The destination club has launched a new program, which lets prospective members try out the club for a year.
The new program from Quintess means "prospective members don't have to put a lot of money down and so can really experience the club without a large financial commitment" said Todd Miller VP of Marketing at Quintess. People trying the program "get full membership rights and privileges" continued Todd.
At the end of their trial year, if members decide to join the club, they can then pay the normal membership deposit over a period of 3 to 6 years. The membership plans with more nights and so larger initial deposits have a longer deferred payment period - so for instance the Q7 plan with 60 nights can be paid over 6 years.
Todd gave an example of the Q2 Holiday Plan. For their trial year a member would pay a non-refundable $15,000 fee and then would pay the regular annual dues of $16,125 for the 15 nights of usage, and also would pay the $275 per night occupancy fee. The total cost of the 15 nights would be $35,250, equivalent to $2,350 per night. After this first year, if you decide the club is right for you, then you would pay the regular $250,000 membership in three annual installments.
The $15,000 non-refundable fee applies to any membership plan level. So if you wanted to try the 60 night Q7 plan, the one year costs would be $15,000 plus annual dues of $64,500 and a nightly occupancy fee of $275.
"We don't want to get into the business of selling travel nights," said Todd, so people trying the program are considered members of the club.
Various trial programs amongst the destinations clubs have proliferated of late. A&K Residence Club has a trial that we covered yesterday. Exclusive Resorts launched their trial program at the end of last year.