How hard/important is it to match Use Year buying re-sale vs. direct?

[MJB62676]

I have spent a week reading this and other boards and all the information I can find before moving forward. I'm considering a small direct contract for Polynesian to get us started, but the idea would be to build points in the future going through the re-sale market (most likely) to build points at my home resort.
How hard, or important is it to make sure points are in the same use year?

I'm still researching whether it makes more sense to have multiple smaller contracts at different resorts, or try to accumulate points at one resort (especially considering it's looking like it will be Poly) to be able to take full advantage of the 11 month window.

Right now, I'm looking at trying to make it where I could do a Studio most years, with potentially a two studio arrangement at Poly, or a 1 or 2BR villa at somewhere like OKW if we wanted to bank/borrow.

Initially considered up to 200 points, but thinking I'll just start with 100.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

If all the memberships have the same use year everything will fall under the same membership number.

If you buy a different use year you will have two membership numbers, however, you are allowed 1 transfer out and 1 transfer in per year allowing you to transfer all the points from one membership to the other.

Majority of owners have all of their contracts with the same use year, however, there are memberships with multiple use years. I am sure they will provide their personal feedback on the advantages and disadvantages.

 

[aoconnor]

It's a hassle having multiple use years but generally not a big deal- just takes some administrative work to keep track of everything.

One exception is if you are trying to book during an exceptionally busy time. Say you wanted the week of Thanksgiving but needed two different memberships to have enough points for the reservation. You would need to book the first few nights online at 8am, then wait to call at 9am and add the remaining days from your other membership. 90% of the year this won't be an issue but it's possible that at very busy times the extra days you need could be gone by the time the phones open up.

Also, if you end up needing to cancel a trip having multiple use years complicates things.

 

[disneynutz]

Your UY should fit your vacation dates, unless you have a reason to change or have more than one membership, why take on the extra work of keeping things straight. Separate bookings, tracking, mailings, dues bills, more things to go wrong IMO.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

If you plan to combine points for the same reservation, having more than one use year complicates booking and can be frustrating. During the more popular seasons it can mean the difference between getting what you want and going on a waitlist (or accepting a split stay).

Unless you plan to use the contracts separately or are OK with split stays, keep the same use year. It will make booking so much easier and faster, too.

An example of using contracts separately would be using one contract to stay at the Poly and then using the other contract the following year to stay at BCV. Both stays could be booked at 11 months, using banking and borrowing.