Multiple Use Years & Ressie ?

[grizzlymd]

We have 230 pts at VWL with an August use year.

We are contemplating a resale purchase. Let's say we bought another 100 pts at VWL with a Sept use year. Assuming all 2003 pts are available, would we be able to make a reservation using all 330 pts at the 11 month window for an April 2004 vacation?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RobDoc]

Yes, you can make reservations 11 months ahead at your home resort regardless of Use Year.

If you were to purchase an add-on at a different resort, only the points at one resort may be used for reservations 11 in advance at that resort. Mulitple home resort points can be combined only at 7 months.

 

[grizzlymd]

Thanks, Doc!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

The thing to be careful of with separate use years is if you want to use all of the points for something like a cruise. That can be a problem.

HBC

 

[Caskbill]

We have contracts with June and August use years at OKW.

Keep in mind you can't combine the points for a single reservation. So your 230 and 100 points would be spent separately from each other. If necessary MS will use the points separately and then link the reservations so you don't actually move during your trip.

Also, you cannot split points for a single day. For example a villa costs 27 points for a night. You couldn't use 14 points from one contract and 13 points from the other.

Just for example, say you want 5-nights at 27 pts/night for 135 points total. You couldn't use your 100 Sep points and 35 Aug points for this ressie. You could use 81 Sep points and 54 Aug points though to reserve 3-days and 2-days respectively, and link the reservations.

The easy solution is to just transfer the points from one account to the other. Transfer your 100 Sep points to your Aug year and then all 330 points are treated as one group. Just be aware of the limits on transfers. For example you could not transfer out of Sep into August some of the points, and then later transfer points from August back into Sep.

We have the exact proportions you have, 230 points and 100 points. What we generally do is bank and borrow from each contract separately. For example use the 230 pt contract this year and bank the 100 pt contract. The next year maybe borrow the 100 point contract (to give us up to 300 points available) and bank the 230 point contract. ETC. With banking and borrowing we never really wind up having to use both contracts to make a single reservation. (Although have had to transfer a few points a few times)

Just keep in mind that your two contracts are just as separate from each other as if you yourself owned a 230 point VWL contract and your brother/sister owned a 100 point VWL contract.

Hope this helps.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Caskbill:

I am glad you posted this information because there seems to be a general impression that the only difference two use years will make is that you can't combine the points for an 11 month reservation. I learned the hard way that that was only a small part of it when I tried to make cruise reservations a couple of years ago. Since then I have been much more careful about learning the ins and outs of multi use year ownership. It is something everyone purchasing a DVC contract by re-sale needs to be aware of.

HBC

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
The thing to be careful of with separate use years is if you want to use all of the points for something like a cruise. That can be a problem.

HBC

It should not be as they can transfer even banked or borrowed points in this situation. This is a limitation of their system and not the underlying rules. They should and can make this work as long as you have the points available per the other applicable rules.

 

[grizzlymd]

Originally posted by Caskbill

Keep in mind you can't combine the points for a single reservation. So your 230 and 100 points would be spent separately from each other. If necessary MS will use the points separately and then link the reservations so you don't actually move during your trip.

So, if I understand this correctly, the points are considered as two separate contracts even if the use year is the same.

Very interesting, I had not considered the ramifications you described. Is there a fee for transferring pts? I like the idea of banking and borrowing the contracts separately.

Thanks for the great info.

 

[RobDoc]

There are no extra fees for any MS services. The points from different contracts can easily be combined for use in a single reservation, as mentioned above.

Enjoy!

 

[disneyberry]

So, if I understand this correctly, the points are considered as two separate contracts even if the use year is the same.

uh oh...
now after reading this thread, i'm confused again about the not being able to combine points from two different contracts.

i posted a thread last week asking a similar question (click here to read my old thread ).

so, even if you have the same use year, you can't combine your points?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by disneyberry
uh oh...
now after reading this thread, i'm confused again about the not being able to combine points from two different contracts.

i posted a thread last week asking a similar question (click here to read my old thread ).

so, even if you have the same use year, you can't combine your points?

The regular rules including banking, borrowing, and transfers are in effect even if a single owner with multiple contracts. They do have "Significant flexibility" when dealing with a single owner and implementation of these rules.

There are few instances wher you will need to transfer points from one contract to another. Keep in mind that if you need to make a reservation from points from both contracts, this will usually not involve transferring points. The only time you'd need to transfer points is to get tnough points together to make that last night. This also applies to certain exchangs where you must have the points all in one account like for Alaskan cruises. You would not be able to bypass the 11 month priority window with your combination of points.