How to save thousands on a trip to Vegas and other holiday hotspots with a strange travel tip
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A sneaky travel trick can knock thousands of dollars off a luxury trip to vacation hotspots such as Las Vegas, Hawaii and Florida.
Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy members can get their hands on a luxury vacation at a discount price by attending a holiday timeshare pitch once they've arrived.
The deals are part of the hotel giants' plans to lure their loyal customers into buying vacation timeshares from another arm of their business.
Once on the trip, members must attend a sales pitch for vacation timeshares, which is when people essentially pay up front for a lifetime of holidays at the company's different resorts.
Depending on which level of the timeshare scheme you purchase, you are given a certain number of annual points that can be redeemed for vacations.
For example, a package costing $23,980 would get you 5,500 annual timeshare points, working out to somewhere between 12 and 21 nights a year in a studio at a standard property or a week at an upscale resort, The Wall Street Journal reported.
One such deal from Hilton Grand Vacations available now is a three night stay in Las Vegas for just $299.
The stay at Hilton's The Boulevard can be redeemed for up to 12 months after purchase. If the holiday wasn't perk enough it also comes with 15,000 Hilton Honors points.
Other destinations currently on offer on the Hilton Grand Vacations website include three nights in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for $349, and three nights in Orlando, Florida, for $299.
Even more lucrative offers are often sent to members' email inboxes directly.
One recent deal offered three nights in Orlando or Vegas for just $129.
The packages also include an annual maintenance fee that increases over time.
Some who have taken the cheap holidays have advised other against doing so.
'I did one on Vegas and I wouldn't recommend it,' one holidaymaker wrote on Reddit.
'You do get to stay for cheap, but to me it wasn't worth the 3 hours of high pressure sales... it's pretty brutal.'
'I had to go through 3 levels of management to get out of there. Honestly it's easier to pay the room rate,' they added.
Many of those who do buy packages also go on to regret it.
Some even try to resell their purchases for cheaper just to be rid of them.
'I can never find any reservations that aren't in Vegas that my measly 5500 points will cover,' one remorseful vacation timeshare owner wrote on Reddit.
'I have paid close to $40,000 over the years and still paying $1,650 in maintenance fees yearly,' they wrote.
'Advice from a bitter buyer? DONT DO IT!'
It comes after the Hilton Honors rewards program came under fire earlier this year.
Gary Leff, of View From The Wing, criticized Hilton Honors as 'a low-value program,' explaining that points are typically worth just 0.4 cents each.
He also noted that while Hilton hands out large numbers of points to guests, the cost to redeem them - even for mid-tier properties - can be 'stratospheric'.
Hilton's competitors often provide better returns on points earned per stay, he said.
Leff argues that Hilton gets away with this weak offering by having promotions that 'keep you on the treadmill.'
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