Holiday Clubs - The Bottom Line

The concept of a holiday club is simple.

You buy a number of "points" and use these "points" to pay for your holiday. It avoids one of the problems of timeshare which is that you have to go back to the same place at the same time each year.

You also have to pay a maintenance fee as well as the points. It is fairly expensive but as they say the accommodation is luxurious and compares well with what you would pay for the same standard elsewhere.

So where do the problems with this concept lie?

Let's start with the basics. Here is what the Euroconsumer says:

Unlike a timeshare, a holiday or vacation club is only a means of accessing an unidentified (and sometimes non-existent) pool of accommodation. They are often sold as a way of obtaining cheap holidays with the company promising to provide a holiday reservation facility.

When holiday club memberships are sold, people are often told that they will be able to buy flights at a cheaper price than that offered anywhere else and holidays are often described as luxury breaks at discounted prices. In return, the buyer is often asked to pay a deposit plus a large fee to become a member and then a subscription every year.

And here they point out the problems:

Unlike a timeshare, a holiday or vacation club is only a means of accessing an unidentified (and sometimes non-existent) pool of accommodation. They are often sold as a way of obtaining cheap holidays with the company promising to provide a holiday reservation facility.

When holiday club memberships are sold, people are often told that they will be able to buy flights at a cheaper price than that offered anywhere else and holidays are often described as luxury breaks at discounted prices. In return, the buyer is often asked to pay a deposit plus a large fee to become a member and then a subscription every year.

Now, note this next bit.

Holiday club agreements are different from and so not protected by Timeshare legislation. This is because a holiday club agreement does not buy the right to stay in a specified property or pool of accommodation, but instead gives the option of a choice of a number of different locations where a holiday can be taken.

Because the Timeshare Directive does not cover holiday clubs, there is no right to have specific written information or the right to cancel the agreement. This also means that you can be asked to pay a deposit.

Note that again - NOT PROTECTED BY TIMESHARE LEGISLATION. So when the person who rang you, was insisting that they are not "timeshare" what they were really saying is that they are not regulated.

Other people will tell you all about it too. Let's look at what they say next.