Mixing and matching use years at different properties -- advice?

[psac]

We already own at BWV with a December use year, and are thinking of adding on Resale at AKV. Are there any benefits or downsides for buying a contract with the same use year versus a different UY? I know the 11 month bookings still must be with each property's respective points.

Thanks!!

[erionm]

If they are the same UY and titled exactly the same, they can be added to your existing membership and easily combined with your existing points for a single reservation at 7 months.

If they have a different UY, they will be a different memberships. To combine points you would need to transfer points from one account to the other to make a single reservation at 7 months. Or make separate reservations and have them linked, but you will to check-out and then check-in again on the change day.

[psac]

Originally Posted by erionm

If they are the same UY and titled exactly the same, they can be added to your existing membership and easily combined with your existing points for a single reservation at 7 months.

If they have a different UY, they will be a different memberships. To combine points you would need to transfer points from one account to the other to make a single reservation at 7 months. Or make separate reservations and have them linked, but you will to check-out and then check-in again on the change day.

Very important information, thank you! I'm glad I asked. (And glad you answered!)

[gatorgirl02]

On the flipside (as an owner of 2 contracts with different resorts and UY's), you can have a total of 4 waitlist requests (versus 2 with only one UY) and you can also access your yearly allotment of extra points, if you need them, on both memberships, versus only once. That being said, you need to make sure you keep up with the different UY's, so you don't lose points. However, knock on wood, I haven't had any issues yet...

[puffkin]

I have 2 contracts, same use year, different resorts. They are titled differently so we have 2 membership numbers. We are currently in ROFR on a third contract that will also be titled differently and is a different use year.

For me, I manage all my contracts seperately so use year/membership numbers don't matter as much too me. With banking and borrowing, we have enough points to do that. On rare occassion, if I am short a few points I will transfer them in from the other contract (allowed once a use year). Once I was short 5 points so I just bought the 1 time points from DVC.

I find this works the best for me for our situation.

[disneynutz]

Unless you have a good reason for 2 different memberships, do yourself a favor and make life easier with just one UY.

Bill

[Deb & Bill]

Originally Posted by puffkin

I have 2 contracts, same use year, different resorts. They are titled differently so we have 2 membership numbers. We are currently in ROFR on a third contract that will also be titled differently and is a different use year.

For me, I manage all my contracts seperately so use year/membership numbers don't matter as much too me. With banking and borrowing, we have enough points to do that. On rare occassion, if I am short a few points I will transfer them in from the other contract (allowed once a use year). Once I was short 5 points so I just bought the 1 time points from DVC.

I find this works the best for me for our situation.

Remember that you cannot borrow transferred points. So if you need a bunch of points to make the reservation, you may need to make two separate reservations (one with each contract) and then have them linked.

[psac]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts. We're definitely thinking same UY is the way to go. Anyone else?? Thanks Again!

[Dean]

Upside is you may travel to different locations different times of the year. Downsides currently include that if they were all under 1, it's simpler. Also, if they were to change the banking rules back to the way they were before (unlikely but possible), having them all together is beneficial. They actually will transfer banked/borrowed points and more than 1 per year for multiple contracts of a single owner. It is case by case and basically for items where you can't do it otherwise like for that single night or for things like DCL where they all have to be in 1 account.

[psac]

Thanks again everyone. We went ahead and made an offer (and it was accepted!) on a contract with the same Dec UY. It seemed to make the most sense. Now all the fun with contracts, ROFR and all that good stuff...

[Scotch]

Originally Posted by erionm

If they are the same UY and titled exactly the same, they can be added to your existing membership and easily combined with your existing points for a single reservation at 7 months.

If they have a different UY, they will be a different memberships. To combine points you would need to transfer points from one account to the other to make a single reservation at 7 months. Or make separate reservations and have them linked, but you will to check-out and then check-in again on the change day.

I want to hit myself. I never paid attention to these different UY posts in the past, and I had no idea re this. I just made an offer on a contract that has a different use year (than our existing contracts), thinking it didn't make a difference!

Edited to add: If I have the separate reservations linked, do I have to do more than go through the motions of checkin/out the same day? In other words, would we have to move units (in same resort) as well?

[puffkin]

Originally Posted by Scotch

I want to hit myself. I never paid attention to these different UY posts in the past, and I had no idea re this. I just made an offer on a contract that has a different use year (than our existing contracts), thinking it didn't make a difference!

Edited to add: If I have the separate reservations linked, do I have to do more than go through the motions of checkin/out the same day? In other words, would we have to move units (in same resort) as well?

There are a lot of variables (like size of contract, when you are booking, where you are booking, etc). We don't find it to be that big of a deal as we have two contracts. So for trip A I use contract A and for Trip B I use contract B. Everynow and then I am short points. If it is just a couple of points I just buy the one time use points from Disney. If it is more than a few points I just transfer in the points from the other contract. If you are at 7 months it doesn't matter much at all but if you are further out the transferred points following the bookign window of their home resort, not the contract you transfer them into. I've never had to link reservations or anything like that.

[Scotch]

Thank, puffkin. I've read all that I can and I think I actually like the different UY idea just for the additional 2 waitlist benefit. I was thinking why I hadn't bothered to read the different UY posts and realized that I thought that linking and transferring was no big deal -- because it wasn't the last time I looked into this years ago when we bought our last contract (before the new computer upgrade and new transfer rules). Anyway, I've learned my lesson. I need to read more threads here and assume my knowledge may not be current.

[appleorchard]

Having 2 UY contracts means we can transfer points in twice, which can be very helpful on certain years. Ditto for buying the extra points from Disney. It really isn't that difficult to keep track of.

[puffkin]

And another benefit is that you have a much broader range of contracts to consider when buying resale. Our two contracts are June, which is one of the smallest use years so less contracts out there to find. Plus, we tend to take a spring trip every couple of years which makes a June UY not ideal. We are in ROFR now on a SSR Feb UY contract that I will use for our spring trips. The one June SSR contract I use for our late summer/fall trips as I am not horribly concerned with getting the 11 month booking window and usually get what I want at 7 mon. For our early December trips I use our June AKV contract and take advantage of the 11 month window. So it actually works out for us to have different resorts and use years and the majority of our points at SSR (lower price per point buy in and lower MF) ....although I am fine staying at any of the DVC resorts if need be.

I don't find it that difficult managing the contracts seperately. But our contracts are medium sized (100-150 points each) so we can book what we want with banking and borrowing.