Bank or borrow? Need safety net. First reservation!

[disney dumbo]

We are new owners!


I've studied many of your posts... thank you!


I'm still confused and need your advice!


Our UY is Sept. and we received our points from '06.
We want to use them in Oct07.

1. If I use the 06 points... and then because of some sad event... have to cancel... I would either need to change my trip to prior to Aug. 31, 2007 or loose all the points... since they are booked for a date out of this '06 UY... right?
2. If I bank my 06 points... make the reservation... then have to cancel... I would have until Aug. 31, 2008 to still use the points... because they became 07 UY... right?
3. If I banked them, wouldn't they use these? I wouldn't have to borrow from 07 points would I?
4. Maybe all these are stupid questions.... because they would make me bank them prior to my making my reservation for Oct any way... is that right?

I can see why UY is important just in terms of flexiblity in cancellations.

This stuff is very confusing to me...
thank you for you help!

 

[Chuck S]

They will not MAKE you bank your points, it is up to the owner if they want them banked or just want to let them expire.

If, however, you want to use '06 points for a reservation that falls within your '07 use year, you should bank them prior to making the reservation (it can be done in the same phone call). If you bank your points, then decide to take a vacation in the '06 use year, you can borrow points from '07. If you then cancel that reservation, those points MUST be use by August 31, 2007, or lost.

 

[disney dumbo]

Thanks for your reply Chuck S.

I'm still a little confused.

You said:
If you bank your points, then decide to take a vacation in the '06 use year, you can borrow points from '07. If you then cancel that reservation, those points MUST be use by August 31, 2007, or lost.
------------------------------------------------
My thinking:
I just got my points Sep06, good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2007.
If I bank them... doesn't that make them 07 points good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2008?
or is it... if you pull them out of the bank... they revert to original use year?

Sorry to be so confused!

 

[tacomaranch]

I am also confused but can say that you are in the right place. I have had help learning how it works and it is confusing. The experts here are wonderful and they will teach us the ways of the master.

 

[LisaS]

Our UY is Sept. and we received our points from '06. We want to use them in Oct07.

First of all, congratulations and welcome home! With a Sep Use Year, your Oct07 trip falls within your 2007 Use Year so you can use any of the following to "pay" for that stay:

2007 UY points
banked 2006 UY points
borrowed 2008 UY points

So if you want to use the '06 points for that Oct stay, you must bank the points prior to making the reservation, then tell MS you want to use the banked points to book a stay in Oct '07. Once those '06 points are banked into your '07 UY, they are good for stays from 9/1/07 - 8/31/08. So if you later had to cancel that Oct07 stay the points go back into your account and can be used to book another trip from 9/1/07 through 8/31/08.

If you bank all the '06 points and then later decide to take a trip during the remainder of your '06UY (from now through 8/31/07), you would have to borrow points from you '07UY to do so. Once borrowed, those points would be valid for stays from 9/1/06-8/31/07. Borrowed points cannot be put back in their original UY, so if you canceled the 06UY trip, the points would have to be used by 8/31/07.

1. If I use the 06 points... and then because of some sad event... have to cancel... I would either need to change my trip to prior to Aug. 31, 2007 or loose all the points... since they are booked for a date out of this '06 UY... right?

You cannot use points from one UY to book a stay in another UY, so you cannot use '06 points to book a stay in your '07 UY. You can bank points from one UY to the next UY, and then use those banked points to book that stay. Once banked, the points stay in the UY into which they are banked -- you cannot "unbank" points.

2. If I bank my 06 points... make the reservation... then have to cancel... I would have until Aug. 31, 2008 to still use the points... because they became 07 UY... right?

Correct. Once banked, those points could be used for stays from 9/1/07-8/31/08.

3. If I banked them, wouldn't they use these? I wouldn't have to borrow from 07 points would I?

Correct, you bank the '06UY points, then make the reservation and tell MS you want to use the banked points first. They normally do that but it's a good idea to remind them.

4. Maybe all these are stupid questions.... because they would make me bank them prior to my making my reservation for Oct any way... is that right?

As Chuck said, MS does not force you to bank your points. You are in control of (and responsible for) managing your own points. They have no idea what other vacation plans you might be planning to make. Maybe you are planning to use those '06 points for a trip prior to 8/31/07 and just haven't booked it yet.

I can see why UY is important just in terms of flexibility in cancellations.

Yes, UY becomes important if you ever need to cancel a trip. Let's hope that's a rare event for all of us! Also, remember that there are deadlines for banking your points. If you do not plan to use the '06 points for a stay between now and 8/31/07, then you will want to bank them. Your 100% banking deadline is the end of February.

Again, welcome home!!

 

[Chuck S]

Thanks for your reply Chuck S.

I'm still a little confused.

You said:
If you bank your points, then decide to take a vacation in the '06 use year, you can borrow points from '07. If you then cancel that reservation, those points MUST be use by August 31, 2007, or lost.
------------------------------------------------
My thinking:
I just got my points Sep06, good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2007.
If I bank them... doesn't that make them 07 points good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2008?
or is it... if you pull them out of the bank... they revert to original use year?

Sorry to be so confused!

As Lisa said, banking is a final transaction. If you bank your '06 use year points, you can not "unbank" them for a trip during you '06 use year...you would need to borrow '07 points. Borrowing is also a final transaction. Once borrowed, those points can not be returrned to the '07 use year and would have to be used by Aug 31, 2007.

 

[LisaS]

I just got my points Sep06, good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2007. If I bank them... doesn't that make them 07 points good for a stay until Aug. 31, 2008?

If you bank them, it changes both the "end" date and the "start" date of the points. Your 2006 points can be used for stays from 9/1/06 - 8/31/07. If you bank them into your '07UY, the points can be used for stays from 9/1/07 - 8/31/07. I think maybe you were thinking that banking them just extends the "end" date but that is not the case. Points always have just a one-year use period.

Hope this helps!

 

[disney dumbo]

Thank you LisaS and Chuck S!!!

Understanding points must certainly go with an "S" name!


I've definitely been missing the boat.
I'll let your statement
"Points always have just a one-year use period."
soak in to my thick skull.

Seems like July/Aug vacations for me would be scary for my point health!


You guys are the greatest to volunteer your time to help clueless people like me!!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thank you LisaS and Chuck S!!!

Understanding points must certainly go with an "S" name!


I've definitely been missing the boat.
I'll let your statement
"Points always have just a one-year use period."
soak in to my thick skull.

Seems like July/Aug vacations for me would be scary for my point health!


You guys are the greatest to volunteer your time to help clueless people like me!!!

Only if you need to cancel the reservation last minute. Let me quantify that by saying that in 10 years of membership, we have NEVER had to cancel a reservation late where we would lose points, and we usually travel at the end of our use year also.

 

[JimS4210]

Thank you LisaS and Chuck S!!!

Understanding points must certainly go with an "S" name!

Not necessarily...I'm still confused at times, but I'm getting the hang of it!

Jim

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Understanding points must certainly go with an "S" name!

That's because they are sssssmart!

 

[Mtnman44]

Don't worry, if a few weeks all if this will make sense and you will understand all kinds of things like Use Years, Banking Deadlines, Reserve Accounts, Reservation points, etc. Your brain will unconciously gauge all date/time referrences around your "internal" DVC calander. Your year will now have four seasons: User Year anniversary, and first, second, and thrid banking deadlines...