Vacation Travel Club: 4 Simple Rules to Finding the Best Vacation Travel Club

A vacation travel club can provide exceptional savings if you know what to look for...

The experience of vacationing with your family is one that you'll cherish for years to come. Traveling with your family not only helps bond your family together but it also provides long-lasting memories your children will never forget.


In a tough economy such as this, you may really want to watch where you put your vacation dollars. And this is where a vacation travel club comes in handy.


What you may or may not know is that vacation travel clubs are not new - they've been around for decades. It seems like these types of clubs are getting more attention due to this rough economic climate.


This economy is also breeding some less-than-honest travel companies who are more than willing to take advantage of unsuspecting travelers.
(See the top luxury travel club we recommend)


It's really important to take into account these 4 simple rules about travel membership clubs. It will save you a lot of heartache, frustration, and money.




Rule #1: Know what you're buying into and what you're getting for your money


There are equity and non-equity vacation travel clubs.


Timeshares and private residence clubs are types of equity travel clubs. In most cases these types of clubs don't refer to themselves as timeshares due to the stigma and sometimes deserving bad reputation timeshares have. They will in most cases refer to themselves as "travel clubs."


Most people who buy into timeshares usually finance it and then it becomes just one more payment you have to keep up. Add on the maintenance fees and know you're committed to keeping up that payment as well. As you can see it is a huge commitment and burden that sometimes some families are not able to keep up even in the best of times.


Add on to the fact that timeshares have a lot of restrictions and aren't flexible enough for some travelers.



 
Private residence clubs can cost upwards of $100k or more just to buy into one. With so few members in these particular types of clubs, risk is spread out amongst fewer people. This then makes private residence clubs a very risky choice for travelers. Make sure you understand and accept the risks before buying into this type of club. (See the top luxury travel club we recommend)




Non-equity travel clubs are the most prevalent kind you'll run to online...and are the ones where you'll get the most savings. For starters, you're not putting down a huge payment, making monthly payments and yearly payments as you would if you bought into a timeshare.


In most cases when you become a member of a non-equity travel club you'll either have a one-time fee or a yearly fee.


You're not taking on big debt (if any debt at all) because there are vacation travel clubs that can be bought into for less than $5k.


Rule #2: Know exactly what kind of accommodations you're getting for your membership


Are you getting discounted rooms at a motel or a resort? And if so what kind? Can you get discounts to cruises? Houseboats? You should also know what kind of inventory you have access to. Do you have just several properties to choose from or hundreds?


Be forewarned...if you don't have access to hundreds of properties odds are you're going to have trouble booking a vacation.


Rule #3: You should be able to book your vacation with ease and simplicity


One of the biggest complaints of some vacation travel clubs is that it's cumbersome and difficult to book a vacation.


Some travel clubs operate by mail in that they mail out info to you and you then have to mail back the vacation choices you've chosen. Some offer only a telephone number so you can talk to a customer service person only during business hours to help you book your vacation.


Any of those options would be fine back in 1997, but in this day and age, travel members should also have access to a website so they can easily plan and book their vacation at their convenience.


Rule #4: The vacation travel club should not be vague when it comes to prices


The biggest flaw some travel clubs have...which is also why some of them come under scrutiny (in most cases it’s the newer companies) is that some of them don't tell its prospective members what they're saving on and ultimately what they will be paying for their accommodations.


It's after people buy into the vacation travel club that they realize that they're not saving any money or the membership costs far outweigh the savings they'll ever get by being a member. These shady types of clubs rely on being vague so that you can't do any kind of comparison shopping before you buy into it.






If timeshares are out and travel clubs are in...then how do you choose the best vacation travel club?


First of all you make sure you at the very least follow the four rules here. The biggest reason people get themselves into trouble with timeshares and travel clubs is that they fail to ask questions...the right kind of questions.





The club that I recommend is the luxury travel club Global Resorts Network. The lifetime membership is less than $5k. Which is pretty awesome when you consider that some travel clubs cost $10k and don't have nearly the type of inventory Global Resorts has.


What's even better is that you can look up all the resorts you'll have access to when you become a member before you ever become a member, which is unheard of.


It's very transparent...you'll know how much you'll pay per week with the membership, and in fact, you can look up the inventory and even book it from an online catalog that you'll be given access to.


After being disappointed and frankly embarrassed by all the less than honest travel clubs out there that prey on travelers, I had to find one that lived up to what it said and this club has done so for years.


If saving money is important to you as staying at top notch luxurious resorts, then you can't go wrong with Global Resorts Network.


Don't take my word for it, click here to take a look at this luxury travel club for yourself.


Whether you choose GRN or another type of vacation travel club, make sure you do your homework first so you don't have regrets later.


Happy traveling!