What is a Vacation Club?
We’ve gotten some emails asking this question. This is in regards to Timeshare Exchange and Timeshare Ownership. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we did some research on the Internet to find a well-written content-rich article detailing the differences between a Vacation Club, a Resort Timeshare, Destination Club or a Travel Club that we could share. We didn’t find one. If fact, what we read confused things even more.
So we decided to write it ourselves. We began to write it and realized we have more expertise and collective knowledge on this site (TimeshareJuice.com) than any other timeshare site about this topic. So we decided to open it up to you. Whether you have a lot of knowledge or just want to share some insight, please put in your 2 cents…
Vacation Club – A vacation club is a collection of timeshare resorts owned and managed by a single developer. Some vacation clubs have you buy points in the club that can be used at any of the resort properties. A good example of that model is Disney Vacation Club or Diamond Resort Vacation Club. The model is when the owner buys a timeshare at one of the resorts (timeshare deed) and has some special privileges to other resorts but has a home resort they own at and must trade or exchange timeshares to visit other resorts even in their own resort vacation club. An example of that is Marriott Vacation Club, Hyatt Vacation Club, and Hilton Vacation Club. Some vacation clubs are now offering both models for the purposes of adding flexibility to the changing needs of travelers.
Resort Timeshare – A resort timeshare is when you purchase a deeded timeshare at a single timeshare resort operator. You own a specific timeshare week or floating week (which allows you to pick a timeshare week in a certain period). A deeded timeshare week means that you own that property (like your home) and it is transferable (note: some resorts have restrictions on that so please check with them first).
Travel Club: This is where it gets more confusing. I’ve heard and read articles where people use “Travel Club” interchangeably with “Vacation Club”. So let’s set the record straight. A Travel Club sells a currency (points) which can be used for what the Travel Club owns. So if the Travel Club owns 5 resorts, you can use this “currency” that you purchased towards time at one of the resorts. You don’t actually own anything. You purchase the right to use those points each year to travel. Some Travel Clubs have access to other timeshare resort inventory outside of what they own for you to vacation at. Some even have access to cruise time (e.g. Caribbean Cruises).
Destination Clubs – Destination Clubs is similar to Fractional Ownership in that you typically own more than a week; you probably split the year into 4. Fractionals came about for wealthier clients wanted to own higher end real estate but without the hassles of complete ownership. They don’t want maintenance headaches. Ritz-Carlton Destination Club is an example of an upscale version of a timeshare. Marriott just morphed from a timeshare organization into a Destination Club. Marriott is very unique in that you can buy equity into their Destination Club with cash (Points) or you can use your Marriott timeshare week as collateral and get Points that way.
You can turn in your Points and get Marriott Reward Points which can be used to get airline tickets. Their new Destination Club allows for Points to be turn in for cruises and other activities while at your destination. We now have a Fortune 500 company, Marriott, owning 2 Destination Clubs – expect other timeshare developers to dump the old timeshare model and upscale to the Destination Club model of fractional ownership.
Come see us at TimeshareJuice.com and learn more about timeshare exchange. Learn how to exchange your timeshare, vacation club, or fractional for free. Oh and you’ll have lots of fun too J