Multiple Families Combining Points

[jrtoastyman]

Just joined DVC, have some good friends that are interested in joining as well. I could envision a situation down the road where we might want to vacation together. Can we combine our points and use them to book a bigger place, or do they have to be kept separate for booking purposes?

 

[Figment2]

I travel with some DVC friends all the time. What we do is take turns making reservations (one year my points, next year their points) OR we each reserve a part of the trip. We did the latter at BLT in 2010. We were able to link the reservations, didn't have to re-check in or even change rooms.

Cyn

 

[chalee94]

i wouldn't do it, but it is possible to transfer your pts to them (or vice-versa) so that the combined pts will book one reservation (the transferred pts will retain their home resort status and UY, so you could only combine them for booking at 11 months out if they all have the same resort.)

but you are only allowed one transfer (in or out, not both) per year, so that would be it...if a third family wanted to combine pts, it wouldn't work.

but you could alternate years, as suggested by the OP. you could also book the first 3-4 nights with your pts and the other family can book the last 3-4 nights with theirs and you can ask MS to link the reservations, so that you don't have to move...

 

[jrtoastyman]

OR we each reserve a part of the trip. We did the latter at BLT in 2010. We were able to link the reservations, didn't have to re-check in or even change rooms.

Cyn

Not trying to be obtuse, but how exactly does that work? Suppose we have 320 points to use at BLT, and our travelling companions have the same amount. Can we pool our points and get a grand villa for 648 for a week, for example, or are we still essentially booking separate reservations?

Thanks!

EDIT: sorry, the previous post crossed mine. that makes sense -- thanks all for the responses!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

You can use your once-per-use-year transfer to send points from one member to another to allow the entire trip to be done on a single booking.

The other option would be to call individually or do a conference call to MS and book some of the nights on one membership and the rest on the other membership.

If you know that you'll be doing it every year, as the previous poster stated, you can take turns doing the bookings.

 

[MrShiny]

OK - so that 648 points/week is 88 Sun-Thur and 104 for Fri & Sat

It won't come out perfectly as it is an odd number of days with a weekend thrown in.

Best way would be one family books a reservation for Sun-Thurs (352 points) and the other books Thurs-Sun (296 points). Link the two reservations. if this is your pattern, the next year you could just switch who books the weekend.

It works out better if staying for an even number of nights that cost the same (say Sunday - Thurs (Res 1: Sun:88, Mon:88 Res 2: Tues:88, Wed:88).

If doing a weekend, you could make three res to split it out:

Family 1:
Res 1: Friday: 104
Res 2: Tue: 88 Wed: 88

Family 2:
Res1: Sat: 104 Sun: 88 Mon:88

 

[DebbieB]

I've combined points with DVC friends and have done it both ways. One time I booked Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and a friend booked Friday (she only had a small # of points available). They were able to link all 3 reservations and it was seemless.

 

[tjkraz]

We've done it all different ways, too: each booking several nights and linking, alternating years and transfer. The best approach really just depends upon the situation.

Each booking half is probably the cleanest way to handle it.

 

[OhioDVC]

My sister-in-law and my brother both have DVC points in the same use year as us. We trade/transfer all the time. My brother will transfer me points for a big vacation this year and I'll transfer him the points next year or we'll combine points together for a big vacation.

You just have to be able to trust the other people you are traveling with and transfer points to.

You could also each reserve half of the stay and then link the two reservations together

 

[normr]

That all sounds great, but then the big problem is who gets the master bedroom? I'd rather just book my own accommodations with my points and they can book theirs. Unless as someone suggested, one year you book with your points and when you're using your points, you get the master and the next year when they book, they get the master.

 

[bumbershoot]

If my cousin ever buys in, I bet we would just work it so she gets as many days in a 2 bedroom as she's willing to get, and we get as many days in a 2 bedroom as we're willing to get, and call it a good vacation.

As for who gets the master...in my extended family's case, it wouldn't have made sense for my cousin or aunt to get it. Cousin has two kids, both of whom wanted to sleep in the room with them (vs with their grandma or my son). So having the 2 beds in the other bedroom made sense. Whereas we're just a family of 3, and we already are fine with a family bed.

My aunt is happily single, and there's no chance she would have let either of the couples sleep in the living room of the 2 bedroom while she slept in the master bedroom. She tells us she's very comfy on a foldout bed, and loved the foldout *chair*...I think she wanted to take it home with her, LOL.


So if you have a family like mine, it just goes with who the bedroom makes more sense for. If it had made sense for my cousin's family to have it, even though we were the ones with the points last December (and this upcoming September), we would have been fine with taking the "other" room. It's not like we were going to take long luxurious baths in the big tub while family is there!