A Few questions from a newbie !

[midnightaction]

Hi Everyone !!

I have been reading these boards for months now and you have answered practically everysingle question I have had about DVC during that time, so thank you to all of your guys for that, but before I embark on the actual purchase I just have a few final questions and I wondered if someone might be able to answer them for me.

Firstly I know that staying in a non DVC property (Poly, GF etc) is not a very cost effective way of using my points, but we would like to be able to spend a few days of our vacation every couple of years in a Deluxe resort and wondered what avaliabilty is like for these rooms.

Is there a set allocated amount of rooms at the deluxe resorts that are allocated for use with points and once they are gone, they are gone and thats it, or is it that if a room is a available to book through CRO then it will also be available to book with points (I hope that makes sense!! )

How early can you book rooms at other WDW locations with points, if it at 7 months like you can with any other non home resort or is it different.

We sometimes like to make last minute vacations (Well by last minute I mean 2/3 months before ) and I wonder if anyone has had any difficulty getting a non DVC property in that timeframe or are they are readily available. I just want to know that if we want to make a last minute trip or we have spare points to use up at the end of a year that if all of the DVC properties are fully booked for the time that we want to go then there will be at least somewhere we can stay (Even if it is the most expensive alternative !! !!)

Secondly this may be a redundant question but can I be on the waitlist for buying points through Disney at the same time as I have submitted an offer through TSS, so that if for some reason my offer does not make it through ROFR then at least I am still on the wait list with Disney. Of course if my offer does make it through ROFR then I would remove myself from the waitlist straight away, but I guess I am just trying to keep all of my options open.

Thirdly How important is the choice of Use Year that I make. I know how "Use Year" works and that it means that I will get my allocated points in that month every year, but am I missing something when people talk about how important it is to pick a certain use year. As far as I can see I am gonna get the same amount of points every year so I am not sure it matters to me when I get them, but maybe someone could advise me otherwise. We intend to make one vacation a year for 14 days at a time, alternating between Sept and June in alternating years, so is there a certain use year I should consider !!

And finally (At last I hear you say !!! ) if I purchase my first/original contract of 210 points through TSS and then purchase an add on at a later date (For the same Use Year) through Disney directly will they be combined together under the same master contract or will they have to be under 2 seperate contracts because they were bought from 2 different sources.

What about if it as the other way around and the original is bought through Disney and then the add on is bought through TSS will they be under one contract or seperate ones.

What if I want to sell them at a latter date will I have to sell them all as one contract or can I sell the original contract and the add on at a different time.

I am sorry for so many questions but everyone on here seems so knowledgeable that I thought the best people to turn to, to ask about this would be you !!

Anyway I am sure this is not the last of me you will see around these parts.

Thanks in advance for any help !!!

Sarah xx

 

[LisaS]

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to the DVC boards! I can answer some of your questions, but not all of them so here goes...

1. I haven't used points outside of DVC yet so I can't help you here.

2. Yes, you can put yourself on the wait list with Disney while pursuing a resale contract with TTS. What resort are you interested in buying? If it's anything other than BCV, Disney may have points available immediately.

3. Use Year is only important if you ever have to cancel a trip. For example, you mention you will typically go in Sep and Jun. If you had an Oct UY, and ever had to cancel a September trip a month before your trip, you would have a problem -- the points used for the trip would be returned to your account but it's too late to bank them and they will expire on Sep 30. Unless you can use them for something else by Sep 30th or rent them out (at "distressed point" prices) then you will lose them. So if you have a choice, then pick a UY that is just before your normal travel time -- June would work well in your case. However, this assumes your normal travel patterns don't change over the contract lifetime!

4. If you purchase a resale and later add on through Disney, you have to purchase the same UY and it will be set up as an "add on" contract -- same base contract number with an ".001" extension. If the add on is at the same resort, you can combine the points at the 11 month window; if it's at a different resort you can combine points at the 7 month window -- no transferring of points is required.

