The Timeshare Learning Center
General Timeshare Info

What is "Timeshare"?
(note: timeshare is spelled one word, not two!)

Regardless of how you define the term, the basic philosophy of timeshare is simple; You and a group of other people share the purchase cost of a vacation accommodation, in increments of one week (or more) per year of use, thus guaranteeing your ability to use that accommodation during the period of time you own, either for life or for a specified number of years. Accommodations range from hotel rooms to condos, from cabins to luxury houses and castles, from yachts to cruise ships to RV's and houseboats. Now you can even own a timeshare interest for a private jet! The travel opportunities that are available to timeshare owners are provided in large part by an external exchange company.

Owning timeshare in the traditional sense, or probably what your friends or parents own if they purchased their timeshare more than 5 years ago, means a condominium/villa/house/hotel unit, etc. is subdivided into 52 separate units of time (52 weeks in 1 year), and usually sold to a maximum of 51 owners (leaving one week each year closed down for annual renovations and/or maintenance). Each owner would own 1/51 of the unit. Each share represents one week of vacation in this example. Each owner is entitled to ownership rights and privileges of the shares that they purchased. Specific benefits and fees for timeshare ownership vary depending upon which particular resort you own at and which exchange company, if any, you become a member of. Under the traditional timeshare ownership exchange programs, exchanges are made on a week for week basis.

There are newer time share vacation ownership developers who sell points or credit based programs, instead of the traditional week based timeshare interval exchange program. To learn more about the differences between points and weeks, visit the points vs weeks based section of our free timeshare learning center. click here

Timeshare Guys Frequently asked question:
"How do I become a member of RCI, II, RCI Points, or other timeshare exchange companies?"
Time share resorts are typically affiliated with some sort of exchange company; either within a home resort group (such as Fairfield, Hilton, Sunterra, and more) and/or an external exchange company such as RCI or Interval International. To become a member of one of these exchange companies, you must purchase a resort that is affiliated with the exchange company. Then, as an owner at an affiliated resort, there are benefits that are available to you other than just using your timeshare at the resort that you own at. The specific requirements to participate in these exchange programs vary by each timeshare, but most simply require ownership at the resort, and membership in the exchange company.

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To learn more about timeshare exchange programs and timeshare exchange companies, please visit the Exchange Program Section of our free Timeshare Learning Center.
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