Buying 2nd home resort- Use Year Strategy

[CheapMom]

I know normally when it is time for that 1st add-on- you would get the same Use Year and add-on would be a sub-contract.

I am thinking of buying a chunk of points at a different resort than my home. I am thinking that instead of going the conventional route, I may buy a different UY, thus having 2 master contracts. My first resort is used mostly in the fall and winter and I have AUG, my second resort would be used mostly in the winter spring and am considering DEC

If I do need to combine points for a reservation, why not just do a point transfer before the 7 month mark. I wouldn't need to do that more than 1x per year. If I was planning on staying somewhere besides one of my home's I could go any month of the year and not worry about having to cancel before my banking deadline, I would plan to use the points with the UY that works with the trip's dates.

Is there a drawback I am missing.
Does this make sense?

 

[luvindisneyworld]

You can have a diffrent use year but you have to do 160 points and you will have to have a new master contract. We just did this last month and got a Dec use year our other use year is April and we had to do the 160.
Now if you want to do smaller then you would have to go the resale route.

 

[CheapMom]

I am looking at resales. Mainly wondering if I will be disadvantaging myself in some way that I am not seeing.

 

[disneynutz]

I know normally when it is time for that 1st add-on- you would get the same Use Year and add-on would be a sub-contract.

I am thinking of buying a chunk of points at a different resort than my home. I am thinking that instead of going the conventional route, I may buy a different UY, thus having 2 master contracts. My first resort is used mostly in the fall and winter and I have AUG, my second resort would be used mostly in the winter spring and am considering DEC

If I do need to combine points for a reservation, why not just do a point transfer before the 7 month mark. I wouldn't need to do that more than 1x per year. If I was planning on staying somewhere besides one of my home's I could go any month of the year and not worry about having to cancel before my banking deadline, I would plan to use the points with the UY that works with the trip's dates.

Is there a drawback I am missing.
Does this make sense?

Transfers retain their home resort and UY. You are also limited to one transfer per Member or Membership per UY. I would think that this would be a drawback.

 

[Deb & Bill]

At one time we had five contracts, four with one UY, the fifth with a different UY. It made it difficult to remember banking rules. Plus, if you have a new master contract (which it will be with a different UY), you have to use your once a year transfer to transfer from one contract to another. In case you don't have enough points to make a complete night in the one contract or other.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I am thinking of buying a chunk of points at a different resort than my home. I am thinking that instead of going the conventional route, I may buy a different UY, thus having 2 master contracts. My first resort is used mostly in the fall and winter and I have AUG, my second resort would be used mostly in the winter spring and am considering DEC

If I do need to combine points for a reservation, why not just do a point transfer before the 7 month mark. I wouldn't need to do that more than 1x per year. If I was planning on staying somewhere besides one of my home's I could go any month of the year and not worry about having to cancel before my banking deadline, I would plan to use the points with the UY that works with the trip's dates.

Is there a drawback I am missing.
Does this make sense?

There are some drawbacks, but this is EXACTLY what we just did. We have points at SSR with an Aug UY and are about to close on a VB contract with a Dec UY. Our major considerations:
* Points cannot be pooled/combined without transferring, but they can be linked. So, if I wanted to book 5 nights at BWV, I could reserve 3 nights with my SSR points and the other 2 nights with my VB points and have the ressie linked. This would eliminate the need to transfer. However, if I was short by 10 points for any given night, I would have to do a transfer to complete the reservation.
* Though you have to keep track of two different banking deadlines (for us it will be March and July), it does provide flexibility if your trips are scheduled throughout the year.

Not sure about the following....
Can transferred points be combined for a non-DVC vacation (e.g., II, cruise lines, etc.)? So, for example, if I need 270 points for an II deposit, and I have 200 available with my SSR contract and 70 points available on my VB, can I transfer and deposit all 270 into II for a 2-BR exchange?

I'm sure there are other pros/cons, but those seemed to be the big hitters based on my research here. I think the majority of people buy the same UY to make banking easy and because they don't want to fool with transferring. Good luck on your decision to purchase!

