To understand your choices in today's timeshares, you can vicariously check out a few of the following websites on this page to fully understand how each functions:
"Fractional Timeshares" This is when you own 3 or more weeks at a particular resort; sometimes as many as 12 weeks. Generally, the weeks you own will rotate on a schedule and is projected on a calendar at least a few years ahead so you know what weeks you have for each year.
As an owner, you can stay longer at a place you love, rent out any surplus weeks, bank the extra weeks with an exchange company, using the weeks for stays at other resorts, or do a combination of them all.
"Floating" vs. "Fixed Weeks" When a developer first builds a resort he decides how the ownership is going to be sold. Fixed weeks were the most common a long time ago so you owned a set week at your resort each year and that is when you vacationed. The only way to change the time was to give up your week, pay an exchange fee, and go some place else at a differenttime or trade back into your own resort.
Eventually, as developers began responding to the needs of vacationers, some resorts were set up and sold as fixed weeks for deeded purposes only to keep them from selling 300% of something and the owner was assigned a float time for booking reservations (sometimes floating all year as many
Hawaiian timeshares do.) This provided lots more flexibility for those owners who wanted to go to their own resorts but wanted to be able to book different times without having to trade back into their own resort.
The advantage of a fixed week owner is you don't need to request a reservation each year as you already know exactly where your week falls on the calendar.
Neither type is better than the other - it really depends on your vacation style and needs!
"Multiple Vacation Resorts" ( non points/credits)
This is like owning a floating week at 7 or more resorts that you can travel between without the need of an exchange company. There are a number of popular timeshare programs that each has its finer points. Here are a few to check out:
www.perennialvacationclub.com
www.wivc.com
www.ravc.com
www.resortswest.org
www.geopremiere.com
www.ore-inc.com