How does a Residence Club compare with Timeshare?

The question: “How does a residence club compare with timeshare?” is a common question on timeshare and residence club forums and chat rooms. The answers varies as it really depends on the residence club and the type of timeshare you are talking about.

The first point to make when you wish to compare residence clubs with timeshare is that timeshare can be used as a more general term for vacation ownership involving the purchase of intervals of time (shares of time = timeshares) at a resort, condo, villa and so on. Although timeshare traditionally refers to buying week intervals, a residence club in this instance is also, therefore, a timeshare, only residence club intervals are allocated as points which are exchanged for time at the resort. Residence clubs therefore belong to the timeshare family of products, so to speak.

So, how does a residence club compare with timeshare?
Assuming that residence clubs are something other than timeshare, you could argue that the differences between residence clubs and timeshare can be found in the way the intervals of times are managed. In general, residence clubs compare with fixed and floating week timeshare in that, when you purchase membership at a residence club, you buy an allocation of points that are equivalent to a type of accommodation for an amount of time. For example, you buy points equivalent to one week in a two bedroom suite. Residence club membership will allow you to mix and match those points as you wish perhaps, 2 weeks in a smaller unit, or a weekend in a 3 bedroom luxury suite. Residence club points are therefore flexible and interchangeable.

In this instance the way that a residence club compares with a fixed week timeshare, is that a fixed week timeshare cannot be broken down into smaller intervals, you have to use, exchange and bank the whole week. With a residence club, you can bank the points you don’t use and even borrow points from one year to the next.

To conclude, in answer to how does a residence club compare with timeshare? Firstly, residence clubs are a form of timeshare, secondly, residence club use flexible points programs, and finally, residence clubs are, on the whole, timeshare products for more exclusive and luxurious resorts.