Another Add On Question

[peacelovemickey]

Please forgive me for asking a question that has likely already been discussed. I did a search and couldn't find the question answered in a way I could understand, so maybe if I ask my specific question I will understand the answer better.
DH and I are planning on buying this year once a job situation gets sorted out. I want to be ready to buy when we get a green light so I am trying to ask all questions beforehand.

DH loves AKV and I love BWV. I understand that it is hard to book BWV with anything other than the 11 month window. Say we bought 150 BWV points resale and then added 50 AKV points. I understand that Disney would give us the same UY. Say I wanted to book a stay at BWV at 11 months but the cost was 155 points. Can my AKV points cover that or do I have to wait until the 7 month mark to use my AKV points for a BWV stay? What about vice versa? Could I bank and borrow just my AKV points and not my BWV points until I got 150 AKV points?

Basically we would like around 200 points and we would want to alternate where we stayed as much as possible. We usually go Thanksgiving week or the first week in June. Teacher schedule. I am just afraid that if we don't buy into BWV then I will never get to stay there again because of what I have heard about it usually being already booked at the 7 month window.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jerry557]

To book at the 11-month window, you can only use those points of the home resort. So the AKV points can't be used at BWV outside the 7 month window (and BWV can't be used at AKV outside the 7 month window.)

However, if the add-on isn't enough, you can still bank and borrow those add-on points. So if you have a 50 point contract, you can bank 50 points and then borrow 50 from the next year and get a max of 150 points. There are many different ways to figure it based on your needs. You just need to make sure you tell member services what points you want them to bank or borrow.

Also what some people have done is book what they can at their home resort at 11 months and either go with a downgraded view or leave the reservation a night short. And then when 7 months hit, call back to upgrade the view or add the night or get on a wait list. (this is a bit more risky of course but people have done it).

Boardwalk, Beach Club, and Wilderness Lodge tend to be the toughest to get at 7 months. Saratoga and Old Key West are easier because of their size. AKV probably will only be moderately difficult once they get it all built (except for the concierge level).

 

[DMKEDM]

Based on our limited experience (13 months of ownership, several trips booked, including one in early Jan for a one-BR Std View at BWV, booked at 6 months out), I'd say you'll have a reasonably decent shot at getting BWV (especially preferred view) in June...over T-giving may be harder (take more luck and more use of the W/L)...but early June availability at seven months (especially if you don't insist on standard or boardwalk view) isn't all that bad...of course, we're all just guessing about availability at AKV...probably, some room categories will be harder to reserve at 7 months than others...

In our (limited) experience, availability issues are real, but not quite as bad as reading DIS Boards makes them seem...

As the previous poster said, at 11 months you can only use the points at your home resort (i.e., the 150 at BWV to book BWV (up to 450 w/banking and borrowing and using them only once every 3 years)...at 7 months you can combine the points to reserve anywhere.

 

[lsutigger2]

My recent experience:
I booked a 1 bdrm garden/pool view (?) at BWV for Aug 22 on April 19 - 4 months out.

So it can be done, but would I count on it for popular times of the year, probably not.

 

[mprewitt]

At 383 rooms, BWV ranks in between the small resorts (VWL and BCV) and the large resorts (OKW and SSR).

The rooms that go first are the standard view and boardwalk view. There are usually preferred (pool, water, garden) view rooms left for most periods except during the F&W fest and early December.