Disadvantages to having different use years?

[Crazy4Disney06]

I have been trying to find a small contract via resale with an April use year for months with no luck. What are the disadvantages of having different use years or having two home resorts with the same use year rather then two contracts with the same home and same use year?

 

[RobDoc]

I have been trying to find a small contract via resale with an April use year for months with no luck. What are the disadvantages of having different use years or having two home resorts with the same use year rather then two contracts with the same home and same use year?

Other than needing to using a little more care regarding banking windows, IMO, there is no disadvantage to having mutliple Use Years. I have had as many as four and still have 3 different Use Years for 2 different Home Resorts. DVC will allow members to make transfers between these different memberships without using the once-per-year limitation so it makes using multiple memberships even easier. We have two resorts under one Use Year and two other memberships/Use Years with one resort each. We've never lost a point and have never had a problem using points from multiple memberships for one reservation.

Enjoy!

 

[MickeyFan612]

If you really want to have the same use year maybe you should just hang in there and wait til Spring. There is sure to be more listings to choose from as more people start to list when maint. fees are due. April is the least common use year at SSR and I believe for many of the other resorts as well. Good luck finding one

 

[Kidanifan08]

We have two different UYs at AKV, with our main contract being a Dec UY and the other is a 50 point Aug UY. You will have two different member numbers. If you want to use the points together with your current contract you would either need to do two separate reservations and then have MS link them, or you would have to transfer points from one to the other. You only get one transfer in or out per year per contract. Since we generally only travel once yearly, I just transfer the smaller contract into the larger one and then I can use it all as one contract. Once those points are transferred, they cannot be put back and they retain their original UY. They can be banked after being transferred, if needed.

One thing I don't like is that I have to call MS to do the transfer and once the transfer has been done, those points do not show up on the DVC website, so I have to keep a mental note of where they are. I can look at the contract that I transferred points from and see that a transfer was performed to the other contract, but there is no place in the receiving contract that shows the transferred points are there.

I also don't see the transferred points when using the online booking, so I would need to call MS to make a reservation using those points.

Also, as mentioned, you will have two banking deadlines. That is less of a problem now that DVC sends out an e-mail banking reminder. It would be nice if they would develop a way to see and use those transferred points with the online booking system so we don't have to call MS to use the points once their transferred. So far, our current situation has not been a problem for us, since we only travel once a year.

 

[DougEMG]

One benefit of having two different memberships is that you can do two transfers with other members per year. You can do any number of transfers between your own memberships.

Conss are (1) you aren't going to be able to use the online system to make one reservation as it only allows you to book with the contracts under one membership, so you will have to call in to book if you want to do this (2) you'll have two seperate banking deadlines to worry about (3) it takes a little more work to figure out exactly how many points you have available at a specific date.

I've got 3 different memberships and do find it more work that having everything under one membership, but the savings on my purchases was worth it.

 

[gatorgirl02]

I have two different home resorts and UY's. While I'm sure it's nice to have both the same UY or resorts, I don't find it super difficult to manage the two contracts. When I need to make a big reservation and don't want to bother with transfering points, I can just make a reservation on each of my contracts and have member services link the two reservations. Also, I find one advantage is that I can have four waitlists going at one time, versus the two you are limited to with one contract.

 

[lions1995]

Also, I find one advantage is that I can have four waitlists going at one time, versus the two you are limited to with one contract.

Don't forget the additional Disney Files Magazine you would get as well.

 

[DougEMG]

I have two different home resorts and UY's. While I'm sure it's nice to have both the same UY or resorts, I don't find it super difficult to manage the two contracts. When I need to make a big reservation and don't want to bother with transfering points, I can just make a reservation on each of my contracts and have member services link the two reservations. Also, I find one advantage is that I can have four waitlists going at one time, versus the two you are limited to with one contract.

Duh, I forgot to mention the benefit of 2 waitlists per membership, bad on me since I've currently got 4 different waitlist active.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Thank you this helps a lot! We may be able to find a small contract via resale after all! I just could not bring myself to pay full price via direct purchase just so we could have the same use year! I'd rather use that money to have the extra points!

 

[DougEMG]

Thank you this helps a lot! We may be able to find a small contract via resale after all! I just could not bring myself to pay full price via direct purchase just so we could have the same use year! I'd rather use that money to have the extra points!

That's what I would do as well. Good luck with your hunt for a resale contract.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO more than one UY isn't worth the extra work. We just sold 4, 50 point contracts from our April UY to leave us with our October UY which is a better fit for our cooler months travel pattern.

Bill

 

[BrerNashville]

I have been trying to find a small contract via resale with an April use year for months with no luck. What are the disadvantages of having different use years or having two home resorts with the same use year rather then two contracts with the same home and same use year?

One thing I don't think was addressed is that if you have two home resorts, you can't combine the points during either of their 11 month booking priority -- you'd have to wait until seven months to use the combined points.

 

[fmer55]

IMO more than one UY isn't worth the extra work. We just sold 4, 50 point contracts from our April UY to leave us with our October UY which is a better fit for our cooler months travel pattern.

Bill

I actually love the add-on of my second UY, I have Feb and June. When looking at my spreadsheet of vacations I like the fact that even though I am nearly out of points in my feb UY due to a big Feb trip each year, I seem to immediately gain more points for the year with my June Uy contract.

