Use year question

[GEOLIZ]

After 19 years owning at BWV finally making the plunge for an additional contract. As I understand it if I buy elsewhere but keep the same use year the points will show under my current membership and I will be able to combine them for reservations at the 7 month mark. If I have a different use year I'll have 2 memberships and will need to transfer between the 2 which is limited in the number of times this can be done annually. Correct?

 

[BillPA]

You are correct about the 7 month booking. But you don't have to transfer, you can just book x nights with one contract, and y nights with the other contract then have MS link those 2 reservations.

 

[GEOLIZ]

You are correct about the 7 month booking. But you don't have to transfer, you can just book x nights with one contract, and y nights with the other contract then have MS link those 2 reservations.

So doesn't that risk that maybe the 2nd part of the reservation won't be available if you have to do 2 separate transactions? I was thinking that having the same use year would be more convenient but haven't found anything yet with the right parameters to buy thru resale.

 

[MrInfinity]

If you intend to use these yourself combining them to get a vacation, it makes sense to get them on the same use year, same contract. If you would tend to use them separately, then I wouldn't see as much an obstacle, maybe even a slight benefit. Like say you wanted points at BLT and at BWV, and you intended to take trips to BLT in June and BWV in December, then it would be fine to get a BLT June UY and a BWV Dec UY because you're not mixing the points in general. If you only own BWV and you're buying additional BWV, I would only consider matching up the UY. Otherwise you'll have fewer points on each contract which will limit the amount of days you can book on any one contract... Like if you can only book 4 days on each contract, then you are missing the benefit of being able to book your arrival date +8. You'd be booking arrival +4 and then another arrival +4, later on the other contract. Having the bigger pool of points will be easier in every way for playing around w sandbox reservations.

Yes you can transfer one to the other, but even that is not great. You can do it once per UY (which in itself is fine, cuz you just transfer them all and you're done) but you can only transfer current points, so you still can't get the full flexibility that you can if you had them all in one account where you'd have access to all of your bank and borrow options. Then transferred points won't show up in your online view, so you have to call member services for every res instead of using the online tools and seeing all your points.

Waitlisting w a split / linked res would be a nightmare. You'd have to waitlist on both accounts, and hope that one doesn't score and the other fail, or you'd have yourself a mess.

For all these reasons, if you're matching the resort you already have, I'd pay more to get the UY to match up too.

 

[BillPA]

Yes, there as always a risk of not getting what you require/desire, even at 11 mo.

 

[GEOLIZ]

If you intend to use these yourself combining them to get a vacation, it makes sense to get them on the same use year, same contract. If you would tend to use them separately, then I wouldn't see as much an obstacle, maybe even a slight benefit. Like say you wanted points at BLT and at BWV, and you intended to take trips to BLT in June and BWV in December, then it would be fine to get a BLT June UY and a BWV Dec UY because you're not mixing the points in general. If you only own BWV and you're buying additional BWV, I would only consider matching up the UY. Otherwise you'll have fewer points on each contract which will limit the amount of days you can book on any one contract... Like if you can only book 4 days on each contract, then you are missing the benefit of being able to book your arrival date +8. You'd be booking arrival +4 and then another arrival +4, later on the other contract. Having the bigger pool of points will be easier in every way for playing around w sandbox reservations.

Yes you can transfer one to the other, but even that is not great. You can do it once per UY (which in itself is fine, cuz you just transfer them all and you're done) but you can only transfer current points, so you still can't get the full flexibility that you can if you had them all in one account where you'd have access to all of your bank and borrow options. Then transferred points won't show up in your online view, so you have to call member services for every res instead of using the online tools and seeing all your points.

Waitlisting w a split / linked res would be a nightmare. You'd have to waitlist on both accounts, and hope that one doesn't score and the other fail, or you'd have yourself a mess.

For all these reasons, if you're matching the resort you already have, I'd pay more to get the UY to match up too.

Thanks so much - all good points. I've never found the need to waitlist in all these years but there is always a first as our usage is definitely changing as our family ages. Will have to stalk those resales and make a decision.

The wealth of knowledge contributed on these boards is incredible.

 

[Dean]

After 19 years owning at BWV finally making the plunge for an additional contract. As I understand it if I buy elsewhere but keep the same use year the points will show under my current membership and I will be able to combine them for reservations at the 7 month mark. If I have a different use year I'll have 2 memberships and will need to transfer between the 2 which is limited in the number of times this can be done annually. Correct?

If it's a separate UY it will be a separate master membership but just because it's the same UY, or even the same home resort and UY, it isn't automatically added to the current membership. If it's titled EXACTLY the same way it has generally be added but there's no requirement they continue to do so.

 

[Cbtexan04]

How would you handle add-ons? Say in the future I want to add on a smaller 25 point contract, since my current is too small. Would you just transfer the 25 into the larger contract, and call member services, or is there an easier way?

