Thoughts on managing different UY's

[heynowirv]

Simply that we own 2 different contracts @OKW with Aug Uy's and looking to buy elsewhere with a Sept UY ,so my question is it easy to manage?

 

[Granny]

Simply that we own 2 different contracts @OKW with Aug Uy's and looking to buy elsewhere with a Sept UY ,so my question is it easy to manage?

We have two contracts...one with a February UY and the other with an October UY. It isn't hard to manage them, but you do want to make sure you pay attention to banking deadlines and which contract you wish to use for which reservation.

If you buy the September UY, is it at the same resort as the original contract? If so, you need to be aware that each contract stands alone and you cannot combine them to make a reservation at the 11 month mark. If the September UY contract is at a different resort, the same thing applies at the 7 month mark.

Managing two UYs also depends on whether the contracts are similar in number of points. Our two contracts are essentially the same point size, so we have had a strategy of booking with one contract while banking the points of the other. Then alternate the following year.

I use a simple Excel spreadsheet to track my points, but the member site will do it for you. The only issue with the member site is that you have to pull up each contract individually, and it also doesn't show how many points are banked or borrowed. Also, if you end up with holding points they don't show up on the member site. So some sort of tracking mechanism outside of the member site would be recommended.

 

[CarolMN]

Not that bad UNLESS you want to use points from both memberships to pay for the same night at 7 months. (Can't do it online). Otherwise, you just need to manage two banking deadlines.and keep track of point status (banked, borrowed, holding, reservation, transferred etc.) separately, by membership. Waitlists would also need to be managed separately by membership.

To combine points from both memberships, you either have to transfer points and call MS to use the transferred points, or you can also book some nights from one membership and the rest from the other. Then you have to either call, chat with or email MS to link the nights so that you don't need to change rooms in between.

Technically, transfers between memberships are one per use year per membership, but MS has been known to waive that rule if the memberships are owned by the same person(s).

FWIW, I prefer the same use year for ease of use (and fewer online glitches when IT updates), UNLESS you plan to use each membership separately. For example, use OKW for summer vacations and BCV for F&W vacations, or maybe stay at OKW one year and BCV the next, using banking and borrowing.

 

[heynowirv]

We have two contracts...one with a February UY and the other with an October UY. It isn't hard to manage them, but you do want to make sure you pay attention to banking deadlines and which contract you wish to use for which reservation.

If you buy the September UY, is it at the same resort as the original contract? If so, you need to be aware that each contract stands alone and you cannot combine them to make a reservation at the 11 month mark. If the September UY contract is at a different resort, the same thing applies at the 7 month mark.

Managing two UYs also depends on whether the contracts are similar in number of points. Our two contracts are essentially the same point size, so we have had a strategy of booking with one contract while banking the points of the other. Then alternate the following year.

I use a simple Excel spreadsheet to track my points, but the member site will do it for you. The only issue with the member site is that you have to pull up each contract individually, and it also doesn't show how many points are banked or borrowed. Also, if you end up with holding points they don't show up on the member site. So some sort of tracking mechanism outside of the member site would be recommended.

Simply we have 190 points@OKW Aug UY I'm looking at 100 points with a SeptUY at a different resort. 7 months out is 7 months out so at that points all points could be used to make a reservation, correct?

 

[heynowirv]

Not that bad UNLESS you want to use points from both memberships to pay for the same night at 7 months. (Can't do it online). Otherwise, you just need to manage two banking deadlines.and keep track of point status (banked, borrowed, holding, reservation, transferred etc.) separately, by membership. Waitlists would also need to be managed separately by membership.

To combine points from both memberships, you either have to transfer points and call MS to use the transferred points, or you can also book some nights from one membership and the rest from the other. Then you have to either call, chat with or email MS to link the nights so that you don't need to change rooms in between.

Technically, transfers between memberships are one per use year per membership, but MS has been known to waive that rule if the memberships are owned by the same person(s).

FWIW, I prefer the same use year for ease of use (and fewer online glitches when IT updates), UNLESS you plan to use each membership separately. For example, use OKW for summer vacations and BCV for F&W vacations, or maybe stay at OKW one year and BCV the next, using banking and borrowing.

Carol,
Thanks. I knew there was a glitch somewhere with different UY's.So you can't just pool the points together at 7 months. That's a bummer.

 

[Granny]

Carol,
Thanks. I knew there was a glitch somewhere with different UY's.So you can't just pool the points together at 7 months. That's a bummer.

But as @CarolMN indicated, you could reserve (for example) the first 4 nights of a reservation with one contract and then another 4 nights with the other contract. You would then call Member Services to link the reservation so that you don't have to move midway through your vacation.

But the easiest would be in that case to borrow more points from one contract to complete the reservation, then bank the points from the other contract. That allows you to make the entire reservation with one contract at one time.

You definitely can't pool points at the any point for different home resorts...even if they have the same UY.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have one small Dec OKW contract and two larger OKW and BRV contracts. I usually use the Dec contract for my Dec trip now, but I used to transfer from it to the Sept or from the Sept to the Dec depending on when I was going. If I transferred Dec to Sept, the trip would have to be Dec or later because you cannot borrow transferred points. Transferred points retain their UY and resort. Anytime I transferred from one to another, the CM at MS would tell me that I used my once a year transfer for both UYs. If you need the one hour before MS opens in the morning, a transfer won't do it and you'll have to wait until MS opens to modify or make a reservation using transferred points.

 

[CarolynFH]

Basically, 2 UY are 2 separate memberships even if titled the same. It’s as if you’re 2 separate people when you’re managing the points. Many people do just fine with 2 UY, others find it very difficult to handle.

 

[RoseGold]

I bought two use years because the value on my contract was too good to pass. The best explanation I've heard is that it's like two different people with memberships trying to book.

It works great if you use one contract for one trip, one for another. But yea, it can be a headache to line it all up and keep up with all the deadlines.

Some pluses are that you can buy multiple one time use points, if you were to need them, and also it can work very well if you travel in more than one season, like using one contract for fall and one for summer.

 

[heynowirv]

It is indeed too much work for my simpleton mind.I'll keep 1 UY and it's all good. Thank you everyone for your feedback.

 

[gharter]

We have 2 UYs as we travel at 2 different times of the year.
As long as you think of them as 2 separate memberships, its not hard to manage.
As noted, the biggest thing is to keep track of your banking windows.