Booking With 2 Contracts

[GranJan]

We added points with a different use year against the advice given here. Since we usually book at 7 mo, I didn't think it would be a problem to transfer points if needed. BUT...we seem to be in a state of constant borrowing...maybe we need to add on again...& I now realize you can't transfer borrowed points or borrow transferred points. So we'll have to book some nights with each contract. I'm going to try to book tomorrow & want to make sure I'm not going to have any problems. My question is: if we book the 1st 2 days with points from 1 contract & the rest of the week with points from another contract, will I have to wait 2 days for the 7 mo window to open or will it be considered 1 reservation that can be booked all at once. The full week will be at the same resort. I hope I've made my question clear, I confuse myself sometimes. I could call member services & ask but I trust the experts here. Thanks for any help.

 

[chalee94]

My question is: if we book the 1st 2 days with points from 1 contract & the rest of the week with points from another contract, will I have to wait 2 days for the 7 mo window to open or will it be considered 1 reservation that can be booked all at once.

you have 2 different contracts with 2 different UYs. it's like you are 2 different owners.

so you'd have to wait 2 days for the window to open. it will be 2 reservations that MS will request be linked together.

 

[GranJan]

Thanks for the answer, even though it's not what I wanted to hear. That's exactly what I was afraid of. So I'll have to book part of the week without knowing if the rest of the week will be available in 2 days. Proof that everyone's advice to have the same use year & buy where you want to stay is good advice.

 

[com_op_2000]

it will be 2 reservations that MS will request be linked together.

IMHO, You OP will have to request through MS that the reservations have a "Travel with" notice placed on them. MS will not do it automatically.
Either call or e-mail MS to have a "Travel with" notice placed on both reservations of the other reservation #. That way the assignment CMs will know the two reseravation are wanting to be considered as one.

 

[chalee94]

IMHO, You OP will have to request through MS that the reservations have a "Travel with" notice placed on them. MS will not do it automatically.
Either call or e-mail MS to have a "Travel with" notice placed on both reservations of the other reservation #. That way the assignment CMs will know the two reseravation are wanting to be considered as one.

agree - i should have been more clear.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

IMHO, You OP will have to request through MS that the reservations have a "Travel with" notice placed on them. MS will not do it automatically.
Either call or e-mail MS to have a "Travel with" notice placed on both reservations of the other reservation #. That way the assignment CMs will know the two reseravation are wanting to be considered as one.

"Travel with" is the designation when you have 2 rooms that you wish to have close together.

If you are making reservations with 2 UY's and wish to stay in the same room then you need to have the reservations linked. Actually I was told it's another term these days but haven't remembered since I was told what that MS person wanted it called now so I continue to tell them I wish to link and they understand.

OP - we've done these several times with minimal issues. It used to be seamless but the new system complicated it a bit and you often need to check out and check right back in.

 

[GranJan]

We dealt with a linked reservation on our last trip because we added an extra day after we bought the extra points. The only problem it caused was with online check in. We couldn't get it done & after spending hours on the phone with no success, finally they tried un-linking to do the online check-in, then linking them again. That worked but I couldn't believe no one thought of that sooner & I really don't think online check-in was worth the trouble we went through. Anyway, I'm not really worried about having a linked reservation...it's having to wait 2 days before I can book the rest of the week & it possibly not being available anymore.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the answer, even though it's not what I wanted to hear. That's exactly what I was afraid of. So I'll have to book part of the week without knowing if the rest of the week will be available in 2 days. Proof that everyone's advice to have the same use year & buy where you want to stay is good advice.

For some reason reading peoples advice isn't the same as experiencing it first hand.

We have all been there, for us transferring is a pain so we bit the bullet, decided to be broke, and bought more contracts with the same UY.

Bill

 

[GranJan]

For some reason reading peoples advice isn't the same as experiencing it first hand.

We have all been there, for us transferring is a pain so we bit the bullet, decided to be broke, and bought more contracts with the same UY.

Bill

One of the reasons we decided it would be alright to have different use years is we wanted a small add-on, which you don't see lots of. We also added our daughter to the deed so it would've been a different contract anyway. If we ever get to the point we're not borrowing, we can transfer points to combine the 2 contracts but I don't know if that will happen. Actually I read a lot about the pros & cons of 2 use years before we bought the extra points but somehow missed the part about transferring borrowed points...or I just didn't realize the complications it would create.

