Owning both direct and resale points

[Ajaysummer]

You cannot use VGF points to book AKV during the home resort priority booking period. To use VGF points for an AKV stay, you would need to wait until the 7 month window opens to book it.

Points retain their home resort tag when transferred. Even if VGF points are transferred to a membership that has AKV points, the VGF points can only be used to book a non-VGF resort after the 7 month window opens.

If you want to book a 250 point trip at AKV during the home resort priority period (i.e., before the 7 month window opens), all of the points used must be AKV points. They can be from different memberships, but they must be AKV points.

Thank you, that is what I assumed, but wanted to check with people who have done this before haha. I just see so many people on here with like 3-4 different home resorts and I assume most of these people use their points at 7 months out so they can "combine" them? (assuming they are not restricted to Riviera). I was just trying to figure out what the benefit of having points at so many different home resorts would be. I'm guessing you could always take a little bit of a chance and book a few nights at AKV at 11 months out with your AKV points and then finish off your booking at 7 months out with the direct VGF points (understanding there is a risk that someone may book the dates you want between that time period)?

 

[CarolMN]

Thank you, that is what I assumed, but wanted to check with people who have done this before haha. I just see so many people on here with like 3-4 different home resorts and I assume most of these people use their points at 7 months out so they can "combine" them? (assuming they are not restricted to Riviera). I was just trying to figure out what the benefit of having points at so many different home resorts would be. I'm guessing you could always take a little bit of a chance and book a few nights at AKV at 11 months out with your AKV points and then finish off your booking at 7 months out with the direct VGF points (understanding there is a risk that someone may book the dates you want between that time period)?

I think those who own multiple resorts enjoy split stays or bank and borrow to go every other year. Some also rent points the years they don't go to a particular resort.

We own at both VGF & BWV. We like to stay at the VGF for a few nights while we go to the MK and enjoy the MK resort restaurants. Then we spend the rest of the trip at the BWV, where we can walk to both EPCOT & DHS.

 

[Ajaysummer]

I think those who own multiple resorts enjoy split stays or bank and borrow to go every other year. Some also rent points the years they don't go to a particular resort.

We own at both VGF & BWV. We like to stay at the VGF for a few nights while we go to the MK and enjoy the MK resort restaurants. Then we spend the rest of the trip at the BWV, where we can walk to both EPCOT & DHS.

That makes sense. I didn't even consider split stays because my kids are a little young to move around so much right now, but I could definitely see that being a future options once they are a little older. And that's a great idea to bank and borrow points from the different accounts (but keeping them in their respective accounts) so you can take a larger trip to each resort every other year and still take yearly vacations if wanted. I assume that my idea of booking a portion of your trip 11 months out using home resort priority and then attempting to finish the booking at 7 months out using points from another home resort would be an option as well correct?

 

[E2ME2]

That makes sense. I didn't even consider split stays because my kids are a little young to move around so much right now, but I could definitely see that being a future options once they are a little older. And that's a great idea to bank and borrow points from the different accounts (but keeping them in their respective accounts) so you can take a larger trip to each resort every other year and still take yearly vacations if wanted. I assume that my idea of booking a portion of your trip 11 months out using home resort priority and then attempting to finish the booking at 7 months out using points from another home resort would be an option as well correct?

Yes - we always book our "place-holder" reservations at 11-Months and shuffle them around, if desired, at the 7-Month window. Even with the 11-Month advantage, some rooms are hard to get (AKV-Value/K Club Studio, BWV-STD- Studio).

 

[Ajaysummer]

Yes - we always book our "place-holder" reservations at 11-Months and shuffle them around, if desired, at the 7-Month window. Even with the 11-Month advantage, some rooms are hard to get (AKV-Value/K Club Studio, BWV-STD- Studio).

I noted that the AKV-value rooms are quite elusive haha. Being brand new to DVC, what is "K club"?

 

[E2ME2]

I noted that the AKV-value rooms are quite elusive haha. Being brand new to DVC, what is "K club"?

They are the Kilimanjaro Club Level rooms at AKV-Jambo House. They are scarce and hard to book, even with the 11-Month advantage, which was the main reason we added on resale points at AKV!

 

[MartyParty]

We are anticipating buying our first DVC membership in the coming days and plan to buy 150 points direct from Disney to get all the perks/benefits. After speaking with a bunch of you wonderful DVC owners, I am hearing that a lot of you have done the same and then purchased resale contracts for "additional points". I understand the restrictions for resale contracts, which is one of the main reasons we plan to buy direct initially. My question is, for those of you who may have done the same, are these resale points "flagged"? For instance, if I bought resale points at Riviera and moved these points from my resale account to my direct account every year, do these points get flagged as resale points so that the restriction to "only Riviera" still exists, or does that restriction sort of get lost in translation when transferring/gifting from one account to another. I would assume that Disney is well aware of this process and is smart enough to flag these resale points with restrictions to prevent this kind of thing, but wanted to check with those of you who may have experience with this scenario.

Disney keeps track of direct vs resale points. They know. Booking tool for resort stays is programed for the different points.

Do try to keep the same use year (month) for all your points! Its makes is so much easier to manage.

 

[Ajaysummer]

They are the Kilimanjaro Club Level rooms at AKV-Jambo House. They are scarce and hard to book, even with the 11-Month advantage, which was the main reason we added on resale points at AKV!

Ahhh ok, I hadn't even heard of them and I've been looking at different AKV rooms for weeks lol. Must be very scarce. I will definitely have to look into them now.

 

[Ajaysummer]

Disney keeps track of direct vs resale points. They know. Booking tool for resort stays is programed for the different points.

Do try to keep the same use year (month) for all your points! Its makes is so much easier to manage.

Yeah it seems like by having the same UY I will be able to manage from one account rather than having to move points around from account to account correct?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Yeah it seems like by having the same UY I will be able to manage from one account rather than having to move points around from account to account correct?

Yes, with the same UY, you'll have one account to worry about. We have several contracts, all with the same UY, and I feel it's made life so much easier. I know others like to play with multiple UY, and they can certainly transfer points. But one bucket of points can be much easier. Then you just need to worry about the direct/resale status for certain reservations moving forward.

 

[Ajaysummer]

Yes, with the same UY, you'll have one account to worry about. We have several contracts, all with the same UY, and I feel it's made life so much easier. I know others like to play with multiple UY, and they can certainly transfer points. But one bucket of points can be much easier. Then you just need to worry about the direct/resale status for certain reservations moving forward.

Nice, I will definitely keep that in mind when looking for additional points in the future. I really appreciate everyone's help since I am brand new to this and I am already happy to be a part of this club with all these wonderful people!

 

[intamin]

Yeah it seems like by having the same UY I will be able to manage from one account rather than having to move points around from account to account correct?

When you have multiple use years you still have 1 account but multiple memberships. They don't make you have a separate login or anything like that but instead on your user dashboard it will show a membership for each use year you own and will show the points available in each membership. I haven't found it too difficult to own but I love playing around with this stuff so depending on how involved you want to be with your membership a second use year isn't always a bad idea. A second use year can be used to cover the trips that are in the months after the banking window of the first use year and you can reduce your risk of losing points by cancelling.

 

[Lorana]

I was just trying to figure out what the benefit of having points at so many different home resorts would be.

To get that 11 month priority!

But also, we don't mind split stays. We also often fly in late at night, and I confess I hate paying for a 1BR or 2BR when we arrive at 11pm at night, so often I'll book a studio for the first 1, sometimes 2, nights, and then transfer to the larger room after. Disney makes it very easy to transfer, as they will move your luggage/belongings/owners locker to the new resort for you. This gives us a chance to spend some time at two different resorts.

But our different resorts also allow us to be strategic -- stay at CCV & BRV or PVB when doing the Magic Kingdom, RIV for Epcot and Hollywood Studios, AKV for Animal Kingdom. So depending on the "purpose" of our trip, we may want to stay in different areas to make it easier to get to/from the parks we are interested in visiting.

And then of course at 7 months, we can combine things if we want to stay at a resort we don't own (for example, I like to stay at BCV when I take my BFF to Disney for a girls getaway weekend, but I don't own there), or for when we are doing big trips and want to splurge on something like a CCV Cabin or a Grand Villa.

 

[intamin]

To get that 11 month priority!

But also, we don't mind split stays. We also often fly in late at night, and I confess I hate paying for a 1BR or 2BR when we arrive at 11pm at night, so often I'll book a studio for the first 1, sometimes 2, nights, and then transfer to the larger room after. Disney makes it very easy to transfer, as they will move your luggage/belongings/owners locker to the new resort for you. This gives us a chance to spend some time at two different resorts.

But our different resorts also allow us to be strategic -- stay at CCV & BRV or PVB when doing the Magic Kingdom, RIV for Epcot and Hollywood Studios, AKV for Animal Kingdom. So depending on the "purpose" of our trip, we may want to stay in different areas to make it easier to get to/from the parks we are interested in visiting.

And then of course at 7 months, we can combine things if we want to stay at a resort we don't own (for example, I like to stay at BCV when I take my BFF to Disney for a girls getaway weekend, but I don't own there), or for when we are doing big trips and want to splurge on something like a CCV Cabin or a Grand Villa.

I think you may have the most diverse DVC portfolio I've seen so far LOL. But I agree, having the 11 month priority is huge for being able to book standard rooms that are 20% cheaper compared to the more expensive view. If you have smaller contracts you can bank and borrow to stay at 2 different resorts each year and then the following year you bank and borrow for your other 2, whatever you don't use you can always rent or splurge on a bungalow/cabin at 7 months if you're really just trying to get rid of points.