buying another resale contact in a different UY month and how points can be used

[dcibrando]

I have 150pts at SSR with a February UY and am considering buying another small contact. I would prefer in Feb UY month as well but I know that's harder to find so my question is say I buy a 75pt contact at SSR with an August UY

- does this mean at 11 months out from the Feb. contract I can also pull in points from the Aug. contract to use or can I only use 150 at 11 months for the Feb contract and have to always wait on the other 75 for the August one?

Does that make sense? Just wondering what flexibility advantage/disadvantage I would have having 2 contracts with months away from each other


thanks for your help!

 

[bellapecas]

The UY doesn't come into play during your 11 month booking window, except when there aren't any points available in the UY you're pulling from. As long as you have points available, you can pull from either or both contracts at your 11 month booking window.

The UY matters for banking purposes. For example, if you have a June booking using points from both February & August and you need to cancel in May, both sets of points go back into their relative UY pool, however the August points can no longer be banked.

 

[dcibrando]

The UY doesn't come into play during your 11 month booking window, except when there aren't any points available in the UY you're pulling from. As long as you have points available, you can pull from either or both contracts at your 11 month booking window.

The UY matters for banking purposes. For example, if you have a June booking using points from both February & August and you need to cancel in May, both sets of points go back into their relative UY pool, however the August points can no longer be banked.

thanks!

so let's say in July 2015 I want to book a trip in June 2016 at SSR that is 200pts

150 comes in Feb. from contract 1 but I need I need 50 from August contract. Can I transfer/pull those in? ...and would that be considered a transfer in 2015 or 2016?

 

[supersnoop]

thanks!

so let's say in July 2015 I want to book a trip in June 2016 at SSR that is 200pts

150 comes in Feb. from contract 1 but I need I need 50 from August contract. Can I transfer/pull those in? ...and would that be considered a transfer in 2015 or 2016?

Yes, you would have to transfer between accounts to book that as a single reservation, and you'd have to call and make the reservation over the phone.

The transfer would count for the use year of the account. You're only allowed one transfer per use year, either in or out. So, that would be the 2015 use year into the February account, and the 2014 use year out of the August contract. Note that Member Services has made exceptions to the one-transfer rule in this situation; when the same member owns contracts with multiple use years, but that policy could change at any time.

If you purchased another contract with the same use year, you could book online and combine points from both contracts, banking or borrowing as necessary.

 

[chalee94]

thanks!

so let's say in July 2015 I want to book a trip in June 2016 at SSR that is 200pts

150 comes in Feb. from contract 1 but I need I need 50 from August contract. Can I transfer/pull those in? ...and would that be considered a transfer in 2015 or 2016?

for a feb UY, that june 2016 trip is in your 2016 UY, so you call in july 2015 and book however many nights you can from you feb contract (with banked 2015 UY pts + current 2016 UY pts + borrowed 2017 UY pts if you want).

for an aug UY, that june 2016 trip is late in your 2015 UY, so ideally, i would use that contract for a different trip if possible. travelling late in your UY can by risky if you need to cancel.

but if you wanna use the aug contract:

option 1) you call in july 2015 (a few days later when your booking window opens for those last few nights) and book the rest of the nights (with banked 2014 UY pts + current 2015 UY pts + borrowed 2016 UY pts if you want). then you give MS both reservation numbers and ask them to link the reservations so you don't have to change rooms (i think you still have to check out and back in). it's like 2 separate reservations made by 2 separate owners.

option 2) you can transfer pts from one contract to another. you can transfer 2014 UY pts if you have them and bank them for use in that reservation or transfer 2015 UY pts. on the bright side, it becomes one seamless reservation. on the down side, you cannot borrow transferred pts so that can limit you a little.

your transferred pts retain their different UY (and home resort if they are different) if you cancel the reservation.

transfers are also limited to one transfer per year, either in or out but not both.

 

[dcibrando]

Yes, you would have to transfer between accounts to book that as a single reservation, and you'd have to call and make the reservation over the phone.

The transfer would count for the use year of the account. You're only allowed one transfer per use year, either in or out. So, that would be the 2015 use year into the February account, and the 2014 use year out of the August contract. Note that Member Services has made exceptions to the one-transfer rule in this situation; when the same member owns contracts with multiple use years, but that policy could change at any time.

