Several of the destination clubs have membership plans that provide either 14 or 15 nights per year. We've compared the plans side by side to see what they offer.
These plans can be good for folks who:
- have limited vacation time each year
- have another option for some of their vacation time eg they may own a vacation home or may always spend a trip with parents or in laws
- want to try out a destination club without committing to a larger membership plan
All the plans offer either 14 or 15 nights, with High Country Club also currently offering a 7 day Trial membership, but this latter plan is only available through 8/31/07.
When compared to the membership plans offering higher numbers of nights, most of these plans are somewhat more restrictive on the dates that the clubs homes are available. For instance there may be limits on the number of holidays that can be booked or the booking window for reserving holiday times may vary. The reservation policies vary quite a bit between the clubs, so the notes below cover the key aspects for each club.
If you join on one of these 14 or 15 night night plans and then decide you want to travel some more, all the destination clubs offer easy ways to upgrade your membership. It's well worth asking the club if you can lock in the current price for an upgrade, should you decide to do this within say a year. Some clubs will offer this price lock and some won't.
| Club - Plan | # Nights | Initial Fee | Annual Dues | Nightly Fee | # Homes | Avg. Home Value | Refundable | Eff. Cost Per Night |
| Solstice - Signature | 14 | $535,000 | $26,250 | $0 | 10 | $6.5m | 100% | $4,897 |
| Quintess - Affiliate Holiday | 15 | $225,000 | $15,250 | $0 | 60 | $4.0m | 100% Yr 1, then 80% | $2,503 |
| Quintess - Affiliate Non Holiday | 15 | $195,000 | $15,250 | $0 | 60 | $4.0m | 100% Yr 1, then 80% | $2,305 |
| Ultimate Resort ELITE - Bronze | 14 | $200,000 | $15,000 | $0 | 105 | $3.0m | 80% Curr. Value | $2,487 |
| Exclusive Resorts - Affiliate | 15 | $225,000 | $12,900 | $0 | 300+ | $3.0m | 80% | $2,346 |
| Private Escapes Pinnacle - Preview | 14 | $162,500 | $11,000 | $185 | 60 | $3.0m | 80% | $2,121 |
| One Key | 15 | $0 | $34,900 | $0 | 30 | $3.0m | 0% | $2,327 |
| Portofino Collection - Discovery | 15 | $115,000 | $8,900 | $0 | 26 | $2.5m | 80% | $1,353 |
| BelleHavens - Traveler | 15 | $125,000 | $9,000 | $0 | 14 | $2.0m | 90% Curr. Value | $1,342 |
| Ultimate Resort - Bronze | 14 | $125,000 | $10,000 | $0 | 105 | $1.5m | 80% Curr. Value | $1,599 |
| Private Escapes Platinum - Preview | 14 | $100,000 | $6,900 | $138 | 60 | $1.5m | 80% | $1,339 |
| Signature Collection - Discovery | 15 | $65,000 | $5,900 | $0 | 26 | $1.2m | 80% | $823 |
| Private Escapes Premiere - Preview | 14 | $50,000 | $4,600 | $82 | 60 | $800k | 80% | $764 |
| High Country - Associate | 15 | $30,000 | $3,500 | $0 | 27 | $850k | 80% | $432 |
| High Country - Trial | 7 | $20,000 | $1,750 | $0 | 27 | $850k | 100% | $476 |
Solstice Collection
Signature members can reserve 7 nights up to 8 months in advance, and 7 nights up to 5 months in advance, for a total of 14 nights advance reservations. They can then use unlimited nights for reservations within 45 days, although they can only have a maximum of 21 nights reserved (ahead of time) at any one time. The minimum reservation period is 3 nights.
Quintess
Quintess splits all it's membership plans between "holiday" and "non-holiday" plans. Members on a "holiday" membership are guaranteed reservations during holiday dates. Members on a "non-holiday" membership can only reserve holiday dates on a "space available" basis (ie within 90 days of departure).
Reservations are split into the following types:
| * advanced reservations can be made approximately 6 months to 1 year (181 to 365 days) prior to the requested arrival date. |
| * short term reservations can be made from 1 week to 6 months (7 to 180 days) prior to the requested arrival date. |
| * space available reservations can be made from 1 week to 3 months (90 days) prior to the requested arrival date. |
Members with the 15 nights membership can choose to book:
| * any or all of their days in the space available window. |
| * any or all of their days in the short term window. |
| * may book 1 vacation in the advanced reservation window and that can be for up to 10 nights. |
Member stays can be for a minimum of 1 night for city properties and for a minimum of 3 nights for any of the other property types.
Ultimate Resort
Bronze members can have 1 advance reservation (90 - 730 days ahead) each year and 1 holiday reservation every other year. They can then make space available reservations within 90 days of departure. All reservations have a minimum of 3 nights.
Exclusive Resorts
Affiliate members can have 2 advance reservations (45 - 730 days ahead) but no advance holiday reservations. Space available reservations can be made within 45 days, and can include holidays. All reservations just have a 1 night minimum.
Private Escapes
All 14 days can be reserved in the system with a minimum of 1 night increments, but members on the Preview plans cannot reserve Christmas or New Year. A maximum of 3 nights can be reserved in a city.
Portofino Collection
Portofino also offers a plan that can pay back more than 80% of the initial deposit, the initial fee for this is $125k. Portofino has 20 homes but members can also use the (6) Signature Collection homes. Members can have 2 advanced, 1 space available, and 1 holiday reservations. The advanced reservations can be booked up to a year in advance and space available are booked within 30 days of travel. For all the reservations there's a minimum of two nights.
One Key
Members of One Key reserve 30 days in advance during standard travel weeks or 180 days in advance for peak travel periods.
BelleHavens
Traveler members can reserve 7 days of long term (61-365 days ahead) in 3 or 4 night increments with arrivals scheduled for a Thursday or Sunday. The balance (8 days) can be reserved between 2 and 60 days ahead in any nightly increment (ie with a 1 night minimum). Traveler members cannot reserve holiday nights. For stays at the new European getaways you still have to use 3, 4 or 7 nights if booked 61 - 365 days ahead but you can arrive (or depart) on any day. You can still do nightly increments within the short notice window.
Signature Collection
Signature also offers a plan that can pay back more than 80% of the initial deposit, the initial fee for this is $70k. Signature has 6 homes but members have some rights to use the (20) Portofino Collection homes. Members can have 2 advanced, 1 space available, and 1 holiday reservations. The advanced reservations can be booked up to a year in advance and space available are booked within 30 days of travel. For all the reservations there's a minimum of two nights.
High Country Club
Associate members can book 1 "Long Term" reservation (90-365 days ahead) for 7 nights (Saturday to Saturday), but cannot reserve holiday periods in this time. Holiday periods can be booked for reservations made within 90 days of travel. If the reservation is made within 60 days of travel the minimum number of nights is 4 and drops to just 2 nights for reservations made within a week of the travel date. The current offer of a one year "trial" membership has similar reservation rules to the Associate plan.
Notes
Cost per Night
The effective cost per night is a useful way to compare the clubs. The full description including a downloadable spreadsheet with the calculation is available from the article linked above.
Price rises
The initial membership fees and annual dues are the current prices but several clubs (including Exclusive Resorts and Ultimate Resorts) have announced price rises that are coming into effect within the next 4 weeks.
