# Club Sunterra ELITE OR NOT???



## lewmel (Apr 15, 2008)

Hey everyone, 
I could use some advice on joining club sunterra.  I recently purchased a resale on ebay and i am going to join "The Club", it was my intention when purchasing the resale.  When i spoke to the sales department today, i was given two options
1) Regular club 14,500 points for 2995.00
or 
2) Elite status of 15,000 points for 4000.00
The salesman told me that the upgrade options with elite status are the biggest perk of upgrading, along with an 80.00 a year reduction in MF's.  
Can anyone is who is an elite member tell me if they think it is worth the extra 1000.00 fee.
Thanks so much!!


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## Bill4728 (Apr 15, 2008)

I'm never in favor of giving more money to the developer than I have to. But I've never heard of elite staus associated with Diamond. So I can't help.

The real expert on Diamond/ Sunterra is "Spence"  who doesn't post on TUG anymore. I'd ask him this question over on www.Timeshareforums.com.


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## pedro47 (Apr 15, 2008)

There is an elite status with Diamond Resorts starting with Silver Elite up to Platinum Elite.  Each status/step is base upon the total number of points you own.


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## lewmel (Apr 15, 2008)

This offer is for elite status, and i am just not sure if the benefits are worth the extra 1000


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## Werner (Apr 15, 2008)

One of the perks of Elite, maybe the most valuable, is that you can do a one-level upgrade above your home unit for $99 per reservation for Silver Elite and either $49 or $59 for Platinum Elite.  You should have a piece of paper that says that.  

If for example you own an Ocean View in Hawaii, you can upgrade to Ocean Front (if available) when you make a reservation.   This is equivalent to having bought a higher priced unit.  Of course you have to make reservations early enough to get the units.  It is all done over the phone, the website can't do it.  There are a few other perks but that one is the draw and it is a good one.

You have to look into your home resort unit levels and see if it makes sense there.


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## lewmel (Apr 15, 2008)

My home is resort is Polo Towers in Las Vegas,
It is the 2bd villa, the nicest and biggest unit available at Polo.
So with the elite, i can book a 1 bedroom somewhere and the upgrade the week for 99.00, is this correct.
Thanks


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## Werner (Apr 15, 2008)

You will have to check if they mean anywhere.  The wording in my document says "one unit upgrade booked through club (limit 2 per year)" so it is not specific to the home resort.  I guess it means that anything you can get for 4000 points can be upgraded one level for $99.  The definition of a level is different for every resort.

BTW, the price is $99 for Silver, $49 for Gold, $0 for Platinum.

[I just realized that I misread the amount of points you were buying so I removed my comment about short term trades.]

Before committing to something like this you should have to have a heart to heart talk with sales people and then see it in writing.

I should also note that my document is from Sunterra, but we just used it at our home resort through Diamond.  Again, read the fine print.


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## Werner (Apr 15, 2008)

Lewmel, 

What constitutes a unit upgrade at a resort is not obvious.  At our home resort in Hawaii, all units are 2 BR and unit levels are related to the view; Garden, Partial Ocean View, Ocean View, Ocean Front.  At another resort there may be view levels and size differences, 1, 2 or 3 BR.  I have only used the upgrade at our home resort where it is easy to figure out what a unit level is.  Maybe some other folks can chime in on how it works in more complex situations.


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## lewmel (Apr 15, 2008)

Thanks for all the help!!


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## nightnurse613 (Apr 21, 2008)

It sounds like you are satisfied with all the information you got.  As a DRI Elite member let me offer a little extra advice (the same you would get if you did a little more searching).   Buy as many DRI/Sunterra resorts as you want (at resale) before you get into the DRI program and have them convert your units to points.  That way you can get Elite membership while purchasing the smallest number of (worthless) Florida Trust points.  Read on!


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