Happy with Festiva Points?

So I got talked into the Festiva Adventure Club something like 3 years ago. I didn't do the proper research I should have beforehand and just kind of dove in. It worked out for me (luckily).

During our last vacation my hubby and I talked with some other couples who were very unhappy with their points plan. All of them had the same complaints about availability and advanced booking.

How many people have experiences like that? I like the points stuff so far but if these problems are going to pop-up later on, then I want to start looking at ways out/alternatives.

Thanks guys.

We have 6000 points/year and are members of the Adventure Club. This has worked well for us. For the most part, we use our points to get units to trade via Interval International, getting about 3 trades every 2 years. We have found Festiva units to trade quite well. We have stayed in Festiva resorts only 3 times, and we were pleased with each...though they are not up to what we expect from Marriott or Starwood.

Problem is your annual maintenance fees keep climbing too. I have 6700 points and to begin with my annual fee was $600, it is now over $1500, plus amount of points for a week has increased, and difficult to book a week when you want it. I am getting out, but trying to sell it or even give it away is a hopeless trek. To get legally out is going to cost $4-5 thousand dollars.

I used my weeks a lot early on, but I have owned for a long time and availability used to be much better.

donniew22 wrote:

To get legally out is going to cost $4-5 thousand dollars.

Why is this going to cost you $4000-$5000? Who's charging you this and what exactly is this company going to do? "[Getting] legally out" should not cost $4000.

Have you asked the resort where you own if it will take the unit back? The resort might charge you closing costs and maybe even the next maintenance fee. That should not be anywhere close to $4000.

Just call Festiva and see what their response is....they sure are not eager to let you out of the maintenance fees....

It sure does seem strange that you can advertise free points on Red Week and nobody takes them... these points have a Festiva declared value of over $25,000.

You can also try advertising on Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) in their Bargain Deals section. They allow you to do this for free. You can offer to pay the closing costs and even the next maintenance fee. That will come out to a lot less than the $4000 you mention.

The other thing with festive is you can try contacting the Homeowners' Association of the resort where you own. You can say, in no uncertain terms, that you are not paying another nickle in maintenance fees so it would be in everyone's best interests for the HOA to take back you unit amicably. But again, they might ask for closing costs and possibly the next maintenance fee which will still work out cheaper than this $4000 you mention.

BTW, you still have not mentioned, who is quoting you this price of $4000 to "get legally out" and how does this company intend to do this?

Is Festiva a timeshare or Vacation Club ?

Festiva Adventure Club is a points based system, with right-to-use for 40 years, and renewable after that. There is really nothing to give back to the Club other that the agreement that was signed. No real deed of property any more, and they still require closing cost and document transfer fees if you sell your points.

There are ADs on TV almost every day from companies offering to help you legally get out of your contract. One such company is the Wesley Financial Group, but there are many more, some of them are just more scams I have heard.

We have tried to 'give back' sell and/or rent out our Festiva Points for almost 2 years now. When we upgraded back in 2010 we were told they (Festiva) would rent out our points if we didn't use them. I got deployed and we contacted them to 'rent out' our points only to find they lied. They will not help you rent out anything. We have tried to book resorts and found out they were 'not available' time after time. Our maintenance fees then doubled to over $2000.00. I contacted Festiva and they told us we cannot get out of this but could transfer to someone and sent me a form. The first person we used to 'rent out' our points turned out to be a scam. (We didn't hear anything from them for 3 weeks, and the sales lady told us we had to re-advertise our property every 14 days...The second one said they had a buyer and we went through the process of transfer-ship only to find them gone after we paid the closing costs....both were legitimate, both had websites and we checked them out. I called Festiva and the nice lady laughed at me on the phone and told me we don't own anything and that if we didn't pay our fees they would send a debt collector after us. I am contacting a lawyer now because we are at wits end.....

I have always advocated that people try to use what they have while they seek and exit . Just remember you bought there because you were enjoying a much needed vacation . I'm sure they have some nice places to visit until you figure out how to get out of your contract .

I advise people who feel that they need an attorney to find one where they live that actually has an office you can walk into and talk to someone . NEVER pay anyone money upfront that claims they can get you out of your contract . A local attorney will charge a fee but it won't be thousands upfront .

Keep the discussion in the forum active .

I have tried to book several places this summer with Festiva, even called them for assistance, but they do not have any resorts available when we both have vacation time from work. This will be the 3rd year in a row we cannot use the vacation due to non availability. Festiva will not help and is very hard to get anyone that cares. They simply have our money and we are stuck. We owe nothing and are all paid up. I would be happy to just give this away for free....

Our fees tripled in the last 10 years and are now over $2000.00 for our 10500 points. I can't even give it away due to the high cost of the fees. We have tried for 3 years to book with them when both my wife and I had vacation time off and found nothing we wanted. In the beginning, it was easy to use and worth it, now it is just paying for nothing...If we can't get what we want, there should be a way to fix this...

I contacted the Wesley Financial Group and they want money up front.....isn't that the first thing we are NOT to do? Also, they have a terrible reputation with results....

Try contacting a local attorney through the Bar Association . A lot of attorneys will give free consultation .

billg515 wrote:

I contacted the Wesley Financial Group and they want money up front.....isn't that the first thing we are NOT to do? Also, they have a terrible reputation with results....

Absolutely correct. There is no need to pay any company to get you out of your timeshare.

billg515 wrote:

We owe nothing and are all paid up. I would be happy to just give this away for free....

Have you tried advertising this on RedWeek or other avenues such as My Resort Network, E-Bay, or Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) that has a Bargain Deals section that allows owners to advertise for free that they want to give their units away?

You could also try contacting the home resort's Homeowners' Association and ask that they take your unit back. Maybe say that you will no longer pay any fees and that it would be best for everyone for the HOA to take the unit back. You're in a good position seeing that you have paid everything up.

The problem is that it's a vacation club not a timeshare. There is no home resort . You could read over your contract line by line and look for where they breached your contract like denying the use of your membership . It could be the lack of availability that you may have a case to void your contract .

You could send them notice that they have violated your contract and you hold them in breach . In order for them to go after you for money they have to hold up their end of the contract . That would be a good defense if they decide to sue you which I highly doubt .

If it were me I would send them notice through an attorney and let them make the next move .

I went to red week and TUG and even Ebay. There are over 350 listings for time shares for $1.00 - they can't give them away.....no one is wanting them due to the high cost of the maintenance fees....The forums say we are stuck....there are thousands of us that are stuck.....we need some legislation to fix this, the time share industry is able to bind us into 'perpetuity' and we are not able to do anything unless you can show they do not have availability which they must provide to those that pay fees. 3 years now, no availability from Festiva, the customer service people keep telling me to upgrade. I am into them for $25k so far, and will not pay another dime. In the beginning it was great, but then it changed - now it is us paying for zero results.

I did find a law firm that has successfully sued Festiva with a class action suit and they are willing to talk to us. I guess there are a bunch more - so there maybe another class action suit. I sure hope so. I paid good money for zero results, and the customer service people are trained in evasive actions. Good thing I have recordings, documentations and even a signed contract where the salesman hand wrote in that Festiva WOULD rent out pour points for us if we couldn't use them (I am military and I was deployed)....he lied...they lied...I am sick of being lied to. I just want someone in this industry to be real and take ownership of what they are-

Having read your views on Festiva points usage, I'm intrigued about how you move you Festiva points to I.I.. I have a few questions about this process and would appreciate some feedback. Some initial questions would be: - do you need Festiva's permission to do this? - Can you transfer RTX points? - Any cost involved with this process(es)? Thank you very much for you responses.