Can I "Buy points"?

[kmk1180]

Hi,
I very new to the DVC so as I ask questions they may seem silly to veterans but your help is apprecaited.
We just won a 3 year membership to DVC. We haven't recieved our paperwork yet so I haven't been able to read up alot about it.
And I can't wait the 4-6 weeks to get it to learn and get questions answers.

First question...The first trip we would like would be to Vero Beach for a week. We would need 240 points. I'm being given 235. Can I "buy"
the extra 5 points without borrowing from next years points?
And if so how much per point would it be?

 

[goldenears]

Not sure if you can buy the 5 extra points. I think you may be able to, but not sure what the stipulations are b/c you won your membership. I will let someone else chime in on that.
I do know that you can try to rent 5 points from another member though. Someone might have this small amt. of points that they are trying to get rid of. You might want to look on the rental board for this. If you can find someone, then they can transfer the points to your account.

 

[Tara]

Hi,
I very new to the DVC so as I ask questions they may seem silly to veterans but your help is apprecaited.
We just won a 3 year membership to DVC. We haven't recieved our paperwork yet so I haven't been able to read up alot about it.
And I can't wait the 4-6 weeks to get it to learn and get questions answers.

First question...The first trip we would like would be to Vero Beach for a week. We would need 240 points. I'm being given 235. Can I "buy"
the extra 5 points without borrowing from next years points?
And if so how much per point would it be?

First of all, congratulations!

No, I don't believe what you're hoping to do is possible - but you can pay cash for one night of your stay. I believe each night has to be all points or all cash - you can't "pay" for a night with some points and some cash. Members are able to get a discount (when available) of 25% off cash reservations, though. Or you could go for 6 days and bank the remaining points into next year.

 

[chatchdvc]

Congratulations!

I entered a couple of contests online this summer, and they both stated no banking or borrowing of the points in the rules. So I don't think thats an option. I agree with the PP who mentioned paying one night with cash.

 

[JimMIA]

Obviously, your membership is different from the regular DVC membership so it's hard to really answer your question.

However...with a normal DVC membership, you can bank and/or borrow up to one year's allocation of points. In the example you pose, it would be no big deal. When you make your VB ressie, MS would simply "borrow" the 5 points from your next year's allocation.

The only trick to that is that borrowing and banking transactions are both irreversible transactions -- so if you borrowed and then had to cancel, you would not be able to put the borrowed points back in their original use year.

Since yours is a special type of membership, you may have to wait until you receive all your paperwork and then call MS and ask them to walk you through the reservations. It's possible that your membership does not carry the banking and borrowing privileges of a normal membership.

 

[MatterhornMiss]

Congratulations!

 

[Buckeye Fan]

That's incredible! Congratulations!

As others have said, since this is different from our contracts, I'm not sure how it would work and what the rules are. If for some reason they will not let you bank or borrow, you may look to rent a few points on the rent/trade board. Another DVCer could transfer points into your account. I would ask if someone you knew transfered points to you, could you bank those? If the answer is yes, then you can rent, use what you need and bank the rest.

Otherwise, go out to the resale websites (Timeshare store link is listed in this website) and price a 25 point contract. You can decide if that's worth your time. You can rent points for $10 - 12 per point, so that should help you compare options.

 

[lingber]

Wow! That is great! What type of contest did you win?

 

[kmk1180]

Congratulations!

I entered a couple of contests online this summer, and they both stated no banking or borrowing of the points in the rules. So I don't think thats an option. I agree with the PP who mentioned paying one night with cash.

Just checked the rules...yes your right it says points must be used within the 12 months or they expire.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[kmk1180]

Wow! That is great! What type of contest did you win?

It was the ABC AFV Dream Vacation Sweepstakes.
I'm amazed I won. Odds had to be huge.
If your curious I shared the story on another thread.
Including later in the thread the details of finding out.
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1997682

Sorry if it's bragging but I'm very excited.

 

[TinaLampus]

Sorry if it's bragging but I'm very excited.

Brag away, it's totally exciting!!! Congratulations!!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

It was the ABC AFV Dream Vacation Sweepstakes.
I'm amazed I won. Odds had to be huge.
If your curious I shared the story on another thread.
Including later in the thread the details of finding out.
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1997682

Sorry if it's bragging but I'm very excited.

Wow....awesome. Congrats to you ! I hope u enjoy all your DVC trips !!! Several others have answered your questions. I'd say renting the amount for that extra night is the way to go.

 

[dvc_john]

Congratulations!

It's nice to see a neighbor (I'm in Davenport) win something!!!