Question on booking a reservation using two different resort contracts

[Boardwalk III]

Hi all,

After owning at the same resort for 20 years (BWV) we just did an add-on @ VGF this spring. I’ve already booked a 4-night reservation at VGF beginning February 28, 2023. That used up all of my VGF points. I want to add on one more night to that reservation which is Friday, March 3rd, but I’ll need to use my BWV points to add that one night.

Normally I‘d just go in now and modify and add the extra night but I’m assuming I can’t do that with the BWV points as will need to wait until the 7 month mark which would be August 3, correct? And I’m not even sure I can modify a reservation using points from a different resort. If I can’t, I assume I’ll need to book that night separately with my BWV points and then merge the reservations? Or does it make more sense to try to transfer the points from my BWV contract to my VGF contract before modifying?

Apologies for all the questions. I thought I had all things regarding DVC reservations “down pat“ until I did the add-on!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi all,

After owning at the same resort for 20 years (BWV) we just did an add-on @ VGF this spring. I’ve already booked a 4-night reservation at VGF beginning February 28, 2023. That used up all of my VGF points. I want to add on one more night to that reservation which is Friday, March 3rd, but I’ll need to use my BWV points to add that one night.

Normally I‘d just go in now and modify and add the extra night but I’m assuming I can’t do that with the BWV points as will need to wait until the 7 month mark which would be August 3, correct? And I’m not even sure I can modify a reservation using points from a different resort. If I can’t, I assume I’ll need to book that night separately with my BWV points and then merge the reservations? Or does it make more sense to try to transfer the points from my BWV contract to my VGF contract before modifying?

Apologies for all the questions. I thought I had all things regarding DVC reservations “down pat“ until I did the add-on!

If your VGF and BWV contracts are under the same membership, then there is no need to transfer points from one contract to the other. Points are transferred from one membership to another, not from contract to contract.

At 7 months, points within a membership can be combined to make a reservation. Or, assuming there is availability, a reservation which was made during the home-resort priority for booking can be modified to add nights or reallocate points using non-home resort points.

There will be no need to book separately with the BWV points.

However, if the BWV and VGF contracts are under different memberships, that's a different situation.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Ah, so they are different membership numbers even though I can see both of them on my dashboard. When we did the add-on we added our son onto it at time of purchase as he’s now an adult and is not on our previous contracts.

Given that, what’s the best way to proceed?

If your VGF and BWV contracts are under the same membership, then there is no need to transfer points from one contract to the other. Points are transferred from one membership to another, not from contract to contract.

At 7 months, points within a membership can be combined to make a reservation. Or, assuming there is availability, a reservation which was made during the home-resort priority for booking can be modified to add nights or reallocate points using non-home resort points.

There will be no need to book separately with the BWV points.

However, if the BWV and VGF contracts are under different memberships, that's a different situation.

 

[Marionnette]

Ah, so they are different membership numbers even though I can see both of them on my dashboard. When we did the add-on we added our son onto it at time of purchase as he’s now an adult and is not on our previous contracts.

Given that, what’s the best way to proceed?

Since your BWV and VGF points are from different memberships (different UYs or titled differently), you have two options.

You can transfer the BWV points to the VGF membership so that they can be used to modify your existing reservation to add one night.

Or you can just book that one night as an additional reservation without transferring the BWV points.

If you choose not to do the transfer, the reservations cannot be merged (a term used for combining reservations made under the same membership). But you can contact MS and have them place a note on both reservations that it is a continuous stay so that you don't have to move. There are no guarantees that you won't have to move by linking the two reservations this way but they try to honor the request as much as possible. It saves on housekeeping costs.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Since your BWV and VGF points are from different memberships (different UYs or titled differently), you have two options.

You can transfer the BWV points to the VGF membership so that they can be used to modify your existing reservation to add one night.

Or you can just book that one night as an additional reservation without transferring the BWV points.

If you choose not to do the transfer, the reservations cannot be merged (a term used for combining reservations made under the same membership). But you can contact MS and have them place a note on both reservations that it is a continuous stay so that you don't have to move. There are no guarantees that you won't have to move by linking the two reservations this way but they try to honor the request as much as possible. It saves on housekeeping costs.

OK thank you, got it. Last question - what happens if I ever were to cancel that night for any reason? Assume the points stay in my VGF Membership, keeping the original properties of the BWV pts?

I’m starting to think perhaps borrowing additional VGF points from the next use year might be simpler!

 

[Sandisw]

OK thank you, got it. Last question - what happens if I ever were to cancel that night for any reason? Assume the points stay in my VGF Membership, keeping the original properties of the BWV pts?

I’m starting to think perhaps borrowing additional VGF points from the next use year might be simpler!

Yes, those transferred points stay with all the BWV rules.

 

[CarolMN]

After owning at the same resort for 20 years (BWV) we just did an add-on @ VGF this spring. I’ve already booked a 4-night reservation at VGF .....

Same here, except we're visiting after Thanksgiving and kept the same use year as our BWV points. (I never, ever, thought I'd pay direct prices, and still can't believe we did. But then, again, it is the Grand, LOL).

I do not plan to use my VGF points anywhere except at the VGF, and have only rarely used my BWV points to stay anywhere except the BWV. Banking and borrowing works - we've found that split stays aren't so bad, especially when weighed against having to us the buses for transportation. I think separate memberships would work for our strategy, but I'm still glad we have the same membership. Just makes booking easier (and I have had virtually no issues with website glitches. I think that's because the initial software build assumed most people would have only direct points in the same membership and everything else has required some type of software workaround. Now there are so many of those that the programmers can't keep up, so every change messes something up. JMHO. YMMV).

OK thank you, got it. Last question - what happens if I ever were to cancel that night for any reason? Assume the points stay in my VGF Membership, keeping the original properties of the BWV pts?

I’m starting to think perhaps borrowing additional VGF points from the next use year might be simpler!

I'd borrow and do the modification now, but that's me.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Same here, except we're visiting after Thanksgiving and kept the same use year as our BWV points. (I never, ever, thought I'd pay direct prices, and still can't believe we did. But then, again, it is the Grand, LOL).

I do not plan to use my VGF points anywhere except at the VGF, and have only rarely used my BWV points to stay anywhere except the BWV. Banking and borrowing works - we've found that split stays aren't so bad, especially when weighed against having to us the buses for transportation. I think separate memberships would work for our strategy, but I'm still glad we have the same membership. Just makes booking easier (and I have had virtually no issues with website glitches. I think that's because the initial software build assumed most people would have only direct points in the same membership and everything else has required some type of software workaround. Now there are so many of those that the programmers can't keep up, so every change messes something up. JMHO. YMMV).


I'd borrow and do the modification now, but that's me.

Thanks! I actually do have the same use year but at the last minute decided to add our adult son onto the VGF contract since it has a longer shelf life than Boardwalk. This is what caused the two membership numbers. I knew I’d have two membership numbers on my profile and haven’t found this hard to navigate. However I wasn’t aware (or didn’t think through) the inability not to have the points all merged at 7 months. Kind of a pain. My plan is to use VGF for VGF stays and vice-versa, but this one extra night was a bit unexpected. Perhaps I should have bought 50 more VGF points. In any case, I think you’re right on the borrowing!

This actually is going to be a split-stay with the first 4-5 nights at VGF and the following week at BWV. Was just trying to keep multiple room options open as my travel party hasn’t been completely nailed down yet (may have one group of folks for the VGF part, with immediate family coming down to join me for the second).

Lots to think about. I am doing my first VGF Resort Studio stay in October for 4 nights with a friend. Can’t wait!