A few questions

[Pezalicious]

I'm sure this has been covered before, and I'm really sorry to be asking it again. I had no luck with search. :\


Anyway, here's what I'm hoping to find out --

How long are points good for, and how many years can be combined together? If I don't go one year, I understand I can bank the points, but for how long?


If I bought through a resale and not direct, can I add on points if I ever needed to? How does that work?


How difficult is it to get reservations, and has that become more difficult the longer DVC has been around? Do you have to book at 11 months out, or can you easily plan a last minute trip? Is there a maximum length of stay you can book? And, what's the cancellation policy? Do you lose your points or can you bank them?


Thanks so much! I'm really excited about the possibilities, but try to spend wisely so I'm getting as much info as I can before I force myself to sit on it and really think about the right decision for me.

 

[Pezalicious]

Whoops, I had one more question, too.


The amount of points for each type of room increase over time. Any guesses on whether or not it will get so bad that your original points aren't enough?

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I'm sure this has been covered before, and I'm really sorry to be asking it again. I had no luck with search. :\


Anyway, here's what I'm hoping to find out --

How long are points good for, and how many years can be combined together? If I don't go one year, I understand I can bank the points, but for how long?

If I bought through a resale and not direct, can I add on points if I ever needed to? How does that work?

How difficult is it to get reservations, and has that become more difficult the longer DVC has been around? Do you have to book at 11 months out, or can you easily plan a last minute trip? Is there a maximum length of stay you can book? And, what's the cancellation policy? Do you lose your points or can you bank them?

Thanks so much! I'm really excited about the possibilities, but try to spend wisely so I'm getting as much info as I can before I force myself to sit on it and really think about the right decision for me.

It depends on which resort you buy into as to how long your points are good for. I bought into AKV, so my points are good until 2057. BLT's are good until 2060. Other resorts have expiration dates of 2042.

Three years can be combined and used. For example, you can bank 2009 points, use 2010 points, and borrow 2011 points for a trip in your 2010 UY.

Yes, you can add on points through Disney if your original purchase was a resale. I'm not sure how it works, but I know you can do it.

It's better if you book at 11 months out at your home resort or 7 months out at other resorts. DVC isn't really conducive for last minute trips. I'm really new to this (I just bought last year), so I can't really give you much advice on this as I don't have a lot of experience. I know I bought last June and was able to book a studio and 1 BR at SSR for that October. I also called exactly 7 months before and was able to get a 1 BR at HH for July. I've heard that's impossible though, but I did it, so I haven't had any bad experiences yet. I'm sure I will eventually.

There is not a maximum length of stay you have to book. You can book any amount of nights until you have no more points to use.

If you cancel less than 31 days before your trip, your points will go into holding. You will have to use those points before the end of the current UY and will have to book within 60 days of the trip. You cannot bank points in holding. If you cancel 31 days or more before your trip, you can bank those points if you are still before your banking deadline.

Definitely think about it. It's a big purchase, and it's definitely not for everyone. But so far, I LOVE my DVC!!! Good luck with your decision.

 

[backyardponder]

I'll try to answer a few of these:

Points can be banked one time into the next use year. For example, I am planning a big trip in 2010 and will be banking my points into 2010. Those banked points must be used in that year or they are lost.

You can actually use 3 years worth of points in one use year. In my case for my 2010 trip, I'll be banking points into 2010 from 2009. I will also be borrowing from 2011 into 2010. Again, if something happens and I don't use the banked or borrowed points, then I loose them.

You can add on points any time. You can do this through resale or by buying direct. Most feel you should always have the same use year month (mine are June) to make management easier.

How hard is it to get reservations with DVC growing...remember, they can only have a certain number of points out there for the real estate they are putting into DVC. So, in theory, it is proportional. Where it might get rough is for very popular resorts, such as BCV at the 7 month window. Since BCV is small, it is possible at certain times, the owners have grabbed everything at their 11 month interval. For this reason, many recommend that you buy where you want to stay. That way you have the 11 month reservation window available to you.

On your question on number of points increasing...points represent your real estate interest. They can't change the total number of points being used at a resort. They can re-allocate, as they did starting with 2010 points in which weeknight went up and weekend went down but totals stayed the same. There is another thread on this which will give more details. The moderators will kill this post if I say any more.

 

[chalee94]

How long are points good for, and how many years can be combined together? If I don't go one year, I understand I can bank the points, but for how long?

points are good for one "use year" - a 12 month period based on the use year "month" of the contract. you can bank these pts one use year ahead or borrow them into the previous use year - but banking and borrowing are final transactions: the points will now expire at the end of the use year they have been moved into.

If I bought through a resale and not direct, can I add on points if I ever needed to? How does that work?

you can buy another resale, or you can add-on directly with DVC (minimum 25 pt contract if paying cash or minimum 50 pts if financing - use year must be the same as your original contract).

How difficult is it to get reservations, and has that become more difficult the longer DVC has been around? Do you have to book at 11 months out, or can you easily plan a last minute trip?

if you like last minute trips, then DVC and timeshares in general are not for you. you may find availability at the last minute, but if you are counting on it, you may wind up losing pts. if you are flexible and not booking at a high demand time (like all of december), availability at 7 months is not usually a problem.

Is there a maximum length of stay you can book?

just depends on how many pts you have.

And, what's the cancellation policy?

generally, you need to cancel more than a month out, or else your pts go into "holding status" and can be more difficult to use.

Do you lose your points or can you bank them?

if they are current year pts AND you canceled more than a month out AND are within your banking window, you can bank them. previously banked or borrowed pts cannot be banked.

 

[chalee94]

The amount of points for each type of room increase over time. Any guesses on whether or not it will get so bad that your original points aren't enough?

the amount of points for each DVC resort (the whole resort) for each year CANNOT change.

so they can't just increase pts over time...BUT they can re-allocate pts, so if you are counting on a week in december or the cost of a sunday-to-friday stay to be identical over the 30-50 year contract life, you may be disappointed.

but if they increase the cost of a week in december, they MUST decrease the cost of something else. if a the cost of a weeknight goes up, then the cost somewhere else (like a weekend night) must go down.

 

[Pezalicious]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies! That clears up a lot for me.

But it did make me think of one more question.

How long is the banking window?

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Whoops, I had one more question, too.


The amount of points for each type of room increase over time. Any guesses on whether or not it will get so bad that your original points aren't enough?

Actually, points don't increase; they are just redistributed at times. If something goes up, something else must go down. The total number of points required at each resort must stay the same. For example, in 2010 the weekday points went up and the weekend points went down. The total number of points in each point chart stayed the same though. If your usual stay ends up going up, you can always add on.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies! That clears up a lot for me.

But it did make me think of one more question.

How long is the banking window?

Eight months from the beginning of your UY. For example, my UY is June. I have until the end of January to bank my points.

 

[chalee94]

How long is the banking window?

depends on your use year month. you have 8 months from the start of your use year to bank your points.

if your use year starts in april, then you have till the end of november to bank your pts. if you don't bank the pts, you would have to use them by the end of march (or rent them) or else lose them.

 

[Pezalicious]

Wow, you guys are great. Thanks so much for all the info!