High Country Club
Partnerships

In early 2008, High Country Club would be one of the most popular options within the destination club industry, combining low costs with a rapidly growing collection of vacation properties available exclusively to members. By the end of the year, the club was on life support and just days away from filing for bankruptcy.

As the financial and real estate markets began their historic declines, interest in High Country Club and the rest of the destination club sector would wane. Founder and CEO Christian Kirschner would say that new membership sales were "next to impossible."

At the time of their bankruptcy, 375 members had joined the club, making High Country Club the second largest destination club bankruptcy in terms of members, trailing only industry pioneer Tanner & Haley.

As the low cost option within the sector, High Country Club offered members the ability to finance their membership for up to 30 years through an alliance with FirstAgain and JP Morgan Chase.

"Thinking about financial leverage for your one-time membership fee? High Country Club has removed the hassle through our established relationship with JP Morgan Chase, one of the leading global financial services firms in the world. Now you can finance your one-time membership fee for as little as $199.54 a month."

"For qualifying members, JP Morgan Chase will establish a home equity line of credit with a variable interest rate, which will rise or fall according to changes in the Federal Reserve Rate. While most home equity lines of credit do not generally have fixed interest rates, JP Morgan Chase also offers an option that allows you to lock in a fixed interest rate on all or a portion of your line of credit balance."

"This financing option lets you leverage your membership fee over a 10, 20 or 30 year payment period."

Outside of the financing available to members, High Country Club did not have any other notable partnerships to discuss.

Other destination clubs often partner with other travel providers to augment the vacation experience or with jet providers to ease the pre- and post-travel hassles.