Transferring points.. the basics and more

[codina818]

This is primer on transfers and what you need to do to accomplish this.

THE FIRST THING - Call member services BEFORE you do a transfer and make sure that you have a transfer UY open for a particular calender year and insure that the person transferring the points informed the CM to transfer into that particular calender year and UY.-

A few basics of point transfers

1) You can do 1 per UY (not per calender year)
2) You can bank transferred points.
3) You CANNOT BORROW transferred points. (see below)
4) You cannot transfer points which have been previously banked or borrowed.
5) Transfers go into the same calender year (ie 2016 goes into 2016, 2017 goes into 2017), except for certain rare exceptions. (see below).


Just some caveats.

When you do a transfer, make sure that the transfer is for a UY prior to when you want to use them. It seems a simple thing but people forget this or don't read the above. For example, it you plan a vacation on July 1017, you cannot accept a tranfer for Aug 2017 or later.. Why?.. you cannot not borrow these points and use them prior to the transfer date.

The tricky part comes if you have a Dec. UY and someone has a Feb UY. and you need points for a Sept. vacation. The person can only transfer Feb 2017 points, but you are in your Dec. 2016 UY... In that situation, you have to be real careful and try to get CM to transfer the points into your Dec 2016 UY. It can be done, but many CM will not do it.. you have to get a manager or some higher up and plead your case.. then they will do it... but not on your first attempt.

So be very careful when you transfer points which do not exactly match your UY. There have been instances where some received a transfer, not realizing that they were transferring the points into their next UY. In the above example, if they are not careful, the Feb 2014 point will go into that person's Dec. 2014 UY..theoretically, you should be able to use them but many CM will get confused and will not let you use them until u get to a supervisor

Sounds confusing??? YUP.. it is.. .. just be careful when you transfer points and meticulously follow the above and you should be OK... wellllll.. maybe

Technically, u have the same banking restrictions from your transferred points, but it seems, that for now, you can bank transferred points even though they are past the banking deadline. This could change at any time

 

[supersnoop]

5) Transfers go into the same calender year (ie 2016 goes into 2016, 2017 goes into 2017), except for certain rare exceptions. (see below).

I thought transfers go into the same use year, not calendar year.

 

[disneynutz]

We transferred once between our 2 UYs and MS was so screwed up we will never transfer again. At that time the transferred points are not visible online and MS has to know where to look for them. Several times we were told that we didn't have any transferred points, finally a manager found them.

Bill

 

[codina818]

I thought transfers go into the same use year, not calendar year.

Sigh.... this is one of the problems with the UY terminology. It should really be termes a Use Month. But we are stuck with the terminology.

When the UY doesn't match exactly, CM will only allow you to transfer within the same calender year.. ie 2015 UY points into 2015 calender year points. The problem comes in when u want to transfer 2015 UY points into 2016 (which should go through). But when u want to transfer 2016 UY points into a 2015 UY, they wont let you do it!.. at first.. you have to get to a 2nd level (or third level CM/manager).

Example, u are in your Feb 2016 UY and you want to transfer points to someone who is in their Dec 2015 UY... CM will say you cannot transfer because of the calender year difference. They are totally wrong on that.

THERE IS NO WRITTEN LIMITATION PREVENTING YOU FROM CROSSING OVER UY in a different CALENDER YEAR. CM's always get this wrong.

Then they occasionally lose points, like what happened above.

 

[supersnoop]

Sigh.... this is one of the problems with the UY terminology. It should really be termes a Use Month. But we are stuck with the terminology.

When the UY doesn't match exactly, CM will only allow you to transfer within the same calender year.. ie 2015 UY points into 2015 calender year points. The problem comes in when u want to transfer 2015 UY points into 2016 (which should go through). But when u want to transfer 2016 UY points into a 2015 UY, they wont let you do it!.. at first.. you have to get to a 2nd level (or third level CM/manager).

Example, u are in your Feb 2016 UY and you want to transfer points to someone who is in their Dec 2015 UY... CM will say you cannot transfer because of the calender year difference. They are totally wrong on that.

