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Points explained

How Do Timeshare Points Work?

What a timeshare points system actually is, why the point cost of a stay changes, what banking and borrowing mean, and where each major brand keeps its official points chart.

Timeshare points work like a vacation currency. Instead of owning one fixed week, you own an annual allotment of points and spend them to book stays. The point cost of any stay rises or falls with the resort, the season, the size of the unit, and the night of the week you choose.

How do timeshare points work?

In a points-based timeshare, your ownership is measured in points rather than in a calendar week. Each year you receive a set number of points, and you draw on that balance to reserve the trips you want. A short midweek stay in a studio during a quiet season costs fewer points; a full week in a large unit over a holiday costs many more. The same points balance can buy one long trip, several short ones, or a single stay in a bigger villa, which is the flexibility owners are usually paying for.

This page explains how the points currency works and where to find each brand's authoritative chart. It does not argue whether points are better than a fixed week. If you are weighing the two models against each other, that comparison lives in our guide to timeshare points vs weeks, and the wider view is in types of timeshares.

How does a timeshare points chart work?

Every points program publishes a points chart, sometimes called a points value chart. The chart is a grid that tells you how many points a given stay costs. It is organized by four variables that nearly every brand uses in some form:

  • Resort. A stay at a high-demand flagship property costs more points than one at a quieter location.
  • Season. Programs divide the year into demand tiers, so the same room costs more points during peak weeks than during off-peak ones.
  • Unit size. A studio costs fewer points than a one-bedroom, which costs fewer than a two-bedroom or larger.
  • Night of the week. In many programs a weekend night costs more points than a weeknight, which is why a Sunday-to-Thursday trip can stretch your balance further.

Most programs also give you a home resort, where you can book earlier than the general window through a home-resort priority period. Booking windows open further out for your home resort and closer in for everywhere else, so popular dates still reward planning ahead.

What are banking and borrowing points?

Banking and borrowing are the two main ways programs let you move points between years. Banking means carrying unused points forward into the next year so they are not wasted. Borrowing means pulling points from next year into the current one to cover a larger trip now. Both come with rules that differ by brand, including deadlines for when you must bank by and limits on how much you can borrow. The point cost of a stay still comes from the same chart no matter which year the points came from.

Do timeshare points expire?

Often, yes. Points are generally not the same as money in a bank account, and most programs run on a use-it-or-lose-it basis: points are tied to a use year and expire if you do not use, bank, or otherwise act on them in time. Banking can extend the life of a year's points, but usually only by a limited period, and missing a banking deadline can forfeit them. Some owners also hold a biennial timeshare, which grants points every other year rather than annually, so the planning horizon is different. Read your own program's terms, because expiration rules are one of the biggest sources of lost value in points ownership.

Do points still come with maintenance fees?

Yes. Buying points does not remove the annual maintenance fee that defines timeshare ownership. Points owners pay the same kind of recurring fee as week owners, billed every year for as long as they own, and it tends to rise over time. The industry average was $1,480 average annual maintenance fee in 2024, up 17.5% in one year. For the full picture of what you pay, see our guides to what a timeshare costs and the annual maintenance fee.

Why is every brand's points system different?

There is no single, industry-wide timeshare points currency. Each brand runs its own program with its own chart, its own seasons, and its own banking and borrowing rules. Points are generally not interchangeable across unaffiliated brands, so points in one company's system cannot be spent directly inside another's. To travel outside your home system, owners use an external exchange network such as RCI or Interval International, which let you deposit your points or week and trade for stays at other resorts. Our guide to timeshare exchange companies explains how that trading works.

Where can you find each brand's official points chart?

The brand maintains the authoritative chart, and the exact point values change from year to year. That is why we link to each official source rather than reproduce a chart here: linking keeps the numbers current and on the company that controls them. Each link below goes to the brand's own program or points page, where the current chart lives. We verified each link this run.

What should you watch in the real cost of points?

Points buy flexibility, not a way out of the ongoing cost. The annual maintenance fee continues regardless of how many points you own or use, and it can climb each year. Buying more points means owning more of that recurring obligation. Resale points deserve special care: a timeshare bought on the resale market often sells for a resale price that is usually a small fraction of what the original buyer paid, and sometimes only a few dollars, and points purchased secondhand can lose program perks, booking priority, or membership benefits that only transfer to original buyers. Before buying points from any source, confirm in writing which benefits actually carry over. Our guide to buying a timeshare covers the questions to ask, and what a timeshare is sets the groundwork.

Keep reading

The neutral guides that go with this one.

Points vs Weeks

Which ownership model is more flexible, which costs more, and how to decide between points and a fixed week.

Compare the two

Timeshare Exchange Companies

How RCI and Interval International let points owners trade for stays outside their home brand.

How exchange works

What a Timeshare Costs

The full fee stack behind points ownership, from the purchase price to the annual maintenance fee.

See the costs

Sources

ARDA, State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry (2025 ed., 2024 data), for the average annual maintenance fee and industry context on points products. U.S. Federal Trade Commission, consumer guidance on timeshares (consumer.ftc.gov), reviewed June 2026. Official brand program pages, verified live June 2026: Disney Vacation Club, Marriott Vacation Club (Abound), Club Wyndham, Hilton Grand Vacations, Hyatt Vacation Club, WorldMark by Wyndham, and Bluegreen Vacations, each linked above as the authoritative source for its own current points chart. Last reviewed June 2026.