Owning at Multiple Resorts

[jrtoastyman]

I notice from the sigs on here that a number of you own points at multiple resorts. What exactly is the benefit of doing that, as opposed to having your points all at the same destination, with the same use year (which I had always assumed would be the optimal situation)? Is there a way that you can use that to give you more booking flexibility at 11 months, or something like that?

TIA for any insight.

 

[wildernessDad]

It gives you the home resort advantage at the resorts that you own. But you can't combine home resort points at the 11 month mark. You can only use your home resort points at the 11 month point at your home resort. With banking and borrowing, you can hit one of your home resorts one year and another the next for example.

 

[DVCconvert]

Is there a way that you can use that to give you more booking flexibility at 11 months, or something like that?

Yes. I own at VB, OKW and BWV. I did this so I could have the 11 month home resort booking advantage at each of those resorts so I have the best possible chance of getting what I want, when I want it, as opposed to needing to wait to the 7 month mark and hope for the best.

 

[drusba]

Owning at two resorts gives you the 11 month window at both but you cannot combine the points at 11 months for a single resort. Some use the contracts as a rotating bi-annual trip, e.g., they go to one resort using banked and current points one year and then the other using banked and current points the next year.

We own at two, BWV and AKV, the latter purchased years after our last BWV purchase and we actually go to both every year because we like both and having the 11 month window for both avoids any issue of, and all the stress that many go through, waiting for the 7 month window to begin, trying to call first thing in the morning exactly 7 months out, and risking not getting what you want.

 

[n2mm]

Home advantage! I own at SSR, BWV, BLT. I book standard rooms at BWV and BLT with the home advantage. I use my BWV points for F&W and my BLT when the grandkids are with us. Keep in mind that while many of us own multiples, the amount of points is what makes the difference whether you have to bank and borrow to do what you want. My biggest contract is SSR because it was my first and I did not really understand the old "own where you want to stay" moto. I do now, so I use my SSR points for the slower times at the 7 month window.

 

[chalee94]

Is there a way that you can use that to give you more booking flexibility at 11 months, or something like that?

there is no way to use pts from a contract at resort A (OKW, for example) at resort B (BLT, for example) at 11 months out.

if you have multiple favorite resorts - or travel to wdw multiple times per year and might want to use VWL pts to book VWL at 11 months out for dec and BWV pts to book BWV at 11 months out for food&wine in oct - then that is an option with multiple home resorts.

adding on a 50 pt contract at BLT would give me up to 150 BLT pts to book for a reservation there at 11 months out (50 banked BLT pts + 50 current BLT pts + 50 borrowed BLT pts) every third year...but nothing would turn my OKW pts into BLT pts for booking there at 11 months out.

 

[bwvBound]

While we own only one DVC resort -- we have a few different types of timeshares: DVC Points, Worldmark Points, a fixed summer week at local resort, and "UDI" at local resort. This gives us the ultimate in flexibility and options! (More reasonable statement: it is the best combination for us given our recreation habits.)

The things we like about our non-DVC timeshares include:

• Direct memberships with RCI and II for better exchange options, access to discounted rental weeks and other bonuses.
• Both of our local properties offer "day use" inviting us to come and use the resort amenities anytime we choose: pools, fitness centers, golf course, horseback riding, tennis courts, hiking trails, dining facilities, spa, etc.
• More locations! The Worldmark system gives us 70+ "in network" locations many of which are an easy drive from our location in Southern California.
• "Bonus Time": Each of our non-DVC timeshares offer discounted cash reservations for "last minute" travel."

We very much enjoy the flexibility of different types of timeshares.

 

[Hollymom1229]

We own at SSR and AKV, and it's for precisely the reason others have mentioned the 11 month window. SSR was our first resort, and we have most of our points there. We love the resort, and often stay there, but if we want to try something else, we will use these points to try and go somewhere else at 7 months.

As for the AKV points, it was our favorite resort before DVC and we bought on the day they offered the points for sale. We love that we get first shot at the Value and Concierge rooms which can be next to impossible to get if you aren't an owner.

 

[disneynutz]

All it took was not getting our desired resort and room type at 7 months a couple of times to cause us to buy at additional resorts.

As the number of DVC owners grows and with people buying at off site locations, the competition at 7 months is only going to increase.

Bill

 

[icydog]

It makes a lot of sense to own two resorts or more. It gives you a nice variety of experiences. I can think of several advantages for each resort for a season or accessibility or knowing how to get the best value from your points.

 

[Granny]

What exactly is the benefit of doing that, as opposed to having your points all at the same destination, with the same use year (which I had always assumed would be the optimal situation)?

