Does Disney ever let you pick a different UY for an add-on?

[ssawka]

We are considering buying an add-on contract at HHI next year, however we need to go down and check it out first. Anyway, we will probably buy a resale because of the cost, but I want to find out what all my alternatives are. We currently have an October use year on our BLT contracts, which works great because we usually go to WDW in October or January. However, for HHI I would prefer a use year in the begining of the year since we will be going down sometime in the summer. Will Disney let you add-on with a different use year?

 

[JWG]

Yes. If buying direct, they will discourage but not prevent, a different use year. Remember, separate use years means separate membership numbers and the only way to pool the points is to either:

1) Make split reservations (use points from one membership for a portion of the nights and points from the other membership for any other remaining nights)

2) Points transfer (you do a one-time per use year points transfer in/out of an account to pool your points, some have said if you own both accounts the one-time rule may not apply)

You'll obviously have two different banking/borrowind deadlines as well.

But yes, you can do this.

 

[ssawka]

Yes. If buying direct, they will discourage but not prevent, a different use year. Remember, separate use years means separate membership numbers and the only way to pool the points is to either:

1) Make split reservations (use points from one membership for a portion of the nights and points from the other membership for any other remaining nights)

2) Points transfer (you do a one-time per use year points transfer in/out of an account to pool your points, some have said if you own both accounts the one-time rule may not apply)

You'll obviously have two different banking/borrowind deadlines as well.

But yes, you can do this.

Thanks JWG! For the most part, I would probably keep the accounts seperate, except for an occassional "big" trip like DCL, GV, or HI. As I said I'll probably do resale unless Disney is offering a really good incentive. I may be jumping the gun on this anyway since we will not be buying until next year, if at all.

 

[Tramp68]

I find different use years to be quite a pain. I would much prefer to be able to switch my odd use year to match the other 2 I have....

 

[ssawka]

I find different use years to be quite a pain. I would much prefer to be able to switch my odd use year to match the other 2 I have....

Yes, however my concern is with banking. If I get an Oct. UY for HHI, the points would have to be banked by May and if we were going to cancel a Summer trip, I'm not sure we'd know by then. Also with an October UY, I can forsee alot of borrowing to get the current year's vacation.

 

[drusba]

The answer to the add-on through DVD in a different use year question is, unless there has been a very recent change, actually NO subject to an exception. They do not allow you to purchase another use year unless you purchase the minimum number of points that a new purchaser would be required to buy.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

The answer to the add-on through DVD in a different use year question is, unless there has been a very recent change, actually NO subject to an exception. They do not allow you to purchase another use year unless you purchase the minimum number of points that a new purchaser would be required to buy.

Interesting as I thought "JWG" had the correct answer.

Jason

 

[Deb & Bill]

The answer to the add-on through DVD in a different use year question is, unless there has been a very recent change, actually NO subject to an exception. They do not allow you to purchase another use year unless you purchase the minimum number of points that a new purchaser would be required to buy.

This is exactly what I was going to post as well. You have to have the minimum or another smaller contract (purchased resale) to purchase a new UY.

 

[Plutofan]

Yes. We have four different use years.

 

[JWG]

Interesting as I thought "JWG" had the correct answer.

Jason

We could have done our 75 point direct purchase add on last summer in any use year. I guess I don't know what a new minimum is if there is one, but it's not 160 points then.

 

[drusba]

The 160 point new purchaser minimum has been in great flux the last two years. For some period last year the minimum for new purchasers was only 50 points. Currently it is 100 if purchasing BLT, AKV or SSR but 160 at the other WDW resorts.

 

[Sandisw]

We are considering buying an add-on contract at HHI next year, however we need to go down and check it out first. Anyway, we will probably buy a resale because of the cost, but I want to find out what all my alternatives are. We currently have an October use year on our BLT contracts, which works great because we usually go to WDW in October or January. However, for HHI I would prefer a use year in the begining of the year since we will be going down sometime in the summer. Will Disney let you add-on with a different use year?