If you purchased another contract with the same use year, you could book online and combine points from both contracts, banking or borrowing as necessary.

thank you for all your help

so this is something that has to be done over the phone rather than being able to be done online? What makes that (2 contacts with 2 different UY months) different than have 2 separate contacts with the same UY month?

 

[Msmithmd]

thank you for all your help so this is something that has to be done over the phone rather than being able to be done online? What makes that (2 contacts with 2 different UY months) different than have 2 separate contacts with the same UY month?

Transfers are by phone only.

If your contracts are the same UY month and same name, they will show up under one membership and you can combine points during online booking yourself. Sometimes, that one hour advantage to online booking means getting a high-demand room option versus missing out.

Having different UY means you have more than one membership- it's almost as if DVC sees you as two separate people. Same UY is just easier. I would always have the same UY for all contracts unless there is a specific circumstance that is compelling for me to intentionally do two different UY (for example, always traveling twice a year, six months apart, and having two contracts that function independently to book those respective stays.)

 

[dcibrando]

Transfers are by phone only.

If your contracts are the same UY month and same name, they will show up under one membership and you can combine points during online booking yourself. Sometimes, that one hour advantage to online booking means getting a high-demand room option versus missing out.

Having different UY means you have more than one membership- it's almost as if DVC sees you as two separate people. Same UY is just easier. I would always have the same UY for all contracts unless there is a specific circumstance that is compelling for me to intentionally do two different UY (for example, always traveling twice a year, six months apart, and having two contracts that function independently to book those respective stays.)

Wow that is good to know

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I'll hold off for a Feb use year

 

[LisaS]

so this is something that has to be done over the phone rather than being able to be done online? What makes that (2 contacts with 2 different UY months) different than have 2 separate contacts with the same UY month?

When you purchase a contract with a different UY, MS has to set up a separate membership for that new contract. You cannot "add on" a contract with a different UY to your existing membership.

If the new contract is titled the same you will be able to access it under one login but you cannot combine points from contracts under different memberships to make a reservation.

You can transfer points from one contract to the other so that all points can be used for one reservation but you will not be able to see the transferred points online and will have to call MS to make a reservation for you. That can be a problem if you are booking a hard to get reservation because online booking opens at 8am, MS opens at 9am. Sometimes that hour can be critical.

Your other option with separate memberships is to book some of your nights as reservation #1 under membership #1 and then book the rest of your nights as reservation #2 using membership #2. Then you must call MS (or send them an email) to request that they "link" the two reservations so that you won't have to change rooms part way through your stay.

 

[RobDoc]

While not in print that I am aware of, MS has been allowing Members to transfer points between memberships without losing the ability to still transfer to others (before or after).

This may be dependent on the MS rep you speak to, but it has been allowed for years in the past. As noted, transfers must be done over the phone with MS.

We have 3 different memberships with points in those memberships from two different Resorts and have been able to transfer points between those memberships even after transferring points to another member during the same Use Year.

Another good suggestion above to just reserve as many nights as possible from one account and the remainder from your other membership to complete your stay. You can then call (or email) MS to have the reservations linked together so you would not need to move during the stay.

MS is usually happy to try to allow members to get the most out of their membership with things like this. If you should get a rep unwilling to help, call back and talk to another.

Good luck!

 

[dcibrando]

Transfers are by phone only.

If your contracts are the same UY month and same name, they will show up under one membership and you can combine points during online booking yourself. Sometimes, that one hour advantage to online booking means getting a high-demand room option versus missing out.

Having different UY means you have more than one membership- it's almost as if DVC sees you as two separate people. Same UY is just easier. I would always have the same UY for all contracts unless there is a specific circumstance that is compelling for me to intentionally do two different UY (for example, always traveling twice a year, six months apart, and having two contracts that function independently to book those respective stays.)

This may be a crazy question.... but what if you have 2 contracts with the same UY but at different resorts (say SSR and OKW) - could you then use SSR points AND transfer over OKW points from the other contract to use at 11 months at SSR? (or because it's from OKW you would have to wait until 7 months to use those?)

I guess the main question I'm asking is if you transfer points does it then fall completely under the contract/resort it's then transferred to as for when you can use them and where or does it stay tied to the original resort and UY it came from?