"Optimal" is very subjective. For many people, all points at one resort with the same UY is very much an optimal situation. For others, as noted on the responses on this thread, it makes sense to buy at multiple resorts.

My only point is that there is no such thing as THE optimal plan. It depends on the owner's situation, likes & dislikes, and future vacation planning needs.

If you really love one resort above all the others, then it could make sense to own all points there and try for other resorts at the 7 month window. That way, you would never be disappointed in staying at the home resort.

But if you really like two resorts, and want to visit WDW at challenging times for 7 month booking, then you might want to split your points between two contracts.

If we know more about your feelings about various resorts, we can probably advise you better.

 

[Cricket2]

Because you get to put more pictures in your signature!

 

[Halle]

We own at OKW and BWV's, love having the two resorts and flexibility. We generally use the OKW points for 7 month ressies, but do book at 11 months just to be sure we get what we want. I also like being able to bank and borrow so we have enough points at BWV for our family trips....we need 2 studios and a GV.

 

[DizGirl20]

We own points at AKV and VWL. Kidani is hands down our favorite resort and we couldn't be happier there. However, we also a wanted to own points at either an Epcot or Magic Kingdom resort, so we looked into BCV and VWL. Ultimately found a great price on a VWL contract and couldn't be happier. Our plan is to stay at AKV every other year and VWL or BCV (if we can get into BCV @ 7 months) during the years we are not at AKV.

However, I would like to mention that before we purchased our VWL contract, we made sure we had enough points at AKV to have the flexibility to choose from multiple booking categories (i.e. standard, savannah, concierge). I would rather have more points at fewer resorts than a small amount of points at multiple resorts. Hope that makes sense. Good Luck!

 

[alice99]

I have my large number of points at BLT, for using 11 month booking window.

Then a few months later I purchased 60 BWV points specifically for F&W in October, because I wanted the 11 month booking window for that resort also.

 

[Sandisw]

I have my large number of points at BLT, for using 11 month booking window.

Then a few months later I purchased 60 BWV points specifically for F&W in October, because I wanted the 11 month booking window for that resort also.

Similar to us. We own both BLT and BWV so that we can have the advantage to book both these resorts at 11 months and not have to chance getting them at 7.

Since our resort stay is a huge part of our trip, we wanted to own the places we knew we wanted to be at each and every trip.

We are close to even with 180 at BLT and 150 at BWV.

 

[alice99]

Similar to us. We own both BLT and BWV so that we can have the advantage to book both these resorts at 11 months and not have to chance getting them at 7.

Since our resort stay is a huge part of our trip, we wanted to own the places we knew we wanted to be at each and every trip.

We are close to even with 180 at BLT and 150 at BLT.

I have 300 @ BLT and 60 @ BWV. We are a bit lopsided.



I've rented out some of the BLT points because it ended up being too many sometimes.......
also, as soon as we bought DVC they joined RCI , so we have been using RCI to travel. We own an RCI connected timeshare that we don't use as much as we used to , so have been using it for our Disney trips, leaving TONS of points left over.

 

[n2mm]

Similar to us. We own both BLT and BWV so that we can have the advantage to book both these resorts at 11 months and not have to chance getting them at 7.

Since our resort stay is a huge part of our trip, we wanted to own the places we knew we wanted to be at each and every trip.

We are close to even with 180 at BLT and 150 at BLT.

I don't think you meant to type this....I think that is 150BWV if I follow your threads correctly.

Anyway we are no where close to even with ours. We just added on to our BWV contract, so it has a more comfortable amount now. It was 160, but just added on another 75 pt contract, so now that one is 235, but I've passed ROFR, but not closed yet. I only own 100 BLT, but no desire to add on again there. I'm fine with banking or borrowing there. But I've got a super-size SSR contract that I use for my slower times of the year. So I'm at 885 pts total now...... How did that happen? I guess I had addonitis too many times!

 

[bnk1120]

For those of you who own at mutiple resorts, are your contracts the same use year? I am looking at adding on at another resort through resale, but really don't think I need the same use year as my current contract. Is there a reason I should look for the same use year? Or is it just easier to keep track of?

 

[alice99]

For those of you who own at mutiple resorts, are your contracts the same use year? I am looking at adding on at another resort through resale, but really don't think I need the same use year as my current contract. Is there a reason I should look for the same use year? Or is it just easier to keep track of?

Mine are NOT the same use year. I don't really understand the need to have them the same. I use them separately, and have never had a problem keeping track.

My use years are Feb and April..... maybe if they are too different it can become confusing.