AKV buy now & use Nov/Dec 2009?

[skipper]

If I were to buy into AKV now will I be able to get a reservation end of Nov or early Dec? Is it possible to have the salesperson guarantee a reservation for this year and hold the reservation until closing?

By buying direct can I choose my use year? I typically travel this time of year so I guess I would want something 11 months back.

Can I use the points to reserve at Grand Floridian or the Polynesian? How does this work?

 

[drusba]

You can ask rep to see if you can get something Nov or Dec. Don't know whether that will help. (Note, when buying through Disney, you do not have to wait till closing to make a reservation; you can do it right after you agree to purchase.) Otherwise, that time of year will be difficult to find anything when reserving less than 5 months out (it is a very high DVC demand time). You can trade out for GF or Poly but points needed are high.

Use year has nothing to do with when you can call to reserve, which is always 11 months out at home resort so NO you do not want a use year that starts about 11 months before you usually go. In fact, if you usually go Nov-Dec, then you should be looking at a use year that starts shortly before those months (Oct, Sep, Aug, June). The only reason for that is to assure you can still bank points if you have to cancel. Yes, you can ask for particular use year.

 

[Sandisw]

I have read posts where new buyers stated their guides were able to secure for them a reservation during the buying process.

I know my guide was able to check availability for me this winter when I was buying BLT points. At the time, the incentive was developer points and I needed to make sure that I would be able to use them during the August trip we already had planned.

As far as UY, you are able to get whatever UY you want, providing they still have points to sell for that UY for that resort. At this time, I think that all UY's are available for AKV, but the only UY's getting 2008 points still are Oct and maybe December.

For your Nov/Dec travel, as PP said, you want to try to have a UY that happens just before. This way, if your trip is cancelled at least 31 days out, your points just go back into your account and you can resuse them or bank them.

Good luck!

 

[jdsmoke]

We just did this at BLT. The salesman put in a sale hold for the week we wanted and once the transaction when through we confirmed with member services.

 

[kbeam]

You can trade points to stay at GF or Poly? How does that work?

 

[chalee94]

You can trade points to stay at GF or Poly? How does that work?

1) give DVC a giant pile of your points
2) give DVC another $95 for making the reservation

and just like that, you can stay at the poly or GF. (a 2BR at a DVC resort would often be cheaper, though.)

 

[dizfan]

If I were to buy into AKV now will I be able to get a reservation end of Nov or early Dec? Is it possible to have the salesperson guarantee a reservation for this year and hold the reservation until closing?

When we purchased, we asked our guide for a split stay (AKV/BLT) during early December. From reports, it sounded like BLT was booked but he was able to get us rooms (guessing from Disney's allotment). Once they had our paperwork, we called and confirmed with member services and the rooms were officially booked for us.

One note, our guide was not able to get us a MK view, so clearly they have limitations.

By buying direct can I choose my use year? I typically travel this time of year so I guess I would want something 11 months back.

If Disney still has points to sell for the UY you request, they will sell them directly to you. If Disney does not have the UY for the resort currently, they may ROFR a resale and sell those points to you.
If you typically travel in November/December, than October would be a very good UY for you. In the event you have to cancel your trip, this would leave you plenty of time to either book another vacation for those points or to bank the points into the following year.

 

[jesschris]

Your guide should be able to help you make a reservation when you are buying.

Trading into Disney resorts that are not DVC is not a good use of points. It is often better to rent your points and use the cash to pay for a cash reservation.