Along with those guarantees in life about death and taxes, add a lack of vacation time. There simply isn’t enough of it. And even those with generous amounts of time off or enviable flexible work schedules, those life obligations from little league games that dominate weekends to friends’ weddings can quickly erode free time. For a potential member of a destination club looking at a host of plans that offer up to 75 nights of travel a year, what is the solution?

In short, split it. Many second home owners, accepting that they will never be able to use their vacation home as much as they hoped, have gone in on properties with friends. The same strategy can be taken with a destination club. Splitting a membership with a family member or even a friend can not only help trim the deposit costs and annual dues but also insure that all of those nights you’ve secured actually get used.

The clubs for their part employ programs that can aid in the splitting of memberships either with an official group plan or with policies that allow members to gift nights or expand their membership beyond immediate family. Under that scenario, members can work out how to divvy up the financial commitment on their own. Ready to consider a share? Here’s an overview of your options at the biggest clubs.

Share Your Time

Joining a destination club means being able to take along any friend or family member you choose of course, but several clubs offer options that allow extended family members, such as parents, siblings, in-laws and adult children, to use the homes without you having to be there. Exclusive Resorts’ $10,000 membership supplement guarantees these extended family guests can use homes when you aren’t there.

Destination club Quintess, LRW, which recently revamped its membership structure, offers Quintess Family Access, providing unaccompanied, complimentary use of its homes by extended family members. Up to eight brothers, sister in-laws, parents, or other such members of the family tree can be added on to the account while friends are allowed to use the homes on their own with a $25,000 additional deposit.

The High Country Club has a family and friends upgrade program that can be added to any of its membership plans for an additional non-refundable $10,000 fee and a 20 percent increase in annual dues. The add-on makes the most sense for the upper echelon of plans of course, such as the $50,000 Affiliate plan that secures 25 nights of vacation or the $70,000 Private plan that gets you 35 nights.

The three plans at Solstice allow members to have any friend or family member stay at a home without them. There is a catch. Such unaccompanied travel can only be used for Solstice’s “advanced access” reservations, which range from 14 to 56 days depending on the plan. All Solstice plans offer unlimited “spontaneous” trips which are essentially vacations made with a shorter booking window (the more expensive the plan, the longer the booking window), but the primary member, their spouse or life partner must be present for those trips.

The top level plan at BelleHavens, which includes 60 nights of use, allows unaccompanied friends and family to stay at the properties. With the lower-priced Adventurer and Voyager plans which include 30 an 45 nights respectively, the friend and family perk can be tacked on for an additional fee. The expanded Adventurer plan is just $3,500 more a year while the Voyager plan with friends costs an additional $5,250 a year.

Both Ultimate Resort and Private Escapes, which plan to complete their merger in mid-January under the new club brand Ultimate Escapes, both have plan options that allow extended family members and friends to use the homes. Ultimate Resort allows unaccompanied family members to use homes while its corporate plan extends the reach to friends and business partners. Private Escapes’ three tiers of clubs also includes an option for corporate and extended family members that raises deposit dues from $2,000 to $15,000 per plan. Ultimate Escapes has not yet announced its newly branded plans so it remains to be seen how the club will approach this shared membership market.

Go for the Group

Split a membership with one or more others through a formal group membership plan. LUSSO Collection offers one that can be shared between two parties. It includes 56 nights of use for a deposit of $493,750 and annual dues of $35,000.

Gift a Night or Two

At One Key the per night plan lets members buy a block of nights (15, 25, or 45) that never expire in a travel card. To use nights, trade them in at a one-to-one (or two-to-one for high-demand times or locations) ratio. It’s a flat-rate purchase with no long-term commitment. One Key’s model allows members to give nights to family members.

To explore other possibilities for flexible membership, visit Helium Report’s destination club directory or download our free Decision Guide to Destination Clubs.