Banked points question?

[karebear1]

I changed a ressie and I have a question. When I initially made the ressie, I didn't have enough existing points , so i had to borrow 2 pts. from next years amounts. Now- because I canceled that ressie- MS said the 2 pts. had to be banked to be used. I still don't understand why- the ressie was for next January- and I cancelled it last week. Anyway- , now that those 2 pts have been banked- how do I use them? Any help in SIMPLE terms would be apprecited. MS tried to explain, but it madde no sense to me at all! Thanks everyone!

 

[Cruelladeville]

Points that have been borrowed can't be banked. You borrowed from next year--points were brought in to this year so now you have to use them this year before your new use year begins. Now, if you only have 2 points in this current use year, you can either let them expire or borrow more points so you can go somewhere this year. This can be a real problem, can't it? I just hate letting points expire, but sometimes that's the easiest thing to do.

 

[karebear1]

Maybe I'M using the wrong term. DO they put points in a hold?

 

[PamOKW]

Give me a little more detail and I'll try to walk through it with you. It could be a mix-up in terms or in your understanding.

I need to know: What is your Use Year? You said you "changed" the reservation. What were the dates (at least the month) of the original reservation and to what dates did you change it? Any time you make a change, you are really cancelling something and re-booking something else.

Let me know the answers and I'll try to work it out with you.

 

[CarolA]

If they put the 2 points in a holding period you can use them this year, but I THINK that you can only book 30 days in advance with holding points. (I always get the holding lecture on my late bookings, but I ignore it!)

If you borrowed from next year you can't send them back to next year. SORRY!

 

[PamOKW]

Tsk tsk Carol...you don't listen? That's how we get into trouble with MS.

"Holding" was originally 30 days but they changed it to a more reasonable 60 days. Karebear, that means you can use points that are in a "Holding" account to make a reservation 60 days or less from when it will begin. Points in a Holding account also can't be banked. They have to be used by the end of the Use Year.

Points go into "Holding" when a reservation is cancelled 30 days or less from the check-in day.

 

[karebear1]

OK- the 2 pts were put into a holding account- they were borrowed from next years points- my use year is October. So the deal is I can use them next year but it has to be a last minute trip - 30-60 days before I actually go to use them?

 

[CRobin]

Originally posted by karebear1
OK- the 2 pts were put into a holding account- they were borrowed from next years points- my use year is October. So the deal is I can use them next year but it has to be a last minute trip - 30-60 days before I actually go to use them?

From the Member's Guidebook:

Once borrowed, Vacation Points cannot be returned to their original Use Year and will expire if not used by the end of the current Use Year.

Cancelling a Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation:

31+Days
Prior to Arrival All of the Vacation Points used to make the reservation will be restored to your account in the appropriate Use Year.

1–30 Days
Prior to Arrival All of the Vacation Points used to make the reservation will be placed in your Holding Account in the appropriate Use Year.

On the Arrival Date All of the Vacation Points used to make the reservation will be forfeited

So, it would appear that you will need to use those points 60 days or less from October 1, 2003.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by karebear1
OK- the 2 pts were put into a holding account- they were borrowed from next years points- my use year is October. So the deal is I can use them next year but it has to be a last minute trip - 30-60 days before I actually go to use them?

I'm still not sure we have all the available information. Your use year is Oct and you just (last week) changed a reservation that occurs in January of 2004. I'm assuming you made a minor change to only be different by 2 points. I'm assuming you actually borrowed ONLY 2 points from your Oct 2004 use year. If all of this is accurate, there should have been no holding account. The points would be available but would have to be used before 1 Oct, of 2004.

This raises red flags in my mind, bells and whistles are going of as we speak. Did you borrow more points than the 2 and these are just the left overs? Did you cancel a reservation that occurs 30 days or less from when you called and change that to Jan of 2004? Did you cancel the reservaiton completely and just not able to use the last 2 points? If you give us the full and exact details we may be able to help you more and possibly even tell you how best to use those 2 lonely points.

 

[PamOKW]

I agree with Dean. We are still missing some information in order to give you an explanation.

I just re-read your original post and I may have a theory.

October 2002 points must be used by Sept. 30, 2003

October 2003 you are getting a new allotment.

For a January 2004 reservation you would need to Bank any points that remain in your October 2002 allotment. Maybe the 2 points were Banked?

I don't think the 2 points are in a Holding Account. If you cancelled a reservation at the last minute, all the points from the reservation would go into Holding, not just 2.

You also say points were borrowed from "next year". Were they borrowed for the January trip or a different trip that you cancelled? Were they borrowed from October 2003 or October 2004?

 

[karebear1]

OK- here's the complete and total scoop:

* I bought 200 points for BCV in March of this year, with a use year of October. Thus- the points I could have used for this year would've been from Oct. 2002- Oct. 2003
* We used Magical beginnings- thus deleting any point usage for that year.
* This trip's points come out of the new points that will be assigned to us this October 2003- October 2004.
* My first ressie was made right away for January 2004- that would be 150 pts. Leaving me with 50 pts.
* In June (03) I made as ressie for OKW for Oct. 2003- that used up 40 more pts. Bringing the total to use of my points for the use year 2003-2004 to 190 pts. I had 10 left over.
* We decided that we wanted to change resorts for the Oct. trip. SO I made a ressie for VWL- transferring the original 40 pts. from the OKW ressie and added the other 20 that were needed for the VWL ressie.
* because I only had another 10 pts. left from my use year of '03-'04- I had to borrow 10 from the next- Oct. 2004-2005. SO- I actually have 10 pts. in holding- NOT 2.... sorry about that math problem- don't know why 2 was sticking in my head!
* I discovered that VWL studios only have 1 queen bed and a sleeper sofa- that wouldn't do for us- we need the 2 queen beds- so I called MS back (THOSE POOR PEOPLE!!) And switched back to my original ressie at OKW.
* Having done that, I now have 10 pts left to use for 2003-'04 year
* But, because I borrowed the 10 pts from the 2004-'05 year they said that they would put them in holding to use. So- that's where they are as we speak!


I am REALLY SORRY about the 2/10 pt. thing. I don't know what I was thinking when I typed 2 pts- it really is 10 pts that I borrowed.

So- does that help?? If that makes sense- I am I understanding it correctly now, that I have to use those points for a relatively "last minute" trip? I am planning a trip for Jan. 2005- can I draw those 10 pts out of holding to use on this trip if I make a ressie for this trip at the 11 month window? Or would I have to wait until Nov. 204 to call and use those points?

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me sort this out. I guess that this is how we learn!

 

[Dean]

The points should not be in a holding account. They may however be borrowed points that can't be used after Sept, 04. If they put them in a holding acccount, you need to call and have it corrected. Still, they should have used the borrowed points first and you could then have banked the 03 points to the 04 Oct use year. My guess is you have the terminology confused and they're not in a holding account. Call them back and make sure they free up "current use year points" and use the borrowed points for your reservations.

The only other explanation would be that your Oct trip actually starts in Sept in which case you have a small problem but still no holding account issues..

 

[InstImpres]

I second what Dean said. Call MS on Monday and tell them you want to "reallocate your points to use up all of your borrowed points on current reservations". That should than leave you with 10 2003-04 points and 190 04-05 points. Than I would bank your 10 03-04 to 04-05. Essentially giving you 200 points for 04-05 (just remember points can only be banked once, so use the 10 banked points with your first ressie of next year)


Hope that makes sense.
Sandy