There are a literally a world of benefits when it comes to joining a luxury vacation club but there is also a lot to know before you proceed. A luxury club entails many similar qualities as timeshares except clubs offer more opportunity for holidays around the world. Many privileges are enjoyed when becoming a member of a luxury travel club like lavish properties and preferential treatment. Once you've thoroughly gone over the details offered by the luxury destination club of your choice, you'll have access to timeshare weeks at many different resort and hotel accommodations around the globe. A luxury vacation club may offer accommodation in the form of private vacation homes, villas, cottages, hotels, resorts and condos.

The most important thing to do is consider all aspects of an agreement before paying for a luxury travel club membership. A luxury club retains most of the basic elements of a timeshare vacation. Instead of offering timeshares, large chains such as Hilton, Marriott and Disney offer membership into their luxury travel club with destinations ranging from Colorado to China in all of their hotels. Once you join a private vacation club program, you have access to the use of a private residence, hotel room, condo, villa, or some other variation, for a specific length of time annually. Often the vacation time offered by a luxury destination club is one to two weeks. If you're traveling from North America to Japan, you may want to spend more than just a week. With a membership you can purchase as many weeks as you wish if you require more time.

A luxury travel club works on a system of points. Most often you buy into a determined location, like California for example. Many programs will let you swap properties for different times, locations or sometimes even both. A bigger luxury destination club may offer units in hundreds of buildings. If you choose a property in Hawaii, you would use up points, which are often determined by the price of the property. These points act as a guide to the time and quality afforded at other vacation accommodations.

Buying into a luxury club costs anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars and more. The more exclusive and prestigious the club, the more expensive the price. Don't miss the fine print regarding annual fees. These fees vary and cover property maintenance and also the time spent at each vacation destination. A luxury destination club may offer memberships that expire after a set number of years, or until you yourself expire. Commonly a club will offer many destinations but will be somewhat limited.

The concept is very North American inspired therefore many clubs offer the most destinations throughout the USA in states like Arizona, New York and Rhode Island. Most are situated in areas featuring cosmopolitan cities, scenic mountains, sandy beaches and other popular leisure areas. They could include luxury golf resorts, sleek hotels or luxury boutique hotels. Other popular areas for luxury vacation club destinations include the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, The Grenadines and even some luxury cruises have accommodation available aboard. In Europe, England, France and Italy are all very popular holiday retreats.

Something to keep in mind if you're considering a luxury vacation club is the resale. If you want out of your club ownership you'll have to sell and it can be a difficult process. Some of the extremely pricey clubs offer a rollback of up to 80% of the initial rate you paid, but the initial rate can be upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Making the choice is a personal decision and one based on your own lifestyle. Many people are extremely happy with the choices offered by a luxury travel club while others prefer to plan each holiday as it comes without being bound to specific destinations. Either way, the options pave a path to wonderful and memorable holidays no matter where you choose to go.