Banking and Borrowing Q

[Cassie K]

Hi everyone, newbie here trying to figure it all out. We are considering buying an approx 200 point contract that we will probably use on an every other year basis. Can I just check what happens to left over points. For example, we plan to take our next holiday in 2024 and we need 350 points. We use 200 banked from 2023 and 200 from 2024. What would happen to the 50 leftover? We would be able to bank them, but only until 2025, right? Which wouldn’t be any good for us, because we wouldn’t go again until 2026. Am I missing something or would the only options be to use them in 2025, lose them or rent them?

Thanks (this will probably be the first of approx 100 questions!!)

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think your assessment is correct. You can bank points forward one year. Then they become use or lose. The 50 point banked to 2025 would have to be used by the end of the 2025 UY.

 

[toddrob99]

In your example scenario, you would use your 200 banked 2023 points first, then 150 of your 2024 points. You'll have 50 points remaining in 2024. You can use them in 2024 (extend your trip or upgrade your villa), gift them to a friend or relative for use in 2024 (make them a reservation, essentially the same as renting them out), or rent/transfer them to someone else. There's a board here for rent/transfer, you could use a broker to do the work for you, or you could look for someone on Facebook, Reddit, etc. Or you could bank the 50 2024 points into 2025 and have the same options in 2025, along with an additional 50 points if you're sure you'll only need to bank 150 of your 2025 points for 2026. Even if you rent/transfer too many points and fall a little short in 2026, you could borrow from 2027 since you'll have an excess for each trip anyway.

 

[Cassie K]

I think your assessment is correct. You can bank points forward one year. Then they become use or lose. The 50 point banked to 2025 would have to be used by the end of the 2025 UY.

Thank you. Good to know my thinking is correct.

 

[Cassie K]

In your example scenario, you would use your 200 banked 2023 points first, then 150 of your 2024 points. You'll have 50 points remaining in 2024. You can use them in 2024 (extend your trip or upgrade your villa), gift them to a friend or relative for use in 2024 (make them a reservation, essentially the same as renting them out), or rent/transfer them to someone else. There's a board here for rent/transfer, you could use a broker to do the work for you, or you could look for someone on Facebook, Reddit, etc. Or you could bank the 50 2024 points into 2025 and have the same options in 2025, along with an additional 50 points if you're sure you'll only need to bank 150 of your 2025 points for 2026. Even if you rent/transfer too many points and fall a little short in 2026, you could borrow from 2027 since you'll have an excess for each trip anyway.

Thank you. Sounds like there are a few options rather than just losing them. Would it be better to get into a use, borrow pattern do you think?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

That's what we've done over the years! With a plan for every other year, I think you could make good use of the points through borrowing. The flexibility for banking and borrowing (and transferring and renting) works pretty well most of the time.

 

[Jayunit09]

That's what we've done over the years! With a plan for every other year, I think you could make good use of the points through borrowing. The flexibility for banking and borrowing (and transferring and renting) works pretty well most of the time.

We are literally the same situation as the OP. 200 points every other year trips and need about 350-375.

We are currently on the bank/use timeline. I was actually wondering if the use/borrow timeline is better. What are the advantages of that? I’d just rent out the 2023 points and start fresh for our 2024 trip???

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We are literally the same situation as the OP. 200 points every other year trips and need about 350-375.

We are currently on the bank/use timeline. I was actually wondering if the use/borrow timeline is better. What are the advantages of that? I’d just rent out the 2023 points and start fresh for our 2024 trip???

What's better for us might not be better for you! We've found it to our advantage most years to stay 'ahead' with the points, using more of a borrowing approach for most reservations. We feel it fits the way we plan and vacation, usually being out at least a year with our planning at WDW. Then if we have a year where we decide to not travel as much, we don't borrow and have more points available the following year. Or if we plan to do a big trip, like a family reunion, the points are there. Just a style we've adopted, but again - everyone has a different approach! That's part of the flexibility we have!

 

[toddrob99]

Thank you. Sounds like there are a few options rather than just losing them. Would it be better to get into a use, borrow pattern do you think?

Either approach is valid, and you'll have to figure out what works best for you. I might lean toward borrowing rather than banking, to reduce the overhead of renting out points every year. If you can rent out two cycles' worth of excess points the first time around and then borrow going forward, you might not have to deal with rentals again. On the other hand, the good thing about renting out excess points after the fact is that you can decide to use more points without impacting the next trip.

 

[Chuck S]

I don't think there is any advantage to Use/Bank vs Use/Borrow, at least not yet. I waffle between one and the other, depending upon what accomodations I need in a given year. But I usually Bank a few points. When the contract gets into the final years, I think borrowing would be the smart move.

 

[Jayunit09]

I don't think there is any advantage to Use/Bank vs Use/Borrow, at least not yet. I waffle between one and the other, depending upon what accomodations I need in a given year. But I usually Bank a few points. When the contract gets into the final years, I think borrowing would be the smart move.

I set it up so we can bank instead of borrow just Incase they decide to implement borrowing restrictions again. I do think that will be rare though.

 

[Cassie K]

That's what we've done over the years! With a plan for every other year, I think you could make good use of the points through borrowing. The flexibility for banking and borrowing (and transferring and renting) works pretty well most of the time.

Thank you. I think in reality we will probably end up doing a bit of both depending on our plans. It’s just helpful to get an understanding of what to look for in a contract. It‘s great that it’s such a flexible system.