or those visitors who are new to the world of timeshare/vacation ownership, we offer the following Glossary of Terms to help you understand the variety of terms used in timesharing. We have included some of the terms used in the UK and Europe which are different from terms commonly used in North America, and included some terms that are used within the industry in sales rooms, etc.
PLEASE NOTE: Some of the following are original to The Timeshare Beat , some have been sent to us by readers, and some are so prevalent on the Web that we have no way of knowing where they originated. If we have stepped on any toes, please let us know so we can provide proper credit where it is due.
Accelerated Use: A right-to-use program that allows the member to accelerate usage of the time purchased. For instance: you have a 10-year right to use one week per year at a resort offering accelerated use. Instead of using one week every year, you may choose to use 2 weeks every year for 5 years or 5 weeks per year for 2 years. (Based on availability.)
Accrued Weeks: Weeks that you "banked" from the prior year which are available for use in the current calendar year.
AIRDA (the All India Resort Developers Association): The trade association in India for the timeshare industry.
Amber week: See season.
Amenities: Features that add to the value of the property such as swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, spas, boating, fitness room, laundry facilities, etc. Generally speaking, the more amenities a resort offers the greater the increase in value and desirability of the property.
ARDA (The American Resort Development Association): The main trade association in the United States for the timeshare industry. Provides lobbying and other services in support of the industry.
Banking: Depositing a week of timeshare into an exchange company's "bank". If you do not use a week in a particular year, you are generally allowed to bank it and use it at a later time. See Accrued Weeks, Block Banking and Space Banking.
Be-back: Salesperson's term for prospective purchasers who avoid buying by saying that they will ‘be back'. Salespeople sometimes refer to them as "riding the be-back bus" and in other less flattering terms.
Biennial: Use of a fixed week every other year (‘EOY'). Owners are referred to as ‘Odd' or ‘Even' year owners. See Odd or Even Year Usage
Block (or Bulk) Banking: The depositing, usually by the resort management, of a large number of weeks into the exchange company "bank" at the earliest time possible.
Blue week: see Season
Bonus Time: Use of your resort in addition to your regular allocated time on a space available basis. A Developer Bonus Week (DBW) is available to members who own at participating resort. These bonus weeks are issued directly from the resort, often issued as a signing bonus upon the purchase of a timeshare interval. Sometimes owners can purchase bonus weeks from the resort as unsold developer-owned weeks.
A second type of bonus week is one issued by an exchange company. Owners of high-demand resort weeks receive them as incentives to deposit their timeshare week.
Camping Membership: A membership to a resort or resort community catering to campers, some of which are affiliated with national organizations providing camping locations for members in many states and other countries.
C.A.R.E.: Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers. A trade association established in 1985 comprised of resort developers, independent exchange companies, management companies, travel clubs and resort service companies.
Check-In Date: The assigned date and day of week the interval week begins; usually Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. ( You will find a calendar here )The check-in day begins the seven-day interval week. For example, if the interval week begins on Friday, the week ends on the following Friday. The interval owner (or renter) need not always check in on the specific check-in day; however, late check-in does not extend the interval week beyond the scheduled checkout day.
Check-In Time: The assigned hour an interval week begins; usually 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM, or occasionally 5:00 PM prevailing time. The interval owner need not check in at the precise time; however, late check in does not extend the interval week beyond the assigned check out time. Check-out time is normally 10:00 AM or 11:00 AM prevailing time on the seventh day following check-in. [Example: check-in on Saturday at 4:00 PM and check-out on the following Saturday at 10:00 AM].
Closing Costs: Those costs associated with the closing process, usually including: deed preparation or transfer of equity for right-to-use properties, recording costs, escrow fee, and administrative fees.
Club/Trust Membership: Year-round usage of resort facilities with purchase, on a space available basis. This is the most generally used system of timeshare ‘ownership' in the United Kingdom and is growing in popularity everywhere else. Owners belong to a Club; their accommodation unit (and sometimes the leisure facilities) are held by Trustees who licence a ‘Right-to-Use' to ‘Owners'. Sometimes club membership is backed by a deed of ownership, sometimes it is not. (The escritura system in Spain is a deeded system, but deeded timeshare ownership is not legal in the UK and some other countries.)
Constitution: The collection of inter-related legal documents establishing the relationship between timeshare owner, developer, trustee and management company. Effectively the rules by which the resort is run.