 

[Dean]

How would you handle add-ons? Say in the future I want to add on a smaller 25 point contract, since my current is too small. Would you just transfer the 25 into the larger contract, and call member services, or is there an easier way?

As a rule I'd ONLY purchase a small add on that that was the same UY and home resort as what I owned already. In your case, assuming the 120 SSR points is all you have, I'd want to be completely educated and experienced before I proceeded too deep into this. Ultimately you need to be sure about where you're going with this. Do you want/need home resort priority elsewhere, will the current perks be of value, do you need more points than the 145? and similar questions.

IMO and at the current time, if I owned 120 resale points and felt like 25 additional points would set me for years, I'd do a 25 point add on retail at SSR. I'd go retail because for 25 points it doesn't make sense to do otherwise and you'd pick up the retail options that are actually helpful (the ones lost in 2011 did members a favor). I'd buy SSR because 25 points at a different resort won't give you many options (unless you have a larger master plan to end up with more points elsewhere). But any other variables might change my answer to you. I'd look 5 & 10 yrs down the road and see where you want to be at that time then I'd figure out how to get there for the least amount of cost and on cash hopefully with qualified options.

• If you think 145 at SSR will do you for some time then I'd just add same UY retail.
• If you think that you need a different home resort for some trips AND more points, I'd likely do a 25 point add on at that resort then start planning to do the rest retail assuming you need a fair amount more than 50 total at the new resort. In almost all cases I'd do that under the same master as well and to do so retail, it normally has to be the same home resort and titled the same (I'm aware of a few exceptions over the years though) to buy just 25 points retail anyway.
• if you're just not sure what you want, which is likely the best answer for most people at your stage, You might do the 25 point retail add on at SSR locked in to my current master contract then see how it goes for a couple of years. Once you have experience and get past some of the emotions, you'll make a far better decision for your personal situation.
• I can make a case for just using the 120 points and putting off your decision until you have a couple of trips under you're belt. That way you could make a better long term decision. There are 2 things that could get you later though. One, DVD may stop selling 25 point contracts or they may not continue access to the perks based on such a purchase. The other is they might stop combining master contracts when buying resale which is only an issue if you're thinking about adding more later. But even if they did both, it's not likely they'd cut one off without notice.
• IF you're thinking of a situation where you might want a separate master contract then I'd wait and get your overall plan in place at least on paper before deciding on the add on. I'd likely delay the add on in most such situations.

 

[Cbtexan04]

As a rule I'd ONLY purchase a small add on that that was the same UY and home resort as what I owned already. In your case, assuming the 120 SSR points is all you have, I'd want to be completely educated and experienced before I proceeded too deep into this. Ultimately you need to be sure about where you're going with this. Do you want/need home resort priority elsewhere, will the current perks be of value, do you need more points than the 145? and similar questions.

IMO and at the current time, if I owned 120 resale points and felt like 25 additional points would set me for years, I'd do a 25 point add on retail at SSR. I'd go retail because for 25 points it doesn't make sense to do otherwise and you'd pick up the retail options that are actually helpful (the ones lost in 2011 did members a favor). I'd buy SSR because 25 points at a different resort won't give you many options (unless you have a larger master plan to end up with more points elsewhere). But any other variables might change my answer to you. I'd look 5 & 10 yrs down the road and see where you want to be at that time then I'd figure out how to get there for the least amount of cost and on cash hopefully with qualified options.

• If you think 145 at SSR will do you for some time then I'd just add same UY retail.
• If you think that you need a different home resort for some trips AND more points, I'd likely do a 25 point add on at that resort then start planning to do the rest retail assuming you need a fair amount more than 50 total at the new resort. In almost all cases I'd do that under the same master as well and to do so retail, it normally has to be the same home resort and titled the same (I'm aware of a few exceptions over the years though) to buy just 25 points retail anyway.
• if you're just not sure what you want, which is likely the best answer for most people at your stage, You might do the 25 point retail add on at SSR locked in to my current master contract then see how it goes for a couple of years. Once you have experience and get past some of the emotions, you'll make a far better decision for your personal situation.
• I can make a case for just using the 120 points and putting off your decision until you have a couple of trips under you're belt. That way you could make a better long term decision. There are 2 things that could get you later though. One, DVD may stop selling 25 point contracts or they may not continue access to the perks based on such a purchase. The other is they might stop combining master contracts when buying resale which is only an issue if you're thinking about adding more later. But even if they did both, it's not likely they'd cut one off without notice.
• IF you're thinking of a situation where you might want a separate master contract then I'd wait and get your overall plan in place at least on paper before deciding on the add on. I'd likely delay the add on in most such situations.

