Does having varying UY on 2 contracts matter?

[yyzgurl]

We are in the process of buying resale. I was just wondering if having two drastically different UY matters?

Our original UY is August and the contract we are looking at has a Feb. UY. Will this cause problems?

 

[CarolMN]

Doesn't matter if you don't mind the extra work keeping track of the points. For example, there will be different banking deadlines. If you are not careful, you could easily end up losing points. Other than the extra work - no difference that I can see.

If you go ahead with this, be sure you get in the habit of asking MS for a status of all your points after each transaction.

Best wishes -

 

[RobDoc]

We have 4 separate contracts and 4 different Use Years. I currently use a simple checkbook program (MSMoney) to track each account and it works very well. Caskbill is currently working on a point tracker to go with his DVC Planner and I know he's planning to have the ability to track multiple Use Years and resorts. I also ask MS to review the points in each contract with every phone call and verify against my records. They will also send an accounting of your point usage. (It's not easy to read, but is verrrry complete.)

Other than requiring a little diligence to make sure banking deadlines are observed, having multiple Use Years has not been an issue for us.

Hopefully, Caskbill will have his program ready for public consumption in the near future. I know that will simplify tracking points even more.

Stay Tuned!

 

[lisareniff]

I was just wondering this myself...

There was one advantage to having them the same UY (other than remembering deadlines) that had been posted. Someone please correct me or confirm this info! It was that they used the combined number of points to figure out the banking totals if the contracts were on the same member number. I'm a bit confused on exactly how this would work with a couple different situations, and if it would be an advantage.

 

[RobDoc]

No, the banking deadlines will apply to each contract separately. If you have different Use Years, you will also have a separate contract for each one.

If you have a contract with several add-ons, they will all have the same Use Year and the total number of points in that contract (master contract and all add-on points) will be the basis for banking dealines. ie- if you own 150 points at BWV and add-on 50 at SSR, 50 at BCV and 50 at VWL, you will have 300 total and the banking deadlines will be based on that total number.

If you own 150 at BWV (Feb Use Year)and then purchase- by resale- 50 at SSR (March UY) , BCV (June UY) and VWL (Sep UY) - each different Use Year/contract will have it's own set of banking deadlines to consider. They won't be combined in that example.

 

[Caskbill]

Some differences are in using combined points to make a reservation, and also in the banking percentages you use.

Condition "A": Suppose you have 150 OKW points and 150 BWV points under the same contract number (and therefore same use year).

Condition "B": Suppose you have 150 OKW points and 150 BWV points but under different contracts such as in a resale. Note this could also be 150 OKW points with one UY month, and 150 OKW points with a different UY month.

You want to make a reservation at VWL which requires 245 points (Say it's 35pts/night).

Under "A" you can use any of the points any way you see fit. For example, to get 240 points, you could use 95 of the OKW points and 150 of the BWV points, or any combination you wanted.

Under "B" you would have to split the reservation into days thus making two reservations. Each would have to be for a full day's worth of points. You could not split 100/145 because at 35 pts/day, the points required go 35, 70, 105, 140, 175, 205, 240. You could use 70 OKW points for 2 days, but then you'd need 175 for the remaining 5 days. You could use 105 OKW points for 3 days, and 140 for the remaining 4 days. Notice there's no way to use all the 150 points from one contract, leaving the other contract with all the remaining points. You wind up with points left over in both contracts.

There is one way around that and that's to transfer points from one contract to the other. There are some drawbacks to this. Transferred points cannot be banked. Suppose you transferred points, made a reservation, then had to cancel the reservation. Those transferred points are returned to you, but you'll have to use them before your use year runs out.

The second impact is in the banking percentages.

Suppose you used all 150 of the OKW points. You're now inside your 50% banking window and decide you want to bank the 150 BWV points.

Under "A": No problem. Points are combined for banking purposes. You own 300 points. 50% of that is 150 points. You may bank all 150 of your BWV points.


Under "B": You've got a problem. They are two separate 150 point contracts. For banking purposes you own 150 points total, in each of two contracts. You may bank 50% of the total. For your BWV contract, it's a total of 150 points, so you may bank only 75 points which is 50% of the total. The remaining 75 points cannot be banked and it's a use them or lose them proposition.

