Timeshare Choice - Holiday Clubs

Membership to holiday clubs is increasing to the detriment of conventional timeshare sales. The best holiday clubs have the accommodation, but at prices which are rarely good value taking into account the money paid for the membership. It appears that only a small percentage of the purchase price goes to delivering the service.

The general view is that holiday clubs with memberships for a period of less than three years were created to circumvent the timeshare laws - mainly the laws banning the taking of a deposit and the requirement to offer a cooling off period. There are approximately 100 holiday clubs in Europe with over 250,000 members. Less than 50% are able to take the promised holidays as clubs have no inventory to serve all members.

RDO (formerly the OTE) believes that the following holiday products are currently being marketed mainly in Spain but also in the UK and elsewhere in Europe:
There are a number of different types of such products, including:
1. Schemes set up for a duration of less than 3 years (usually 35 months).
2. Schemes set up involving intervals of less than 7 days (usually 6 days).
3. Renewable purchase packs (where a scheme is sold for a period of less than 3 years but this is extendable by mean of renewal options, often up to 50 or more years).
4. A. Points packages with sufficient underlying inventory to support the points issued.
4. B. Points packages without sufficient underlying inventory to support the points issued.
5. A. Exit packages which are sold according to legal requirements.
5. B. Exit packages which are sold by some marketers in contravention of the Timeshare Directive requirements.

Timeshare Holiday Packages

The holiday Packages are being sold for duration of less than 36 months, which are either outside the provisions of the Timeshare Directive and of the various national Laws, especially the Spanish Law, or circumventing these Laws.

However, the RDO (formerly the OTE) believes that Holiday Packages should only be sold if sufficient inventory to support them is under the control of the vendor, preferably by ownership rights or that other financial mechanisms are in place to secure the provision of the accommodation originally represented. Regrettably, not many holiday packs fit this category.

Financially, the high cost of a Holiday Package now selling between £1,500 to £4,000 for a three year duration does not justify the uncertainty of the product. Some clubs you are entitled to take two or four weeks in a year, others unlimited number of weeks. Figures vary between £100 to £500 or more per holiday booking. If the purpose of purchasing a Holiday Club package is to "taste the product" why not to invest in a resale week which will save you money and be yours for a larger number of years and using the exchange network your holiday choice will be over thousands of resorts rather than only a few.