THERE IS NO WRITTEN LIMITATION PREVENTING YOU FROM CROSSING OVER UY in a different CALENDER YEAR. CM's always get this wrong.

Then they occasionally lose points, like what happened above.

Actually, after thinking about it, isn't use year irrelevant? Transferred points retain their original use year.

The only relevant part about use years is that the transfer in counts against your once-per-use-year limit. That's pretty obvious for the transfer out, but less obvious for the transfer-in. For the party receiving the transfer, does it count against your current use year, or does it count against the use year of the points being transferred?

 

[codina818]

In general, the RECEIVER of the transfer can designate the UY it goes into.. either the current UY or the next one.. that is the way the rule is written.

However, the CM only go by the training they receive. They are instructed to keep the calender year of the UY consistent.. ie Feb 16 only goes into a Feb or later 16 UY.

 

[rpcvpanama]

So if I have an August UY and I accept Sept 2016 UY points would I be able to use those Sept 2016 points to book a vacation in May of 2017? I am sorry this stuff seems so confusing to me and I am trying to work out a transfer.

 

[supersnoop]

So if I have an August UY and I accept Sept 2016 UY points would I be able to use those Sept 2016 points to book a vacation in May of 2017? I am sorry this stuff seems so confusing to me and I am trying to work out a transfer.

Transferred points retain their original use year.

 

[rpcvpanama]

Transferred points retain their original use year.

Right, so accepting a transfer of Sept. 2016 UY points means I can book a May 2017 vacation without worrying about the "borrowing" issue, correct? I apologize if this sounds dumb but I am likely just confusing myself. I thought I had this stuff all figured out.

 

[supersnoop]

Right, so accepting a transfer of Sept. 2016 UY points means I can book a May 2017 vacation without worrying about the "borrowing" issue, correct? I apologize if this sounds dumb but I am likely just confusing myself. I thought I had this stuff all figured out.

Yes. You should really familiarize yourself with the Understanding Use Year thread.

 

[codina818]

Right, so accepting a transfer of Sept. 2016 UY points means I can book a May 2017 vacation without worrying about the "borrowing" issue, correct? I apologize if this sounds dumb but I am likely just confusing myself. I thought I had this stuff all figured out.

Transfer are absolutely confusing, and most CM's get it wrong also. I find the best way to consider a transfer is to look at the date u want to go on a vacation. You MUST get a transfer of points with a UY PRIOR to the date of your vacation.

However, then u have to look at the earliest date you can transfer points into.

In your example above, assume u want to take a vacation May 1 to May 7, 2017. You can only use transferred points which begin April 1, 2017 or earlier.
But you also cannot take a transfer of points which begin prior to May 1, 2015.. ie, you would need May 2015 or later. There are no Jan, May, July or Nov UY, . So you would need a transfer of points which start June 2015 up to April 2017.

 

[dcfromva]

I have only done transfers a couple of times. I discovered if you transfer same UY and same resort you will see it online and you will be able to book it online. But, I don't think all the CMs know this. On my most recent transaction they deposited transferred VGC points into a BLT contract even though I had VGC contracts. The CM didn't know this made a difference and had to have the supervisor fix it. Also, member services had to bank the points for me (I couldn't do it myself).

 

[codina818]

I have only done transfers a couple of times. I discovered if you transfer same UY and same resort you will see it online and you will be able to book it online. But, I don't think all the CMs know this. On my most recent transaction they deposited transferred VGC points into a BLT contract even though I had VGC contracts. The CM didn't know this made a difference and had to have the supervisor fix it. Also, member services had to bank the points for me (I couldn't do it myself).

Transfers are not frequently done, so CMs are generally ignorant of many nuances of transfers. This story is not uncommon so u should really be on your toes.

Caveat - Always use your transferred points ASAP!!!

 

[codina818]

There seems to be some continuing confusion regarding transfers.. the rules have not changed.

 

[Cyberc1978]

So just for my understanding, I have already received a transfer of 2017 points this year.

IF i found some june 2017 points could I transfer those into a june 2018 UY? If i couldn't use all would I be able to bank the june 2018 points before 1/31-2019 ?

BTW my own UY is April.