Why buy multiple contracts?

[jodiey]

I Understand the concept ( I think) as to buying 2 smaller contracts at 2 different resorts and I'm assuming that what you do is bank the points so that each year you are staying at a different home resort. But don't you run the risk of banking the points and then something comes up and you need to cancel your trip, thus losing your banked points?

 

[Minniesgal]

We bought two contracts at two different resorts so we could reserve two different resorts at 11 months and have split stays. Having 2 contracts for us does not lead to more banking than if we just had one contract.

 

[Splashboat]

We bought two contracts at two different resorts so we could reserve two different resorts at 11 months and have split stays. Having 2 contracts for us does not lead to more banking than if we just had one contract.

Same here. We alternate resorts stays.

 

[supersnoop]

I own two different resorts so I can get what I want at 11 months, and get whatever is available the rest of the time.

 

[LisaS]

But don't you run the risk of banking the points and then something comes up and you need to cancel your trip, thus losing your banked points?

Yes you are correct. This strategy only works if you go to WDW often enough that you always use those banked points before they expire. For example, if you were following this strategy and had banked Contract #1's 2012 UY points into your 2013 UY, but then could not go to WDW at all during your 2013 UY, you would have had to consider renting out those 2013 banked points before they expired. You would also find yourself with banked points from two different resorts that needed to be used during your 2014 UY.

 

[disneynutz]

When have multiple contracts at 6 resorts.

Direct buy contracts are always 50 pointers.

We use the 11 months booking advantage at all 6 resorts.

Points not used are banked or rented.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I Understand the concept ( I think) as to buying 2 smaller contracts at 2 different resorts and I'm assuming that what you do is bank the points so that each year you are staying at a different home resort. But don't you run the risk of banking the points and then something comes up and you need to cancel your trip, thus losing your banked points?

There are 2 issues here. One is having multiple home resorts and the other smaller contracts as insurance for possibly having to sell later. The first is reasonable for some situations, the latter usually not for smaller contracts in today's world unless one can do so with little or no cost. Sometimes you can find a single person who has multiple linked contracts and buy them as a set plus if one is buying retail for some other reason, it can be done in most situations. The only retail exception seems to be the fixed week option. While I haven't heard anyone say they were not able to do so, I haven't seen anyone that were able to do this with a fixed week purchase. IF one decides to do more than one contract after a thorough investigation, I'd buy one and then see how things go if both resale. If one resale and one retail, I'd buy the resale first almost all of the time. The advantage of buying only one and seeing how it goes is you'll be able to make a better decision the second time around because you'll have more info AND experience. Just realize that two 100 point contracts will cost roughly $2000 more than a single 200 pt contract if at the same resort. There are several negatives to this scenario unrelated to simple points usage after owning. Smaller contracts generally are more costly per point, you have extra closing costs, the larger contracts tend to be better contracts and there are more larger contracts than smaller ones as a rule.

I'd say do it if there's little or no cost and it fits otherwise but generally it's not worth it. For many it'd be better to buy the higher demand resort alone for the full amount, esp if trying to get a lower cost AND higher demand resort together, say BLT & SSR. The extra cost to get different home resorts may or may not be worth it but it's never worth it to pay a significantly higher total cost just for the possible insurance of an easier sale later, which might or might not be the case in the future anyway. Once you get to the point where each contract would not be considered small, really around 200 or more in this discussion, then I would definitely diversify with multiple resorts.

 

[jerseyduke]

I Understand the concept ( I think) as to buying 2 smaller contracts at 2 different resorts and I'm assuming that what you do is bank the points so that each year you are staying at a different home resort. But don't you run the risk of banking the points and then something comes up and you need to cancel your trip, thus losing your banked points?

You absolutely run that risk!

But everyone is different. Some people split stays. Others do shorter trips more often. Not everyone is alternating years, but that is an option as well, with the aforementioned risk.

Another thing is using resort 2 at the 7 month mark. For example, if I were to book a studio at VGF with my VGF points at the 11 month mark, I might be able to ungrade with SSR points to a 1 bed room at the 7 month mark. If not, I can rent them out or do something else with them.

There are a lot of reasons.

When buying direct, small contracts will cost you more in closing costs, but they will have higher resale value per point, and multiple contracts makes it easier to sell 1 to downsize. But that is not really relevant to your question about different resorts.

 

[djohn06]

I use my higher priced BLT points for my immediate family. I can use AKV points to get value rooms when I need a 2 bedroom or if I need to save points.

The other reason for some people is that they simply got a great deal on a resale contract and it was hard to pass up.

Lastly, some people sell 1 set of points yearly, essentially giving them a "free" trip. As the points they sell are enough to cover main fence fees for both resorts.