2 resorts, 2 use years?

[DVC Jen]

We are considering buying a small point resale. Our current use year for our original contract is Feb. There isn't any reason why both contracts would have to be the same use year is there, especially if they were for two different resorts? What about if it was the same resort?

Basically it just means we have two contracts with different use years, and have to use them as such when it comes to banking.. etc. Correct?

 

[disneynutz]

You will have 2 different memberships, as if you were 2 different people. They will be accessible via one web account. You can combine the points for booking a reservation at 7 months but not at 11.

It's twice the work, and can cause some problems with MS.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Basically it just means we have two contracts with different use years, and have to use them as such when it comes to banking.. etc. Correct?

If you can use the contracts in this manner then it's really not difficult. Being organized is good too. If you get into trying to use them together at 7 months it can get more complicated depending on how you try and use them together at 7 months.

If it were the same resort I'd suggest really trying to keep it the same UY but if you did buy differently then as another option you could also choose to transfer the points each year to the larger contract.

 

[DVC Jen]

Thanks everyone. Lots to consider and think about when we do finally find the right time and contract for a small resale.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but with the two master memberships, I believe the only way to combine points--even at 7 months--is via TRANSFER. And since members are limited to just one transfer per year, you need to plan things out very carefully in order to use the points effectively. Even wait lists could be difficult if you're trying to book a more expensive resort and the points would have to be transferred over from one contract to another. Not possible if you've already made the one transfer in a year.

We have a small contract and it's a headache. And that's with it having the same Use Year. Different UY's complicate things further.

If it were a situation where you had enough points in each contract that you could alternate reservations between the two without any combining, that could work out. (i.e. book 2012 trip with contract "A", 2013 with contract "B", 2014 with "A", and so on.) But that's less feasible with a small add-on.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but with the two master memberships, I believe the only way to combine points--even at 7 months--is via TRANSFER. And since members are limited to just one transfer per year, you need to plan things out very carefully in order to use the points effectively. Even wait lists could be difficult if you're trying to book a more expensive resort and the points would have to be transferred over from one contract to another. Not possible if you've already made the one transfer in a year.

We have a small contract and it's a headache. And that's with it having the same Use Year. Different UY's complicate things further.

If it were a situation where you had enough points in each contract that you could alternate reservations between the two without any combining, that could work out. (i.e. book 2012 trip with contract "A", 2013 with contract "B", 2014 with "A", and so on.) But that's less feasible with a small add-on.

I wouldn't say that's exactly correct. If you want to use points from both contracts for a single night then yes, you need to do a transfer. I and many others have been told that if an owner is transferring between their own contracts the 1 transfer per year restriction does not apply. Of course nothing about that is written so you couldn't go to the bank on it continuing but that's how it is currently.

But what I prefer to do is book individual nights from memberships and link the reservations. That is the other way to use points from both memberships at 7 months. And if you're organized it isn't any more troublesome IMO than transferring. You may end up banking or borrowing a few in each membership but it really isn't much of a bother.

 

[DVC Jen]

Ideally we would like to get a small contract for Vero and primarily use it to stay there after our WDW stay or use it for another resort at the 7 month window.

Our home resort is VWL so if I wanted to use all 170 of our points there and then go on to Vero and spend a few days there using our Vero points having the same use year wouldn't really be an issue would it?

It is VERY rare that we would go more than once per year anyway.. this year is the first time we have - ever. We are going in May and again in December. Therefore I am not sure the transferring of points would be a big issue for us.

If we had our larger contract at VWL and a smaller contract with Vero and wanted to stay at BLT I could simply call and use both at the 7 month window using the VWL points for the majority of the stay and then the small Vero points for the next 2 or 3 days. Correct? Perhaps it would book as two separate reservations but I have done point and cash stays before and have never had to check out and back in. Just a simple trip to the front desk has taken care of it and been pretty painless.

