It would have been $279 for the entire year, since you would have to pay the initial start-up fee, and you would be leasing the extensions and not owning them.
We created this program precisely for people like you who didn't want to buy a product like the super suite and end up having to pay for modules when we updated them. It is true that this program solves that problem and you were subject to it. Maybe your complaints, or people in a similar situation, are the very thing that led us to offer this program in the first place. We are only trying to improve our offering.
People asked us "I just bought this product and now I need another to finish my site" and "I just purchased the super suite, I don't want to have to pay for an upgrade" and "I can't afford the super suite". We wanted to offer a solution to those people. We can't fix the problem going backward, but this is our honest attempt to fix it moving forward.
Any time we come out with a good deal, anyone that purchased before might feel cheated. This would be true if you bought a TV from Best Buy and it went on 50% off sale a couple months later, or if you bought a new car and traded in your old one a week before the cash for clunkers program.
The fact that you feel like you would rather be a part of the new subscription program really only represents the fact that it is a very good deal, and we need it to be a good deal to succeed at what it intends to do. The only way we could satisfy previous purchasers is to make it not such a good deal or give full refunds, and that would either prevent us from being able to offer it at all or defeat the purpose.
If you own super suite and contact sales directly, they will waive the subscriptions sigin up fee entirely and you can join the subscription program. The advantage you will have by purchasing is that if you ever cancel the subscription program your extensions will continue to work.