# Sunterra Cancellation Fee Increase of 200%+



## Eileen A. (May 16, 2007)

When booking a Sunterra reservation I always take the cancellation insurance.  For a plat. elite member it was $22 via phone and $17 via Internet.  I almost dropped the phone tonight when the customer service rep. said it is now $75 for a plat elite member and over $100 for non-elite members.  

I admit the $17 was a deal.  You could cancel within 24 hours when taking the insurance.  So if a 59 day special become available you just cancelled the existing reservation and rebooked.
Also if an emergency came up you had piece of mind that you wouldn't lose SunOptions,

I'm just shocked at the big increase!!  I do not want to pay $75 each time I make a reservation.  Diamond Resorts must really be digging into Sunterra's rules.  I wonder if more changes are on the way.

I wanted to get other Club Sunterra member's thoughts?  Spence, what's your take?  Does this bother you as much as it bothers me.  Thanks!

Eileen


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## Spence (May 16, 2007)

This fact was reported six days ago here.  Do I like it, no.  Do I think that one of the reasons it went up was to discourage people from doing exactly what you mentioned, yes.  When you ask Sunterra about the change, they say it's to bring fees more in line with 'industry standards' and they give the example of the $100 airline change fees.

Did they announce this change by website or email to members, no.  The only way you'd find out right now is if you read this or this or try to book RPP- Reservation Protection Plan either online or on the phone.  It's $105 for members, $95 for Silver, $85 for Gold and $75 for Platinum; then there's a $10 discount for doing it on WebRes.

It will be in the updated SunOptions Directory and SunGlances when the new editions are promulgated.
...and it's more like a 300-400% increase!


Eileen A. said:


> When booking a Sunterra reservation I always take the cancellation insurance.  For a plat. elite member it was $22 via phone and $17 via Internet.  I almost dropped the phone tonight when the customer service rep. said it is now $75 for a plat elite member and over $100 for non-elite members.
> 
> I admit the $17 was a deal.  You could cancel within 24 hours when taking the insurance.  So if a 59 day special become available you just cancelled the existing reservation and rebooked.
> Also if an emergency came up you had piece of mind that you wouldn't lose SunOptions,
> ...


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## AwayWeGo (May 16, 2007)

*$ $ $*

It's just 1 part of the business plan, adding more money to the corporate treasury.  Can't blame a company for working to boost the bottom line. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## tdkacv (Jun 6, 2007)

*sunterra reservation cancellation price hike*

Anyone know what can be done to stop this price hike???   I understand that they may need to make some changes...but 300-400% sudden increases tells me they are not interested in our welfare at all!  

One of the selling points of Sunterra vs other timeshare companies when we bought in Maui was that they were deliberately doing things differently and with more flexibility.  This price hike seriously dampens my flexibility and shows that this Diamond Resorts company is not interested in keeping up that tradition!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jun 6, 2007)

tdkacv said:


> Anyone know what can be done to stop this price hike???   I understand that they may need to make some changes...but 300-400% sudden increases tells me they are not interested in our welfare at all!
> 
> One of the selling points of Sunterra vs other timeshare companies when we bought in Maui was that they were deliberately doing things differently and with more flexibility.  This price hike seriously dampens my flexibility and shows that this Diamond Resorts company is not interested in keeping up that tradition!



Why would you think any timeshare developer is interested in your welfare?  Was that what the salesman told you??


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## Spence (Jun 6, 2007)

tdkacv said:


> Anyone know what can be done to stop this price hike???   I understand that they may need to make some changes...but 300-400% sudden increases tells me they are not interested in our welfare at all!
> 
> One of the selling points of Sunterra vs other timeshare companies when we bought in Maui was that they were deliberately doing things differently and with more flexibility.  This price hike seriously dampens my flexibility and shows that this Diamond Resorts company is not interested in keeping up that tradition!


I think they really needed the price hike to discourage practices that have already been alluded to (and to make money for Cloobeck).  If you're an average owner, I don't think $100 is too much to pay to 'protect' your vacation by insuring your 'points.'  My biggest problem with their RPP is the fact that it does you no good for reservations towards the end of the year like Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years holidays.  If you cancel, you get the points back but have no time to use them because they expire at the end of the year.  A better product would allow you to 'save' any insured points to the next year.  When I brought this up to Sunterra, I got a very well thought out but convoluted answer that I will share by email, click on name at right.


T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Why would you think any timeshare developer is interested in your welfare?  Was that what the salesman told you??


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## fnewman (Jun 16, 2007)

I guess, as a Sunterra owner, I am not too concerned about changes that will tend to keep the organization in good financial health.  Since last minute cancellations probably result in unused/unrented space most of the time, I have to agree that it is a practice that needs to be discouraged.


