We’ve all heard of “time shares” where you buy a couple of weeks in a condo/house for vacations. But have you heard of the elegant big sister to time shares? We’re talking “destination clubs” and they are really special. If you have an extra million dollars hanging around, or you just want to dream, keep reading!

The New York Times recently had an envy-inducing article on destination clubs, calling them a “little-known luxury travel niche.”

But they’ve been getting better known, perhaps partly because of the 2006 bankruptcy of Tanner & Haley, one of the earliest entries into destination club-dom. However, the article states that member satisfaction with these clubs, in general, is very high.

Typically, these are clubs for rich people who like to travel around, but don’t want (or can’t afford) to own houses wherever they go. Clubs have homes in locations like Vail, Cabo San Lucas, Tuscany and more.

The clubs work like this: members are charged a deposit (this could be anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to $1,000,000) and members must pay annual dues (which can range as high as $30,000 a year). This buys you the use of a luxury abode for anywhere from 14 to 60 days a year.

The good news for us dreamers is, some of these clubs are starting to offer “tiered” membership levels: one such lower-level membership requires a down payment of only $129,000 and annual dues of $12,900 (but this only gets you 10 days a year).

Still out of my league…but I can dream, can’t I?