Why buy small contracts?

[dvcterry]

I see... So points can be combined across contracts for booking 7 months out but not at the 11 month date.

This may be another silly question, but do you have to have the points available to make a reservation or do you just need to have enough points when the reservation comes around.

Example: if I have 50 points available now and want to book a room in 7 months that requires 100 points and I know I'll be getting 100 more points next month... Would I have to wait to book next month once I have the required points or would I be able to book now since I'll have the required points when the trip actually comes around? I guess another way to look at it would be, when do you need to "pay" (with points)... When you book or when you visit? I'm thinking it's when you book but want to clarify.

Thanks again for everyone's help and for taking time to help educate me on DVC!

you will follow your booking window, 11 months for the home resort & 7 months non-home resort. to answer your question, you don't have to wait for the points to load to make the reservation. if you have 50 points today and a December use year, December 1 you will get another 50 points. You can still borrow from the the next use year. If you want to reserve for a trip in January or February, whenever, you do not have to wait until your points load -use year to make the reservation. They will deduct them from the appropriate year. Once the reservation is made member services will explain immediately how the points were used, how many are remaining, & if you book online you will see this at the time you reserve.

 

[Missyrose]

I see... So points can be combined across contracts for booking 7 months out but not at the 11 month date.

This may be another silly question, but do you have to have the points available to make a reservation or do you just need to have enough points when the reservation comes around.

Example: if I have 50 points available now and want to book a room in 7 months that requires 100 points and I know I'll be getting 100 more points next month... Would I have to wait to book next month once I have the required points or would I be able to book now since I'll have the required points when the trip actually comes around? I guess another way to look at it would be, when do you need to "pay" (with points)... When you book or when you visit? I'm thinking it's when you book but want to clarify.

Thanks again for everyone's help and for taking time to help educate me on DVC!

Yes, points from different contracts can be combined beginning at seven months out (though there is an extra step if the contracts have a different use year).

You have to have the points available when the trip is, not when you make the reservation.

 

[DannysMom]

I see... So points can be combined across contracts for booking 7 months out but not at the 11 month date.

This may be another silly question, but do you have to have the points available to make a reservation or do you just need to have enough points when the reservation comes around.

Example: if I have 50 points available now and want to book a room in 7 months that requires 100 points and I know I'll be getting 100 more points next month... Would I have to wait to book next month once I have the required points or would I be able to book now since I'll have the required points when the trip actually comes around? I guess another way to look at it would be, when do you need to "pay" (with points)... When you book or when you visit? I'm thinking it's when you book but want to clarify.

Thanks again for everyone's help and for taking time to help educate me on DVC!

The points need to be available at the start of the stay.

I closed on a 200 point BCV contract in August. As soon as I was set up in the systems I made a home resort reservation for March 20-27 2013, the week before the 7 month window opened for my dates. My reservation required 401 points. I used 200 banked 2012 points (I have a February use year) 200 2013 points and 1 borrowed 2014 point.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.

 

[MrSanderz27]

Yes, points from different contracts can be combined beginning at seven months out (though there is an extra step if the contracts have a different use year).

You have to have the points available when the trip is, not when you make the reservation.

So does anything prevent you from buying small contracts just to get the 11 month booking advantage?

Example: Say you own a 50 point contract at BLT and a 50 point contract at OKW but want to book a 200 point room at BLT. Would you have to wait until the 7 month mark to book or could you book a 200 point room at 11 months with your BLT contract and then when the trip comes could you pay for it using borrowed points from both your BLT and OKW contract??

 

[DannysMom]

Different home resort points can only be combined to make a reservation at the 7 month window.

So you could take your hypothetical 50 point BLT contract bank the points and use them the next year with current points and borrowed points from the following year for a total of 150 home resort points at BLT.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards App please excuse any typos.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Different home resort points can only be combined to make a reservation at the 7 month window.

So you could take your hypothetical 50 point BLT contract bank the points and use them the next year with current points and borrowed points from the following year for a total of 150 home resort points at BLT.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards App please excuse any typos.

