Sharing a Frustration

[Basket Mommy]

I love DVC. I really do. But there is one thing that really upsets me, and that is that you cannot book online if you're using points from 2 different contracts. I'm one of those that bought through resale, just because I like to save money and I could get more points if they were cheaper. So, I own 2 different contracts.

I was checking out DVC's new "What's available?" (not sure of the name) feature on Sunday night around 8 pm. I lucked upon a 4-night stay in a 2BR Villa at VGF for dates that we could do without missing school. My family has been trying to get into VGF since it opened. I could not believe my luck! I went to book it, and I didn't have enough points in one contract for the entire stay. I couldn't borrow enough from 2017 to book the entire vacation. I could've booked a couple of days on one contract and a couple on the other, but sometimes when you do that you have to change rooms. I tried calling the DVC member line, but they're gone at 530 on Sundays. I crossed my fingers and hoped that the room would still be available as soon as member services opened on Monday. Of course it wasn't. I'm crushed. I don't see why the system is not set up to let people combine points from 2 contracts for one stay. Surely there are more people like me who own 2 different contracts, esp. if they bought X amt of points at say Beach Club and X amt from BLT. Or do points from other resorts get added to the same contract if you buy directly from Disney?

[faline]

Sorry you missed out on that room. I bought resale as well but have only one contract so I've never experienced what you go through. It does sound quite frustrating and it would seem that you should be able to use the different contracts in a more seamless way!!

[dlpmikki]

I have two contracts at the same resort and I can't combine them either. I agree, it can be frustrating!

[Hammer]

I have 2 contracts as well. What I do is transfer the points from one contract to the other so I have one pool of points when I go to book a resort. Though, this may only be possible because both of my contracts have the same use year.

[VWL Mom]

That's too bad, had you booked the two days and two days MS may have been able to combine them for you. They would have done the transfer and then made them one reservation. Same goes for a waitlist that clears, they can now combine them into one reservation rather than just link them.

I have three contracts @ VWL (2 direct, one resale) but they're all the same use year so they all appear under my master contract.

[Basket Mommy]

My contracts have different use years. One is February and the other is April. Both are HHI.

[dlpmikki]

Mine are different use years but at the same resort. I believe I can do one transfer a year - a bit like giving points to another member. Sometimes I do but not often. Just occasionally it is a nuisance as in your situation but not often.

[SBETigg]

This sounds frustrating. Sorry it did not work out.

I've been considering adding on to my points, eventually, but it seems easier to stick with one resort, same use year instead of buying points somewhere else. Definitely something to consider.

[ThanxForNoticin]

We have several contracts from over the years, but we always stuck with a recommendation made to us by the re-seller. Buy the same use year. We have the ability to use points from our Disney-purchased contract and from our resale contract to make a single reservation. I believe your frustration comes from the different use years. But I understand how irritating that is when you see the exact rooms you want, something prevents you from making the reservation, and the room is gone when you go back to check again. You're better off if you never saw it was available in the first place! Hope things work out for you.

[baldburke]

DVC rule one...always buy for the same use year! As Hammer noted it does make for easier (maybe not the easiest, but certainly easier) planning. There are people that may want or need separate uses years, but by and large it is best to keep the same use year when adding points.

[Ed]

DVC rule one...always buy for the same use year! As Hammer noted it does make for easier (maybe not the easiest, but certainly easier) planning. There are people that may want or need separate uses years, but by and large it is best to keep the same use year when adding points.

Bingo! We have five contracts at three different resorts, but all five are the same use year, and we've never had the kind of problems described in our ten years as members.

[dlpmikki]

Bingo! We have five contracts at three different resorts, but all five are the same use year, and we've never had the kind of problems described in our ten years as members.

I hear what you say but we got our resale at $51 a point and it has been worth the occasional hassle! (Over 25 years of membership!)

[Basket Mommy]

DVC rule one...always buy for the same use year! As Hammer noted it does make for easier (maybe not the easiest, but certainly easier) planning. There are people that may want or need separate uses years, but by and large it is best to keep the same use year when adding points.

I understand that buying the same use year would've helped me, but fact is, I own 2 use years and won't be buying more points, so I'm stuck with what I have. If I'd have known, maybe I would've done it right, but I didn't.

I hear what you say but we got our resale at $51 a point and it has been worth the occasional hassle! (Over 25 years of membership!)

Exactly. We found an awesome loaded contract for HHI that we could not pass up. Disney should be the ones to make this easier for us, not harder. But until they make the online reservation process easier, I'll have to live with 2 use years.

[DizneyRox]

Yep, use year is the key. Same use year, no bubbles, no troubles...

[Park Hopper]

I just ran into a similar thing and I have a single contract. It is a long story but I will try to make it short. My use year starts in June. I had 28 points that were banked from the previous year (from June 2014) that were due to expire at the end of May. I had banked all my my June 2015 points because I was not sure when we would be able to book this year. Turns out that we are going to be able to go at the end of May (2016) and into June. I found what I wanted available on-line. My 28 expiring points were not enough to cover my May days so I actually had to borrow from June 2016 points to have enough (can't move points back after they have been banked). Once June hits the reservation will then dig into the June 2015 banked points. Anyway, this was too much for the on-line system.

Luckily, I called (DVC was still open) and they made the proper arrangements and I was happy that it is all on the same reservation. I am not a programmer, so I do not know how hard it would be to have the system figure all that out on-line. It would be nice, but I can understand the potential for a whole lot of issues and complications with that, especially if one is not as familiar with how the points work.