Merging points at seven months to do CC, am I wrong to plan staggered contract UY?

[🍀TwinsMom]

Hi! We currently have direct Riviera September contracts. We would love to buy at CC resale and use some RR points at CC. I know everyone says to keep the same UY to merge the contracts, but doesn't that hinder merging points if I have to wait the 7 months?

What we want to do is stay at a two or three-bedroom at CC either Thanksgiving week or the first two weeks of December -- which are notoriously impossible to book at CC unless you own there. If I have to wait seven months to merge the points, wouldn't I want a December or February UY to be able to mingle the points? Or am I confusing the UY with the booking window.

What should we be looking at to buy resale at CC to merge the points? Or is it impossible to get CC that time period at seven months out, so just buy enough CC points to B&B and use them every other year?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi! We currently have direct Riviera September contracts. We would love to buy at CC resale and use some RR points at CC. I know everyone says to keep the same UY to merge the contracts, but doesn't that hinder merging points if I have to wait the 7 months?

What we want to do is stay at a two or three-bedroom at CC either Thanksgiving week or the first two weeks of December -- which are notoriously impossible to book at CC unless you own there. If I have to wait seven months to merge the points, wouldn't I want a December or February UY to be able to mingle the points? Or am I confusing the UY with the booking window.

What should we be looking at to buy resale at CC to merge the points? Or is it impossible to get CC that time period at seven months out, so just buy enough CC points to B&B and use them every other year?

Thanks for your help!

You're confusing UY with booking window.

If you want to use points from two different resorts at 7 months, it's easiest if they are under the same membership. That means the contracts are titled the same and have the same UY. At 7 months, the points can be used together seamlessly.

If you have 2 different UYs, you have 2 memberships. If that's the case then you must call MS to transfer points from one to the other in order to use them together on the same reservation.

ETA: Feb and Dec UYs would be the worst to own if you intend to use those points for Thanksgiving. The ideal UYs would be Sept or Oct.

 

[drusba]

To reserve at 11 months out, you can use only "home" resort points, meaning Riviera points at Riviera, or CCV points at CCV. If you own both, they cannot be mixed to reserve one of the resorts at 11-months out; they can be joined in a single reservation only at 7-months out.

Thus, if you buy CCV, regardless of whether it is in the same or a different use year than the Riviera points, only those CCV points can be used to reserve CCV at 11-months out.

When you can mix the points at 7-months out, it is easier if you have the points in the same use year (and thus same membership number), because they can be mixed together to reserve any and all nights in one reservation. If you have different use years, the points cannot be mixed together at 7-months out unless you first transfer points from one use year to the other. Absent a transfer, you need, at 7-months out, to reserve the first part of vacation with the points from one of the resorts, and, separately, the second part of your vacation with the points from the other resort, and then contact MS to have the reservations linked so you do not have to change rooms.

As to making a reservation, you can always attempt to make a reservation 11-months out at the particular "home" resort using home resort points, and 7-months out using non-home resort points. That rule applies regardless of what your use year is. In other words, if you have a Sep use year at CCV, you can reserve CCV for Thanksgiving at 11-months out by making the reservation in Dec at 11-months before Thanksgiving. If you have a Feb use year at CCV, you can still reserve Thanksgiving at 11-months out by making the reservation in Dec at 11-months out.

As to booking Thanksgiving week or one of the first two weeks of Dec, be aware that all three of those weeks are among the DVC "extremely" high demand weeks of the year (they make Easter look like the slowest of off-seasons), and safety dictates reserving whatever you want at 11-months out at applicable home resort. Rooms, such as Tower or standard studios at Riviera and any studios at CCV can book full within nanoseconds after 8 a.m. at 11-months out or even before. For both Riviera and CCV, you should assume, in making plans, that it is highly unlikely for any rooms at either to be available at 7 months out for any of those three weeks.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Hi! We currently have direct Riviera September contracts. We would love to buy at CC resale and use some RR points at CC. I know everyone says to keep the same UY to merge the contracts, but doesn't that hinder merging points if I have to wait the 7 months?

What we want to do is stay at a two or three-bedroom at CC either Thanksgiving week or the first two weeks of December -- which are notoriously impossible to book at CC unless you own there. If I have to wait seven months to merge the points, wouldn't I want a December or February UY to be able to mingle the points? Or am I confusing the UY with the booking window.

What should we be looking at to buy resale at CC to merge the points? Or is it impossible to get CC that time period at seven months out, so just buy enough CC points to B&B and use them every other year?

Thanks for your help!

If you want to stay at one of those three weeks annually, or most years, at CCV, you could consider a fixed week contract, since it gets booked for you ahead of the 11-month window.
You could cancel and rebook for different dates with those points if you did not want the week that particular year.

This thread has more information: https://www.disboards.com/threads/all-about-fixed-weeks-riv-ccv-aul-vgf-poly-charts.3806985/

 

[CarolMN]

FWIW, if you want a CC reservation at 11 months, you will probably have to "walk it". A September use year would be a good one for your Thanksgiving reservations. August or October would also be good, but I would advise keeping the two contracts in the same membership in case you want to use them together somewhere at 7 months. It's just easier!

 

[Sandisw]

Just to add, when you buy another contract, it never merges with what you have.

If it is the same UY and same owners, it’s considered an add on to the membership. The contracts will be listed as such.

So, at 7 months, when all points can be used, you just check both contracts. Of course, CCV resale can’t be used at RIV so it won’t ever show up as a choice when booking there.

Two different memberships means you can only use the points together for a singlet reservation by transferring. If not, you have to book some nights on one and some on the other and MS to link so you hopefully you don’t more rooms.

Two UYs can work when you want to use for different travel times and trips but not as easy when you want to use together.