Sell or Buy a Hilton Timeshare

This depends on where you buy your Hilton timeshare. If you buy it directly from Hilton at the resort, you’ll pay at least 50-60% more than if you bought it on the resale market. That’s because the marketing costs and sales commissions are baked into the retail sale prices at the resorts to cover the costs of getting you to the resort and selling you your timeshare.

The average cost of a week of timeshare from the resorts is just a shade under $23,000 according to the American Resort Development Association. This price is a good place to start if you are researching the “new” cost of a timeshare but, as mentioned earlier, the discounts on the resale market are significant.

For example, look at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Parc Soleil in Orlando, just minutes from the Disney theme parks. Since Hilton timeshares operate on a points system, it would take 7,000 points to stay in a 2-bedroom unit for a Platinum week at Parc Soleil. A Gold week is even less, at 5,000 points. There are owners advertising 7,000 points for sale on our website for $14,000, which would save you thousands of dollars over the resort price of these points.

While you’ll find a large range of prices being advertised on the resale market, it pays to do some digging to find the value at the price point you’re comfortable with.

Hilton timeshares operate on a points system, even though the ownership is deeded to a specific resort. When you buy a Hilton timeshare, you own a deeded interest in that resort which becomes your home resort. Based on what you buy, you are assigned an allotment of Club Points attached to your ownership which act as a type of vacation currency, allowing you to use those points to book a stay at your home resort or at various resorts within the Hilton timeshare network.

You would use your points to book your vacation through the Hilton system, which would operate as a type of vacation club membership. You would also be enrolled into the Hilton Honors program, which is the loyalty program for the Hilton hotel chain. Your timeshare points could then be used for stays at one of the 5,500 Hilton hotels around the world, greatly expanding the use of your membership.

The best way to get rid of a Hilton timeshare is to sell it and get back some of your initial purchase price. This is one of the benefits of timeshare ownership, since you won’t get back any of your money if you just rent a timeshare or stay in a hotel for your vacations.

Hilton has one of the most respected and popular brands in hospitality and the Hilton timeshare program is sought by buyers from across the country. Hilton timeshares maintain value better than the majority of timeshare companies in the country, so you should get a good price when you sell your Hilton points ownership.

As far as a giveback program where owners can just give their timeshare back to the company, Hilton has a program where they will discuss this option with owners. Specific criteria must be met, such as any mortgages paid in full, no liens on the ownership and all maintenance fees up to date. This is conducted on a case by case basis and there are no guarantees that Hilton will take back your ownership. They do have an internal resale referral program where they work with third-party companies, but Hilton will charge a 25 percent commission as part of the program.

One other way could be through a so-called timeshare exit company, but they are far from a sure thing. They make promises but several have been either forced out of business through the courts for unscrupulous business dealings or are under investigation by state attorneys general.

A Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare is worth it if you use it. That may seem like a no-brainer statement but you would be amazed at how many people buy a timeshare with the best intentions but don’t use it on a regular basis. The majority of people plan on taking an annual vacation each year but circumstances can get in the way. Programs such as Hilton allow for changes to be made and added flexibility because of the way points are used, so you really should be able to use it every year.

A timeshare’s worth also improves if you’ve bought on the resale market because of the savings mentioned earlier. When you save thousands of dollars at 50-60% savings over resort prices because you are buying directly from an existing owner, it makes a big difference in your perception of its worth.

For instance, a Vegas vacation at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the Boulevard would require 7,000 points for a Gold week in a 3-bedroom unit. Sellers are offering packages such as this for $10,000 on the resale market, which would prorate out to $500 a week per year over 20 years of use. Add in the annual fees at about 10 cents/point and you’re talking about a week in a three-bedroom villa in Vegas for a total cost of about $1,200 each year. Plus, you can exchange it to stay in another Hilton timeshare or through RCI if you want to vacation somewhere else. Try booking something like that in a hotel for $170 a night?

Timeshares are worth the money if 1) you go on vacation every year and 2) you buy it on the resale market.

It is stunning how many timeshare owners just don’t use their timeshare each year. Sometimes circumstances can creep up such as an unexpected health issue which keeps you from using your timeshare. But some people go years without using it, sometimes because they don’t understand how flexible the process is.

In the case of a Hilton timeshare, you are allotted a number of points to use each year. The program will also allow you to borrow points from a future year to increase your current allotment, or extend your current points into next year in case you can’t use them or you have a special occasion that you want to plan for. This flexibility means you don’t have to allow your points to expire if you can’t use them.

Buying on the resale market is really the best way to get the maximum worth out of your timeshare purchase. Resale means savings of at least 50-60% off the price of a timeshare through the resort because the resort prices include marketing costs and sales commissions that don’t apply on the resale market.

For a Hilton timeshare, there are sellers advertising a Gold level package of 5,000 points at Ocean 22 by Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Myrtle Beach for $12,500. That’ll get you a week in a two-bedroom unit. Prorate that out over 20 years of vacations and it breaks down to just $625 for the week. Now add the annual fees at about 12 cents per point and you’ll get the two-bedroom unit on the beach for about $1,225 for the week. That breaks down to about $175/night, which is great value for such a large, upscale condo.

Obviously you need to make the choice that best suits your family and vacation needs, but you can see that timeshares are worth the money if purchased correctly.

Perhaps, but it depends on what you own and the current market. Most inquiries to Hilton Grand Vacations of this nature will be assessed for a possible deed-back or give-back status, which means the owner would relinquish their timeshare ownership back to Hilton without compensation in return. Owners would need to meet criteria such as having their mortgage paid off and all annual fees up to date. In any case, there are no guarantees that Hilton would take back the timeshare, but you can’t blame Hilton for trying to get back free inventory that they can turn around and sell.

In the case of a buy back, Hilton would be much more prudent and see exactly what the ownership status is and what their needs are for inventory. If they don’t need inventory at your resort, then they almost certainly won’t offer to buy back your timeshare. If it is for a resort that is in high demand and they need the inventory back to turn over to their sales team, then they may buy it back from you. Keep in mind that any discussion would pay much less than what you would have paid for your timeshare and is purely at the discretion of Hilton. Also, due to COVID-19, Hilton has suspended all potential buy back activity so you will need to check back with them at a later time to see if they have revived the program.

As always, your best chance at making money is to sell your Hilton timeshare on the resale market. You can set your price and negotiate your sale yourself with a buyer without the need for anyone else to be involved.