Add-on and Use Year help

[Family-of-4]

Hello all,

Just returned from our first trip using DVC points - a 4-night studio stay at our home resort, BCV. It was a truly magical time! We received a phone call in our room from our guide (is that common?) letting us know about the free cruise incentive with a 100 point BLT add-on. We didn't bite - don't want to make any rash decisions while we're in "the bubble" - we make enough bad decisions on our diet alone while at WDW. Anyway, we are considering an add-on at either BLT or BCV - we like the short walk to the parks from these two resorts - and ask for your help making sure we understand our options.

We currently own 100 points at BCV with an April Use Year:

For BLT:
1) we can add-on through Disney at 25 points or more at full price and we get a free 3-day cruise if we add-on at least 100 points - use year automatically matches our current April Use Year but we can't combine the points for an 11-month home resort reservation but can combine for 7 month reservations.

2) we can add-on through resale and need to find a contract with April UY if we want to combine points for a 7 month ressie - can't combine for 11-month ressie. If not an April UY - have to make two ressies for the same trip and may have to move rooms.

For BCV:
1) we can add-on through Disney at 25 points or more for full price. UY is automatically April and we can combine points for 11-month window.

2) we can add-on through resale but need to find April UY to keep from having to make two separate reservations for one trip at 11-month window.

Appreciate any help confirming or correcting our thinking.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[RobDoc]

...
We currently own 100 points at BCV with an April Use Year:

For BLT:
1) we can add-on through Disney at 25 points or more at full price and we get a free 3-day cruise if we add-on at least 100 points - use year automatically matches our current April Use Year but we can't combine the points for an 11-month home resort reservation but can combine for 7 month reservations.

2) we can add-on through resale and need to find a contract with April UY if we want to combine points for a 7 month ressie - can't combine for 11-month ressie. If not an April UY - have to make two ressies for the same trip and may have to move rooms.

For BCV:
1) we can add-on through Disney at 25 points or more for full price. UY is automatically April and we can combine points for 11-month window.

2) we can add-on through resale but need to find April UY to keep from having to make two separate reservations for one trip at 11-month window.

Appreciate any help confirming or correcting our thinking.

Thanks,
Jeff

For both BLT and BCV #1 is correct.

#2 - if you purchase a contract via resale you can reserve at that resort 11 months ahead and 7 months at other resorts. If you have a different Use Year (and thus a second contract), you can still reserve some nights using one contract and more nights using the other contract and MS will link them together so you will not need to move. There is no problem doing this at all and it allows for a seamless reservation.

Enjoy!

 

[wdrl]

Here is another option with adding on a small BLT contract to your existing BCV contract: You can triple the value of the small contract by banking, borrowing, and using current points. For example, if you add on 30 points at BLT, you have up to 90 points every three years. With 90 points, you can get 5 nights in a standard view studio during the summer Magic Season using the 2010 point charts. Your family can go to WDW every year and spend two years at BCV and the third year at BLT. Even if your family loves BCV, it might be a nice change of pace to stay at a different resort every third year. Hey, you don't want to get in a rut, do you?

Good luck on your decision.

 

[Family-of-4]

For both BLT and BCV #1 is correct.

#2 - if you purchase a contract via resale you can reserve at that resort 11 months ahead and 7 months at other resorts. If you have a different Use Year (and thus a second contract), you can still reserve some nights using one contract and more nights using the other contract and MS will link them together so you will not need to move. There is no problem doing this at all and it allows for a seamless reservation.

Enjoy!

Thanks Doc! We didn't know about the ability to link the two contracts with different use years. When doing this, can points from the two contracts with different use years be combined for one night in one room (i.e. - take 6 points from one contract and 7 points from the other and get a one-night Mon-Thurs rate studio)? If not, if we were to purchase resale with the same use year as our current contract at current resort, is it just one contract?

 

[chalee94]

When doing this, can points from the two contracts with different use years be combined for one night in one room (i.e. - take 6 points from one contract and 7 points from the other and get a one-night Mon-Thurs rate studio)?

not exactly. first, you would need to use up your once-per-year transfer for each contract by transferring points to the other contract. then you can combine transferred pts with your other pts to book a single night at the 7 month window.

If not, if we were to purchase resale with the same use year as our current contract at current resort, is it just one contract?

(assuming they were titled the same and DVC recognized that the resale should be treated as an add-on contract) they would function as one single contract for booking purposes, but you'd still have 2 distinct contracts if you wanted to sell or will them separately.

 

[wdrl]

not exactly. first, you would need to use up your once-per-year transfer for each contract by transferring points to the other contract. then you can combine transferred pts with your other pts to book a single night at the 7 month window.

Now I am confused?? I didn't think a transfer was necessary in the situation described by the OP. Example: Lets say I have 100 points at BCV and 30 points at BLT. I want to book a standard view studio for a week at BLT from 2/1 to 2/8/2010, which costs 121 points. I am in the 7 month window so I can use both my BCV and BLT points for this reservation. Can't Member Services take 100 points from my BCV contract and 21 points from my BLT contract? Why would I have to transfer points between contracts?

 

[erionm]

Now I am confused?? I didn't think a transfer was necessary in the situation described by the OP. Example: Lets say I have 100 points at BCV and 30 points at BLT. I want to book a standard view studio for a week at BLT from 2/1 to 2/8/2010, which costs 121 points. I am in the 7 month window so I can use both my BCV and BLT points for this reservation. Can't Member Services take 100 points from my BCV contract and 21 points from my BLT contract? Why would I have to transfer points between contracts?

In post #4, the OP asks about combining points from two contracts with different use years. Contract with different use years would be under different memberships. That scenario would require the points to be transfered in order to be combined.

 

[erionm]

Thanks Doc! We didn't know about the ability to link the two contracts with different use years. When doing this, can points from the two contracts with different use years be combined for one night in one room (i.e. - take 6 points from one contract and 7 points from the other and get a one-night Mon-Thurs rate studio)? If not, if we were to purchase resale with the same use year as our current contract at current resort, is it just one contract?

MS would link the reservations, not your contracts. Linked reservations don't require you to check-out and then check-in for the second reservation. Also if the reservations are not linked, you would possibly have to change rooms and may not have access to the new room until 4pm.

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks Doc! We didn't know about the ability to link the two contracts with different use years. When doing this, can points from the two contracts with different use years be combined for one night in one room (i.e. - take 6 points from one contract and 7 points from the other and get a one-night Mon-Thurs rate studio)? If not, if we were to purchase resale with the same use year as our current contract at current resort, is it just one contract?

No, without a transfer there is no way to combine points from two different contracts. As long as you are able to reserve individual nights from each contract, the reservations will all be linked together as a seamless stay, but there is no provision to use points from two contracts for a single night unless there is either a transfer or one is an add-on of the other.

If you purchase a resale with the same Use Year and it is titled exactly the same as your original contract, DVC can combine them under one membership number - if you do this I would advise DVC of your desire to combine them (call member accounting once ROFR has passed). Once they are under the same membership number, the points can be combined in any way you like (at 11 months if both are the same resort or at 7 months if different resorts).

Enjoy!