Timeshare USA – Inflation and Maintenance Fees

Posted on August 25, 2025

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We think that most would agree that whatever goods or services we use, they are all impacted by inflation. Whilst inflation isn’t the only reason for rising prices, the rate of inflation is a good barometer as to our expectation of price rises. Those goods or services that manage to keep their price hikes close to the prevailing inflation rates are to be applauded; those who blatantly raise prices with scant reference to inflation need to be chastised.

In a recent TCA article we looked at average maintenance fee rises in the American timeshare industry, as confirmed by a report issued by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). The results, needless to say, were substantially above prevailing inflation rates. What we failed to notice in the report was the ARDA explanation as to how increases are effectively calculated:

“Note that the impact of inflation on maintenance fees is usually delayed, since maintenance fee billing typically adjusts at the end of a given year.”

That makes perfect sense, because any business second guesses what inflation would be in the coming year. Working on historic data is the only way to adjust prices sensibly.

According to ARDA’s own data, maintenance fees increased 33% in the last five years, from $1,120 in 2020 to $1,480 in 2024. But overall inflation was only 21% during the same period. Timeshare maintenance fees increased more than 50% faster than inflation!

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TCA Comment

TCA would be the last to say that price increases are solely related to inflation indexes; of course there are other factors that come into play. President Trump is continually ranting on and threatening higher tariffs on imported goods. On top of inflation, Swiss luxury watches have been hit with a tariff of 39%, so a former $10,000 watch will now have to be $13,900, an obvious outside force beyond Swiss inflation.

As far as we understand, timeshare in the USA attracts no such tariffs, so where is the justification for hikes by developers averaging increases 50% faster than inflation? The simple answer to this is they do because they can.

Maintenance fees are a contractual liability faced by every timeshare owner, and beside a cursory glance at prevailing inflation rates, developers can raise their fees by whatever number comes into their heads. This begs the question: does the timeshare owner have any right to reply? Absolutely not.

As September is looming we are only a few months away from maintenance season, you know that time when an envelope arrives with an invoice to pay a bill you don’t really want to. In 2025, the U.S. inflation rate is projected to be around 2.7% to 3%, with some forecasts suggesting a potential peak around 4% due to factors like tariffs. It will be interesting to see how many developers increase their fees in line with the above — not many we fear!