 

[Sur]

Transferred points keep their home resort priorities and UYs, cannot be used at 11 month booking window at another resort.

 

[CarolMN]

....(snip).......Another good suggestion above to just reserve as many nights as possible from one account and the remainder from your other membership to complete your stay. You can then call (or email) MS to have the reservations linked together so you would not need to move during the stay...........

But you cannot reserve the second set of nights until the window opens for the first night of the second set. If you are trying to book something popular in a high demand time, that can be a disadvantage.

Just something for the OP to know before she/he makes the decision to buy a different use year.

 

[chalee94]

I guess the main question I'm asking is if you transfer points does it then fall completely under the contract/resort it's then transferred to as for when you can use them and where or does it stay tied to the original resort and UY it came from?

as i said above, transferred pts retain their home resort and UY month.

you can never use pts from one resort at a different resort at the 11 month window. the home resort priority window is based on what contract the pts come from, not what you own in general.

 

[dcibrando]

sounds like it would be best to wait on another Feb. use year to be for resale

too much hassle lol

 

[LSchrow]

question:
We enjoy the DDP for just a night or 2 of our 11-14 night stays at WDW (TIW isn't worth it for us).
our hope is to book a night or 2 with DDP under one membership, and the balance of our nights without DDP, using our other membership (identical resort/villa type of course ).

does anyone know if a request to link the reservations will trigger the LOS requirement for DDP, forcing an "all or nothing" for our entire 11-14 night stay?
TIA

 

[supersnoop]

Even if you don't link the reservations, Member Services will combine them for you and cancel the dining plan. They probably won't bother to let you know. If you want to split in order to have the dining plan on only part of your stay, there must be an actual, substantial difference in your reservation.

 

[LisaS]

I guess the main question I'm asking is if you transfer points does it then fall completely under the contract/resort it's then transferred to as for when you can use them and where or does it stay tied to the original resort and UY it came from?

As others have said, if you transfer points from one membership to another they retain their home resort and UY. This can be useful if you want to book a high-demand option at a resort you do not own. Let's say you wanted to book a VGF studio and didn't own there. If you could arrange to have points transferred into your account from a VGF member's account, you could then use those VGF points at the 11-month window to try to book a VGF studio. At 11 months out what matters is that you have the required points in your account for the resort you want to book, even if they are transferred points.

Also, with one exception, points are not transferred into one of your contracts, they are transferred into your membership. A contract is tied to a particular resort and UY. MS cannot put VGF points into a BWV contract, nor can they put Oct UY points into a Apr UY contract. I don't know how MS tracks transferred points, possibly via notes typed into a "comment" field in your account, but the end result is that the online booking system cannot see them or use them directly. That's why you have to call MS to use transferred points.

The one exception is if you are lucky enough to find points that exactly match the resort and UY of one of your own contracts. In that case the transferred points will be deposited into that contract because they are an exact match and no different from your own points. The points will be available to you online and can be used to book online.

 

[LSchrow]

Even if you don't link the reservations, Member Services will combine them for you and cancel the dining plan. They probably won't bother to let you know. If you want to split in order to have the dining plan on only part of your stay, there must be an actual, substantial difference in your reservation.

yes, MS usually auto-combines when same room, same membership, but since these are 2 different memberships (UYs), i thought that would be as if 2 totally different parties.....else wouldn't there be the possibility of having one's reservations linked with strangers' that have the same last name (not that farfetched with the amount of WDW visitors) and, we wouldn't be able to see our entire reservation as one when booked under different memberships
we could put different leads on each booking, but the reservations would just have different first names: last name & addy would be the same.
i wonder.........

 

[Dean]

yes, MS usually auto-combines when same room, same membership, but since these are 2 different memberships (UYs), i thought that would be as if 2 totally different parties.....else wouldn't there be the possibility of having one's reservations linked with strangers' that have the same last name (not that farfetched with the amount of WDW visitors) and, we wouldn't be able to see our entire reservation as one when booked under different memberships we could put different leads on each booking, but the reservations would just have different first names: last name & addy would be the same. i wonder.........

My understanding is they can no longer combine from separate memberships even if the same member unless one transfers points. That means checking in again on the change day but not having to move if they're linked. My understanding is that in this situation one can get the DP for any portion even if linked now.