A few more complicated questions..

[cherylmc]

Hi -

We are thinking of purchasing DVC via resale, but I have a couple of questions regarding transfers that I was not able to find the answers to on the other threads. Any help that you can provide will be appreciated...

1) I want to know if it is possible to transfer points into my account prior to the 7th month window in order for those points to be available for a reservation as soon as the 7th month window opens?

Example situation (I am excluding borrowing and banking points in this illustration in order to make it as simple as possible. I do understand how borrowing and banking could make this example different):

I buy a 25 AKV points contract with 25 points available on 10/1/09. I know that I want to rent an AK 2BR unit for a total point cost of 300 starting on August 20, 2010. I want to obtain the additional 275 points via transfer from an SSR owner. Can I arrange to have the 275 points transferred prior to January 2010 in order to have them available when I call 7 months out on January 20, 2010? (I do realize I might have to bank the transferred points depending on their UY.)

2) Is it true that I would need to make sure the transferred points have AT LEAST 4 months remaining in their UY in order to be able to bank them, or would the 4 month deadline be based on MY UY?

3) editing... Thought of one more.... My assumption is that you have to have the points required for a reservation in your account at the time of the reservation (or you should have enough available through borrowing). I'm assuming you CANNOT make a 300 point reservation with only 25 points available (or 50 w/borrowing) and THEN make arrangements to transfer the remaining points. Is that correct?

Cheryl

 

[RobDoc]

Hi -

We are thinking of purchasing DVC via resale, but I have a couple of questions regarding transfers that I was not able to find the answers to on the other threads. Any help that you can provide will be appreciated...

1) I want to know if it is possible to transfer points into my account prior to the 7th month window in order for those points to be available for a reservation as soon as the 7th month window opens?

Example situation (I am excluding borrowing and banking points in this illustration in order to make it as simple as possible. I do understand how borrowing and banking could make this example different):

I buy a 25 AKV points contract with 25 points available on 10/1/09. I know that I want to rent an AK 2BR unit for a total point cost of 300 starting on August 20, 2010. I want to obtain the additional 275 points via transfer from an SSR owner. Can I arrange to have the 275 points transferred prior to January 2010 in order to have them available when I call 7 months out on January 20, 2010? (I do realize I might have to bank the transferred points depending on their UY.)

2) Is it true that I would need to make sure the transferred points have AT LEAST 4 months remaining in their UY in order to be able to bank them, or would the 4 month deadline be based on MY UY?

3) editing... Thought of one more.... My assumption is that you have to have the points required for a reservation in your account at the time of the reservation (or you should have enough available through borrowing). I'm assuming you CANNOT make a 300 point reservation with only 25 points available (or 50 w/borrowing) and THEN make arrangements to transfer the remaining points. Is that correct?

Cheryl

Yes, you may have points transferred into your account prior to making the reservation - in fact, that is the only way to make that reservation at 7 months since the points must already be apparently available in your account (by banking, borrowing or transfer) when the reservation is made. You would not be allowed to make the reservation with a promise of having points transferred - the points needed must be available.

Transferred points will retain their original Home Resort status and Use Year. If you plan to bank the points, they should be transferred into your 2008 Use Year if possible - if you don't plan to make a reservation until January 0f 2010 - I would probably wait and just have points transferred into your 2009 Use Year. You could even try to have AKV points transferred so the reservation could be made at 11 months. I believe MS has been allowing traferred points to be banked beyond their usual deadline, but would certainly verufy that with MS before completing the transfer. Another possibility would be to have points transferred into your 2008 and 2009 - the 2008 could be banked for use for the reservaton you want and the 2009 points could also be used.

As long as the points needed for a reservation are evident to MS that they will be available (banked, current and or borrowed) they will allow you to make the reservation. Transferred points must already be in the account when the reservation is made.

Good luck with your plans.

 

[bookswin]

Transferred points will retain their original Home Resort status and Use Year.

I know that is the official word, and it's the way things are supposed to be, but I have heard some reports that Member Services' computer doesn't always track this perfectly, and that if you borrow SSR points from someone they sometimes turn into, in effect, BCV points.

Have I been misinformed?

 

[CarolAnnC]

I know that is the official word, and it's the way things are supposed to be, but I have heard some reports that Member Services' computer doesn't always track this perfectly, and that if you borrow SSR points from someone they sometimes turn into, in effect, BCV points.

Have I been misinformed?

Several years back this was the case, but no more. MS has tightened up any glitches so that this does not occur.

