wrhead said:
We bought Desert Paradise from Epic in 1999 and have seen our fees increase from $225 ($.045 per point) to $530 ($270 base plus $.065 per point) since the bankruptcy and takeover by Sunterra. It seems to me that the base fee penalizes those with smaller holdings.
While I could justify my initial purchase, it no longer makes any sense to me and I need to explore my options. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
I had a similar experience with Epic/Sunterra. About a year ago I bought an Epic resale on Ebay. The sale was for 6,500 Sunterra points; Scottsdale Links was the home resort; and the maintenance fee was to be $218. The auction description said I could use only the six Epic resorts and also have the ability to exchange through II. Additionally, I would have the option to pay $2995 to join Club Sunterra and have the use of all their resorts. I liked the locations of 5 of the 6 Epic resorts, so I was content to use only them and have what I thought was a low maintenance fee.
I ran into trouble trying to close the sale. Sunterra transferred the contract from the old owner, but said I could not use any of the resorts without joining Club Sunterra. (and paying the $2995) Every time I talked to someone at either Las Vegas or Scottsdale Links I would get a different answer. Eventually the resale broker that sold me the points got Sunterra to grant me a Club Sunterra membership without the payment, as I understand they offered to do for all Epic members.
With the Club Sunterra membership came the higher maintenance fee ($645), but I also got the use of their full group of resorts. I am trying to make it work for us, but only time will tell. I tend to look at non-peak times, or resorts that are on the quarterly e mail specials that Sunterra puts out. Also I may save Sun Options from one year to the next, allowing a better vacation every other year.
Good luck as you sort out your options of selling, buying more through resale (which I believe is possible), or just trying to be as efficient as possible in using/saving your SunOptions for decent vacations.