Are Two Use Years a Big Deal With Split Stays

[KimMcGowan]

I know, I know, I have asked all variations of this question- but I am just trying to work through all of the implications. Plus, I know how to make my current UY work for us and I guess I am just a little nervous since others have said two UY’s are so complicated. So, i feel bad asking but I apologize for asking a variation of this yet again.
If I always plan to have a split stay using both of my home resorts, is having two UY’s that big of a deal? Is there some challenge I am overlooking?
I promise, I won’t ask again.

 

[CarolMN]

If I always plan to have a split stay using both of my home resorts, is having two UY’s that big of a deal? Is there some challenge I am overlooking?

No, not IMO. You just have to manage two banking deadlines.

Complications set in when you want/need to combine points from both use years for the same reservation.

 

[Jlo85]

For me, I’d consider my best use year long-term. It would generally have 1) a banking deadline after when I traditionally travel and 2) be a UY month where I don’t plan to travel month-into-month (e.g. if I may travel Labor Day weekend, Sept probably isn’t a good use year).

Then, I’d be ok with different use years but only temporarily. Eventually, I’d want my long-term use year going forward. Because you’re going to want to add-on, and then you’re going to have to choose between multiple use years. And if you bought direct you definitely want the same use year for future resorts. And you’d only do separate use years temporarily if it’s really a good deal (i.e. you can probably sell without a loss) or nothings currently on the market that fits your needs and UY.

 

[RoseGold]

The problem is you can orphan points. And if you book at the end of the UY, you create risk for yourself. If you're going multiple times a year and like split stays, this isn't really a problem. I have split stay multiple times with two UYs.

 

[Sandisw]

I have several and having multiple UYS allows me to ensure all my visits during the banking window.

We do split stays a lot and we don’t mind borrowing on one membership even though we might have some on the other. It just makes it easier than transferring for us.

As long as the membership are large enough to do what you want, it can work!

 

[Sunnyore]

If your goal is in fact split stays with 2 different home resorts, then different uy isn’t a big deal at all. You would be making these reservations independent of each other anyway so your main complication is just keeping track of your banking windows for 2 different membership accounts.

For me, I was considering a different uy for a resort I knew I would use those points solely for 11 month booking advantage but I just couldn’t make the jump since I was buying small contracts. In best case scenario I know I could bank and borrow within each contract to make sure I used all my points, but I decided for pay a bit more to keep my account simple. I think if I was buying over 100 point contracts then I wouldn’t care as much. Right now the only resort that I am looking at any uy is VGC because I know I would never want to use those pricey points anywhere else.

 

[Flynn's Gal]

Two UY hasn't been a problem for me. I put an alert in my phone to go off indefinitely a few days ahead of the banking deadlines in case I ever forget which I haven't yet. I used both contracts for split stays and I've used them for separate reservations at different times of the year.

 

[kboo]

We chose to have 2 UY - they are 6 mo apart so we use the buckets differently, and often for split stays - our Feb UY is usually used between Feb and October, and Aug UY is used Aug Feb. This gives us our biggest "pool" for a split stay trip over February break or in August (family + birthdays trip) and then we know well before our banking deadline if we are going to bank or not.

(We have also managed wait lists this way)