If you have a contract at 2 resorts?

[aksmith83]

We purchased points at AK last year through Disney. We are looking into purchasing more points and I'm wondering how it works if you own at 2 different resorts. If we purchased at either GF, or waited until the Polynesian opens and bought points there how do use years and bookings work? Can you combine the points and book 11 months out at either resort? Or so you have to have enough points in each respective account to book at each resort? Am I making sense?

We like AK but would also like to try to be somewhere on the monorail. Wondering if we should look into selling our current contract and buying again. Though not sure we would get all our money back...

 

[LisaS]

If you purchase a contract at another resort you will have the 11-month booking priority at that resort, but can only use points from that resort. Once inside 7 months of check in, you could combine all of your points to book any resort that has availability provided that your second contract has the same UY as your original contract. If you purchase a contract with a different UY or you do not title the second contract exactly the same as the first, it will be set up as a second membership. In that case, you cannot combine the points to make a reservation unless you transfer points from one contract to another.* Your other option would be to book your stay as two reservations (one with each contract) and ask MS to link them together. That alerts the room assigner that it is one reservation and they will put you in the same room for the entire stay.

* ETA: When you transfer points from one membership to another, the points retain their home resort and UY.

 

[DenLo]

We own at three DVC resorts, but they all have the same use year. You cannot combine points from different resorts for a reservation at the 11 month mark. The Home Resort Advantage (booking at the 11 month mark) is only for points from that resort. So although we own at AKV, BLT and Aulani we cannot combine those points into one reservation at the 11 month mark. However at the 7 month mark we can combine all three into one reservation because they all have the same UY.

Many DVC members have points at two resorts and instead of combining the points from two resorts, they use their points every other year at their home resorts. And buy half of the points they would normally use for a vacation for each resort but use two years of points to make the reservation. So I'll use AKV and BLT as an example. Next year, I want to stay at BLT and we have 2014 points we haven't used. I'll bank those 2014 points into 2015 and then use the 2014 and 2015 points to stay at BLT. Then for AKV we will bank our 2015 points into 2016 and use the banked 2015 points and 2016 points for a stay at AKV. If we have any points that will expire but aren't enough to stay a night, then at the 7 month mark we might add nights to our stay combining points from AKV and BLT as they have the same UY. Or even purchase one time use points to add on a night.

Some members use the current year points and borrow the next year's points instead as they have no points to bank. This combining of two years of points gives you more of a variety than always staying at the same resort. And then at the 7 month mark you still have the option for trying to switch to another resort.

If you sell AKV you will not recover all the money you spent off of the sale and you have to pay the fees to the company selling your points. Then you will have to spend a lot more money for an MK resort. So in the end you will be at MK area but have less points to stay at your new home resort.

It really depends on how much you want to own another resort and how much you dislike your current resort. I would not keep a resort I hate. I like using the home resort advantage and being able to book 11 months out. However, financially I might have to make do and keep those points and always hope I can switch at the 7 month mark.

 

[chalee94]

Can you combine the points and book 11 months out at either resort?

it's a common question, but as the others have said, there's no way to use AKV pts from your AKV contract to book another DVC resort at 11 months out.

even if you buy a VGF or BLT contract, any AKV pts you own would be sidelined until the 7 month window.

 

[disneynutz]

We purchased points at AK last year through Disney. We are looking into purchasing more points and I'm wondering how it works if you own at 2 different resorts. If we purchased at either GF, or waited until the Polynesian opens and bought points there how do use years and bookings work? Can you combine the points and book 11 months out at either resort? Or so you have to have enough points in each respective account to book at each resort? Am I making sense?

We like AK but would also like to try to be somewhere on the monorail. Wondering if we should look into selling our current contract and buying again. Though not sure we would get all our money back...

I would use the AKV points to stay at all of the resorts. Find out what you like and/or dislike about each one, keep notes, then buy where you love to stay to guarantee your happiness. Later you can sell AKV if the numbers make sense.

Bill