If you own at more than 1 resort - I have a question for you!!

[chris1gill]

Hi Everyone,

Recently, I booked a 2 week trip for VWL... I had wanted to use three years of points from OKW... I did not want to use current Boardwalk points.... Each day I called to increase my stay I had to have this lengthy discussion of why on earth I wanted to use borrowed OKW points versus current Boardwalk points... It was really a great big pain.... Well, I called yesterday, and sure enough, I have 9 OKW points in my 2002 allotment & 9 Boardwalk points OUT of my current allotment... At first, it didn't hit me, but when I got off the phone, I just shook my head... now I have to call back and somehow explain I want to BORROW those OKW points!!!! I bought the OKW point contract so that we can stay every third year at OKW.. the reason I bought the OKW points, was so that I had the 11 month booking every three years for the Grand Villa... it just so happened that I decided I wanted VWL at least once during the Christmas season!!

I have a headache thinking about this!! But can anyone tell me how they've been able to use get around this great big bookkeeping nightmare? Basically two years out of three we will stay at Boardwalk... the third year we'll stay at OKW....

Any suggestions???

 

[Lesley]

I've only had a second home resort for 2 months now...

I called to add some days at VWL to my Jan. trip and the person at ms was confused at how I was going to do this as my BWV points could not yet be used- until I told her to use my VWL points and borrow the extra 6 I needed from 2002. Then today I was calling for the second night of a 3 night stay next Memorial Day at BWV. The first thing the ms cm says is "looks like you need to borrow some points to do this" !!????What????!!! I haven't even touched my 2002 BWV points yet....I just banked enough from this year for the reservation yesterday.

It seems to me that ms is sort of confused as to how the whole system works for those of us who have 2 "homes". And I don't see at all why you should have to explain why you want to borrow points instead of using current ones at a different resort....if you say you want it done that way they should just do it.

Really I don't have a problem with the ms cm's...they are or the most part friendly and helpful. But to know how to manage my points most effectively I get better information here.

And great idea on those OKW points.....if we add on again that's what we might do too.

 

[RobDoc]

As one with 2 home resorts and 4 different contracts and use years, I understand the frustrations described above.

In many cases the MS CM has suggested a better solution for reservations than I had thought of myself. One constant for me however, to ask for the total points in each contract (even if I didn't use it for that transaction) before letting them end the phone call. I make sure that my understanding agrees with their total.

Annually I request a written accounting of my contracts (these are quite detailed and can be confusing at times) and use that to confirm the totals I have in my spreadsheet.

I often make reservations from more than one contract and link them all together for the stay. The CM's have always been most helpful in getting this done.

Just explain what you desire to have done and let the CM work out the details. I'll suggest methods to accomplish what I want and sometimes they'll find a more efficient means to handle the reservation.

I'd call back tomorrow and borrow the 9 OKW points and return the 9 BWV points to their use year.

Good Luck!

 

[PamOKW]

If you are making a "regular" reservation (not a GV or a holiday week where you call day by day), it might be best to do it by e-mail. You can then write out exactly what you want and how you would like to use the points. Then, as Doc suggests, verify that is how the reservation is made.

 

[chris1gill]

Thanks Doc & Lesley, you both understand my experience completely!!! I swear while making the reservations, I felt like I was running in circles!!! I will call back in the morning & get the 9 points settled....

PamOKW your idea is a good one (that way you both have a hardcopy!), but I book the harder to get times, and we go for two weeks, so if I waited til 11 months from my checkout date, my checkin date would be gone!! I book the first two weeks of December, and then the following November, but the November trip is in a standard view 1 bedroom... so due to all of that, I book day by day!!! It can get complicated....

By the way, this is the only one problem I've ever had with MS... and even with this problem, they've all been very nice, just didn't understand what I was trying to do!!

Thanks for the replies

 

[jade m]

I am a new member (VWL) but maybe you good trade straight up 150 points (or whatever) of your OKW with a VWL user that wants to try out OKW sometime, depending on use year I suppose. Then both parties have an 11 month window to get what they want?

 

[NFalzon]

Yep, I can say that this was my one only "problem" with MS. I felt like I needed to use some kind of secret code or something--the right key words--to get them to understand exactly what I wanted.

And it still didn't come out quite as I would have liked. No problems, but...

I suspect with the more resorts and the more time that DVC has been around that this is an INCREASING issue. It isn't as if this was a worry until a few years into the program, and now it's just blossoming, and will be worse when BCV comes online...
Nick

 

[chris1gill]

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to give an update! I called this morning & got a very nice CM on the line, that KNEW what I was asking him to do!!! After the hoops I ran through trying to get the points allocated properly while making the reservation, I WASN'T looking forward to my call... But the CM was great & helped me with no trouble at all!! PHEW!!! Thank goodness that is over!!!! Now I just sit back & wait for our 2 week VWL vacation in December!!! The best time of year to go!!