Add-on and UY questions

[caseyem67]

Haven't heard back from my guide yet, but he said he is returning calls on his day off (today) because of the pending price increase. I came up with more questions.

1. When you add-on do you get points to your home resort or can you get say 50 points at another resort. Is there any advantage to having two home resorts, especially if one is a small number of points?

2. Why is use year so important? Should I shoot for a UY that starts in the month we normally go to Disney? I'm not getting the importance of the UY.

Thanks to all you experts out there. I have learned a ton about DVC from you!

 

[MLK-RI]

Adding on even a small number of points at another resorts opens that resorts 11 month booking window to your for those points. With some banking and borrowing in that account you could build up enough points for a vacation booked withint the 11 month window.

UY is important even when adding at your existing home resort because it will effect your banking and borrowing deadlines. It can also mean the points would be treated as a separate contract even at your original home resort. Not sure if this applies when you add on to your original contract but certainly if you buy another one (resale) if the UYs are different they will be treated as 2. This is still not a terrible thing, just a juggling game.

For example if you have 150 points at SSR and you add another 50 to your contract at SSR through Disney with the same UY, I think they are basically treated when booking as 200 points at SSR. However if you have the 150 SSR points and add on another 50 at BWV it will not only make a difference in the booking windows, but when you book you need to use the points separately. It's not as if you have 200 points but 150 in one acount and 50 in another. You can transfer to yourself if need be but with a little creativity it just means more days come from the 150 account and less from the 50.
Say you have booked 4 nights using the 150 account and you have 6 points left over there. Your 5th night requires 12 points. If they are not the same resort/same UY you can't use 6 from the 150 account and add 6 from the 50 account, you'll need to use 12 from the 50 account and either bank those remaining 6 or transfer them to the 50 account and so on.
I hope this is understandable, sorry for the rambling. I can speak from experience of 2 contracts, same resort, different UYs. I will be interested to see if others have a different view of how this works.
Good luck with the add on whatever you decide.

 

[Judique]

snip......
Say you have booked 4 nights using the 150 account and you have 6 points left over there. Your 5th night requires 12 points. If they are not the same resort/same UY you can't use 6 from the 150 account and add 6 from the 50 account, you'll need to use 12 from the 50 account and either bank those remaining 6 or transfer them to the 50 account and so on.
I hope this is understandable, sorry for the rambling. I can speak from experience of 2 contracts, same resort, different UYs. I will be interested to see if others have a different view of how this works.
Good luck with the add on whatever you decide.

This is only true at the 11 month window. After you reach your 7 month window, you CAN combine the points from different resorts for extra nights. (In the case of same resort/ different use year, you should be able to borrow to combine.) For instance, I have 4 contracts at 4 different resorts with 2 points in each. I could combine them and stay in an okw studio in Jan for 8 points for one night. I do this all the time....book most of my trip at the 11 month window and add extra days if I have extra points at the 7 month window (with leftover points) if rooms are available...if not,I waitlist and usually get what I need.

 

[keys2kingdom]

DVC direct will not let you add-on points with a different use year. Regardless of resort they must be the same use year unless you plan to purchase a whole new contract with a 150 point minimum. If you add-on less than 150 at any resort it will be in the same use year that you currently own.

 

[LisaS]

1. When you add-on do you get points to your home resort or can you get say 50 points at another resort. Is there any advantage to having two home resorts, especially if one is a small number of points?

You can add on points at any DVC resort provided they have the points available. If you add on 50 points at another resort, you will have two home resorts. Those 50 points can be used at 11 months out to book at your second home resort. With banking and borrowing you would have up to 150 points to work with at the 11 month window at your second home resort. At 7 months out, you can combine the points from both resorts and use them anywhere.

2. Why is use year so important? Should I shoot for a UY that starts in the month we normally go to Disney? I'm not getting the importance of the UY.

If purchasing fewer than 150 points, Disney will only sell you points in the same Use Year you already own.

Why is Use Year important? It can be important if you ever have to cancel a trip on short notice that was booked for dates towards the end of your Use Year. Let's say you have a vacation booked for late July. You have to cancel the trip in late June, at least 31 days ahead of your check in date so the points go back into your account. If you have a June UY, no problem! Those points will not expire until May 31st of the following year so you will plenty of time to use them for another trip. If you have an August UY, those points will expire in just over 1 month (on Jul 31st). It's too late to bank any of those points and you probably won't have time to use them before they expire. About the only thing you could do with them at that point is rent them at distressed prices.

So if you expect to have regular vacation dates, pick a Use Year that begins just before your usual travel dates. That will give you plenty of time to bank or reschedule in the event you have to cancel on short notice.