I could be really over simplifying here and not understanding why it would be such a pain. If I am wrong.. help me understand?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It sounds to me like you understand it and like you have a good plan for using the contracts.

Some people just want it to be as easy as possible or may not have a specific use for the points. I've had 2 UY's for 4 years and have not had any problems.

In your BLT example MS will be able to link the reservations between the two contracts so you would not have to check out and back in. I'd guess that 30-40% of our trips have been that way.

 

[tjkraz]

I wouldn't say that's exactly correct. If you want to use points from both contracts for a single night then yes, you need to do a transfer. I and many others have been told that if an owner is transferring between their own contracts the 1 transfer per year restriction does not apply. Of course nothing about that is written so you couldn't go to the bank on it continuing but that's how it is currently.

But what I prefer to do is book individual nights from memberships and link the reservations. That is the other way to use points from both memberships at 7 months. And if you're organized it isn't any more troublesome IMO than transferring. You may end up banking or borrowing a few in each membership but it really isn't much of a bother.

Thanks for the clarification, Kathy.

I guess my takeaway from this is that while it's possible to combine the points, there are extra hoops to be jumped through. There are multiple banking deadlines to remember. Combining points requires phone calls to Member Services rather than easy on-line booking. And DVC could always change its customer-friendly policies on managing such contracts.

If it were me, personally I would wait-out something in my Use Year rather than jumping at a "great deal." Even if it means paying a couple dollars extra per point, that seems like a small price compared to 30-50 years of extra hassles to manage the points. Resale isn't exactly a seller's market these days. There are always new listings appearing and it won't take long to find a better match.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the clarification, Kathy.

I guess my takeaway from this is that while it's possible to combine the points, there are extra hoops to be jumped through. There are multiple banking deadlines to remember. Combining points requires phone calls to Member Services rather than easy on-line booking. And DVC could always change its customer-friendly policies on managing such contracts.

If it were me, personally I would wait-out something in my Use Year rather than jumping at a "great deal." Even if it means paying a couple dollars extra per point, that seems like a small price compared to 30-50 years of extra hassles to manage the points. Resale isn't exactly a seller's market these days. There are always new listings appearing and it won't take long to find a better match.

The biggest headache for us was that the MS system doesn't keep track of points correctly. They will be shown as available in both UYs if banked and in some screen views, they don't show up at all. The MS Manager that finally fixed our account told me that transfered points are a big issue for MS and that he wished that perk would be taken away.

Bill

 

[LisaS]

Thanks for the clarification, Kathy.

I guess my takeaway from this is that while it's possible to combine the points, there are extra hoops to be jumped through. There are multiple banking deadlines to remember. Combining points requires phone calls to Member Services rather than easy on-line booking. And DVC could always change its customer-friendly policies on managing such contracts.

If it were me, personally I would wait-out something in my Use Year rather than jumping at a "great deal." Even if it means paying a couple dollars extra per point, that seems like a small price compared to 30-50 years of extra hassles to manage the points. Resale isn't exactly a seller's market these days. There are always new listings appearing and it won't take long to find a better match.

I agree. In particular, if you want to book online, keeping the same Use Year will make things easier. As far as I'm aware, you cannot transfer points between contracts online and you also may not see transferred points online in certain situations. So if you want to book online and need to transfer points (or use points already transferred) to book a night using points from two contracts, you will have to call MS to do that.

Lots of people have more than one UY and manage very well but on the other hand, unless you have a compelling reason to buy a different UY, why make things more complicated?

 

[princessbride6205]

But what I prefer to do is book individual nights from memberships and link the reservations. That is the other way to use points from both memberships at 7 months. And if you're organized it isn't any more troublesome IMO than transferring. You may end up banking or borrowing a few in each membership but it really isn't much of a bother.

This has been my experience. We have 2 UY with 2 resorts. I picked 2 UY since we travel at different times of the year. it has been a little more to keep track of, but we've been making it work for a few years now.
I will say that I've never transferred so I haven't had any of those issues.