What is a Timeshare?

Timeshare is prepaid vacation time—a week or more—which gives you, your family members or friends to whom you have given your time, the exclusive right to use your time each year at your home resort or exchange with other timeshare owners at luxury resorts around the world through exchange companies like Resort Condominiums International (RCI).

Is the timeshare concept a good buy?

Every year the cost of luxury accommodation worldwide goes up in price. As the owner of a timeshare, your cost was locked in at the time you purchased your timeshare. Since your accommodation has been prepaid, it stays the same and will likely decrease per trip with frequent use. The more you use your timeshare, the better the per trip accommodation cost over time. Then there are home resort perks and bonuses which give owners discounts on accommodation beyond their allotted time. This is a good way to plan for personal time “off” for rest and refreshment that you might not otherwise take for yourself!

How do I exchange my time?

To assist timeshare owners who want to experience other climates and cultures, exchange companies such as Resort Condominiums International (RCI), Interval International and Trading Places International, facilitate your bookings into thousands of affiliated resorts worldwide. The exchange company provides its members with a new catalogue each year which describes all of the destinations and other trading options like cruises and travel currently available. This way you can bank and trade your vacation time for another owner’s time by using the services of an exchange company.

How long is the ownership term?

Deeded timeshares at Pacific Shores Resort & Spa are yours “in perpetuity”. This means that you own a deeded interest in the resort which you can use as long as you wish and then will it to your heirs. It can also be sold whenever you choose to do so.

What is a Fixed Week?

A Fixed Week is a specific week of the year, normally identified by a number between 1 and 52, which designates the time frame you are entitled to use your resort unit. It is important to note that, in order to schedule all of the cleaning of units and registration of new guests, start dates for weeks could be Saturday or Sunday, depending upon the particular unit you have. Please consult the Weeks Calendar to give you an idea of the number/calendar week correlation for Saturday check-in. Please note that dates and Weeks will be slightly different for buildings with a Sunday check-in.

What is a Float Week?

In order to provide variety in accommodation and unit choices, some timeshares were designed to “float” from one unit and week to another within a defined time frame. At Pacific Shores, the float period is usually from late Fall to early Spring. There may be two or three units, one or more upper level and/or lower garden level units to provide a different vacation experience for owners each year.

What is a “lockoff”?

Most units at Pacific Shores have two bedrooms and two independent living spaces. The “A” section is usually the larger, while the “B” section is smaller. This means that you can either use both parts of your unit or you can bring along friends or family to share your vacation week with you. They can have exclusive use of their space and have it locked off from the other side. Each unit has two access doors and can be divided into two independent living spaces. This is also handy if you only want to use one bedroom, you can put the other section of your unit into the rental pool to provide some rental revenue.

What are Points?

Over the past few years, the concept of “Points” has become very popular because it provides greater flexibility in timeshare vacation planning. If you are a Points owner, you can plan mini vacations for a few days rather than being committed to using an entire week in one location. Points can also be used toward a variety of other vacation-related costs such as air fare and car rental.

Each week, as discussed above, has an equivalent Points value based upon its time of year. For example, a Red summer week would have a higher Points value than a White low season week. Weeks can be converted into Points. A one-time conversion fee is usually required.

What is a Resort Membership?

Aviawest is a good example of the Resort Membership concept. When you become a vacation member with an annual allotment of Point through Aviawest, you have priority booking options for your vacation time in any one of the Aviawest resorts. Although you can stay at Pacific Shores Resort and Spa in Nanoose Bay, you can also visit the other Aviawest resorts or deposit your Points with RCI for short and longer vacations in other affiliated resorts. Visit the Aviawest website at www.aviawest.com.

What is a Use Year?

This is the time of year, which may not correspond to the usual calendar year, when your new allotment of Points is deposited into your RCI account. If you were to purchase a new Points membership, say in the month of August, your use year will likely begin shortly thereafter. When purchasing a Points resale, the use year date will have already been established by the original owner of that membership. The use year date can be found on the Membership Certificate and on the account statement from RCI.

What is a Biennial Timeshare?

While more timeshare weeks and points allotments are annual, some occur every second year. In this case, it is important to know whether the timeshare you are considering falls on every odd or even year.

Are there Annual Fees?

Every timeshare, whether it is Points or Weeks will have a Membership or Maintenance fee to pay. Timeshares with a deed and title to a specific week and unit have an annual fee payable to the home resort, called a Maintenance Fee. This cost varies depending on the square footage of the unit owned. The fees for biennial timeshares are payable every other year.

Resort Memberships not attached to a particular unit and week, like Aviawest, are assessed a fee based on the number of points allotted. This annual fee is called a Membership Fee.

What is involved to convert a Week to Points?

In order to add more versatility to timeshare usage, Weeks owners may opt to pay the one-time conversion fee to their home resort to move their week or weeks into the Points system. Their weeks, even though converted to points, still retain their original deed and title ownership with the same week and unit designation. Their maintenance fees are also calculated as before.

What has changed is that the owners can now use a few or many points at one time for a few days away or save up for longer trips. The owners can still opt to reserve their week at Pacific Shores with 13 months advance notice thus surrendering their Points allotment for that calendar year, or they can bank their Points with RCI to trade for the same Gold-Crown quality resort experience in other locations or book back into Pacific Shores at a comparable, but different time of year depending upon availability.

How do we decide as Buyers which timeshare to purchase?

Using your timeshare should be something to look forward to each year. There are many perks and options to maximize your time away from the stresses of life. Most of the timeshare resales represented on this website involve ownership at Pacific Shores Resort & Spa in Nanoose Bay, Central Vancouver Island, or Aviawest Resort Club. To view their respective websites go to: www.pacific-shores.com or www.aviawest.com.

Many timeshare owners enjoy coming to Pacific Shores Resort & Spa at least once a year—it’s a family tradition! Others bank their Weeks through RCI or other exchange companies, to add variety to their vacation choices.

The following list represents the timeshare Weeks I have currently listed for resale at Pacific Shores Resort & Spa. Some are currently being used as Weeks, while others have been converted to Points. Please note that any Week can be converted to Points. A one-time conversion fee will apply.