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Author:
Holly Day

Owning a timeshare used to mean traveling to the same resort, at the same time, year after year. No more! That concept of timeshare is now outdated. Thankfully, timeshares are increasingly more hip to the needs of today's customers, who want more flexibility and variety from their vacations.
Whether you want to turn your vacation week into 2 or 3 trips, visit other resorts throughout the globe, go on boat cruises through the Caribbean or Alaska, take advantage of numerous vacation offerings or simply extend your vacation stay, today's timeshares can easily match your vacation style.
Many properties provide these benefits, so we'd like to share some of this information with you. Please look it over. The more informed you become, the better your vacation! Whether you're a seasoned timeshare owner or a prospective first-time buyer, here's a smattering of the types of timeshare benefits you can discover:
Vacation Points "Getaways" Fractional Timeshares Multiple Vacation Resorts Floating vs. Fixed Time
Vacation Points--- Instead of offering fixed one-week vacation increments, points programs such as RCI Points provide members increased flexibility and diversity. With vacation points, members have the added freedom of reserving partial weeks into several two, three or four night increments at different resorts throughout the club's network. RCI's Points program gives members access to more than 3,700 resorts worldwide.
The amount of points you use per vacation depends upon the resort, the size of the unit, the season and the number of nights you stay. Based upon the amount of points you own, you choose when you're going to travel, where you want to stay, how many rooms you'll need and for how long.
Locations can be anywhere in the world from Egypt, Morocco, Brazil, Costa Rica, France and Israel or right at your own backdoor. Resorts also vary from Colorado's breathtaking mountain views to Florida's sandy beaches, and many more luxurious and exotic places. With points, the variety of your vacations is endless. You can even use RCI points on anything from airline tickets and rental cars to theme park admission.
Getaways--- Maximize your vacations without even exchanging your existing timeshare weeks! Here's a nice feature of timeshare ownership! When you buy a resale timeshare you may already know that you're eligible to join exchange companies like RCI or Interval International (II), which allow you to deposit your home resort week for weeks at other resorts throughout the world. But did you know that these exchange companies also offer timeshare owners "getaway" deals throughout the year? You simply buy these getaways from the exchange companies without exchanging your week. If you're eager for some extra vacations, on a short-term notice, you might discover anything from a week at the Marriott's Grand Vista in Orlando for $199 to a three day getaway in the Poconos. II allows you to take up to 12 getaways a year and RCI has no limit.
Fractional Timeshares --- Extend your stay in paradise! Sometimes it's possible to purchase 12 weeks at a particular resort. The quarter rotates from year to 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 to use for stays at other resorts, or do a combination of them all.
Multiple Vacation Resorts (Non-points)--- This type of ownership is like owning at 7 or more resorts and you can travel between them without the need of an exchange company! Or, if you like, you can use RCI or II and exchange to properties that aren't affiliated with your club! At any time, we have multiple vacation resorts within our inventory and each has its finer points. Perennial Vacation Club, or World Intl. Vacation Club are two such resorts.
Floating vs. Fixed Time --- To float or not to float... For those of you who can't or won't plan ahead each year, float time makes sense, since you can choose from the dates available within a particular season. You're not locked into a particular week, so you simply call and make a reservation. As a fixed week owner, you won't need to request a reservation, since you already know exactly where your week falls on the calendar. Need to travel during a specific time? Fixed weeks are the way to go. And, if you can't travel during your fixed time, you can always exchange your week for a different time of year, but you'll have to pay an exchange fee.
Trading your timeshare for comparable timeshares is a wonderful way to travel and see the world!
About the Author
Holly Day writes for the travel industry and the Holiday Group http://www.holidaygroup.com. For low cost vacation ownership abd more great information on timeshare exchanges see: http://www.holidaygroup.com/exchange.php

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Timeshares... Timesharing Without Owning A Timeshare If you’re dreaming of a unique vacation experience, but don’t have a budget to cover outrageous hotel expenses, or to even purchase a timeshare yourself, there are ways to take advantage of the great deals offered by timeshare owners without actually becoming one yourself. With timeshare locations found all over the globe from the snow-capped Rocky Mountains to the tropical beaches of the Bahamas, the only thing limiting a destination is a person’s own imagination. But, how does one afford these great vacation destinations without taking out a second mortgage? It’s simple, shop around for timeshare opportunities online where you can look at what various resorts that handle timeshare condos have to offer and even get hooked up directly with a timeshare owner. A timeshare owner just might have a slot open in a location you want, but not have the time to take advantage of it him or herself. Timeshare locations around the world basically work by having multiple owners for a single condo or unit within a resort destination. Each owner is given a set number of days or weeks to use that location for their own personal vacations. These owners can sometimes “trade” their time with an owner in another location, effectively increasing their ability to vacation around the world, but sometimes owners simply are looking for a return on their investment. When a timeshare owner is either unable to take advantage of their time slot, or simply prefers to “rent” out or “auction” off their time at their resort, non-timeshare owners can get involved in the action for a fraction of ownership costs. This provides an advantage to the timeshare owner in that his or her slot can now earn them money on their timeshare investment as a rental or auction can cover their money invested, or even...