In 2009, when I added on my first BLT contract, I wanted a June UY and they allowed me to have it. I only wanted 115 to start and told them I wouldn't be doing it if I had to keep my Oct UY since I was planning on selling that contract.

My guide did have to get approval but they allowed it to go through. I ended up with 130, but the minimum was 160 and they didn't make me buy that many.

So, I think it is worth a call to your guide and find out whether you would be allowed to still do it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

<snip>
2) Points transfer (you do a one-time per use year points transfer in/out of an account to pool your points, some have said if you own both accounts the one-time rule may not apply)
<snip>

OK. I want to expand on this, if I may. I'm not trying to hi-jack the thread but this is pretty important.

I read this board pretty religiously and this is the first time I have ever seen this. Can anybody verify the validity of this one way or another???

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

OK. I want to expand on this, if I may. I'm not trying to hi-jack the thread but this is pretty important.

I read this board pretty religiously and this is the first time I have ever seen this. Can anybody verify the validity of this one way or another???

I talked to my guide today about adding on. The only points available at the resort we wanted were all in a Sept UY and we have our other 2 contracts in an Oct UY. My guide told me that if you bought with a different use year that you can only transfer points once a year between accounts. She made no mention of any type of "free transfer between accounts you own".

 

[drusba]

Before about 2004, the rule was, as it is now, that you can transfer points, in or out but not both, only once per use year. When it existed in those old days, MS routinely allowed members with multiple use years to do any number of transfers they wanted per use year among the member's own contracts.

The rule then changed that you could transfer in or transfer out, either way but not both, unlimited times per use year which effectively eliminated any need for the special member rule of doing so among his own contracts. A few years ago the old rule of one transfer per use year was reinstated because professional renters were using the unlimited transfer rule (by others into their accounts) to rent points.

When they flipped back to the old rule, members who had multiple use years were not allowed to make unlimited transfers between their own contracts as before and were being limited to one transfer per year (each use year is a separate membership so they actually got two transfers, one out of one use year and one into the other use year). Recently, someone posted that they were told by an MS rep while doing an inter-use year transfer that they could do transfers unlimited times per year as long as they did so only among their own contracts. Thus, the recent interest in that possiblity despite that some others are now also reporting otherwise.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I usually transfer points from my smaller contract into my larger contract. This past year I only transferred part of the points because I needed to leave some in the contract so I could borrow points from the next year to be able to get a full night. And you can borrow transferred points. So I left about 12 points in my 50 point contract. When I did that, the CM told me that I was using up my once a year transfer and would not be able to transfer the remaining points.

Some members have been allowed to transfer more frequently among their own contracts, but I have always been told it's one per UY either in or out.

 

[WRWDisney]

To the OP. In your second post, you mention that,

...I would probably keep the accounts seperate, except for an occassional "big" trip like DCL, GV, or HI. As I said I'll probably do resale unless Disney is offering a really good incentive.

Just keep in mind that if you do purchase resale, you will be unable to use those points for DCL.

 

[ssawka]

To the OP. In your second post, you mention that,

Just keep in mind that if you do purchase resale, you will be unable to use those points for DCL.

Yes I know, but if I were to use the points for DCL, I would rent the points. I just think the direct point reservations on DCL are too many points. I realize that is not always the case, but we would probably only cruise when there is a deal (like the MR cruise we did in January). Also, if we were to do a cruise, we would probably just skip WDW that year and use our current contract. Thanks for reminding me though.

 

[normr]

In my opinion, it's much easier having the same use year, that way the booking windows aren't all over the place.

 

[ssawka]

In my opinion, it's much easier having the same use year, that way the booking windows aren't all over the place.

If we keep an October UY for HHI and have to cancel, we would only have until May 1 to bank those points. Since we are planning on going to HHI in the summer, we might not know that we have to cancel until after May 1. Given how quickly HHI fills up in the summer, we might not have an opportunity to reschedule before forfeiting the points. Our best option is to have a UY early in the year so our banking deadline would be in the Fall or Winter.