Question about small contracts

[dsnydaddy]

It is my understanding that in order to reserve in the 11 month window, ALL of the members points need to be at the home resort. i.e. if the reservation at BLT was going to cost 200 pts and the member had 150 pts at OKW and 50 pts at BLT, then only the BLT points could be used at 11 months and to get the use of all 200 pts the member would have to wait until the 7 month window.

If this is true, what is the benefit of buying add-ons at different resorts? I've seen small lots of 50 or 75 points and wondered why one would not just add-on at their home resort.

 

[Maverick]

It is my understanding that in order to reserve in the 11 month window, ALL of the members points need to be at the home resort. i.e. if the reservation at BLT was going to cost 200 pts and the member had 150 pts at OKW and 50 pts at BLT, then only the BLT points could be used at 11 months and to get the use of all 200 pts the member would have to wait until the 7 month window.

If this is true, what is the benefit of buying add-ons at different resorts? I've seen small lots of 50 or 75 points and wondered why one would not just add-on at their home resort.

There are probably many reasons and I'm sure you'll get several responses.

From my perspective, I would consider this option to have the 11-month window at the small contract resort and use banking and/or borrowing to stay there every other year. This would be specifically important if I wanted a studio at BCV during F&W and that was not the home resort of my main contract. My understanding is getting a studio there at the 7 month window is very difficult at best.

Mav

 

[alicat07]

We want to purchase a small contract (50-75) at BCV eventually so that we can use that contract every other year or so to book BCV at 11 months. It would give us enough for a studio for a week or so in low season, dependent on banking and borrowing. Then the other years we could use our main contract (AKV) and stay either there or wherever is available at 7 months out. So I would buy a small contract just to be able to book a certain resort for stays every other year or so. Or we don't mind staying a split stay to be in different locations (say BCV for 5 days for Epcot and HS, then move to BLT for MK for a few days). There are lots of ways to use a small add on contract!

 

[Dean]

It is my understanding that in order to reserve in the 11 month window, ALL of the members points need to be at the home resort. i.e. if the reservation at BLT was going to cost 200 pts and the member had 150 pts at OKW and 50 pts at BLT, then only the BLT points could be used at 11 months and to get the use of all 200 pts the member would have to wait until the 7 month window.

If this is true, what is the benefit of buying add-ons at different resorts? I've seen small lots of 50 or 75 points and wondered why one would not just add-on at their home resort.

Some reasons include home resort priority for part of their trips, that the newer smaller purchase was all that was available at the time or that it was cheaper (say SSR).

 

[disneynutz]

It is my understanding that in order to reserve in the 11 month window, ALL of the members points need to be at the home resort. i.e. if the reservation at BLT was going to cost 200 pts and the member had 150 pts at OKW and 50 pts at BLT, then only the BLT points could be used at 11 months and to get the use of all 200 pts the member would have to wait until the 7 month window.

If this is true, what is the benefit of buying add-ons at different resorts? I've seen small lots of 50 or 75 points and wondered why one would not just add-on at their home resort.

They may have added on at their home resort and later sold off 1 contract @ 50 points.

All of our direct buy contracts are 50 pointers, they are added together when booking. If we decide to reduce our holdings at a resort, we just sell 1 or 2 contracts. Small contracts sell at a higher price due to demand and sell quickly. Our longest time on market was 3 days.

Bill

 

[Best Aunt]

We want to purchase a small contract (50-75) at BCV eventually so that we can use that contract every other year or so to book BCV at 11 months.

That would be super hard to find on the resale market. It's very unusual to see a small BCV contract for sale.

 

[dsnydaddy]

Thanks. This has helped me understand. We were looking to buy small contracts and increase our holdings as we paid off.

 

[Sur]

That would be super hard to find on the resale market. It's very unusual to see a small BCV contract for sale.

we literally paid a person to stalk resale sites for just this. When one came up, the call with full price offer was immediate. Compared to the costs of even larger contracts now, we found a gem!

My point, STALK the sites, get on the email lists, and know what you intend to offer as it must be immediate.

 

[kristenrice]

We have 100 points at AKV...used 100 current and borrowed 50 points to take a trip. The next year, we added on 50 points at HHI and banked them. That year, we used our 50 current AKV and borrowed all 100 from the next year. The next year, we went to HHI using 50 banked, 50 current and 50 borrowed points.

So, with our 150 points, we can do 2 out of 3 years at WDW and then HHI in the off year. Because we like the value category at AKV and 1BR's at HHI over spring break/Easter, we need the 11-month window at both. Since we typically travel for only 5 nights and we are a family of 4, 150 points is a great number for us. I'd love to add on another 50 points at HHI so that we could either go more often or stay in 2BR's and bring friends/family. Maybe someday...

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks. This has helped me understand. We were looking to buy small contracts and increase our holdings as we paid off.

Since you appear to be a fan of cruising, you'll want to know that resale points (purchased after March 21, 2011) cannot be used for booking a DCL cruise. You'd need to buy direct to use points for a cruise. The points required to cruise are negotiated annually by DVC and are pretty high.