Buying more points - how do you combine for a booking?

[LK81]

Hi,

We bought a 100 point contract at BLT with a March UY to test the water and we now have addonitus! We are looking at buying an extra contract hopefully around 200 points. Before we end up making an expensive mistake I just wanted to clarify how it works when combining the points to make a booking. We are looking at either BLT or SSR, would want to stick to the same UY as my understanding is that makes it easier. In 2024 we want to go to Aulani. On our BLT contract we have 50 points banked from 2023 into 2024 and then intend to borrow all of 2025 points giving us 250 points. If we bought a 200 point contract, can we then bank and borrow on the new contract and combine with the original BLT contract to give us 850 points in total? Do you need to transfer between them or do they just exist in the same pot if they are the same use year? Does it make it more difficult if buying SSR instead of BLT? We are coming from the UK, and are planning on visits every 2-3 years which is why the question around banking and borrowing / pooling points is important to us.

 

[Best Aunt]

I'll give you my experience:

I have 4 contracts. Three are at resort XXX and one is at resort NNN. They all have the same Use Year.

When I bought each new contract through the resale market, I made sure to tell the agency to tell DVC that I wanted the new contract under the same member number as the old contract. I vaguely recall that the initial paperwork from the agency didn't ask this. Note that the contracts have to be titled exactly the same way in order to have them under the same member number.

I recently made a reservation for a stay which was more than 7 months away from the date on which I made the reservation. The stay would be at resort XXX. I could not use my points from resort NNN to make the reservation because at more than 7 months out, you can only use points from contracts for which the home resort is the same as the resort you will be staying at.

When I made the reservation online, one of the windows listed my contracts, and had me click on them in the order in which I wanted points used for the reservation. The stay would be at resort XXX so it only listed my contracts for which XXX is the home resort. It did not list the contract for which NNN is the home resort.

Later in the reservation process, there was a window which said this:
Selected Contracts
The Vacation Points shown below may not reflect the way the Points will be pulled from your contracts. For example, if you have banked Points, those Points will be applied before any Points from your current Use Year. Points usage by contract will be confirmed once you complete the booking.
It then listed each of my contracts for resort XXX and a number of points for each, so that the total added up to what would be needed to make the resie.

But after you get to the window which says Congratulations! Your Vacation is Confirmed!
You can click on POINT SUMMARY, and it will show you exactly which points were taken from which of your contracts.

If, on the other hand, I had been making a reservation for a stay which was less than 7 months away from the date on which I made the reservation: when I got to the window which listed my contracts, and had me click on them in the order in which I wanted points used for the reservation, I would have seen all of my contracts for that member number listed, no matter which home resort they had.

I will leave it up to someone else to explain how it works if your contracts are not all under the same Member ID.

 

[ehh]

On our BLT contract we have 50 points banked from 2023 into 2024 and then intend to borrow all of 2025 points giving us 250 points. If we bought a 200 point contract, can we then bank and borrow on the new contract and combine with the original BLT contract to give us 850 points in total?

Yes, you will have access to all 850 points in total. Though when they can be used together will depend on if they're at the same Home Resort.

Though draining your contracts through 2025 might lead to more add-onitis!

Do you need to transfer between them or do they just exist in the same pot if they are the same use year?

No need to transfer. As long as it's the same UY and membership (make sure it's clear you want this and to submit the names right!) it will all be available to use at once during booking.

You'll have the ability to choose which contract to take points from first and the booking tool will automatically prioritize your least flexible points, such as banked and already-borrowed points.

This might come up in the event you need to shorten by one night and end up using fewer points than your existing booking, your freed points will be the most flexible of those used.

Does it make it more difficult if buying SSR instead of BLT?

If you buy at SSR, only your BLT points will have Home Resort booking window at BLT. So if you wanted to book a single room for your entire stay you'd need to book something at 7 months to use all of your points.

 

[LK81]

I recently made a reservation for a stay which was more than 7 months away from the date on which I made the reservation. The stay would be at resort XXX. I could not use my points from resort NNN to make the reservation because at more than 7 months out, you can only use points from contracts for which the home resort is the same as the resort you will be staying at.

When I made the reservation online, one of the windows listed my contracts, and had me click on them in the order in which I wanted points used for the reservation. The stay would be at resort XXX so it only listed my contracts for which XXX is the home resort. It did not list the contract for which NNN is the home resort.

Thanks, in our scenario we would have contracts at XXX and NNN but making a reservations at ZZZ so would be at the 7 month window when we make our booking regardless. I think I'm a little bit more worried about it as the first time we'd need to combine them would be for an Aulani booking. At WDW it would concern me less if they couldn't be combined and had seperate reservations as we'd just do a split stay.

 

[LK81]

Though draining your contracts through 2025 might lead to more add-onitis!

Indeed! Although for the forseeable future a 14 night trip every 2-3 years is probably what we will do. Banking / borrowing would give 600-900 points based on that.

No need to transfer. As long as it's the same UY and membership (make sure it's clear you want this and to submit the names right!) it will all be available to use at once during booking.

Will make sure that we get this correct!

 

[LK81]

Note that the contracts have to be titled exactly the same way in order to have them under the same member number.

Will make sure to do this.

 

[Sandisw]

Same UY and same owners keep everything in the same membership. That makes combining easy for a single trip.

Same resort and you just make sure to check off both contracts when booking and they will function like they are one big one for booking the home resort.

If are different resorts, then you can use each one on its own during home resort booking, but at 7 months, you can use both to book either home resort or any other DVC, by just checking both contracts.

This is why same UY is important when you want to book as one reservation…if you do something different, then they can not be combined like this without a transfer…and transferred points don’t show easily online as they are held in a temporary contract.

Or, you book some nights on one and some on the other.