was looking at the next week and it wasn’t actually available 😥. I ended up going with the Orlando Hilton.
I checked the dates we are staying and the cheapest room for 3 nights is going for a little over $1000 or 150,000 Hilton Honors points. Those savings are worth two hours of my time!
My Game Plan for the Meeting
At the advice of many readers I am planning on taking the kids to the sales pitch. If they offer to send them to a kids club I will refuse and say I don’t feel comfortable with that. I also plan on being pretty hands off on them. If they want to whine and complain – go for it kids! I hope it gets us out of there early. Except I bet my son asks a ton of questions which could backfire for sure 🤣.
I will let them know up front that I am not a player. And maybe I will flip the sales person into a miles and points fan, who knows. I plan on writing about the experience since I think adding kids to the mix will be interesting.
Final Thoughts
This is the first timeshare offer I have accepted in almost 15 years and to be honest I am kind of excited for it. I want to see what adding kids to the presentation does. And I have dealt with firm sales tactics in many other business environments so that doesn’t bother me much. My wife however, that is a whole other story! Oh yeah…I should probably tell her she has to sit through a sales pitch on our trip shouldn’t I 🤣😂?
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I just got offered the same $199 deal in Orlando and on the fence about accepting it. Your article was very helpful and am ready to push their buttons when they call back on Monday. Can you tell me what to go for and get situated on my end before getting my deal. Extra night? More points? Location??
I would go for 50K in points and $149 out of pocket or less.
Did one several months ago on the Big Island. Not sure enough of my schedule yet for next year to book to get past the allowed period (between presentations). If I did though, I would ask for 50k points.
Just received same destination email offer for $199 & 25k Honors points.
You gonna take it?
Mark also double check the terms of your briefing. Make sure they did not say anything about kids attending. The terms normally outline you must have household income, spouse must attend, etc.. If you don’t meet the terms I heard of people attending the full brief and had to pay full price and/or not receiving the offered gifts.
Hilton Bonnet Creek is nicer for sure but it isn’t the one right next to Disney Springs, and it isn’t technically located on Disney property. Bonnet Creek was the only piece of property that held out from Disney and even though Disney World is located all around it, it is not part of Disney World and is not really near anything. The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista and the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace are the ones that are directly across the street from Disney Springs.
Good to know – thanks
Car dealerships should start using that ploy about pretending to have to ask their manager.
I have had them do that before lol
It truly does not have to be an adversarial experience, Mark! Try approaching the meeting with an intent of learning their program. Asking lots of intelligent questions will actually get you more the effect you are hoping for (out soon), because then the reps will see you actually understand & that they were successful, too, but you are still not ready. Enjoy some space & utilities on vacay for a nice change of pace!
I would recommend against that. My guess is you work for a timeshare :). I have tried that approach a few times, because at one time I did actually want to learn and understand what the program offered. Trust me if you show any hint of interest and start asking questions your 2 hrs will easly turn in to 4+ hrs. If timeshare were a good value timeshare exit teams would not exist.
Its better for you and the salesperson just be honest upfront not to waist each others time. If you ask question They will hold you forever and miss the chance to trap someone else. Your first 90 mins will just be them acting friendly to dig in to your personal life to gear their pitch, watching a video, and tour of the property. Last 30 mins is the price and packages, if you ask questions at that point say goodnight your trapped. Don’t forget after the salesperson finished you still need to add an extra 30-40 mins to pass the managers pitch (better deal) and the exit survey with the final sales pitch on the try before you buy package.
I will be staying in a regular hotel in the area so no extra space for this one 🙁
Offered 4 days, three nights in Orlando for $199 and a $200 voucher for a future stay (Apr 2019). Got another 5k points by persistently refusing the initial offer. Pls keep up these highly informative timeshare posts Mark. As the environment for miles and points accumulation gets tougher, these offers become more and more enticing. Also plan to take the kids to the presentation.
I will keep them coming 🙂
I just took my 5 year old twins to a timeshare pitch in Hawaii, let them do their thing ;-). Out of there in way less than 90 minutes include transport time. Told them I wasn’t buying, respectfully nodded as he talked, then at the end said I earn more points than I can use and wasn’t interested.
I hope to get similar results Jackie!
That’s the way to do it in Hawaii 🙂 the sellers focus on the weak “well maybe people”. I always try to book my tours early and tell them strongly up front that im a timeshare pro I’m here for the gifts. Never never ask questions to hint your interested and just be respectful, well until they flip their switch and become nasty with you then fire right back and become stronger. Don’t ever feel guilty they are trained to prey on your guilt and indecisiveness.if your strong they will try to keep you for their min required time and try their chances at the next victim. If you go toward end of the day depending as their last guest they will keep you longer until its their time to go home. If I was you I would go in wearing all the M2M logo and say I have my own travel blog teaching people how to travel for free. Most likely their required time will focus learning about how they can also travel for free unless you get one of the young hungry sales reps they wont care what you have to say.
