Vacation ownership or Time share holidays is said as a great way to ensure an annual fun filled five-star holiday family vacations. Sterling Holiday Resorts, Club Mahindra, Country Club etc are the wellknown ones in India. What are time share holidays, what are the features?

Overview of Time share holidays

Timeshare is a property – typically a hotel or a luxury resort – in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer/ member is allotted a period of time (about one week, almost the same time every year in a fixed package and one week of their choice in floater package) in which they may use the property. In India time share holidays are by companies like Club Mahindra, Sterling and Country club etc.

• Vacation ownership or Time share holidays is said as a great way to ensure an annual fun filled five-star holiday family vacations. : you and your family can enjoy a rent-free holiday at a domestic destination of your choice or a foreign holiday at a heavily subsidised rate. You can see the sights, explore idyllic locales, participate in adventure sports and have the time of your life.
• Each of these timeshares has holiday homes across India and in foreign countries. Timeshares in India are generally owned by reputed promoters but the ones abroad have tie ups with Resort Condominium International(RCI). RCI is one of the most reputed holiday ownership exchanges with over 3500 affiliate resorts across 95 countries.
• This timeshare week is either decided by the entity (fixed package) or by the individuals (floater package).
• A member has to bear one-time membership fees and annual maintenance charges depending on the type of package.
• Package depends on the type of room(Studio Apartment/1 Bedroom/2 Bedroom) and type of season based on occupancy of property(Purple/Red/White/Blue)
• Yearly maintenance called ASF(Annual Subscription Fees) or AMC(Annual Maintenance Charge) has to be paid by members.This increases year on year by nearly 3-8%. The annual maintenance charge depends again on the type of package and is usually above 10,000. 
• You have to pay for food and other facilities.
• One can also sell the share to others if they are not keen on holding it.
• The member, however, holds no claim to ownership of the property.

When we buy a car, we enjoy the product (car) in advance and pay the price for it in installments. Well, for timeshare holidays as the money is paid in advance, the service is enjoyed in installments. But, as with any buying decision, it’s in your interest to investigate the deal, weigh the pros and cons, and make an informed decision.

Understanding Time Share Holidays Room and Seasons

Type of room in time share holidays includes

1. Studio Apartment around 300-350 sq feet Room for 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 kids.(Lowest subscription and AMC)
2. 1 bedroom around 550-650 sq feet Room for 4 adults.
3. 2 Bedroom around 750-850 sq feet Room for 6 adults.(Highest maintenance and AMC)

Type of season in time share holidays are:

Type of season is when it would be feasible for your timeshare week to commence is shown below

1. Purple: Peak holiday season like Diwali, New year, summer holidays(Highest subscription fees and AMC)
2. Red: Long holidays and peak season for particular location. (Delhi- December-February, Kasol- January-March, Goa- October-February etc.)
3. White: Less than ideal times but not completely off season also known as the regular season,
4. Blue: Off season. (Lowest subscription fees and AMC)

A particular color season member is eligible to use a holiday in his category or lower season categories. For example, the members in the purple season can opt for red, white or blue if the situation demands, but white season members can only opt for white or blue.

Example of Seasons in Time share as shown in the image below

And Season color code of different resorts are shown in the image below. For example for Uttrakhand(encricled in brown, Apr/May are purple colors)

Cost of Membership as advertised by Mahindra Holidays in 2015 is shown in the image below. You have 12 types of membership ( 4 seasons x 3 types of accommodation). So if an individual opts for 2 bedroom and purple season, his subscription and AMC will be the highest.   For 2017 as per their website the membership is, priced between Rs.269,800 for a Blue Studio to a Rs.1,824,900 for a Purple Two Bedroom (effective 1st Mar 2017), is available at affordable EMIs with a six to 48 month period.

Note this only talks about the Joining fees not the Maintainence fees.For upkeep of property, utilities or staff salaries an annual maintenance fees has to be borne by the members according to their room type which would be approximately about Rs 15k to Rs 16k per year for a Red member & about Rs 20K for a purple member.

Booking for holidays

Booking a room is on first come first serve basis.One should book well in advance for a confirmed booking.

For WEEKDAY stay: Member should book at least 30-45 days in-advance

For WEEKEND stay: Member should book at least 3-4 months in-advance

A BLUE member can book rooms: In BLUE season between 1 to 120 days in advance, in WHITE season between 1 to 15 days in advance & in RED season between 1 to 7 days in advance but CANNOT book rooms in PURPLE season.

There is NO transparency on wait list number when booking a room in case of non-availability

When booking a Bus or Air ticket, we get to see how many seats are still available. But in Time share holidays , they do not show how many rooms r available.  Many times rooms are given to non-member through travel agents or travel websites.

If you do the calculation on Number of Rooms per Number of Members you will find that there would be shortage of rooms. Assuming that a time share holiday has 1.83 lakh members. As every member can go for 1 week holiday for all the members the number of rooms required are 3520(1.83L members/52 weeks). Most of time sharing holidays do not have these many rooms.  Assming maximum number of rooms as 3500.  Then during long weekend holidays, only 3.5K members can book & avail holidays.What about remaining 1.79L members?

A cancellation fee of is charged if a Member cancels a confirmed holiday at least 45 days in advance of the start date of the confirmed Week. You can also get your Week back to utilise at a later date. For cancellations done less than 45 days in advance, there will be no refund.

Food & Beverages in Time Share Holidays

You have to pay for food and beverages from your pocket. Many Resorts are built in remote locations which indirectly forces one to take food in their restaurants. You can take Buffet per person or go for 2 or 3 meal package. You can go for individual dishes or la-carte. Please check the Food and Beverages cost or Read article What are the hidden cost/disadvantage in Club Mahindra?

Cancellation of Time Share Holidays

Generally, most of the timeshare companies have a free look-in period of 10 days wherein you can cancel the membership and avail full refund. But you have to run around to get your refund.

Selling off Time Share Holidays membership

If a member dislikes timeshare or changes his mind, he has an option to cancel the policy or sell it off. In reality, it is not as easy as it sounds. If the policy is cancelled within 10 days of commencement, you are eligible for a full refund. If you fail to cancel your membership within the first 10 days, no refund will be made. In such cases, a member is left with only one option- to sell off the membership in the market. Open markets like OLX & Quickr witness easy sale of such policies.

What to know before buying Timesharing holidays?

• Verify the reputation of the company and experiences of existing customers.
• If you are an avid traveller who loves to hop cities, time sharing holidays would not be a good choice because staying at one destination for 7 days might not attract you.
• Can you plan holidays in advance? The timeshare company needs at least a month’s notice ahead of your ‘week’.
• Check if you will be available for “the week” every year and if it is feasible for all types of destination. For example you choose April 1-9 as your timeshare week. Firstly, you should be definite that you will be free for this period every year irrespective of your work, kid’s exam etc. Secondly, a place like Shreenagar is a good idea in April but if you plan to go to Jaipur, at the same time next year, you might not really like the climate.
• Many Resorts are usually little far away from the main town,
• Membership gives only accommodation + dry kitchen facility in some resorts. Anything else comes at a cost.

If you find membership useful to you, you can buy it in second sale as you can get 30-50% discount after adjusting for promotional gifts items.

 

References:

• What are the hidden cost/disadvantage in Club Mahindra?
• Before considering

Have you gone for time sharing holidays? How was your experience? Would you recommend somoone to go for time sharing holidays?