Also, as long as your contracts are titled the same exact way they will both show up on the same log in screen. Can't be combined as others have said but they are both there under a drop down menu for your convenience

 

[Dean]

I have been trying to find a small contract via resale with an April use year for months with no luck. What are the disadvantages of having different use years or having two home resorts with the same use year rather then two contracts with the same home and same use year?

It's a hassle but not a big one. IMO, it depends on how you want to use it and how small as to whether it's worth it. If it's small (say 25-50 pts) retail may end up being the way to go. In general I'd rather have a different home resort and same UY than the same home resort and different UY, esp if I'd use the 2 together for reservations. Currently the banking window doesn't matter in this area but in the past, having them combined provided additional benefits. While not likely to revert to the old banking rules, it's possible it could happen.

 

[fmer55]

It's a hassle but not a big one. IMO, it depends on how you want to use it and how small as to whether it's worth it. If it's small (say 25-50 pts) retail may end up being the way to go. In general I'd rather have a different home resort and same UY than the same home resort and different UY, esp if I'd use the 2 together for reservations. Currently the banking window doesn't matter in this area but in the past, having them combined provided additional benefits. While not likely to revert to the old banking rules, it's possible it could happen.

Could you expound a bit on this? I was under the impression that even if they are the same UY you can only combine to make reservations at the 7-month mark, not the 11-month mark. Am I correct here?

 

[Dean]

Could you expound a bit on this? I was under the impression that even if they are the same UY you can only combine to make reservations at the 7-month mark, not the 11-month mark. Am I correct here?

Rather than guess at which component you are asking about and to be complete, I’ll try to address the entire issue as I see it.
*
First is the simple nuts and bolts of the system as a currently works.* That means that the same Use Year and home resort that are combined into one account, will function as one ownership.* The exceptions currently would be the qualified versus non-qualified contract issue.* As the rules read, different home resorts under 1 contract could only be combined in 7 months out.* You could however, make separate home resort reservations at 11 months out and then try to change over if available at 7 months.* This is true even if it contracts are totally separate and of different Use Years.* For separate use years with the same resort, you would either have to transfer points or make separate reservations and then possibly link them. *This would use the single transfer for each acount, maybe.
*
1 variable is that currently DVC will allow some additional flexibility for separate master contracts of a single owner.* There is no guarantee this is going to continue.* It's very possible that the recent push related to resolve contracts well at additional negatives and restrictions related to multiple contracts of a single owner.* Of course this could go either way.* Most of the point systems are more flexible than Disney in combining purchases of different use years. *I think many do however *charge a club fee plus maintenance fees.* This allows smaller points owners to pay a more fair share of management fees.* In the past Disney has had a graduated banking window that favored having multiple contracts under one roof.* It is possible they could go back to that system though I do think it's unlikely. *There is also no guarantee that Disney will allow one to combine accounts going forward especially if bought resale.

 

[fmer55]

Rather than guess at which component you are asking about and to be complete, I’ll try to address the entire issue as I see it.
*
First is the simple nuts and bolts of the system as a currently works.* That means that the same Use Year and home resort that are combined into one account, will function as one ownership.* The exceptions currently would be the qualified versus non-qualified contract issue.* As the rules read, different home resorts under 1 contract could only be combined in 7 months out.* You could however, make separate home resort reservations at 11 months out and then try to change over if available at 7 months.* This is true even if it contracts are totally separate and of different Use Years.* For separate use years with the same resort, you would either have to transfer points or make separate reservations and then possibly link them. *This would use the single transfer for each acount, mayb
1 variable is that currently DVC will allow some additional flexibility for separate master contracts of a single owner.* There is no guarantee this is going to continue.* It's very possible that the recent push related to resolve contracts well at additional negatives and restrictions related to multiple contracts of a single owner.* Of course this could go either way.* Most of the point systems are more flexible than Disney in combining purchases of different use years. *I think many do however *charge a club fee plus maintenance fees.* This allows smaller points owners to pay a more fair share of management fees.* In the past Disney has had a graduated banking window that favored having multiple contracts under one roof.* It is possible they could go back to that system though I do think it's unlikely. *There is also no guarantee that Disney will allow one to combine accounts going forward especially if bought resale.

Thank you

 

[joeyrose]

points retain their use year. one can use two different use years' points to book a reservation by transferring points from one membership number to the other, does not count as transfer. the points can then be used to book a reservation at the 11th month mark if both use years are at the same resort, at the 7th month mark if they are different resorts or at a non-home resort.

you lose nothing, nor gain anything transferring and booking like this.

 

[Sandisw]

points retain their use year. one can use two different use years' points to book a reservation by transferring points from one membership number to the other, does not count as transfer. the points can then be used to book a reservation at the 11th month mark if both use years are at the same resort, at the 7th month mark if they are different resorts or at a non-home resort.

you lose nothing, nor gain anything transferring and booking like this.

Just to clarify--while I know that many have posted that MS has been very good about allowing the same owner to transfer between their own memberships--different UY's --more than the once per UY rule, there have been times when it has not been allowed.

There is no guarantee that they will always allow that to happen for owners.

 

[Dean]

Just to clarify--while I know that many have posted that MS has been very good about allowing the same owner to transfer between their own memberships--different UY's --more than the once per UY rule, there have been times when it has not been allowed.

There is no guarantee that they will always allow that to happen for owners.

It's always been case by case and I am not aware of anyone ultimately unsuccessful when they truly needed it but as I noted, that option could go away at any time. This area in general lends itself to ways Disney could limit and negate resales.