If your first contract is through Disney and then you buy a second contract via resale, and they are the same Use Year and the contract registration info is identical and you babysit the process to be sure the second contract is set up as an "add on", then Disney should do it that way. If the second contract has a different Use Year, it cannot be set up that way -- you will end up with two master contracts. In either case, you have two contracts and can sell either of them independently.

Hope this helps!

 

[midnightaction]

Hiya Lisa

Thank you for the warm welcome and for answering my questions for me !!

We are interested in BWV and are looking for around 210 points and have been keeping an eye on TSS but nothing much has come up that isn't totally stripped of points. Will give Disney a call next week and ask if we can wait list through them but just hope something comes up on TSS in the mean time !!

Thanks for the explanation on the use year that makes much more sense now. I guess if I am looking to vacation in Sept and June then a use year of April would probably be good because then if I have to cancel my Septemeber trip I have until March 31st to use them or bank them into the next year.

I noticed you mentioned there was a banking deadline. I am obviously not as clued up as I thought because I thought you could bank your points up until any point until the last day of your use year but that is obviously not the case. Could you please clarify what the banking deadlines are !!

That is great news about if I buy an add on seperatly that it goes onto the same contract because I was worried about having two (Or maybe more !!) contracts that would mean I would have to make separate bookings. We only ever intend to buy more points at BWV in the future (I have been Brainwashed by the buy where you want to stay mantra !! ) so it's great that they will all be clubed together under the one contract but can still be sold separatly in the future (Well I think thats what you have said I hope I am reading that right, please do correct me if I have read that wrong !!!)

If anyone could help with answering my first question I would be eternally greatful.

Thanks again

Sarah xx

 

[castleri]

Hiya Lisa

Thank you for the warm welcome and for answering my questions for me !!


I noticed you mentioned there was a banking deadline. I am obviously not as clued up as I thought because I thought you could bank your points up until any point until the last day of your use year but that is obviously not the case. Could you please clarify what the banking deadlines are !!


If anyone could help with answering my first question I would be eternally greatful.

Thanks again

Sarah xx

The banking question can be answered with the following example:

April UY you can bank up to 100% by Sept 30, 50% by Dec 31 and 25% by Jan 31

If you have 200 points you could bank them all by Sept 30 or 100 of them by Dec 31 or 50 of them by Jan 31. So if you missed the Sept deadline and found that you could not use your points the most you can bank is 100 of them and the rest need to be used by the end of your use year and if you miss that one you may only bank 50 of them by the last deadline. If you miss that you need to use them or lose them.

The use of points outside your DVC resorts can be done 11 months in advance up to 2 days in advance. There is an added thing to watch out for here. You must be outside the last 60 days of your use year when you make the reservation. You can travel during the last 60 days just not make the reservation during that time as they need time to rent out the space you are giving up to pay for your room. If you then have to cancel that reservation it goes into a reservation holding account which means you can only use those points at a non DVC resort and can only book 60 days or less in advance.

I used points for DL hotels but not for WDW so don't know how much availability there is. I never questioned it as I got what I wanted with my first requests except the night before and the night of Disneyland's 50th anniversary and that may have been that the hotel was just plain full and I waited until three months from the date before I booked. I am going to do some inquiring about availability this coming week because I need something for late Dec and non DVC may be my only option if it is available.

Good luck and may you get your points soom.

 

[midnightaction]

Thanks for the info castleri

As i see it I have 5 mths to bank 100% of my points a further 3 mths to bank 50% and then just one more month to bank 25% after which time I either use them or lose them...............makes perfect sense now !!!

Does that same logic apply to borrowing as well. Is there only a certain time period that I can borrow points from the next use year, or is there no limit with that and I can borrow points up to the last day of my use year ?

