Hilton Timeshare Offer Value
Even if my bags are not quite packed yet, my trip is booked! I did end up getting the wife on board to take advantage of that massive 150K Hilton Timeshare offer that ended a week or so back. After getting everything set up I figured I would share my Hilton timeshare offer value with you. I'll get into how much am I saving, what did they end up booking for me and is it worth doing these things in the future. I know people like to thumb their nose at going through timeshare torture exercises for some free rooms and points, but the payoff can be huge. Just look at that hourly rate I am earning above!
My Hilton Timeshare NYC Hotel Cost
I decided to go with New York as my selection. It was one of the cheaper packages and my kids had wanted to go there as their birthday trip anyway. I figured that was a win, win right there. My son hasn't been in 4 or 5 years and my daughter has never been so it should be fun.
It is an added plus that hotel prices are sky high these days so that makes these timeshare offers even more valuable. I was expecting some sticker shock when looking at the hotel but what I got was still surprising.
They ended up putting us up in the New York Hilton Midtown. The other options, that are sometimes available, are both Hilton Garden Inn hotels. I actually enjoyed my stay at the Hilton Garden Inn New York/Central Park South-Midtown West since I got a second floor room with an outdoor balcony last trip. It wasn't available though since I guess they try to fill the Hilton Midtown first. This is where the timeshare presentations are located too.
Just to cover all my basis I checked the points price to see if it offered a better deal. At 90,000 points a night, or 270,000 in total. It would cost me $1350 to purchase those points when they are on sale for 1/2 a cent each. I would put that as the true value of the stay.
Valuing The 150,000 Hilton Honors Points
We now know the room is worth around $1350 for the 3 nights, but what about the 150,000 Hilton Honors points that comes along with the Hilton timeshare offer? What is the value of those? I peg the value of Hilton Honors points at $0.0045 each. Some may value them at what you can purchase them at, 1/2 a cent each. Other people may say they value them closer to one cent each because they use them only at aspirational properties. That is a bit misleading since I have done a lot of searches and the average redemption falls in the $0.004 – $0.005 range across all Hilton hotels. If we split the difference that makes these points worth $675 to me.
The Total Cost Of The Package
The cost for my package, including all taxes and fees, was $343.13. I was able to put this on my Capital One Spark Travel Elite card, which had some points left from the welcome offer, and wipe it off. That was a nice perk of it coding as a travel purchase. For our purposes we want to count the full cost of the offer though.
My Hilton Timeshare Offer Value Net
If we add it all up we come out with a net valuation of $1,681.87 ($1350 + $675 – $343.13). All of that for a 2 hour presentation where I just have to get my no face ready! I'll take $800+ an hour any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
What About My Flight Bookings?
Even though it doesn't play a role in this I figured I would share my flight bookings as well, just in case anyone was interested. I was able to find flights to New York on Delta with Virgin Atlantic miles for 7,500 points a person. Those had a cash cost of $600 for the 4 of us. I thought that was a pretty good use of points there, netting 2 cents per. It is actually a little better than that since I had the points in my account from an Amex Membership Rewards transfer bonus.
For the flight home I booked us on American Airlines, also at 7,500 miles per person. These flights were almost $700 in total, making it another good redemption. I considered transferring points to British Airways Avios and booking it for the same cost but decided to use the miles I already had in my American account. I was tempted to preserve my AA miles for a bigger redemption since I can't really earn them much anymore with application rules etc. After going back and forth a bit I decided to reverse that course because of their program going fully dynamic. I doubt American Airlines miles will be as valuable in the near future so best to use them for a solid redemption. I decided it was better to preserve my Membership Rewards instead.
To get the flights to work, and not be insanely expensive, we did have to fly in a day earlier. I had found saver space for the Conrad Midtown but by the time we got through to book our Hilton free night certificate (FNC) the space was gone. I'll save all the reasons I hate Hilton's FNC set up in a future post though.
Hilton Timeshare Offer Value: ToP Thoughts
For anyone that says timeshare offers are not worth your time, I am glad you make over $800 an hour doing whatever it is you do! For the rest of you out there, don't overlook these. The most difficult thing is getting your significant other on board for sure. I bribe my wife with a nice dinner etc. afterword. We can splurge a bit with all of the money we just saved after all! Plus, it won't be January anymore so we won't be stuck using only gift cards.
The cool thing I have noticed, with Hilton timeshare offers in particular, is I usually get my status acknowledged and earn points when staying at a hotel property. This is because the timeshare company is a different corporation and they actually pay the hotel for your room. That is a nice little spiff on top of everything else above.
Did anyone else book this amazing offer? Where are you going? Let me know in the ToP Facebook Group or over on Twitter!
