About to Buy In -- Some Questions

[las710]

I think we are almost ready to pull the trigger and purchase at BLT. I do have some questions though and would appreciate the seasoned DVCers advice.

1) Is there a benefit to having a certain month start off your usage year? i.e. Is a February 01 date better than an October 01 UY start?

2) When you make a reservation, do you have to have the points actively available in your account? For example, if my UY starts in February, but I want to reserve April 2011, do I have to accelerate/borrow against my 2011 points in order to make a reservation or do they just know to use those points towards the reservation? Since the points don't actually get used until the time of the trip, I am a little confused on how that all works. I would think there are many occasions when you go to book 11 months in advance, but you do not have that particular year's points yet.

3) Lastly, does DVC negotiate at all? I have received the info for buying into BLT and they are offering a bit of a discount on the per point price and a free year's worth of points (2009 points). Any chance we can negotiate them down any more? I understand that on some of the older properties, people have had some negotiating success, but my guess is that with BLT they may not budge since it is so new and there are few resales available.

Thanks so much!
Lisa

 

[chalee94]

1) Is there a benefit to having a certain month start off your usage year? i.e. Is a February 01 date better than an October 01 UY start?

you don't want to travel in the last 3-4 months of your use year. (the cancellation rules can cause a lot of problems. if you never cancel a reservation, use year is a non-issue.) ideally, you'd like to travel early in your use year.

i have an october use year and usually travel in nov/dec - and i'd never want to visit wdw during the hottest months of the year - so october works great for me.

if you travel at all different times of year, then use year doesn't matter.

(also, use year has nothing to do with when you can book a reservation.)

2) When you make a reservation, do you have to have the points actively available in your account?

the points do have to be in your account. the thing you may not realize is that the points for future years (for me: oct 2010, oct 2011 and oct 2012) are already in my account. i just have to wait for my booking window to open in november 2010 before i can borrow 2012 pts for an oct 2011 reservation (for example). when you can call to book is entirely dependent on your home resort...NOT use year.

here is an important thread to read for understanding use year:

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

3) Lastly, does DVC negotiate at all?

nope. if you want to negotiate, you'd need to buy resale. (just don't negotiate so far that DVC ROFRs the contract and you have to start all over.)

 

[chalee94]

For example, if my UY starts in February, but I want to reserve April 2011, do I have to accelerate/borrow against my 2011 points in order to make a reservation or do they just know to use those points towards the reservation? Since the points don't actually get used until the time of the trip, I am a little confused on how that all works.

for an april 2011 reservation, you can use:

*banked feb 2010 pts
*current feb 2011 pts
*borrowed feb 2012 pts

you can call in may 2010 to book a reservation at your home resort if you have enough pts in any of the above categories. just tell MS which pts to use to reserve the room(s).

(the pts are counted as "used" in a sense when you book the reservation - you cannot use 100 banked 2010 pts to book that april 2011 reservation and then use those same 100 pts to hold another room also...)

i highly recommend the linked thread above but wanted to answer your specific question.

 

[hakepb]

On negotiation, I think you can negotiate your use year (If the curently offered is a deal breaker. As mentioned you can travel anytime, but cancellation might matter) You can also negotiate requesting them to book your 1st reservation. (If you want to travel this April 2010, then make sure they can book you now.) Guides seem to have the ability to pull some developer-owned availability that we cannot access. In general, DVC is best when you book 11 months in advance.

 

[Sandisw]

As others have said, all reservations can be made 11 months before hand at your home resort and 7 months at all others. You don't have to worry about how many points are in the UY that you call, but rather what will be available to you when you travel.

The easiest way to figure things out is to first determine what UY your trip will happen. Once you know that, then you know you can "pay" for it with banked points from the prior UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the next UY.

For example, for a April 2011 vacation. If you had a Feb UY, you would call in May 2010 (home resort) to book the trip. Since this trip would happen during your Feb 2011 UY, you would be able to use banked 2010 points, 2011 points, and borrowed 2012 points.

However, if you had a June UY, then this trip would fall in your June 2010 UY. You would still call in May 2010 to book, but would be able to use banked 2009 points, current 2010 points, and borrowed 2011 points.

Choosing a UY, IMO, is important. You want as much flexibility to cancel or change your trips. When travel happens during the first 8 months of your UY, you have that flexbility. If you don't travel any special time, then UY is less important. While travel can and will change, thinking about this ahead of time can save you some headaches down the line.

Good luck!