Those colorful ads promoting great beaches, exciting mountain retreats and exotic travel in other countries particularly get a bit pushy when they come from those travel clubs. The draw they have is clear - if you invest a little bit in their service today, you'll probably save crazy amounts of money down the line. You've heard of Club Med, and you do know the concept in itself is quite legit. But there are so many unknown names advertising a committed travel arrangement that you can't help but be a little suspicious. Is it possible that some of these are scams? The next time you're faced with such an ad. and you find yourself a little tempted, ask yourself these questions about the product you're being persuaded to buy.
Your first step in determining the potential of a travel club would be to see if they operate on the timeshare idea. Timeshares are widely considered to be an unworkable business strategy. They only have a certain number of rooms at a desired location at a time. The months you are likely to find time off work for a vacation are probably when everyone else will get some time off for a vacation too. The problem with the very concept that timeshare travel clubs operate on is that they promise too manypeople access to a modest capacity, and everyone shows up at the same time. And when timeshare travel clubs promise you the ability to exchange your options with ones with other members for their resorts - all at great prices, make sure that that will actually happen. If you do decide to buy a timeshare, make sure that they don't charge you anything over the upfront fees you pay to sign up. Some of them have regular maintenance fees that recur with no end.
Timeshare travel clubs operate a no return policy most of the time. Once you sign up and make your payment, there's usually no way to end it - even when they require you to pay an yearly contribution. Not only do they not let you cancel your contract, most of the time, they won't even let you sell your membership to anyone else. Look up on Google the ongoing commitment horror stories that many timeshare members can't get out of.
Most travel clubs do not actually own any hotels or resorts anywhere. All they do is to promise you a stay in general-purpose hotels owned by other corporations in the area you're interested in. This doesn't really work most of the time; the discounts they promise you never actually materialize, and you are basically investing money on a promise of theirs. They have no assets or resources to pay you back with.
In particular, make sure that you stay away from travel clubs that advertise in a tone of urgency - if they urge you to take advantage of their one-time offer they've pulled out of a hat especially for you, that's your cue to turn and run.