A vacation club is basically an updated version of a timeshare. Hotels, villas, and condos participate in the program and you choose when and where you want to stay depending on what level of package you buy. Like at with the Privilege Club. Similar to the timeshare principal you buy into a program paying an initial fee.
What is a Vacation Club?
After enrolling in one of the three types of programs you can then choose when and where you’d like to stay. One thing to keep in mind is that you will probably have to pay an annual membership or maintenance fee.
What is the Difference Between a Vacation Club and a Timeshare?
As far as a timeshare goes you purchase a week each year or several one week intervals of time for a certain resort and destination. You are able to exchange your weeks or intervals with other resorts if need be.
When you are involved in a vacation club there is no interval location. You can stay longer than two weeks at a time if you decide to purchase more time. There are some vacation clubs which will let you transfer or sell out your membership just like timeshares. But, there are other vacation club memberships that you are not able to sell out of or transfer.
It should be noted that only the top echelon vacation clubs will offer or guarantee to buy back your beginning investment. Some will buy back all of it and some will only buy back a percentage.
What are the Three Packages?
- There are three types of categories of vacation club memberships.
The first category is the high-end ownership program. These are made up of associations of people all over the world who own expensive properties. How it works is each member buys into an equity position and shares the ownership. The buy-in for this package starts at $100,000 and goes up to $1 million.
The second category of a vacation club is for hotels and resort chains. These include major hotels and resorts around the world. Venues such as Hilton, Disney, Hyatt, Marriot, Westin, Wyndham, and Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton among others. This package only allows you to choose to stay at the participating hotels and resorts. However, you’ll more than likely find a great place within the options.
The third package consists of condos and resort chains. These places aren’t typically affiliated with big hotel chains. They are a little more off the beaten path so to speak. When you choose this package you can opt for a mid-level price plan which will get you a typical condo to stay at. You can also go for the high-end program and open yourself up to stay at gorgeous villas worldwide. With the higher-end program, you can even choose a cruise for your vacation.
