How Does Color Coding for a Timeshare Company Work?

Most timeshare companies use a color coding system to designate the varying demands for their units at different times of year. These codes determine when timeshare owners can use their properties. The different systems can be somewhat confusing, but understanding them can help you ensure that you purchase the right unit for your needs.

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The two largest exchange companies are Interval International (II) and Resort Condominiums (RCI); each has their own color coding system. With RCI, red designates a high-demand season, white an intermediate-demand season and blue a low-demand season. II also uses red to represent a high-demand season; however, yellow designates their intermediate-demand season while green designates their low-demand season. It is generally understood that owners of red-designated weeks are able to request any one of the 52 weeks in a year. With standard exchanges, the owners of blue or white (or yellow or green) weeks are usually limited to exchanging to a unit during the non-prime times of the year.

Certain timeshare units will have a higher color value based upon the time of year and the location of the unit. For example, a timeshare located along the coast of Hawaii may have all weeks throughout the year marked as red. Other resort areas, however, may have lower color ratings during certain times of year — the winter, for instance, for a beach location in South Carolina, or the summer for a ski location in Colorado.

When deciding to purchase a timeshare unit, you must take its seasonal color designation into consideration. With some resorts, if you own a unit that is designated with a low-demand color such as blue or green for the majority of the season, it may be difficult to exchange for a unit that has a red designation. There is a common impression with timeshare owners that if a unit has a red designation for the entire year it cannot be reserved. This could be true or not depending upon the rules and regulations put in place by the resort.

A timeshare owner who owns a unit that is red for most of the year might consider letting go of their high demand unit for a week for one that has lesser demand. Often this will give the owner a better chance of getting the exact time and specific unit they request.

Some resorts offer their timeshare owners an internal exchange or float week program. It may have its own designations and not use the ratings of RCI or II; they may use such ratings as peak, prime season, holiday or swing time.

Of course, in some cases it can be difficult to accurately make a direct comparison between timeshare units of different resorts. A timeshare unit from one resort could get a higher point value than the red unit of a nearby resort of the same size and during the same time of year. Additionally, some resorts give their own mid-demand season white color designation, while others do not. However, since the color designation of a resort timeshare directly affects its sale price and the time of year it can be used, you should take the time to educate yourself about the designations of the units you are considering before you make your purchase.