Looks like you had one slightly-less-terrible option offered you: Myrtle Beach.
And I sure hope your son asks a bazillion questions. XD
Oh he will for sure – you know that 🙂
I put reminders in my calander to reattend a timeshare briefing when I’m eligible. Whynham is ever 6 months and I normally get a week stay (hard to book but made it work few times and it was great) or i just take the 30k points and get 2 flexiable easy to book nights. All other Hilton, Marriot, bluegreen, Diamond are all once a year.
My approach is I always tell them I’m a point guru. At times i even opened up a few of my hotel & airline account to show my elite status and over 1 million points combined. I tell them for now I have enough point to travel for free for the next 3-4 years and I only get 2 weeks holiday per year. To basiy let them know up front I don’t have much time to travel and I have way more point to travel for free for years to come. Also when they ask where would you like to travel next I ALWAY say the places they can not offer through their program or through RCI. I say Cuba, Belize (one of the remote locations), etc.. Just think of 4-5 remote locations and check if RCI offers anything in that location https://www.rci.com/resort-directory/landing if not your adding cards to your deck. Then you can throw in with flexible of your hotel programs, airbnb etc your able to travel to those places. If your bringing kids they will probally use it agains you saying I know your kids will want to travel to Disney etc all the popular places they offer. Their other big leverage is saying why stay in a small basic room when you can stay in a large place with kitchen etc.. That’s also more appealing when you have kids and large family. It’s just my spouse & I and we love to travel to remote places, we never cook so Mitch does us no good, and I prefer to stay in small room because 80% of my day is outside traveling, hard for them to sell us as we are not their prime targets (as large family and older retired people are.) They only try to sell us on how we can rent out the room we do not use and “make money” ya right!! Or how we can transfer points to cruises (oh my gets sea sick 🙂 ) i have a counter answer for all of their tricks.
As a last resort when they keep pushing I just crunch their # fast and show them how ots the worst value. Not to mention the mortgage cost that you will have to pay monthly with high interest, I always highlight how bad the maiantance fee is and how that alone cost more then I pay for hotels which is basically nothing since I have endless points.
They must keep you for the full 90-120 min depeding on thr company, Hilton always seams to go longer. The older sales people (most likely retired and doing it for fun/extra money) tend to be more understanding they see right away the program does not work for me and many time they want to spend the 2hrs learn something from me such as how to earn point instead of waisting the time trying to sell when they know I’m not interested. The younger sales seam to hungry and will not take no for an answer. They will act like your best friend and toward the end when they know they cant sell turn nasty and totally A** Holes. I actually prefer the A-holes as it makes it so much easier for me to also become nasty and say no way in hell. When they are so kind I tend to feel guilty but most of them know the gifts are so good and it will draw people only for the gifts & offers.
Then after the main sales pitch the manager will also come to sell you with a better offer and when you think your all finished they will do a close out survey and try to sell you again on the try it before you buy it package. Finally after your third no your free to check out and collect your gifts.
My favorite question I wait for them to ask is why do you keep coming of you know your not going to buy? Im already prepared with my gift value and say ill stop coming when they stop offering me such great gift, if you know another way I can make $??? An hour please let me know and ill do that instead.
Good luck
Thanks for the tips Mike. Is it once per calendar year or is it a rolling twelve month thing for the terms?
It’s once every rolling 12 months (6 for Whyndham) from your last showing. I do them so often I even save the phone# for the local signup reps that give me the best offer and gifts. When my redo reminder pops up I just call the local reps and they sign me up over the phone. They encourage you to view it again as they have some algorithm that says most buyers are likely to purchase on their 3rd tour but I beat those odds I have been to dozens from every branding.
Awesome – thanks Mike!
I recently called in after getting a $199 Orlando/Vegas 3 night plus 25,000 HH points offer. I was about ready to buy it, then the representative gave me some additional bonuses without even having to ask for them really. I ended up with an extra night and an extra 5000 points (4 nights, 30,000 points for $199 in Orlando, needs to be booked within a year.) I’m really hoping there’s good availability when I eventually book it.
Awesome – I would have preferred that deal. I should have pushed harder 🙁
It must be highly dependent on the rep you talk to. I didn’t push at all and he kept upping the offer for me. I’m skeptical they’ll ever give me the additional 5k points (I don’t see any record of it), but my offer does show the extra night already.
The email I received shows only 15K but when I called to book I mentioned it and he said it is 20K on his screen but 5K was upon check in or something like that. If you don’t get it then try Hilton’s Twitter team they are usually pretty helpful.
