Opinions wanted on split purchase

[Drinehart811]

I have been reading these boards for awhile and trying to decide which purchase option is best for me. What I've ultimately discovered is I am probably best off purchasing multiple small contracts. I have figured out for me I want/need between 200-225 points. Does anyone for see any issues, or would it even work, if I bought about a 100 pt AKL through resale and then wanted to add 2 50-60 pt contracts through direct for Grand Californian and Floridians? I just don't see the point in paying the premium $ for paying direct for AKL but want to be able to book DL hotel if VGC is booked (which it always is) since I live in so cal and don't generally plan my overnight trips to DL more than a few weeks in advance. I know so many of you have a lot more knowledge on how this ACTUALLY works not just theoretically. I would love to hear any issues you would fore see or any advice you would have for me moving forward.

Thanks!

 

[Smile&Nod]

IMHO split small contracts works fine if you book anytime from 7 months in - if you are like me and want to book at 11 months having so few points at a resort might make that hard to do - unless you saved up and banked, used current year and borrowed from the next year on one contract. That is really the only consideration. If you are never going to book further out than 7 months why not buy whatever is cheapest?

If you want to guarantee a stay say a VGF and will book before the 7 months window then buy there.

I owned at BWV first but really wanted Beach Club - eventually I sold the BWV and bought resale at BCV so i could book 11 months out, even at busy times of the year like Food and Wine and get what I wanted.

Really depends on your booking habits!

 

[kristenrice]

... 2 50-60 pt contracts through direct for Grand Californian and Floridians? ... but want to be able to book DL hotel if VGC is booked (which it always is) since I live in so cal and don't generally plan my overnight trips to DL more than a few weeks in advance. I
Thanks!

If you want to buy direct in order to use your points at the DL hotels (unrestricted points) but you still won't be booking more than 7 months in advance, why not buy direct at one of the cheaper resorts? I would rule out VB or HHI, but look into SSR or OKW since they have the longer expiration date and lower MF's. OTOH, if you are going to use VGC points to actually try and stay at the VGC and you will book those trips more than 7 months out, then by all means, you will want to buy there.

 

[nalajms]

If you buy direct, you should definitely try to get small point contracts.

However, the 100pt AKV might be hard to come by and a bit on the expensive side. Most of the smaller AKV are 160. Unless you really want the AKV rooms, you might want to consider SSR with lower MF and more resale in the 100pt range. I think the pricing for both are close.

Good luck

 

[Missyrose]

I think your plan is a good one, provided you've really sat down and figured out how you will use those contracts. I'll give you our contracts for example:

150 BWV -- Use this for longer trips, typically in the fall

80 BLT

and

65 VGF -- We'll alternate years on the two smaller contracts (using banking/borrowing) so we can use two years' worth of points from each contract on trips in the winter or spring.

So in Year 1 we'll use 160 points at BLT, Year 2 130 at VGF, etc.

 

[Drinehart811]

Thanks everyone for all your input. It's definitely given me food for thought. I know the biggest reason I picked the resorts I did was because I continuously see people saying don't buy there if you won't be happy staying there. I also wanted locations that are expiring later. It seems like I still have some things to consider before finalizing but I feel closer than before.

 

[jvalic33]

We purchased 240 points and figured it would be better to split into two larger contracts with the thought being. Every other year we would be able to book at those resorts with enough points to book 11 months out. We chose AKV (which we love) and BWV which we are staying at for the first time this year during the Food & Wine and MNSSHP.

We are a larger family and need a two bedroom which plays a big role in the number of points needed, but I think the advantage of the larger contracts really helps especially if you have two places you really want to take advantage. In our case, we knew there would be times during F&W that we wanted to be near Epcot and the rest of the time AKV is fine.

If you have the smaller contracts you only have the 7 month window and I don't think it is fun to be tied to that and not have your first pick when you want it.