Advice about THV at Christmas

[audrey444]

We need 2 THV for the first week of December 2011. At the time of booking (January 4, 2011 - SSR is home resort), I'll have enough points to book 4 nights of our trip. Our use year is February, so I won't be able to book the last two nights of the trip until February 1.

Do you think I have enough advantage of the home resort that I can wait until February 1 to book the last two nights? Or should I consider renting the remaining points so that I can book the reservation in January?

I'd hate to resort hop 16 people during this trip. But if I don't have to go through the hassle of renting, that would be good too.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I don't understand why you are having to wait until February 1.

 

[dzorn]

When you can book has nothing to do with use year. All you points are in your account now. You can book 11 months out regardless of when your UY is. If you go look at your dvc account you will see they are there.

Your 2011 points are there now.

Denise Zorn

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

When you can book has nothing to do with use year. All you points are in your account now. You can book 11 months out regardless of when your UY is. If you go look at your dvc account you will see they are there.

Your 2011 points are there now.

Denise Zorn

Right, this is exactly what I was thinking. Since you are going December 2011, you will use your February 2011 points. If you have 2010 pts. they should have already been banked into your 2011 UY. You can also borrow 2012 pts. if you need them when you make your reservation in January 2011.

 

[tjkraz]

We need 2 THV for the first week of December 2011. At the time of booking (January 4, 2011 - SSR is home resort), I'll have enough points to book 4 nights of our trip. Our use year is February, so I won't be able to book the last two nights of the trip until February 1.

As other posters indicated, it sounds like you don't understand the Use Year. I sure hope you aren't sitting on points from your 2010 Use Year (which would run from 2/1/10 to 1/31/11) that you are planning to use for this reservation. Those points must be used for a stay which occurs by 1/31/11.

In order to use those points for a December '11 stay, they would have to have been banked. Your banking deadline passed back in September.

Hope you'll ask more questions if you are still confused.

 

[audrey444]

Thanks for the help guys. My 2010 points are banked.

Please confirm to make sure I understand.
Banking points - you have to bank 4 months prior to your UY. I've done this every year, and I seem to get this okay.
Borrowing points - I've never borrowed before, and I assumed you had to wait for your UY to borrow points. So, I'd have to wait for Feb 2011 to borrow 2012 points. I think what you are saying is that I can borrow 2012 points starting January 1? Borrowing has nothing to do with UY, right?

Thanks,
Audrey

 

[Mtnman44]

You borrow points as you make a reservation that needs the borrowed points. So for a Dec '11 stay, you will book in Jan '11 (for the 11 month window).

So, when you call you'll be using your '11 UY points (casue that is the UY your stay falls in). You have previously banked your '10 points into your '11 UY. If additional points are needed for the stay, those points can be borrowed from your '12 UY which will bring them into your '11 UY.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Yes, you can borrow points when you make your reservation. You will be able to borrow points from your 2012 UY only. You do not have to wait until February.

 

[audrey444]

Thank you MtnMan44, the way you explain it makes sense. Because it's a trip in my 2011 UY, I should be borrowing 2012 points.

I did call Member Services yesterday to confirm, and his advice differs from what I've gotten here. He was telling me that I would have to wait until February to book my nights that would require borrowing because I wouldn't have those point yet.

 

[PoohNFriends]

Thank you MtnMan44, the way you explain it makes sense. Because it's a trip in my 2011 UY, I should be borrowing 2012 points.

I did call Member Services yesterday to confirm, and his advice differs from what I've gotten here. He was telling me that I would have to wait until February to book my nights that would require borrowing because I wouldn't have those point yet.

Unfortunately, there are some at MS that are not up to par on DVC rules so I would recommend you double check your info with another CM or come to the boards if you have questions or doubt what a CM told you. The boards are great for learning, clarification, venting, and sharing Disney love and excitement!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Thank you MtnMan44, the way you explain it makes sense. Because it's a trip in my 2011 UY, I should be borrowing 2012 points.

I did call Member Services yesterday to confirm, and his advice differs from what I've gotten here. He was telling me that I would have to wait until February to book my nights that would require borrowing because I wouldn't have those point yet.

I think you got some bad advice from MS, not from the Dis. Since your vacation takes place in your 2011 UY, you can use banked 2010 pts., current 2011 pts., and borrowed 2012 pts. You can make your reservation 11 months out at your home resort, so that would be January for a December trip. Like dzorn stated, "when you can book has nothing to do with use year." When you make your reservation, just ask to used any 2010 banked pts., current 2011 pts., and then borrow whatever else you need from 2012. Just remember that once you borrow the pts., they will be in your 2011 UY and cannot be put back into 2012.

 

[PSC]

Audrey

You will likely find out that THV in early December is very desirable. Don't be surprised if you call at 9:01 am exactly 11 months out and find all units are already booked. Some of this is because some members are walking reservations through to Christmas week. If you can't get what you want, don't hesitate to be wait listed. As those "walking reservations" move past your desired week you'll probably get what you want. This is what happened to me this year and I got my wait list in fairly short order.

Good Luck!

 

[audrey444]

Thank you guys. You're all so kind.

I believe you in that I will be able to borrow my points for the trip when I book in January. It doesn't make sense that I could book 11 months prior, but not be able to use my points. What kind of company does that? Certainly not my Disney.

One thing I've learned on the Dis is that if a CM gives me an answer that doesn't sound right, I'll just call back until it's properly taken care of.

Thanks,
Audrey

 

[audrey444]

Follow up for all of those who helped.

I called today to make our reservations, and I was able to borrow our 2012 points without any problems at all. It was a non issue. I told her what we needed, and she said that I'd used my banked 2010 points, my 2011 points, and borrow 150 from our 2012 points. Easy as pie.

Thanks to everyone for your help!