 

[bookwormde]

A question for the DVC specialists that might help the OP, when does the maximum of 3x the contract points rule kick in and what does it effect?

bookwormde

 

[RobDoc]

The 3X rule does not apply when transferred points are involved. It is stated just to emphasize the ability to use up to 3 years worth of points at once (actually, using 4 years worth is possible for a single reservation, but that's another discussion) - but using points banked from the previous Use Year, points from the current Use Year and points borrowed from the following Use Year. If there are also points transferred into the account, they do not affect this rule and are in addition to the rule.

 

[bookwormde]

Thanks WebmasterDoc,

That is what I had always assumed but was never able to find it in the DVC documentation.

Thanks agiain

bookwormde

 

[cherylmc]

A question for the DVC specialists that might help the OP, when does the maximum of 3x the contract points rule kick in and what does it effect?

bookwormde

So.... bookwormde, you got me thinking, because I had seen a reference to that 300x point value in previous reading. I did another search, and I found this PDF titled "DVC HOME RESORT RULES AND REGULATIONS". It might be out of date, but the exact quote regarding the 3x contract points is as follows:

The total number of Home Resort Vacation Points combined from Home Resort Vacation Points that are allotted, Banked and Borrowed may not exceed three-hundred percent (300%) of the Club Member's Home Resort Vacation Point allotment for the current Use Year.

This raised a question for me regarding my strategy: Is is possible that this rule would prevent me from BANKING more than a certain number of transferred points? (Probably no more than 50 in my original example.)

In other words, using my original example, if I found someone willing to transfer the 275 points in January, but their UY was June, those points would expire before I could use them in August UNLESS they were banked. But if I can't bank that many, I would need to make sure that the points I receive on transfer are valid THROUGH my planned reservation date of August, and I would only be able to use a transfer of points from someone with a UY of September or later.

WebmasterDoc - What are your thoughts on this?

 

[RobDoc]

No- it would not affect the scenario you have already mentioned. Transferred points are presently NOT included in the banking requirements. Basically, the POS states that you can't carry over banked points more than one Use Year - it is a restatement of the banking policy and makes no mention of transferring points - which are a separate transaction from the limitations mentioned in the POS.

This is certainly something which could be changed by DVC without consulting the membership - but it is the way transfers have been handled by MS for years now. I would not expect any change to the current policy regarding transfers in the near future ... BUT ...

In the original POS, transferred points could NOT be banked. That policy was modified a number of years ago. Originally, only one transfer was allowed per Use Year and that policy was modified in about 2003 to allow multiple transfers (either into or out of but not both) per Use Year. The policy was revised back to the original - one per Use Year - in 2006.

With DVC , change is a constant.

 

[Dean]

DVC could take that POS wording to limit transfers and possible banking/borrowing if they wanted (or they could change the wording if they wanted) but they never have interpreted the 3 years worth of points to include transferred points.

 

[cherylmc]

I really appreciate you guys reading my post and taking the time to answer. My boyfriend and I are headed to WDW in three weeks (his first trip), and with this information, I'm pretty sure we will be pursuing a resale contract when we get home. We already have another trip planned for August of 2009 (when we will be taking 6 friends).

I thought that renting points for next August was going to be our only reasonable option for the 8 of us to stay onsite, but based on the numbers I've 'crunched', I think we will be able to become DVC owners via a 25 point resale contract (using add'l transferred points) for only about $2000 more than we would have spent on rented points - without rental risks. (I realize we are taking a couple of risks with this plan, however: 1) we might not be able to find all of the add'l points we need from another owner via a single transfer, and 2) our 'preferred' site (AK 2 bedroom villa) might not be available at the 7 month out window.) I'm thinking those risks are low, though, and we might even get in at less than $2K depending upon the points that come with the contract.

Obviously, an added benefit is that since we are not likely to visit WDW more than once every three years, a minimum contract would give us the bonus of being able to stay for a week at a studio in a deluxe resort for as little as $300 maintenance (adventure season) to only an add'l $1000 (in transferred points) for premier season. (That sure beats the $3000+ we are paying with the AP DISCOUNTED rate at the Grand Floridian this September.)

I've already contacted the Timeshare store to get on the email list. Please let me know if you see any flaws in my plan. Obviously, understanding the current transfer and banking policies was mandatory if I am going to make this work, so once again, thank you so much for taking the time to address my questions. You guys are GREAT!

Cheryl