 

[Dean]

We added points with a different use year against the advice given here. Since we usually book at 7 mo, I didn't think it would be a problem to transfer points if needed. BUT...we seem to be in a state of constant borrowing...maybe we need to add on again...& I now realize you can't transfer borrowed points or borrow transferred points. So we'll have to book some nights with each contract. I'm going to try to book tomorrow & want to make sure I'm not going to have any problems. My question is: if we book the 1st 2 days with points from 1 contract & the rest of the week with points from another contract, will I have to wait 2 days for the 7 mo window to open or will it be considered 1 reservation that can be booked all at once. The full week will be at the same resort. I hope I've made my question clear, I confuse myself sometimes. I could call member services & ask but I trust the experts here. Thanks for any help.

You can bank and borrow and alternate the contract to use. DVC will often allow one to transfer banked/borrowed points in this situation, esp to complete a single night.

 

[GranJan]

You can bank and borrow and alternate the contract to use. DVC will often allow one to transfer banked/borrowed points in this situation, esp to complete a single night.

So, am I understanding you correctly? Are you saying they may let me transfer borrowed points from one contract to the other if needed to complete our reservation? I hope that's what your saying. We'll be borrowing all of the 2015 points from both our contracts if we're able to get this reservation at VGF...unless we can get standard view.

 

[Dean]

So, am I understanding you correctly? Are you saying they may let me transfer borrowed points from one contract to the other if needed to complete our reservation? I hope that's what your saying. We'll be borrowing all of the 2015 points from both our contracts if we're able to get this reservation at VGF...unless we can get standard view.

Historically they have done so with a single owner of multiple master contracts, on a case by case basis, but there are no guarantees.. Realistically you may only have that option to complete a single night's reservation or if you're doing an exchange where all the points need to be in one account. You can ask about transferring in this manner for the entire reservation under one account but I'm skeptical. Going forward, remember you can bank transferred points so you may want to consider a larger transfer at time with banking the transferred points.

 

[GranJan]

I just booked 6 days at VGF in a 2 bed for Oct 2015. I decided not to deal with the complications of combining contracts & had enough for 6 days since standard view was available. I was able to complete online booking at 7:00 AM for those of you wondering how early it can be done. I will call later to see if we can use our other contract to add a day. I may have to wait till the 7 mo window opens for that last day & risk it not being available but at least we have 6 days booked.

 

[Msmithmd]

I just booked 6 days at VGF in a 2 bed for Oct 2015. I decided not to deal with the complications of combining contracts & had enough for 6 days since standard view was available. I was able to complete online booking at 7:00 AM for those of you wondering how early it can be done. I will call later to see if we can use our other contract to add a day. I may have to wait till the 7 mo window opens for that last day & risk it not being available but at least we have 6 days booked.

That would be an impressive feat, since the eleven month window for October 2015 doesn't open up for another eight months. Perhaps you mean October 2014?

 

[GranJan]

Sorry, yes I do mean Oct 2014. Seems we're always planning trips so far in advance, I get confused what year it is. Good thing I went ahead & just booked the 6 days with 1 contract. I just checked & none of that week is available now except the last day. I called MS & I do have to wait for the 7 mo window on that last day to use the other contract, so I hope it's still available then. If not, I'm happy with 6 days I really wanted to use the small contract 1st since it had borrowed points that expire April 2015 but when I saw 6 days open up I decided to use the large contract. We'll just have to take a just the 2 of us trip to use those points if we can't use them to add a day to this trip. That's not so bad.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't forget that if you need 24 or fewer points, you can purchase one time use points directly from DVC for $15 a point. We did that to add just enough points for our stay since we didn't want to use next year's points and we had borrowed points to use.

 

[GranJan]

We needed more than 24 so that wouldn't help us. I've learned a lot about having 2 contracts from this experience. After we we treat the whole family to one trip to VGF we won't be needing to combine contracts again. The large contract is plenty for family trips anywhere but VGF. If we stay there again it'll be just the 2 of us. I'm so excited to get to stay there...now the waiting begins.