Newbie question: Using points to make reservation

[Disneymooner07]

We are about to close on our first DVC contract, 150 points at BCV with a Feb UY! Woohoo!

So of course I am excited to make our first reservation, hopefully for a 1BR at VGC in July that will need 220 points. I will need to make it right on the 7 month mark (which will be in December) if I have any hope of getting it, so I want to be prepared. The contract we are getting has 135 2015 UY points that I'd like to use, but I would like to not touch the 2016 points at all because I want to bank those for our big 2017 trip and I will need every single point (and then some, I am planning to borrow 2018 points as well)

So my question is...when I go to make the reservation for GCV, will I need to get additional points transferred in *before* I make the reservation or can I make the reservation and *then* get transfer points at some later date to use for the reservation? I don't want to make a mistake and not be able to use my 2016 points for the 2017 trip. I have never even seen the reservation website, so I don't know how this works! Any help and advice is much appreciated!!

 

[CMNJ]

You must have the points in your account at the time of booking in order to make the reservation so you will either need to get transfer ahead of time or use your own points to book the reservation. However if you get a transfer from another member afterward supposedly you can call MS to have them reallocate the points (free up your 2016 points by using the transferred ones instead) since you aren't using the home resort advantage. I haven't done this myself but have read about it on the boards. Also if you are talking about the one time use points Disney offers MS isn't supposed to apply them retroactively to a previously made reservation. You can buy up to 24 points at the 7 month window for $15 a point in order to help to make a reservation BUT it is supposed to be for new bookings only and must be done over the phone with member services.

 

[DenLo]

You will need to find someone that is willing to transfer the points to you and their points cannot be banked points. You can bank them once they are transferred if needed. Any reservation using transferred points will need to be made by MS. So you could at the 7 month mark at 8:00 AM EST, make an online reservation using your banked points from 2015 on your own account for less nights. You can bank your 2015 points ahead of time or while online making the reservation. I would do it ahead of schedule. Then when MS opens at 9:00 AM EST you can call MS and have them add on the additional nights using a combination of the transferred points and your own points.

Sometimes transferring doesn't work out because the other owner's points are banked so then that owner could make a reservation using their points for you for some of the nights and you use your points to bank as many nights as your points will cover. Also at the 7 month mark you are eligible to purchase up to 24 one time use points in a single use year for $15 per point. That sometimes makes those dangling leftover points useable and adds another night to the reservation.

I hope your closing is quick and MS makes record time getting your account set up so you are good to go for the 7 month mark in December. It will be tight.

 

[BillPA]

The contract we are getting has 135 2015 UY points that I'd like to use,

If the current owner did NOT bank these points, they will need to be used before Jan 31, 2016. You are past the banking window for a Feb use year.

 

[Disneymooner07]

You must have the points in your account at the time of booking in order to make the reservation so you will either need to get transfer ahead of time or use your own points to book the reservation. However if you get a transfer from another member afterward supposedly you can call MS to have them reallocate the points (free up your 2016 points by using the transferred ones instead) since you aren't using the home resort advantage. I haven't done this myself but have read about it on the boards. Also if you are talking about the one time use points Disney offers MS isn't supposed to apply them retroactively to a previously made reservation. You can buy up to 24 points at the 7 month window for $15 a point in order to help to make a reservation BUT it is supposed to be for new bookings only and must be done over the phone with member services.

You will need to find someone that is willing to transfer the points to you and their points cannot be banked points. You can bank them once they are transferred if needed. Any reservation using transferred points will need to be made by MS. So you could at the 7 month mark at 8:00 AM EST, make an online reservation using your banked points from 2015 on your own account for less nights. You can bank your 2015 points ahead of time or while online making the reservation. I would do it ahead of schedule. Then when MS opens at 9:00 AM EST you can call MS and have them add on the additional nights using a combination of the transferred points and your own points.

Sometimes transferring doesn't work out because the other owner's points are banked so then that owner could make a reservation using their points for you for some of the nights and you use your points to bank as many nights as your points will cover. Also at the 7 month mark you are eligible to purchase up to 24 one time use points in a single use year for $15 per point. That sometimes makes those dangling leftover points useable and adds another night to the reservation.

I hope your closing is quick and MS makes record time getting your account set up so you are good to go for the 7 month mark in December. It will be tight.

This is so helpful! It sounds like it might be easiest if I use my own points to make the reservation so I can do it online right at 8:00am (5:00am PST ) and then call MS later to use the transfer points and put my 2016 points back into the 2016 pool. It makes me a little nervous in case they tell me I then can't bank those points because they were already "used" to make a reservation, but sounds like that shouldn't be an issue?

I am hoping for a quick close also. They have all the sellers' and our documents already, so supposedly closing should be this week or early next week. Of course there's Thanksgiving which will slow things down, but I'm hopeful by the third week in December? Which will give me just enough time to get familiar with the website before making the reservation!

If the current owner did NOT bank these points, they will need to be used before Jan 31, 2016. You are past the banking window for a Feb use year.

They are already banked, so need to be used before February 2017. Oh darn, have to use them for a trip I guess!

 

[Disneymooner07]

Clarification - if I make the reservation and then call MS to reallocate the points (change from my 2016 points to transfer points), does the reservation have to be independently available still? Or does it not matter because I didn't use home resort points to get the reservation? I am worried that by the time I call MS, there may not be another identical reservation available!

 

[supersnoop]

Clarification - if I make the reservation and then call MS to reallocate the points (change from my 2016 points to transfer points), does the reservation have to be independently available still? Or does it not matter because I didn't use home resort points to get the reservation? I am worried that by the time I call MS, there may not be another identical reservation available!

No. Correct. The reservation does not need to be available.

 

[disneynutz]

You need to call and talk to a manager or get lucky and get an MS Advisor who knows what to do. MS has trouble with transferred points, we were told that our transferred points didn't exist, after pushing they found them then told me that they were for the wrong UY. Finally a team line CM made our changes, total time on phone, around 50 minutes.

Bill