Are there restrictions to using incentive points?

[ButterflyBunny]

I have been lurking for awhile reading up on DVC while dh and I were deciding to buy (thanks for the wealth of info ) I am a little confused now though, and thought I should de-lurk to see if someone can help me understand this until I can get a hold of our guide.

When we bought our contract, we received incentive points which I think is a nice perk. However, I am confused now.

Our guide said to just call MS when we had our dates in mind for a trip to use the points, tell MS we want to use the incentive points, and it would be no problem. That wasn't the case though. I tried calling our guide this afternoon to clarify, because the MS cm told me the opposite of what she did, but she is out for a couple of days.

When I called to make a reservation with the incentive points, the woman at member services at first said I have NO incentive points and would have to borrow from 2008's points to book the trip I was planning. I asked her to please double check because I know the guide said we had "x" amount of incentive points that need to be used by such and such date.

After being on hold for awhile, she came back on the phone and said she found out that I do indeed have them, but then said it would take awhile to process the request to use them and that I needed to keep in mind there are many restrictions on their use. When I asked what the restrictions are, she said something to the effect of their only being used for our home resort, not other dvc resorts, exchanges or resorts like the Poly, and if the ressie is cancelled, we lose the points, even if it is outside of the 31 day window .... but, they were the very things our guide used as examples of how we could use them (she said we could use them at any dvc resort, anywhere via exchanging, put them towards a cruise, etc., and said the same rules apply for cancellations)

Until I get a hold of our guide, I was hoping someone here could fill me in on the incentive points (such as what can I use them on, and how long it takes to process the request to use them??). Based on what our guide said, dh and I both understood that the incentive points were just like the year's points, only that they had to be used sooner

 

[LIFERBABE]

Here's my experience..................

Also know, that the AKV developer points will be placed in a sub-account and all reservations will need to be made manually, which can take 3-4 days to process.

You will not be able to view these reservations on your member site and MS will need to look in the sub-account or they wont see them either.

Not a big deal if you know what you are dealing with, but I had to learn all this while trying to plan my SSR Family Reunion. These points are a huge pain for me, because I need to make changes and constantly manage the 15 reservations I have and not being able to see my reservations or make fast changes is really adding to the stress.

If I had to do it over, I would take the $8 off and be done with it.

With previous Dev. Points, the points were placed in your master account and had the same flexibility as regular points and were much easier to use. They did have an expiration date, so not understanding why DVC would change them.

P.S. I was also told y-day by MS Mgr. that Dev. Points cant be used for the waitlist.

 

[robinb]

The other restrictions for developer's points are that they must be used up within 7 months of making your DVC purchase and they cannot be banked.