Timeshare ownership plans come in two basic flavors: fixed weeks or flex (floating) weeks. Which type is best? It depends on your vacation preferences. Fixed Weeks: You are permanently assigned ownership of a specific unit and reserved a specific week during the year when the timeshare will be available for your exclusive use. The advantage of owning a fixed week is that you always know when and where you will be vacationing. When you want a bit of variety or can't use your week, you can deposit it into an exchange system.
Fixed weeks give you and your family the opportunity to lay down some vacation roots. You can start building vacation traditions, activities your family will look forward to year after year. You may develop friendships with other couples and families that vacation during the same week you do and plan joint events for your annual get-togethers.
Vacationing in the same spot at the same time year after year can provide the foundation for building wonderful family memories. When my friend was a child, every year her family spent the last two weeks in July at her grandmother's cottage on Lake Michigan. She tells grand stories of blueberry picking with friends, everyone trooping over the next morning for a gut-busting blueberry pancake feast. She remembers with fondness lazy days swimming in the lake and building sandcastles on the beach with her sisters. Her grandmother's cottage in Michigan was the site of many early life adventures: learning to sail (and dunking her dad in the process), her first kiss (stolen under the creek bridge), weekly treks to Sherman's for homemade ice cream (and the best chocolate sodas this side of heaven), and long explores back into the sand dunes searching for the elusive deer herd (many hoof prints followed, no deer sighted).
Returning to the same spot every year adds a cozy comfortableness to your vacation. You know what to bring, where things are, what there is to do. Each year new people and new activities will add a little pizazz to your vacation, but you'll find yourself looking forward most to your traditional activities. My friend remembers her childhood vacations with such fondness that she and her husband recently decided to buy a timeshare and start building their own family memories.
Flex (Floating) Weeks: Flex or floating weeks allow you varying degrees of flexibility in selecting the week you use your timeshare property. At some resorts you can schedule your week at any time during the year; others restrict flexibility to certain seasons. Scheduling is based on availability. Be prepared to vacation in a different unit each year. While you may be able to request a particular unit, assignments are based on availability. Resorts with similar seasons such as Hawaii or the Caribbean are more likely to offer the flex system.
If you have a hectic work or family schedule or aren't able to vacation at the same time every year, a flex system is more apt to fit into your lifestyle. A flex timeshare allows you to fit your vacation into your life at your convenience.
If you purchase a timeshare primarily for its exchange value, the flex system facilitates easy exchanges. If you find variety the spice of life, through the exchange system you can vacation in a different exotic locale every year. One year you can ski the slopes of Switzerland; the next, you can bask on the white sands of the Caribbean.
I read about a couple who upon retirement decided to shuck off the shackles of their staid and ordinary life and travel the world -- one timeshare at a time. They became quite adventuresome travelers, eagerly planning each vacation with an eye toward soaking up as much of the local culture as possible. Using a timeshare as their home base, they have snorkeled along Australia's Great Barrier Reef, taken cooking classes in Thailand, cruised the fjords of Norway, and bicycled through France's wine country. With the advantage of timeshare exchanges, the world is now their oyster.
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