 

[Dean]

I've had as many as 3 UY and 3 home resorts at one time. If you can balance a checkbook, you can keep track of it but it does require a little more attention. In the past the big advantage was the combined banking percentage but the recent change in banking rules has taken that away. The advantage is you can chose the best contract for a given trip thus giving you more flexibility if you have to change or cancel. The best approach to using both contracts for a single trip is to reserve with each and link the reservations rather than transferring. The only way a transfer helps you is if you have those last few points you need to use up and didn't have enough for a single night even with banking/borrowing.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I must be dense, because I just don't see the advantage to this idea. I could maybe see it before the rules changed, but I would think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages anymore.

 

[CheapMom]

I must be dense, because I just don't see the advantage to this idea. I could maybe see it before the rules changed, but I would think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages anymore.

Diane- let's put it this way. Now I have AUG, my new contract would be DEC. Let's say I want to plan a trip for JULY. 4th week. I would use the points from my DEC contract for that trip, that way if I had to cancel- I would still be able to bank the points. If I had used my AUG points- I would be stuck, with only 3 weeks to eiter use or rent the points, I would be unlikely to even get a reservation.

Now let's say I want to do a Thanksgiving family gathering (famous for last minute cancellations, no?) I would use my points from my AUG contract. I do not want to use my DEC use year points for a family gathering the 3rd week of NOV.

Of course this all assumes points are either being used at the home resort, or reservations are being booked at or after the 7 month mark. I get the rules regarding all of that, including tranfers retaining their home resort..., I probably would not need to do many transfers, except on the occasion when I need a few points for a single night.

Buckeyefan- Thanks- our situations are very similar. I am not worried about DCL or II trades. I don't plan on using my poins for those very often if ever. Also, I would not go further than having 2 contracts, any further add-ons would definately have either AUG or DEC and be subbed under one of my 2 master contracts.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Diane- let's put it this way. Now I have AUG, my new contract would be DEC. Let's say I want to plan a trip for JULY. 4th week. I would use the points from my DEC contract for that trip, that way if I had to cancel- I would still be able to bank the points. If I had used my AUG points- I would be stuck, with only 3 weeks to eiter use or rent the points, I would be unlikely to even get a reservation.

Now let's say I want to do a Thanksgiving family gathering (famous for last minute cancellations, no?) I would use my points from my AUG contract. I do not want to use my DEC use year points for a family gathering the 3rd week of NOV.

Of course this all assumes points are either being used at the home resort, or reservations are being booked at or after the 7 month mark. I get the rules regarding all of that, including tranfers retaining their home resort..., I probably would not need to do many transfers, except on the occasion when I need a few points for a single night.

Buckeyefan- Thanks- our situations are very similar. I am not worried about DCL or II trades. I don't plan on using my poins for those very often if ever. Also, I would not go further than having 2 contracts, any further add-ons would definately have either AUG or DEC and be subbed under one of my 2 master contracts.

Okay, I see what you are getting at now. I don't usually worry much about use year, since in 11 years, we have never had an issue with it, and I'm not one to cancel much. I'm sure it will happen in the future, but it's just the breaks I guess.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Not sure about the following....
Can transferred points be combined for a non-DVC vacation (e.g., II, cruise lines, etc.)? So, for example, if I need 270 points for an II deposit, and I have 200 available with my SSR contract and 70 points available on my VB, can I transfer and deposit all 270 into II for a 2-BR exchange?

Does anyone know if this can be done? Thanks!!!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Does anyone know if this can be done? Thanks!!!

Yes, you can do this. I just transferred BWV points into my VB contract to book a 2009 cruise. Pts. are not subject to the 11 mos booking condition. You just have to have all the points in one contract before you can make the ressie. MS did this for me with no problem.

 

[Dean]

Yes, you can do this. I just transferred BWV points into my VB contract to book a 2009 cruise. Pts. are not subject to the 11 mos booking condition. You just have to have all the points in one contract before you can make the ressie. MS did this for me with no problem.

In the past they've done so regardless of banked, borrowed status or previous transfers for the given contract. The reason being it's an artificial rule to have to have all the points in one contract for this purpose.