Possible DVC Newbie and questions

[LCMeyer]

We’ve been checking out DVC for years now. We’re finally at a financial place we’re it makes sense. I just have a few questions and with the new limitations from Disney, it’s gotten more confusing...

We’re planning on buying the basic 75 points from Disney and then buying resale.
1. Should we get the same UY?
2. If we have points at, for example, BLT, GF, and new Riveria all with the same UY, can we book 12mo out for all 3 of those?
3. Can we use points from all 3 to book say the Poly at 7mo?

We just want to make sure we have all the information before we “sign on the dotted line.”
Thanks!

 

[Minniemee14]

I’m in the same position. following

 

[wnielsen1]

1. It is easier, especially if you want to combine points at the 7 month mark. I'd recommend it.
2. You can book 11 months out using home resort points only. For example, your BLT points can book at 11 months out at BLT only. You cannot combine different resort points to book 11 months out. You have to wait until 7 months out.
3. Yes, IF rooms are available at 7 months.

 

[CraigInPA]

1. In general, most people who travel one time per year try to get the same UY for each contract. For people who travel multiple times per year, multiple UY's can make sense, provided the correct contracts are use for booking.

2. The only 12 month booking is for a guaranteed week. For people using regular points, they can book their home report, using their home resort points, at 11 months. i.e., Your Riviera points can be used at 11 months at Riviera, BLT at BLT, and Poly at Poly, but you cannot use Riviera at Poly until 7 months, even for a booking that also includes Poly points.

3. At 7 months, you can use your points to book anywhere, provided there is availability. This was, and continues to be, a common tactic used by people who purchase less expensive resort points to book more expensive reports (SSR booking Poly, for example). The "gotcha" is that there may be no availability for your desired room type at 7 months, because the owners at that resort booked up those rooms. Example of this are AKV value and concierge rooms.

In case you don't know it, I'm also going to suggest that you buy resale first, and then make your direct purchase. That way, you can more easily match your use year. And, you are not limited to buying only points at Riviera and CCV. You can buy older resorts direct, as well, although some resorts (GF and GC) have closed wait lists (i.e., you can't buy those), and others have wait lists where you might be hanging out for weeks or months for points to become available.

 

[sndral]

If you buy resale first it’ll be easy to just ask DVC to match the use year of your resale contract. If you buy direct first it may take a bit longer to find a resale contract at the price you want to pay in your use year. VGF contracts are rather sparse on the resale market (it’s a small resort) and sometimes difficult to get direct as well (wait list closes periodically) so if you really want VGF resale consider buying that contract first.
One caveat with the new rules, if you buy Riviera direct those points can be used to book Riviera at 11 months and every other DVC resort at 7 months. If you buy BLT and/or VGF resale, those points can be used to book at their respective resorts at 11 months and every other DVC resort at 7 months except Riviera. Those BLT/VGF resale points cannot be used to book Riviera ever. That’s due to the new restriction DVC rolled out effective 1/19/19.

 

[rob5589]

One other thing to note. When you buy resale now, as resorts expire (not until 2042 at the earliest), the BLT/VGF points will start to have a smaller pool of resorts to move around at the 7 month mark. Your Riviera points can be used at any resort plus any new resorts going forward. Its a long ways until 2042 but just something to think about.

 

[D-Trick]

As sndral stated in post #5, you should buy resale first. Since you plan on purchasing Riviera direct, which just started sales, the 75 points will always be there (for the foreseeable future) for an immediate match to your resale contract.

Put all your stress and headache (should there be any) on the front end, so that you have a smooth process with the direct add on after the resale contract is figured out.

Good luck!

 

[Jerry@dvcstore]

Good question...Below are the answers you are looking for:

1. Should we get the same UY? I would recommend the same Use year. This way it keeps everything under the same Membership # and your banking dates would be the same for both packages. You can purchase a different Use year, but it would be treated as a separate package with a different Membership # and different banking deadline. It is manageable, but just makes it a bit more challenging when booking a reservation if you want to use all your points as well as you have to remember both banking deadlines. I always recommend to my clients to keep it under the same Use year if you can....it just makes things easier for you when booking or banking.
2. If we have points at, for example, BLT, GF, and new Riveria all with the same UY, can we book 12mo out for all 3 of those?
If you were to purchase 50 points at one location, and 50 points at a different location it would be fine if you are planning to book 7 months or less. All 100 points ( 50 one resort + 50 other resort) could be used together at any DVC resort. If you wanted to book from the 7 to 11 month window you would only be able to book using the 50 points from that specific resort. In other words, if you wanted to book a vacation 11 months from now using 100 points (50 each resort), you would have to split the vacation between 2 different resorts. You can only book 11 months in advanced with the number of points you own at that SPECIFIC resort.
3. Can we use points from all 3 to book say the Poly at 7mo? Yes.

 

[LCMeyer]

Thank you guys SO much! We’ve been researching little by little over the last 2 years and really want to know what we’re doing and what we’re getting into. Thanks! Everything you said was super helpful!