Cooling Off Period: The time given to a purchaser following signing of a purchase agreement, during which they may cancel without penalty. In the UK the cooling off period is 14 days, elsewhere in Europe it is 10 days, in Mexico it is 5 days. In the USA the period varies from state to state. See Rescission
Deed: A legal document providing title to your property; gives you your ownership rights. See Fee Simple . (The escritura system in Spain is a deeded system, but deeded timeshare ownership is not legal in the UK and some other countries. See Club/Trust Membership .)
Deeded Property: True property ownership with deed recorded in the county where the property exists. This type of property has the same rights of ownership accorded to it as other deeded real estate. The owner may sell, rent, bequeath, or give away the property
Developer's Price: The developer's current or market price for a timeshare interval. Full retail price. Includes the developer's marketing costs, etc.
DOS: Director of Sales -- The head sales manager, in charge of managing the sales process and all of the timeshare sales reps in a sales room. The actual duties will vary depending on the hierarchy at specific resorts or companies.
End-user Finance: Provision of a loan to enable an owner to purchase a timeshare. Some finance agreements are personal loans (without security) while others are loans secured by the timeshare week or, occasionally, by a mortgage on the principle residence.
Escritura: The Spanish term for the deeding and registering of a ‘Deed of Title'. Similar to registration of the Land Registry in England and Wales.
Escrow: A special secured account used to hold funds from the buyer and the seller related to closing of purchase and/or sale of a property
Exchange: The process of trading an interval week at one resort for an interval week at another resort or trading a specific week at the home resort for another week at the same resort. The exchange system allows an interval owner to trade their week with other interval owners thereby allowing each owner to travel and vacation throughout the world. Some resorts have internal exchanges with other resorts which are usually owned by the same company.
Exchange Company: A company or organization that accepts timeshare weeks on deposit from its interval owners/members to establish a pool of weeks from which other members may select the resort and vacation times of their choice. When a member deposits their week with an exchange company, the company compares the week the depositor is asking for with weeks deposited by other members and provides a suitable match based on availability and value. Factors affecting the exchange value are: the resorts' rating, the time division; i.e., prime time versus low time, the size of the unit desired, etc.
Exit Program: Usually, a reduced cost package/trial program offered to a customer who is on the point of walking away. This serves two purposes: it rescues something for the salesman and entices you to use the resort's facilities in the hope that they will get another crack at selling you.
Factoring Fee (‘Factorial'): The Scottish term for the Management Company profit mark-up included in the Management Agreement.
Fee Simple: The preferred type of real estate ownership. This type of interval ownership is the opposite of Right-to-Use or lease ownership and continues forever. The owner holds a deed in his/her name and the ownership of the property can be bequeathed to heirs.
Fixed Unit: A time period that is fixed for each calendar year, either by date or by calendar weeks; most in numerical sequence 1-52. With a week number, your actual start date may vary slightly from year to year. Unlike a floating unit, a timeshare owner who owns a fixed unit at a resort will always vacation in the same physical unit each year he/she vacations at that resort. This type of ownership is particularly important if you have purchased, for example, an ocean front property with the ocean at your door step and are not willing to vacation in an ocean- view unit. A fixed unit property assures the owner that he/she will always have the exact location and the exact unit they have purchased.
Fixed Week: Referring to the interval calendar, the purchase of a fixed week property assures the owners that they will always have the same week each year; i.e., week 52 or week 35, etc. Alternatively, an owner of a floating week may choose another week within their season allocation. A floating week owner may also elect to upgrade or downgrade to another season allocation to meet their annual vacation schedule. Upgrading to a higher time division usually incurs an additional cost.
Floating: Your time period is defined by a season and your week period is not fixed. You reserve your time period within the appropriate season annually. Most resorts have a High, Medium, and Low Season. Owners of a floating unit at a resort might not vacation in the same physical unit each year. Interval owners may request a specific unit and if it's available for that particular week the resort normally will honor the request.
- floating week based on fixed rotation - a type of timeshare ownership in which specific weeks rotate among owners from year to year on a fixed schedule. Common with fractional ownership interests/private residence clubs.
- floating week based on ownership rotation - a type of ownership in which the owner purchases week(s) and works out the appropriate vacation time with the other owners on a rotating basis each year.
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