Thanks!
I love my HGVC. Obviously, I bought resale. Got a great deal $1000 all fees included for 4800 annual points which is enough for 1 week in a 1 bedroom during platinum season (las Vegas property- no ROFR). Annual fees are $800 which comes out to less than $115 per night. I get your point on not wanting to pay cash. We used to travel with points and night certificates but it’s harder now and with a family of soon to be 4 i love having the extra space and a full kitchen. Also not having change hotels during our trips is a big plus.
Yes! Keep the kids and just make it very clear since the beginning, you’re not interested in buying. Keep track of time. Have fun!
Thanks Hector and I can see time shares making sense if you find a property you love and you can pick it up on the resale market for just maintenance fees etc.
As an real owner how far in advance are you booking your week stay? Most of my travel is unplanned and short notice 1 week to 2 months in advance. I been to sales briefings and had sales rep open their booking tool a the places I would want to stay were booked out no less then 4+ months in advance.
You are not a fit for a resale timeshare. Resale timeshares are a fantastic travel hack but like flipping homes, very profitable for some, and a disaster for others. If you can pick the right location and annual maint cost compared to renting, you can do extremely well. Gotta research resale and use the motto, Location, Location, Location.
Curious… besides trying to buy points & lowest price maint fees you can find why would the location make a difference? You basically your purchasing a virtual (points) deed not a physical location that you have exclusive right to. Your points just give you the ablity to book time at any of the brand locations and you have access to book using your points through RCI but you also need to pay extra $$ called an “exchange fee” that exchange fee alone is more then I normally pay to book outside of the USA. The “virtual” deed is not like flipping a physical real estate property that gains value over time. You dont own a physical space that you can fix up and resell and the virutal deed will never go up in value. As timeshare programs improve your old timeshare rules would be outdated making it even harder to resell. The only price that increases is the mandatory maint fees, subject to yearly inflation. How can you make a profit? Besides the emotional profit of personal satiification of staying in a large room that you prepaid for. Where is the cash value profit? I do know there is a potential profit if you want to try to book and rent out your time but thats lots of work and risky. If there is a way to actual make a $$ profit I’m for sure all ears I may want in on the profit.
Mike, the first thing you want is minimal financial risk. I spent $1000 to buy and I can probably sell it back for $1000 or more so worst case scenario I’ll break even. Second, location does matter if you want to book an specific holiday week/view etc but the lower the fees the better resale value. Yes, you can profit by having the right program. I have sold 1 week in a studio in Hawaii (2200 points) for $1200. Still cheaper than booking direct with Hilton and much nicer unit and that left me 2600 left for the year plus $400 in profits. I do prefer to use the program for my family vacations but there are people who do this for a living. Just google mega renters. As for RCI I rarely use it. If I’m unable to use my points for the year, I’ll rent them and pay cash for wherever we want to go or I’ll exchange with owners in other programs. Sometimes it does make sense to book through RCI but not always. Timeshares are not an investment. You’re basically prepaying your vacations at a discounted rated. Think about it as having 7 credit cards with a $100 annual fee each and you get to use those night certificates at participating properties lol
John, for popular destinations and high season you need to book 6-9 months in advance. You don’t have to book a full week. It can be 3-4 days or whatever you need. If you can’t plan your trips that far ahead then don’t get a timeshare because it will just not work for you unless you travel during the off season then yes, you will have plenty of availability but You will have to take what’s available (parking view as opposed to ocean view for example).
Hector, thank you for the honest feedback. Thats what I assumed, they always advoid showing that booking downside during the sales pitch. They do love to show the last min booking feature in which they say its discounted room at cash price which I always find super funny. Everytime they show these last min discounted rooms I always pull up my Hilton app or what ever brand I put the same dates, same room in to the hotels direct app and 95% of the time I can get a lower cost for same room through the hotel app directly its so funny to see the sales people face when I show them that. Not to mention if I show them on a 3rd party booking app. They always try so hard to find excuses why I can book it for cheaper. Most common response is oh because your a Diamond member Hilton is giving me best discounts or because I’m using a government rate etc.. But it always back fires on them trying to justify why I should buy the timeshare.
What is a good site to buy a time share resale?
I received a similar one. Mine is 189, Orlando and 30K points. I haven’t yet called to book mine though I suppose I should.
Nice – I would book it sooner rather than later just to ensure you get a good property.
As an Orlando resident – you should have held out for BonnetCreek. You can see fireworks from all disney parks and Seaworld from that property.
That is what I was hoping for but I think the upcoming trip will be the last trip to Orlando for a while so I didn’t want to have to force a trip just to use it.