Floating Week
Ownership that permits you to use one week from a range of weeks at your home resort each year. Floating weeks give you more flexibility in scheduling your vacation. You will be assigned any available unit when you call to make your reservation. Reservations are taken on a first-call, first-served basis.

Points
A form of ownership wherein your timeshare is equated to a certain number of “points” You then use your points like currency to “purchase” nights at your resort. Larger units cost more points than smaller units; prime season costs more than lesser seasons, weekends cost more than weekdays. See the “Weeks vs. Points” page on this web site for more information.

Deeded
A timeshare ownership that is deeded to you, similar to your house, with no expiration date. In the U.S., nearly all timeshares are deeded.

Leased
A form of ownership wherein you own the right to use the timeshare for a certain number of years. You may use the timeshare until the lease expires. If you want to sell the timeshare, you can sell the unused portion. Leases are used in places like Mexico, where only Mexican citizens can own real estate in resort areas, and in some other countries and islands.

Sleeping Capacity
The maximum allowed occupancy of a timeshare unit. You may not exceed this limit – no cots or sleeping bags allowed.

Privacy Occupancy
The maximum number of people who can be accommodated in a timeshare unit with private bathroom facilities. It is assumed that 2 people share each room, so two people share each bathroom.

Annual Use
Ownership of a timeshare you may use one week per year, every year.

Alternating-Year Use
Ownership of a timeshare that you may use every-other-year, usually expressed as “Even-year” or “Odd-year” usage.

Lockout
A larger timeshare unit that can be split into two smaller parts by locking doors between the two parts, similar to adjoining hotel rooms. You can use the whole unit for one vacation, or use each side individually for two vacations. You may not exceed the maximum occupancy of whatever part you’re using.

Lockoff
Same as Lockout

Maintenance Fee
An annual fee you pay to your home resort for your share of the operating cost of the resort. The maintenance fee includes all expenses of the resort – salaries, fringes, insurance, taxes, utilities, funds to replace things that break, reserves for insurance deductibles, reserves for replacement of furniture and carpets on a regular planned basis, etc.

All-Inclusive
A plan wherein you pay the resort a per diem per person, and all your meals, beverages and activities are included. Some resorts have mandatory all-inclusive plans and others make it optional.

Season
The seasons of the year at a particular resort. Prime season is the highest-demand time based upon the attraction of the resort. Off-season is when the attraction is least, and In-between seasons are the shoulder season between Prime and Off seasons. At a beach resort in the eastern U.S., Prime season would be summer, Off-season would be winter, and In-between seasons would be spring and fall. A ski resort would have different seasons.

Exchange Company
A corporation that facilitates exchanges between timeshare owners. See the Exchanging page on this web site for an in-depth discussion.

RCI
Common term for Resort Condominiums International, the largest timeshare exchange company.

II
Common term for Interval International, the second-largest timeshare exchange company.

Membership
Membership in the exchange company so you can take advantage of the many benefits offered.

Color Codes
The major exchange companies use color codes to designate the seasons:

Red Week
A prime season week. Note both exchange companies use the color “red” to denote Prime season.

Gold Crown Resort
The highest rating given to an RCI-affiliated resort, denoting a resort with high quality and lots of amenities. Equivalent to II Five Star.

Five Star Resort
The highest rating give to an II-affiliated resort with high quality and lots of amenities. Equivalent to RCI Gold Crown.

Silver Crown Resort
The second-highest rating given to an RCI-affiliated resort.

Hospitality Resort
The third-highest rating given to an RCI-affiliated resort.

Standard Resort
Any resort not given one of the other ratings. A standard resort is not a bad thing. It may be a fine resort that just doesn’t have enough units and enough guests to support having a lot of amenities like a restaurant or health club.

Guest Certificate
A certificate you purchase from the exchange company when you want to let someone other than yourself use your timeshare. The Guest Certificate notifies the resort that it’s OK for the other person to use your timeshare, and it smoothes the check-in process. Many resorts require them when the owner-of-record is not the person checking in.

Exchange
The process of exchanging your timeshare week at your home resort to go to another resort somewhere else at another time.

Trade
Same as Exchanging

The Bank
The exchange company. You trade with the exchange company, not directly with another timeshare owner. The bank is the big computer where owners make their weeks available for trades.

Deposit
To place your week in the bank, making it available for other owners in trade.

Withdraw
To request a week deposited in the bank by someone else so you can go to their resort.

Banked Week
A week deposited in the bank for which the owner has a credit towards an exchange vacation, but the owner has not yet requested the withdrawal. A banked week can be transferred to a buyer if the current owner wants to sell his timeshare. Then the new owner gets to do the withdrawal step and take the vacation.