A Few "Newbie" Questions

[JustAnnieNotHazel]

We became DVC members a couple of weeks ago on a cruise and I have a few questions that I can't find the answers to anywhere and as we are in the UK by the time I think about calling MS they are closed!!!

Firstly I have a question about using points in our Use year.
Our UY is April so the deal we got on the cruise that we got our allocation of poits backdated from April 2012 instead of having to wait until April 2013.

Does using your points rather than banking them mean that you just have to make a booking before the UY ends or do you have to travel before the end of the UY?
Also am I right in thinking that if we bank this years points we won't be able to use them until April 2013?

Trying to get my head around finer details of booking and banking of points!! :/

 

[DannysMom]

Ok, so you have until the end of Nov 2012, to decide if you will be using your April 2012 points during your 2012 UY (I.e. before March 31st 2013.). November 30th is your banking deadline.

If you will not be using them in you 2012 UY, you should bank them ahead, before your banking deadline, to you 2013 UY. If you bank them them they MUST be used during your 2013 UY, April 1, 2013 to March 31st 2014, or they will expire. Banking (as well as borrowing) is a final transaction. Points may only be moved once.

There is an awesome thread on understanding UY, I can't link it right now (using the iPad App.)

Also know that as long as the point will be available during the UY in which you intend to travel, you may make your reservations with MS (or online) according to the booking window, so 11 months from check in for home resort bookings & 7 months from check in for non home resort bookings.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.

 

[DebbieB]

We became DVC members a couple of weeks ago on a cruise and I have a few questions that I can't find the answers to anywhere and as we are in the UK by the time I think about calling MS they are closed!!!

Firstly I have a question about using points in our Use year.
Our UY is April so the deal we got on the cruise that we got our allocation of poits backdated from April 2012 instead of having to wait until April 2013.

Does using your points rather than banking them mean that you just have to make a booking before the UY ends or do you have to travel before the end of the UY?
Also am I right in thinking that if we bank this years points we won't be able to use them until April 2013?

Trying to get my head around finer details of booking and banking of points!! :/

All points use is based on date of stay, not date of reservation. April 2012 points would have to be used by 3-31-13 unless banked. If you bank them, they would be good for stays 4-1-13 to 3-31-14. However, you could borrow 2013 if you wanted a stay before 4-1-13.

 

[Sammie]

First off put the traditional calendar out of your head and think of a your Use year Calendar.

Your Use Year Calendar will always Begin with April 1 and end with March 31.

As Debbie stated, it is about when your trip is.

Will it be April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013. If so you would use your 2012 points for that.

If you are not going during those 12 months you will want to bank them.

As stated your banking window ends on November 30

 

[JustAnnieNotHazel]

Thanks for your replies.

So our original plan was to bank this years points and combine with next years as we want to travel Sept/Oct 2013.

But am I able to make the reservation this year or do I have to wait until the 2013/14 UY begins?

 

[rcchello]

Had some of the same initial confusion as you. The points for all years are already in your account, so you can use them when the booking window is open.

You can book a room at your home resort 11 months out in the current or next use year. The points you use must be in that use year.

There are some booking options where you can book two years out such as cruises. Not the optimal use of points but in that case you would be booking with the points in you account from a two years out. If you needed extra points you could then borrow from three years out and/or bank next years points.

So as someone else said the year on the points must agree with the date of the stay and not when you reserved.

 

[DannysMom]

If your next trip is not until Sept/Oct 2013, then yes banking your 2012 points would be the thing to do. You want to do the banking transaction before you make the reservation. Your reservation may be made (home resort only) at 11 months from your check in date. So if you wanted to check in on September 27th 2013, that reservation could be made on October 27th 2012-- at least the first 7 days. If you want to stay longer than 7 days, you will need to either call MS to extend the reservation a few days later, or you could make a 2nd online reservation when the 2nd 11 month booking window opened.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for your replies.

So our original plan was to bank this years points and combine with next years as we want to travel Sept/Oct 2013.

But am I able to make the reservation this year or do I have to wait until the 2013/14 UY begins?

You can always book a trip 11 months in advance, regardless of the UY. The first thing you want to do if figure out the UY that your trip will take place. Then you know that you can "pay" for it with banked points from the previous UY, points from the UY of travel, and with borrowed points (if needed) from the UY following travel.

Since your UY is April, your trip will take place in your 2013 UY--which means you can use banked 2012 UY points, 2013 UY points, and borrow 2014 UY points. When you go to make the reservation at the 11 month mark (Oct/Nov of 2012), MS will make sure you have the points available for the time of the trip and go ahead and book it.

The one thing to understand is that you must bank the points before they can be used so if you want to use your 2012 UY points for that trip, you must call (or go online) and bank them prior to trying to book the reservation.

 

[JustAnnieNotHazel]

I have a much better understanding than I did this morning!

 

[chalee94]

more info on UY is here if you need it:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668