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## Lglen119 (Jun 20, 2007)

*there are other options*

Sorry, but I've about had it with the nonsense from these companies.  

Let you in on a little secret.....you are getting SMOKED at $105 for members per trip.  ouch! That's the highest rate I've heard or seen for "per-trip" timeshare insurance.  Just because they offer it doesn't mean it offers lots of value, or even the benefits you want.  

Marriott tried to sell me their plan but it didn't cover much and had some holes, but even theirs was less than Sunterra's.

Reading this, I'm enjoying the lower price I pay for ANNUAL coverage even more, through VacationGuard.  www.vacationguard.com   Excellent coverage, covers my M&T bills, delays, etc, and gives me benefits that are intended to work.  Couldn't be easier to keep for it's annual and flexible on my trip needs. 

But... that's how the US economy works.  You can't blame companies for not wanting to tell you they will charge you more than the market but give you less.  

People will pay a lot for things that don't have much value if they are never educated about reasonable alternatives.


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## winger (Jun 22, 2007)

Spence said:


> ... If you're an average owner, I don't think $100 is too much to pay to 'protect' your vacation by insuring your 'points.'  My biggest problem with their RPP is the fact that it does you no good for reservations towards the end of the year like Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years holidays.  If you cancel, you get the points back but have no time to use them because they expire at the end of the year.  A better product would allow you to 'save' any insured points to the next year.  When I brought this up to Sunterra, I got a very well thought out but convoluted answer that I will share by email, click on name at right.



So, am I correct in understanding that the ability to roll some 'points' to the following one year does NOT apply to points you get back from a cancellation? 

Also, the insurance is really for cancellations within 60 days of travel, correct?  I was informed by a sunterra rep that 60+ days of travel, cancellations are of no charge (also on pp9 of 2007 sunoptions booklet).


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## fnewman (Jun 25, 2007)

winger said:


> So, am I correct in understanding that the ability to roll some 'points' to the following one year does NOT apply to points you get back from a cancellation?
> 
> Also, the insurance is really for cancellations within 60 days of travel, correct?  I was informed by a sunterra rep that 60+ days of travel, cancellations are of no charge (also on pp9 of 2007 sunoptions booklet).



I know of no limitation on 'rolling' points (saving SunOptions) except for date restrictions (100% byJune30, 50% by August 31, and 25% by October 31) and not being able to save more SunOptions than your current year's allotment.

My understanding is that cancellations more than 60 days before arrival date can be done for 0% loss of SunOptions.  25% loss for 59-30 days, 50% loss for 29-14 days, 100% for less than 14 days prior to arrival.


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## winger (Jun 25, 2007)

fnewman said:


> I know of no limitation on 'rolling' points (saving SunOptions) except for date restrictions (100% byJune30, 50% by August 31, and 25% by October 31) and not being able to save more SunOptions than your current year's allotment.
> 
> My understanding is that cancellations more than 60 days before arrival date can be done for 0% loss of SunOptions.  25% loss for 59-30 days, 50% loss for 29-14 days, 100% for less than 14 days prior to arrival.


As it sits today (Jun 2007), can a member combine 2008 pts AND borrow from 2009's allotment (pay 2009 resort MF and annual membership fee)?  For example, for an annual 10,000 pts allotment/membership, a member borrows 3000 from 2009, giving him 13000 to play with in 2008.  After placing an ongoing request and/or cancelling before Jun 30, 2008, can he then before Jun 2008 decide to roll all his 2008 pts (10,000) and his borrowed 2009's 3000pts back to 2009 ?  This 13000 is MORE than his annual allotment, but part of which originally belonged to year 2009 anyways.


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## fnewman (Jun 26, 2007)

winger said:


> As it sits today (Jun 2007), can a member combine 2008 pts AND borrow from 2009's allotment (pay 2009 resort MF and annual membership fee)?  For example, for an annual 10,000 pts allotment/membership, a member borrows 3000 from 2009, giving him 13000 to play with in 2008.  After placing an ongoing request and/or cancelling before Jun 30, 2008, can he then before Jun 2008 decide to roll all his 2008 pts (10,000) and his borrowed 2009's 3000pts back to 2009 ?  This 13000 is MORE than his annual allotment, but part of which originally belonged to year 2009 anyways.


I will have to think about that one a bit, but I think yes, you can borrow points from 2009 as suggested for use in 2008.  However, I'm not sure, but I think when you do that, the SunOptions become 2008 points, so if you later decide to roll forward you can only roll a maximum of 10,000 because that is your annual allotment.

I think that is right.  I know for sure that once you roll SunOptions forward into next year, you can't bring them back, although you could borrow some of next year's SunOptions by paying the appopriate maintenance fees.


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