Also you stated with non DVC properties I am not allowed to book in the last 60 days. I assume that means I am not allowed to book in the last 60 days of my use year and then actually take the vacation within those 60 days. Say for example my use year was April and in June 2007 I want to go to say the Poly for a week can I book that within the last 60 days of my use year ie Feb/March 2007 as it will be the next use year I am actually taking the vacation or am I just not allowed to make bookings in the last 60 days full stop !!

I hope that makes sense but I am sure that it doesn't !!

I would be interested to hear back on if you managed to get any availablity for a non DVC property in Decemeber and if you got any choices or you were pretty limited in choice.

Like I said previously we just want our vacation once a year but just want to make sure that if we choose to go 1 or 2 mths before the travel date that there will be at least somewhere to stay, even if it is gonna cost us mega points !!

Thanks again for all of your help.

Sarah xx

ETA I have just been to the WDW website and notice that I can book cash room at all of the DVC properties for 2007. I am confused how can they put cash rooms up for sale now, surely members have to be given first choice and then if there is any left at the 30 day mark then CRO can sell them on. Do they get a percentage to sell up front as well???.

 

[LisaS]

As i see it I have 5 mths to bank 100% of my points a further 3 mths to bank 50% and then just one more month to bank 25% after which time I either use them or lose them.

It's actually 7 months to bank 100%. Also, the banking deadlines are cumulative. So if you own 200 points and banked 100 points during your 100% banking window, once you enter your 50% banking window, you can't bank any more points because you have already banked a total of 50% of your points. On the other hand, if you banked only 20 points early in your Use Year, and then entered your 50% banking window, you could bank up to 80 more points at that time. Let's say you banked another 20 points. Then in your 25% banking window, you could still bank up to another 10 points, bringing your banked point total up to 50 points, 25% of your total of 200 points. Hope all that makes sense!

Does that same logic apply to borrowing as well. Is there only a certain time period that I can borrow points from the next use year, or is there no limit with that and I can borrow points up to the last day of my use year ?

You can borrow up to 100% of the points in your next UY at the time that you make a reservation that will use those points. Borrowing points is a final transaction and the points expire at the end of the UY into which they are borrowed so it wouldn't make sense to borrow points on the last day of your UY because they would expire the following day! The only situation I can think of where you would borrow points on that last day of your UY is if you were making a reservation for that very day and using borrowed points to pay for it.

I have just been to the WDW website and notice that I can book cash room at all of the DVC properties for 2007. I am confused how can they put cash rooms up for sale now, surely members have to be given first choice and then if there is any left at the 30 day mark then CRO can sell them on. Do they get a percentage to sell up front as well???.

Whenever a member uses points to stay somewhere other than a DVC resort, some DVC inventory is released to CRO to rent villas for cash to pay for the trade the DVC member has made. Also DVC owns a small percentage of each DVC resort so that they can take rooms out of inventory for refurbishment and still have a sufficient number of rooms available for owners. So there are often villas available for cash through CRO even when there are none available for owners to book on points.

 

[midnightaction]

Lisa

Thanks again for answering my questions they really are helping me out with sorting out the finer details in my head !!!

Funnily enough I have just thought of a couple of extra questions

1. Does booking another WDW non DVC resort class as a trade out , the same way as booking through something like II does. Do the same rules and stipulations apply and does it have the £75 fee.

2. Is there such a thing as timeshare insurance. If I fall down and break my leg a day before my trip I am gonna loose all my points because it will be so close to the travel date. Now my conventional travel insurance will cover the cost of the lost flights, car hire etc but will not cover the points. Is there any sort of insurance I can take that will rebabte me a certain amount against my points so that I don't end up losoing out !!

Thank you all for taking the time to read through my silly questions it really is appreciated that people take the time to answer !!

Sarah xx

P.S If anyone could answer my first question on the original post as well, then I promise to stop with the persistant questions and leave you all in peace !!!

 

[midnightaction]

Bumping (Hoping someone can help !! )

 

[JimMIA]

As i see it I have 5 mths to bank 100% of my points.

