Why can't I book my stay?

[KS_Disney_Dad]

Trying to get 8 days at AKL studio for 118 points. We have a 25 pt Aug UY contract and 25 pt Sept UY contract. Both have been banked and the ability to borrow is still an option. So we have 150 points we can use. When I try to book it under the Aug contract I get this...

Sorry, the selected contracts do not contain enough Vacation Points to pay for this transaction.

To select additional contracts, check the appropriate checkbox(es) below.
To borrow Vacation Points from the selected contracts, use the Borrow Vacation Points module below.
To transfer Vacation Points from another Membership, please contact Member Services.

There is no option to select additional contracts. When I use the Sept UY contract, I get the same message.

What I am doing wrong? Thanks.

 

[drusba]

The on-line reservation system is currently incapable of using two separate member numbers (which you have) to make one reservation. That "additonal contracts" option actually currently refers to contracts you have in the same use year and thus under one member number. Since you only have one contract in a use year, nothing will show up when you try it. Best is to call MS and make the reservation through it.

Moreover, you should understand that even if you call MS, you cannot mix those contracts for any one night. You will use one use year contract to reserve some nights and the other to reserve the rest of the nights and then link the two different reservations so they are treated as one. The only way to mix those contracts to reserve the same night is to transfer points from one to other, and you cannot transfer banked or borrowed points. In other words, having two different use years actually means for purposes for using points that you are two separate and distinct members and thus should plan and manuever points accordingly.

 

[chalee94]

people sometimes mistakenly talk about "adding-on" when they talk about buying a resale contract with a different UY month. but as the other poster explained, you actually have 2 completely separate memberships...and that makes things (a little) more complicated...

just book the nights separately (4 nights with one contract and 4 nights with the other) between the two contracts and ask MS to link the 2 reservations.

next time when you are planning ahead, transfer the pts ahead of time and then you can bank them into the next UY so they can be combined with pts from your other contract.

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

Makes sense. So my best bet would've been to transfer one into the other then do all the banking and borrowing then go online and book what I wanted?

Should I borrow the points forward then call MS or call and do all of that at the same time?

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

people sometimes mistakenly talk about "adding-on" when they talk about buying a resale contract with a different UY month.

That's the situation in this case. No big deal though. So any future add-ons I do should be Aug or Sept UY to make it a little more user friendly on my end?

 

[RevBob]

Makes sense. So my best bet would've been to transfer one into the other then do all the banking and borrowing then go online and book what I wanted?

Should I borrow the points forward then call MS or call and do all of that at the same time?

As I found out recently, you will not be able to book online using 'transferred' points, because they will not show up, at least at this time, you will have to call MS to make a reservation using 'transferred' points.

 

[chalee94]

Makes sense. So my best bet would've been to transfer one into the other then do all the banking and borrowing then go online and book what I wanted?

well...you can't borrow transferred pts or transfer borrowed pts so that may continue to be an annoying limitation.

Should I borrow the points forward then call MS or call and do all of that at the same time?

it's complicated enough, i'd just talk to MS first.

So any future add-ons I do should be Aug or Sept UY to make it a little more user friendly on my end?

yes. if the new contracts are titled the same and have the same UY month as your current contracts, DVC can combine them under the same membership and they are much easier to use. (sometimes DVC doesn't notice that you are already a member, so be proactive in letting them know to combine them under the same member number.)

(another side note: contracts combined under the same member number can still be sold or willed separately.)

 

[Deb & Bill]

I had a similar situation with my Oct reservation. However, I needed to borrow points from my other contract, so I couldn't transfer them because you can't borrow transferred points. So I made a seven night reservation with one contract and then a week later made a two night reservation with the other, smaller, contract. Then I e-mailed MS to have the two linked since they were the same resort, same category, same size villa.

You could make a few nights with your Aug contract and then the other nights with your Sept contract once you were seven months out from the start of the second reservation.

Or do as you thought of, transfer the points and call MS to make the reservation.

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

I called MS and did a 4 night and 4 night and they linked them together. It was a very smooth transaction and I'm a little wiser to how to use our different UY points. Thanks to everyone for the advice!

 

[luckyman_apd]

Glad you got it worked out. For me, the online system is easier and more convenient to use, especially for my work hours. Much easier to get online at 8 am than for me to make a phone call for that initial reservation at 11 months. Since transfered points can't be done online, the suggestion of booking 4 nights with each contract separately can be done easily online.

 

[Dean]

I called MS and did a 4 night and 4 night and they linked them together. It was a very smooth transaction and I'm a little wiser to how to use our different UY points. Thanks to everyone for the advice!

This is the best approach. Book them online separately then send an email to MS to link them. Also, in this situation, they likely would have transferred banked/borrowed points for that single night if you needed it even if you'd have used your one transfer per year option already.