So you see there are differences. You just have to be very careful and manage them.

 

[lisareniff]

Thanks Caskbill! An Excellent explanation.

There is one senerio that "condition A" (2 home resorts w/same contract number) might be to a disadvantage.... I think.... let's see if I can write this clearly... and if it's right!...

For example, if you had 400 points at BCV and 100 pts at VB on the same contract. With this senerio you could bank 500 pts at 100% banking deadling and 250 pts at the 50% mark. When the 100% banking date comes around you decide to bank all, 400 BCV points. Now, it is at the 50% banking deadline and for some reason you want to bank 50pt from the VB points now. It sounds like it would not be possible with 'condition A' since we have already exceeded the 250 point banking limit at the 50% banking mark. However, I think, with 'condition B' you would have been able to do this.

Is this logic correct?

 

[Dean]

There are advantages and disadvantages. As mentioned there are some minor advantages in the banking process if they are linked. And there's less to keep up with. The advantages to having separate contracts is as follows.

• You have the opportunity to chose which use year for certain reservations (or rentals) so as to maximize your options if something were to happen.
• And you can transfer points from one contract to another and take advantage of some of the idiosycricies of the reservations system, especially if they are different resorts. Granted these will likely evaporate some day but they've been "working on a fix" for at least 5 years with no change in sight thus far that I can see.

If you can balance a check book, you can keep up with the points accounting with different use years.

 

[Scotch]

Under "B" you would have to split the reservation into days thus making two reservations. Each would have to be for a full day's worth of points. You could not split 100/145 because at 35 pts/day, the points required go 35, 70, 105, 140, 175, 205, 240. You could use 70 OKW points for 2 days, but then you'd need 175 for the remaining 5 days. You could use 105 OKW points for 3 days, and 140 for the remaining 4 days. Notice there's no way to use all the 150 points from one contract, leaving the other contract with all the remaining points. You wind up with points left over in both contracts.

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the differences. I've never read someone giving the above example -- I did not know under "B" you'd have to split the reservation into days or that I'd have to make two reservations if the total stay requires points from both contracts! Will the reservations be linked such that I am guaranteed to not have to move rooms?

 

[Dean]

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the differences. I've never read someone giving the above example -- I did not know under "B" you'd have to split the reservation into days or that I'd have to make two reservations if the total stay requires points from both contracts! Will the reservations be linked such that I am guaranteed to not have to move rooms?

They can be linked and it's all transparent unless you're outside the 7 month window. And this really isn't an issue of two UY vs one unless you're in a situation where one UY will work and the other will not. DVC will even transfer points that are banked or borrowed in this situation to combine points for that last night if needed. You could simply make part of the reservation with one account and the other with another account and DVC would link them which they usually do automatically.

 

[disneyberry]

There is one way around that and that's to transfer points from one contract to the other. There are some drawbacks to this. Transferred points cannot be banked. Suppose you transferred points, made a reservation, then had to cancel the reservation. Those transferred points are returned to you, but you'll have to use them before your use year runs out.

[SIZE=+0]Just reading up on old threads...

I wanted to point out that, actually, transferred points can be banked. This is even written in the Multi-site POS, so it is official.

The one caveat is, it's uncertain which banking deadline is applied to the transferred points, since, technically, the transferred points should retain their original UY, but in practice, often the transferred points are converted to the UY of the recipient account.

When I banked some transferred points in my account, I just played it safe and banked them all before my own banking deadline. I did not feel like testing the system, and ending up not being able to bank those transferred points.[/SIZE]

 

[Dumbo]

Our original UY is August and the contract we are looking at has a Feb. UY. Will this cause problems?

Actually this can be a good idea to have two use years 6 months apart. That way you have an 11 month booking window year round.

Dumbo

 

[Cruelladeville]

Someone on this board posted recently that they had a contract, and bought another contract resale that had the same use year. They said that when Disney changed the resale contract number, it was changed to the same number as the old contract, thus treating it like an add-on.

I, too, have banked points that were transferred to me. They took on the banking deadline of the account I transferred them to.