It's actually 7 months to bank 100%.

Actually...castleri was right. It's six months to bank 100%. Six, nine, ten = 100%, 50%, 25%.

In castleri's example with an April use year, the year starts on April 1 and April 30 would be the end of the first month. This stuff does get a little confusing at times!

 

[JimMIA]

The use of points outside your DVC resorts can be done 11 months in advance up to 2 days in advance. There is an added thing to watch out for here. You must be outside the last 60 days of your use year when you make the reservation. You can travel during the last 60 days just not make the reservation during that time as they need time to rent out the space you are giving up to pay for your room. If you then have to cancel that reservation it goes into a reservation holding account which means you can only use those points at a non DVC resort and can only book 60 days or less in advance.

This is a critically important thing to understand about using points for non-DVC resort bookings, but it unfortunately contains a fatal error in bold text above.

If you cancel a non-DVC resort ressie, at any time, the points you used become "Reservation Points." That means they can only be used for non-DVC ressies. I don't believe there are any time limitations, unless you run into use-year issues, but they have to be used for non-DVC. This is a very important penalty for canceling a non-DVC ressie, and something to keep firmly in mind when using points outside of DVC resorts.

"Holding Account" is what happens when you cancel a DVC ressie within 30 days of scheduled arrival. Those points in "Holding Account" can be used only for ressies 60 days out. This is also a severe penalty for cancellation unless you live nearby and can go to WDW on short notice, or want to use holding points for a non-DVC stay on short notice.

The "<60-day rule" for making non-DVC ressies and the ">60-day restriction" on holding account cause a LOT of understandable confusion. They are two different, unrelated limitations.

And I'll be amazed if someone doesn't come in here and point out that I've made some critical mistake in my explanations!

 

[midnightaction]

Thanks for clearing that up for me

Just to throw something into the mix here once cancelled points go into a "holiding account" can they only be used at DVC properties within the 60 day before travel time frame or can they be used at non DVC WDW properties also !!

Just trying to work out quite how restrictive "Holding account" points really are, because I feel I am more likey to be able to get a reservation at a Non DVC property 60 days out then I am at a DVC one (Or am I wrong !!! ) !!

Sarah x

 

[JimMIA]

You can use holding account points either way, and many people do. There are a lot of options outside of DVC, so if you have some holding points, you will often have decent options near where you live.

 

[LisaS]

Actually...castleri was right. It's six months to bank 100%. Six, nine, ten = 100%, 50%, 25%.

Thank you for correcting this!! Nothing worse than answering questions from a newbie with wrong information!

 

[JimMIA]

Thank you for correcting this!! Nothing worse than answering questions from a newbie with wrong information!

I do it all the time. Is there a problem with that???

 

[midnightaction]

You can use holding account points either way, and many people do. There are a lot of options outside of DVC, so if you have some holding points, you will often have decent options near where you live.

Again thanks for the information

I am a little confused though (No change there !!! ) because I read all over this board that trying to trade out to somewhere other then a DVC resort through II or World Passprt etc is extremly difficult and costs huge amounts of points, and has to be done months or so in advance, but now you have cheered me up no end by telling me that other places are actually easier to book last minute,.........am I just being dumb ???

Sarah xx

 

[greenban]

Thank you for correcting this!! Nothing worse than answering questions from a newbie with wrong information!

Actually LisaS, under the new rules, this is the # 2 worse thing, the new #1 worse thing is renting points to a newbie!

JMHO, YRMV,

-Tony

 

[LisaS]

Actually LisaS, under the new rules, this is the # 2 worse thing, the new #1 worse thing is renting points to a newbie!

JMHO, YRMV,

-Tony

Actually what worries me more is that I calculated the answer based on my own points -- I have an Oct UY and I know my 100% banking deadline is Mar 31st. So before posting, I counted the months between Oct 1st and Mar 31st and somehow came up with seven...