In articles too many to mention we have pointed out that holiday trends and styles have moved on at a considerable pace. Remember in the 70s and 80s on Boxing Day TV, not only were the store sales advertised but we were plagued by the plethora of adverts for package tour holidays offering to take us off to hotter climes. Many thriving package tour operators are now consigned to the history books, Lunn Poly, Clarksons, Thomas Cook and Martin Rooks to name but a few, all just a distant memory. Speaking of memories, remember how thick and glossy the holiday brochures were, you know the ones you could pick up from the local travel agencies. Speaking of which, where have the majority of high street travel agencies gone now?
Timeshare, a holiday saviour
Whilst the thirst for foreign holidays flourished during the decades mentioned above, so did the horror stories. The brochure said “a gentle sloping stroll from the beach” which basically meant a climb equivalent to ascending the north face of the Eiger. Artists impressions of completed resorts only to find the hotel booked wasn’t finished or even built yet on arrival. The star rating system, especially in Spain was dubious to say the least. What Spain called a four star hotel was nearly as close as Mrs Jones boarding house in Blackpool would be in the UK, so what was the option? Enter the timeshare.
Imagine taking a holiday in an average package tour hotel in Torremolinos then experiencing a visit to the Marriott Beach resort in Marbella, chalk and cheese we hear you say, absolutely, no comparison. Now imagine, for a fee, you could buy a slice of sunshine in an exclusive up-market resort for a holiday every year, very tempting, this is where timeshare started to score, but as the years have passed the lustre has rapidly rubbed off.
Definition of a timeshare
Put in the simplest of terms, a timeshare allows you to have a holiday in a self catering apartment on a purpose built resort over a period of years. Once upon a time, the resort would be fixed as would be the week or weeks you could visit, but that has all changed. Yes you can still book a holiday but where you go and when you go has become somewhat of a lottery.
We mentioned buying for a fee, that fee is now around £20,000 for a one week entry level membership. We use the word membership because the old fashioned style of ownership, like the package tour companies is a thing of the past. Fixed weeks and fixed dates have virtually disappeared now you belong to a club; get allocated a number of “holiday” points and then the punch up starts with the booking system.
You want a holiday in the sun near the sea in August, so do all the other members but as we said, you will get a holiday somewhere. How about a ski resort in August, no doubt there will be plenty of availability, however there may not be sun and the certainty is there is no sea or beach, but hey ho you have a holiday.
The evolution of the holiday market
Just popping back in time for a moment, getting abroad in the 70s and 80s presented massive problems. Very few scheduled airlines flew to destinations where you were likely to holiday. The package tour operators used charter flights, some even owned their own airlines, Thompson owned Britannia, Clarksons, Court Line and Cosmos, Monarch. As a point of note, none of these airlines still exist.
The holiday market was set for one of the biggest changes in its history when in 1995 Greek-Cypriot Stelios Haji-Ioannou formed Easy Jet. For the first time holiday makers could book flights to many holiday hot spots without the need to go via the package tour route. Shortly before this, Tim Berners-Lee had effectively invented the internet or World Wide Web (WWW). Add the internet to Easy Jet and you can see where this is going.
Fast forward
Here we are in 2023 and the internet has revolutionised the way we travel. Virtually every airline offers online booking as do hotels globally. Sites like Booking.com have become the go to place to book holidays. Book your taxi to the airport, your flights, your accommodation, your transfer or car hire, all from the comfort of your home.
As a slight aside, virtually every timeshare resort is also bookable online without being a “member”, bang goes the good old days when resorts were member only. So after this trip down memory lane, what has all this got to do with the title of this article? We will now explain.
Timeshare V Airbnb
Earlier in this article we defined timeshare is simply a holiday in a resort self catering apartment. What we didn’t point out is the relatively large sum that has to be paid to join this now non exclusive club. We also didn’t mention the contractual liability to pay an annual maintenance fee to stay a member, both these points are important when making our comparison.
When you book a self catering apartment via Airbnb, there is no joining fee and all you pay for is the time you intend to be away on holiday. Airbnb don’t even ask you to pay for the whole cost when booking, 50% now and the balance just before you go on holiday, and their cancellation policy is also very fair.
Much the same as timeshare, all you get is a self catering apartment so even Stevens there. To be fair to timeshare, Airbnb accommodation is not normally part of a resort so onsite swimming pools, tennis courts etc aren’t the norm, but even that isn’t insurmountable. We mentioned the Marriott resort in Marbella earlier so decided to see what Airbnb were offering in Marbella for a one week stay in June. Despite what we said earlier, swimming pools are included in the properties we found. For couples, how about this?
For the entire stay the total cost including everything is £533 for the week. For those with a family, maybe our next example could be more appropriate:
This one is a little more pricey coming is at £850 for the week but it is in the jet setters playground of Puerto Banus!
TCA comment
With maintenance fees continually rising and availability proving troublesome it’s easy to understand why timeshare in Europe is falling by the wayside. We didn’t spend a lot of time searching Airbnb but are sure that if you like the Costa del Sol and are not fussy about being in the Marbella area there will be a host more offerings at cheaper prices.
The point we are making is that the Airbnb rentals offer a similar style of holiday in some splendid accommodation, but the holiday is a pay as you go option. No large upfront costs, no ongoing annual fees, whether you use or don’t and more importantly a much larger choice meaning you can invariably go where you want when you want. What Airbnb offers is pretty well identical to what you get from timeshare; a self catering apartment because the reality is that’s all timeshare is, just a very expensive way of going about things.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk