AKV purchase - One big contract or same UY?

[jjnv]

We decided to add 2 contracts for 75 points each on Feb 28. Our current UY is Dec. Since we like to go to WDW the week after Thanksgiving, we want to have the new contract with UY Oct. My DVC rep said it was fine.

Now she called me and told me if we change to Oct UY, we will have to get a new account. It will have to start with at least 150 points.

I am thinking it is more important to get the UY right. Even though it would be nice to have the two smaller contact since we have two kids. We can give them one each. But they are still in elementary school. So I don't have to worry about that for now. Is there any other downside for having two accounts?

If I add on more smaller contracts later, will I always have to keep these 150 points for the account to be valid?

Many thanks for your help,

Jane

 

[tic-toc-croc]

I believe you can sell the 150 pt main contract, and keep the smaller add-on one. Since you have Dec UY, it wouldn't make sense to get an Oct UY just for your Nov travel. But I can see a June UY for your Nov travel, and also works well for summer travel when kids get to middle/high school. It's harder to miss school after about 3rd/4th grade for us. IMHO, if you're going to manage 2 contracts & UYs, why not maximize the flexibility.

Our situation is similar to yours. Our UY is Feb, and usually travel in summer/Nov/Dec. When we added AKV, we went for a new master contract with Oct UY. We wanted to split the new one to 2, but couldn't do it because the main contract has to be min 150. Now with Feb and Oct UYs, we have more flexibility and not have to worry about losing points when we have to cancel trip after banking deadline. Good luck with your decision.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

We just did an ALV add-on and we were able to get a different use year than our original contract (OKW/June UY). Our request was 2 contracts of 150 points total, split between 100 points financed and 50 points paid in full both with an October UY. We received our contracts a few days ago and were able to get exactly what we wanted. The way it worked out is that we now have a second member number as the master contract for the AKV points, with the 2 subcontracts tied to it. But we have what we want - two different resorts with 2 different use years. We believe that we would be more likely to choose to use our AKV points during the winter season times so that is our reason for the Oct UY , as this will put Thanksgiving/Christmas-NY/spring break inside the %100 banking deadline. Works for us. Splitting it us means that if we ever had to sell a contract for whatever reason we wouldn't have to give up the whole shebang. Besides, we will probably give our daughter one of the contracts someday. Which one depends on grandkids and the availability of !

 

[jjnv]

Thanks for the response!

ScottOKW2K, did you have to do something extra to get your contract set up this way? Seems like you got exactly what the rest of us want to do. Do you mind PM me your guide's information. I definetely prefer to have two smaller contract if possible.

 

[tic-toc-croc]

ScottOKW2K, what you got was what my guide said we couldn't do. The new contract has to start with min 150, can't split 150. I hope there's still a chance to get it right. I expect our docs in a few days. Please PM me with your guide's info. Thanks for posting. I wonder why there're different rules at DVC....

 

[jjnv]

I just finish talking to my guide. I told her that I read some members had new account with split contracts. So she went to her manager and put me on hold for a long time. She got bad news when she is back, she said that not only we could not split the contract, now we have to add 160 points to get a new account. That is the new rule starting March 5th. Her manager will not even consider that we initiated the purchase in February.

I think I will probably just keep the old UY and add the two 75 points contracts given the new restriction. It is good to have the option to cancel and keep the point. But so far, we have not canceled any DVC vacation. The airline is not friendly on cancellation any ways. But if what Scott said is true, it is unfair for different managers to apply different rules.

 

[tic-toc-croc]

jjnv - Sent you a PM.

Anyone knows if AKV developer points can be transferred? as long as I use them before they expire after the transfer.

Thanks!

 

[Dean]

I'm not surprised at the answers of 160 points and no splits for a new separate contract, the fact some have gotten it does give hope. What those of you need that want this is to get both the guide and name of the people who have been successful then talk directly to the supervisor yourself. I bet if you have this documentation you will be successful getting the same thing also. It is possible to go above the level of a sales supervisor as well.

 

[tic-toc-croc]

Thanks Dean!

I have had a few failed attempts to reach a sales manager/supervisor. Don't know what else to do to get pass that iron gate. Help! Please post your successful tactics.

 

[surfer_ed]

Can someone help me figure this out since it is confusing. We presently have a June Use Year for SSR. Thinking of adding a AKV add-on for 50-100 points...trying to decide how much.

What is the best UY for me? We normally travel November to first of March. Never in the summer.

Can it and should it be a different UY from our SSR contract?

 

[diznyfanatic]

Can someone help me figure this out since it is confusing. We presently have a June Use Year for SSR. Thinking of adding a AKV add-on for 50-100 points...trying to decide how much.

What is the best UY for me? We normally travel November to first of March. Never in the summer.

Can it and should it be a different UY from our SSR contract?

If you do an add on through Disney, it must be with your current Use Year.

From what I understand, if you want a different Use Year, then you must purchase another 160 point (I think that minimum has been raised recently from 150 points) Master Contract.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

To jjnv - I see you've already received and responded to my email from last night

To tic-toc-croc - my name and guide's name are in a p/m just sent your way.

I'll be glad to help anyone with any information I can. Since this is a public forum I'd rather not post my "real" name, and I'll leave it up to the moderators whether to post my guide's name in this thread or just limit it to email/pm responses.

Good luck to all !

 

[Dean]

Thanks Dean!

I have had a few failed attempts to reach a sales manager/supervisor. Don't know what else to do to get pass that iron gate. Help! Please post your successful tactics.

Take the info you've been provided. If you can't get anyone or don't get what you want or a reasonable explanation, just call the general sales number and explain your situation. If it doesn't get resolved quickly, call the corporate office and work to find the best person there to help you. As I noted, I would be surprised if they made an exception but if they did and you can document it, you may be successful or you may not. Frankly, I'd decide now how much you're willing to push. If you're not willing to take a stand, even possibly cancel, you may want to just move on.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Well. I'm posting yet another follow-up on my AKV purchase. My wife and I were called friday afternoon by a DVC sales manager. It was a fairly long and quite pleasant conversation discussing our purchase. I'll give the details in the body of this message but the net result is that we will get new contracts with our purchase as an add-on to our present contract, June use year.

Yep - kinda like a nascar race. Drive 400 miles to get back where you started.

The primary point - and this was mentioned several times during our conversation - was that having a second master contract imposed several significant limitations on our points usage. The first is when you call into member services : when they look you up in the system they only see one master contract at a time. This is not to say that they cannot access all your information on other master contracts, it's just that it does require extra effort and therefore increases the possibility of mistakes occurring. The second and more limiting aspect is in the actual points usage. With the one master OKW contract and add-on AKV contracts we would be free when making a reservation to use all OKW points, all AKV points, or a mix of both depending on what our reservation needed and what we have in our account. To do the same with separate master contracts you would have to use one contract for one set of days, the other contract for another set of days but to actually "mix" points you would have to transfer points between contracts which can only occur once per year. This is a significant (!) limitation !

This is the main reason why they recommend against what we were requesting. They indicated that in almost every instance in the past where contracts like this have been sold the owners have come back later asking "why did you let me do this ?" DVC tries to avoid doing this now based on past experience, and will only do so if the owner is trying to purchase points at a sold-out resort where no points are available with the owners current UY.

Our reason for trying to do this was to have the %100 banking deadline covers the Thanksgiving/Christmas~NewYear/Spring Break time period. Though this does have some small advantage their (and our ) experience is that most reservations are made at the 11 or 7 month window and that the separate UY does not really make a significant difference.

One last item - they read the boards too. I'm sure they get a few laughs out of us . They did request that we call them back if we had any further concerns, complaints , or questions. I would be glad to provide this information to any who are interested as they have already given their blessing on this. They even referred to my ScottOKW2K moniker.

So - back to waiting on another fedex delivery and another trip to the bank for some notarized signatures. I have actually found this to be a pleasant experience and it re-affirms our respect for Disney and DVC. Instead of rubber-stamping the contract and passing it on through they showed that they not only have procedures in place to catch potential problems but the willingness to work with their customers to do what is best for the customer. Considering many of the horror stories we have heard about the less reputable timeshares out there this is quite gratifying to know.

Looking forward (again) to being a AKV owner !

 

[Dean]

Well. I'm posting yet another follow-up on my AKV purchase. My wife and I were called friday afternoon by a DVC sales manager. It was a fairly long and quite pleasant conversation discussing our purchase. I'll give the details in the body of this message but the net result is that we will get new contracts with our purchase as an add-on to our present contract, June use year.

Yep - kinda like a nascar race. Drive 400 miles to get back where you started.

The primary point - and this was mentioned several times during our conversation - was that having a second master contract imposed several significant limitations on our points usage. The first is when you call into member services : when they look you up in the system they only see one master contract at a time. This is not to say that they cannot access all your information on other master contracts, it's just that it does require extra effort and therefore increases the possibility of mistakes occurring. The second and more limiting aspect is in the actual points usage. With the one master OKW contract and add-on AKV contracts we would be free when making a reservation to use all OKW points, all AKV points, or a mix of both depending on what our reservation needed and what we have in our account. To do the same with separate master contracts you would have to use one contract for one set of days, the other contract for another set of days but to actually "mix" points you would have to transfer points between contracts which can only occur once per year. This is a significant (!) limitation !

This is the main reason why they recommend against what we were requesting. They indicated that in almost every instance in the past where contracts like this have been sold the owners have come back later asking "why did you let me do this ?" DVC tries to avoid doing this now based on past experience, and will only do so if the owner is trying to purchase points at a sold-out resort where no points are available with the owners current UY.

Our reason for trying to do this was to have the %100 banking deadline covers the Thanksgiving/Christmas~NewYear/Spring Break time period. Though this does have some small advantage their (and our ) experience is that most reservations are made at the 11 or 7 month window and that the separate UY does not really make a significant difference.

One last item - they read the boards too. I'm sure they get a few laughs out of us . They did request that we call them back if we had any further concerns, complaints , or questions. I would be glad to provide this information to any who are interested as they have already given their blessing on this. They even referred to my ScottOKW2K moniker.

So - back to waiting on another fedex delivery and another trip to the bank for some notarized signatures. I have actually found this to be a pleasant experience and it re-affirms our respect for Disney and DVC. Instead of rubber-stamping the contract and passing it on through they showed that they not only have procedures in place to catch potential problems but the willingness to work with their customers to do what is best for the customer. Considering many of the horror stories we have heard about the less reputable timeshares out there this is quite gratifying to know.

Looking forward (again) to being a AKV owner !

All true other than the issue that these are significant limiations. Personally I'd have gone the way you did but think it was not big deal to get a new use year either. I'm glad it worked out to your satisfaction.

 

[tic-toc-croc]

SCOTTOKW2K, thanks for posting, very good info. Glad things worked out for you.