Confused about "combining" multiple small contracts

[GirlWriter]

Hi there!

I am in the process of buying my first DVC membership cool1, via resale. It's for 150 SSR points with a February use year.

We live 2 hours from DW and tend to go down for 2- to 3-day trips about 5 times a year (so a series of "quick hits" every year). Based on that travel pattern, I know that I am going to want a few more points to get us through our normal year.

So once this first sale closes, I plan to look for another resale, 50 points or thereabouts, but am confused about how it would work and am hoping you more knowledgeable folks can illuminate things for me.

If I end up with 200 total points, does it matter which home resort they are for (as long as I don't care about staying at a specific resort, which generally I don't)? So, let's say I have the 150 SSR points and then get 50 BLT points. If I book a stay within the 7-month window, so that the home resort advantage is not a factor, would I be able to just consider the 200 points as a unit, or is there something that "happens" when I finish out the 150 SSR points and start using the 50 BLT points? If that transition happened mid-stay, would it be 2 separate reservations? Would I have to check out and back in?

Does the UY affect the answer? If both contracts have the same UY, can they be used as a unit?

If they don't have the same UY, what would that change about my scenario?

Thanks!

 

[chalee94]

If I end up with 200 total points, does it matter which home resort they are for (as long as I don't care about staying at a specific resort, which generally I don't)? So, let's say I have the 150 SSR points and then get 50 BLT points. If I book a stay within the 7-month window, so that the home resort advantage is not a factor, would I be able to just consider the 200 points as a unit, or is there something that "happens" when I finish out the 150 SSR points and start using the 50 BLT points? If that transition happened mid-stay, would it be 2 separate reservations? Would I have to check out and back in?

Does the UY affect the answer? If both contracts have the same UY, can they be used as a unit?

if you are booking on short notice, i don't see why you'd bother paying extra for BLT pts. stick with the cheaper SSR pts unless you plan to book at 10-11 months out for BLT with the BLT pts.

but yes, if they have the same UY and are titled exactly the same, they can be combined under the same member number and would function easily as one contract at 7 months out (assuming you bought 50 BLT pts to go with 150 SSR pts.)

If they don't have the same UY, what would that change about my scenario?

you would have to book nights separately (say 5 nights with SSR contract and 2 nights with the BLT contract) and ask MS to link the reservations. otherwise, you could transfer pts from one contract to the other (but they may or may not use up your once-per-year transfer for both contracts - depends on the MS person.)

 

[GirlWriter]

Thanks, chalee!

Regarding a transfer ... if I did end up with 2 contracts with different UYs, but knew that I really just always wanted to use the 2 as a unit, could I just transfer all 50 for the year from the second contract into the first contract, and do that each year?

 

[lovin'fl]

Yes. You can transfer once per use year per contract (in or out). You could have 150 SSR and 50 BLT with different UY (they would have 2 separate member #s) and transfer the 50 BLT over each year to use at 7 month window for 1 seamless reservation. You can only transfer current UY points (not banked or borrowed points) but once transferred they can be banked into next UY.

 

[dmunsil]

Keep in mind that if you do have two use years and transfer points between them, the transferred points will not show up online and cannot be used to book online. You'd have to call to do anything with those points.

So usually if you need to do a transfer you just do it at the time of booking, and do the whole thing on the phone.

There are some other restrictions, like transferred points can be banked but can't be borrowed, I don't think. Certainly banked and borrowed points can't be transferred.

The upshot is that if you plan to mostly use the combined points for reservations, you really would prefer that they have the same use year. Otherwise you're just setting yourself up for a lot of hassle.

 

[disneynutz]

Make your life easy, buy SSR, same UY.

Bill

 

[GirlWriter]

Thanks for all the help! I will definitely wait a bit to see if my desired 50-point contract comes up for resale -- SSR, same UY as previous contract, and at a decent dollar per point.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for all the help! I will definitely wait a bit to see if my desired 50-point contract comes up for resale -- SSR, same UY as previous contract, and at a decent dollar per point.

Small contracts will have a premium price, don't wait until you see something, contact the major brokers and have them find the contract for you.

Bill

 

[Dean]

There is no guarantee one will be able to combine contracts in the future even if the above criteria are met. It's generally better to buy the larger amount at one time if one knows this is needed, even if it means delaying the actual purchase.

 

[Timeflys4us]

Yes. You can transfer once per use year per contract (in or out). You could have 150 SSR and 50 BLT with different UY (they would have 2 separate member #s) and transfer the 50 BLT over each year to use at 7 month window for 1 seamless reservation. You can only transfer current UY points (not banked or borrowed points) but once transferred they can be banked into next UY.

Could someone please clarify: Assuming 150SSR and 50 BLT, could the 50 BLT be transfered once per year, every year, and then used to book one (1) reservation at the 11th month window?

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Not really. If I understand you correctly, you mean lump them together and book one place at 11 mo. You can only book at the point's home resort at 11 mos. So even w/ a transfer you could only book 150 at 11 mo at the 150 point resort. You'd have to book the remainder at 7 mo. Or book just the 50 points at their 11 mi window the rest at 7

 

[Timeflys4us]

Not really. If I understand you correctly, you mean lump them together and book one place at 11 mo. You can only book at the point's home resort at 11 mos. So even w/ a transfer you could only book 150 at 11 mo at the 150 point resort. You'd have to book the remainder at 7 mo. Or book just the 50 points at their 11 mi window the rest at 7

Regrettably, that makes sense - thanks for the info.

 

[CarolMN]

Could someone please clarify: Assuming 150SSR and 50 BLT, could the 50 BLT be transfered once per year, every year, and then used to book one (1) reservation at the 11th month window?

No. Twinsouvenirs is correct.

The home resort booking priority is a feature of the points (not the owner / membership / contract). Points retain their original resort and use year tags when transferred.

 

[Minniesgal]

See if those were my contracts I would book x SSR nights at 11 months and y BLT nights at 11 months and have a split stay.

 

[Dean]

See if those were my contracts I would book x SSR nights at 11 months and y BLT nights at 11 months and have a split stay.

Or try to get something else, like more BLT days, once the 7 month window opened. I'd then wait list for anything I wanted but couldn't get initially.