Thanks for the very detailed reply! I'm leaning towards doing an add-on at retail for the benefits, just as you said. We had initially planned to do such, since my wife and I figured that would hedge our bets against any perks that retail members would get but resale would not (though I understand these are not guaranteed for either resale or retail). Buying an add-on now would also take any sort of worry about them upping the limits on add-ons, or even preventing them entirely for resale.

My primary concern is how it would work with using points on a master contract when we have an add on. Are we able to book with 145 points, or do we have to do some work to be able to use the 25 along with the 120?

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the very detailed reply! I'm leaning towards doing an add-on at retail for the benefits, just as you said. We had initially planned to do such, since my wife and I figured that would hedge our bets against any perks that retail members would get but resale would not (though I understand these are not guaranteed for either resale or retail). Buying an add-on now would also take any sort of worry about them upping the limits on add-ons, or even preventing them entirely for resale.

My primary concern is how it would work with using points on a master contract when we have an add on. Are we able to book with 145 points, or do we have to do some work to be able to use the 25 along with the 120?

If you buy retail it'll be matched to your master account and from a use standpoint it'll be seamless just as if it was one 145 point contract. They do track the points separately but it'd only matter if you were looking at selling or changing the title on one or the other at some point. If a different home resort, they'd be separate until the 7 month window then seamless as well.

 

[Cbtexan04]

If you buy retail it'll be matched to your master account and from a use standpoint it'll be seamless just as if it was one 145 point contract. They do track the points separately but it'd only matter if you were looking at selling or changing the title on one or the other at some point. If a different home resort, they'd be separate until the 7 month window then seamless as well.

Thanks! We would definitely keep the same use year and resort. Appreciate all the info!

 

[CarolMN]

.....(snip)..........My primary concern is how it would work with using points on a master contract when we have an add on. Are we able to book with 145 points, or do we have to do some work to be able to use the 25 along with the 120?

If the 25 point contract is for the same home resort and use year, and if it is titled exactly the same as your Master, the 25 point contract should be added to the same master contract (Membership) as your initial 120 points. Your master (120 point) contract would be numbered abcxxx.000 and your add-on abcxxx.001 (Since you are buying retail, I would make buying contingent on that all happening correctly. Your sales guide should be able to do it easily). Assuming that happens, for booking, your contract will act as though it is one contract for 145 points. You will be easily able to book online at both 11 month and 7 month windows.

You won't be able to pay for certain non-DVC options using the initial 120 points, but your retail add on contract will qualify you for all of the perks and benefits.

While it is possible that Disney may stop combining retail and non-retail contracts, I do not believe it likely - at least in the next several years. The more members that can easily book online means less calls (staff) at MS. Disney has to eat MS costs above a certain level. (I believe that is why it took so long to get online booking - Disney didn't see a need to do it until they had to hire more staff than the "budget" allowed).

 

[Dean]

Thanks! We would definitely keep the same use year and resort. Appreciate all the info!

Sure, enjoy.

 

[BestDadEver]

I'd want the same UY if I was adding on it would become much more work to maintain the dates and such

 

[icydog]

If the 25 point contract is for the same home resort and use year, and if it is titled exactly the same as your Master, the 25 point contract should be added to the same master contract (Membership) as your initial 120 points. Your master (120 point) contract would be numbered abcxxx.000 and your add-on abcxxx.001 (Since you are buying retail, I would make buying contingent on that all happening correctly. Your sales guide should be able to do it easily). Assuming that happens, for booking, your contract will act as though it is one contract for 145 points. You will be easily able to book online at both 11 month and 7 month windows.

You won't be able to pay for certain non-DVC options using the initial 120 points, but your retail add on contract will qualify you for all of the perks and benefits.

While it is possible that Disney may stop combining retail and non-retail contracts, I do not believe it likely - at least in the next several years. The more members that can easily book online means less calls (staff) at MS. Disney has to eat MS costs above a certain level. (I believe that is why it took so long to get online booking - Disney didn't see a need to do it until they had to hire more staff than the "budget" allowed).

I own a lot of Disney's Beach Club and Disney's Old Key West points. I bought them all on the Resale market. I recently added 25 points at OKW directly from the developer. I did this to get all the benefits Disney Vacation Club took away. What exactly WON'T I be able to do with my Resale points. Some were bought in 2011 and some in November 2016. The Retail 25 point contract was purchased in December 2016.

 

[Dean]

I own a lot of Disney's Beach Club and Disney's Old Key West points. I bought them all on the Resale market. I recently added 25 points at OKW directly from the developer. I did this to get all the benefits Disney Vacation Club took away. What exactly WON'T I be able to do with my Resale points. Some were bought in 2011 and some in November 2016. The Retail 25 point contract was purchased in December 2016.

With the 2011 points you didn't pick up any benefits with the 25 pt retail purchase. You won't be able to use for cash exchanges since all of your points came after that was removed but you already had the incidental benefits removed April 2016 without the additional retail purchase.