Banking and borrowing are FINAL transactions. So if you had a 50 pt contract, and you banked the 50, then the next year used the banked 50 plus current 50, and then borrowed the 50 from next year to make the reservations, you cannot put those borrowed points back. At the 7 month mark, you could use your 50 from another resort, but you can't put the 50 borrowed BLT points back to the future UY. They become current UY points, and must be used by the end of the UY. So no, you couldn't buy 3 50 point contracts at 3 different resorts to skirt 11 month windows. You need to have all the points required to stay at that resort as home resort points to use the 11 month booking advantage.

 

[chalee94]

Example: Say you own a 50 point contract at BLT and a 50 point contract at OKW but want to book a 200 point room at BLT. Would you have to wait until the 7 month mark to book...?

it seems like it's been said already at least 3 or 4 times in this thread: you would have to wait until the 7 month mark.

under no circumstances can you use pts from that OKW contract at 11 months out at BLT (or vice versa). at 11 months out, they are completely separate.

if you own a 1000 pt OKW contract and a 25 pt BLT contract, then at 11 months out you can book BLT with (at most) 75 BLT pts (25 banked BLT pts + 25 current BLT pts + 25 borrowed BLT pts). if you want to book BLT, your OKW pts are completely on the sideline until the 7 month mark. you need the right "currency" at 11 months out, and BLT will not accept OKW pts (of any kind) for booking purposes...you need BLT pts of some sort to book BLT at 11 months out (and the same is true of all the resorts: you need OKW pts of some sort to book OKW at 11 months out).

 

[LisaS]

So does anything prevent you from buying small contracts just to get the 11 month booking advantage?

Example: Say you own a 50 point contract at BLT and a 50 point contract at OKW but want to book a 200 point room at BLT. Would you have to wait until the 7 month mark to book or could you book a 200 point room at 11 months with your BLT contract and then when the trip comes could you pay for it using borrowed points from both your BLT and OKW contract??

If booking more than 7 months out, only BLT points are valid when booking BLT. They can be current, banked and/or borrowed points but they must be BLT points. The points are taken from your account at the time you make the reservation.

In your example, at 11 months out you could use up to 150 (50 banked + 50 current + 50 borrowed) BLT points to book as many nights as those points allow. At 7 months out you could try to extend your reservation using OKW points, subject to availability.

Another option would be to have another BLT owner transfer 50 BLT points to your account, giving you the 200 BLT points needed to book BLT 11 months out.

Also, if you book BLT 11 months out you cannot substitute non-BLT points into your reservation once inside the 7-month window unless there is availability for the nights/room size/booking category you want at that time. This prevents people from circumventing the home resort points restriction.

 

[Dean]

Question: What is the strategy around buying small contracts?

I see that a number of people buy a variety of small (i.e. 50 point - 75 point) contracts.

I get it if you were to buy a bunch of small contracts at the same resort with the same use year - but - I'm not sure why people buy a (let's say) 275 point contract at BLT with a June use year - and then purchase a 50 point contract at AKV with a March use year.... and another 50 point contract at BCV with a August use year...etc, etc...

It seems like managing the points could get VERY confusing and - since we always travel with 5 or more and need a 2 bedroom most of the time - our "point per night" is generally high.

Is the small contract strategy mostly for folks that just need a studio - or am I missing something?

(can u tell I'm looking for an excuse to buy more points)?

I know people that own very small contracts and use them to get a studio a day at a time to use as a respite for pool access, DP, etc while actually staying off property. As for having multiple home resorts and UY with small contracts, I don't think it's reasonable for most situations. Another approach that some take is to have multiple contracts even the same UY and/or home resort for the purpose of having later options which might including selling part and as a legacy to pass on. That approach does come with a price, a second closing plus generally an additional $5-10 a point ignoring difference in home resort prices.

 

[princessaloha]

Another reason someone may want a smaller contract is that they find that after their initial purchase they need just a few more points each year. Maybe for an extra day(s) or larger accommodations (little ones getting older, new additions), or a change in travel time to high season, etc and are tired of borrowing from the following year. If they only need say 32 more points (just a random number) then a 50 point add on would only be needed.

ETA: oops misread the OP's question which was about smaller contracts at other resorts, not add ons.