Banking and use question...

[disneyfan2kids]

I have a December use year, and just banked my remaining points into next year. I currently have no plans for an additional vacation before Dec. 2007 - so I banked all my points. A few questions:

1. If I change my mind and want a vacation prior to Dec. 2007 I can always "borrow" from next year's point...correct? (I know that I can't "borrow" the "banked" points - but I can borrow my regular points right?)

2. I'd like to tentatively plan a vacation for end of December 2007. Should I tell MS to use my "banked" points for that? If so - there's restrictions on those points even if I cancel MORE than 30 days out (because they are my "banked" points...right?)

3. Since the vacation (December trip) is very far off, and there's a possibility that I might cancel...is it better to use my regular 2007 points that won't be restricted if I cancel more than 30 days out? Or should I just deal with the repurcussions of using the "banked" points and if I cancel...what happens to those points? I have no intention of cancelling with less than 30 days - so my questions are based on only cancelling prior to 30 days.

I hope you can answer, and that I haven't confused people . This is my first time banking/borrowing/etc...so I want to make sure I have it correct.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JimMIA]

1. If I change my mind and want a vacation prior to Dec. 2007 I can always "borrow" from next year's point...correct? (I know that I can't "borrow" the "banked" points - but I can borrow my regular points right?)

Yes, that's correct. We actually bank and borrow that way as a defense against forgetting to bank and losing points.

2. I'd like to tentatively plan a vacation for end of December 2007. Should I tell MS to use my "banked" points for that?

Yes. They should do it anyway, but it's always a good idea to check exactly where they took the points from. You want to use your banked points first, because they expire at the end of the UY and can't be banked again.

If so - there's restrictions on those points even if I cancel MORE than 30 days out (because they are my "banked" points...right?)

NO. There are no special restrictions on banked points other than the fact that they can't be banked again, and they will expire at the end of the UY you banked them into if unused.

The same thing is true of borrowed points. There is no special restriction, but they've been borrowed, and you can't un-borrow them, so they expire at the end of the UY they were borrowed into if not used.

Just remember that banking and borrowing are irreversible transactions and that should keep it straight for you.

 

[JimMIA]

3. Since the vacation (December trip) is very far off, and there's a possibility that I might cancel...is it better to use my regular 2007 points that won't be restricted if I cancel more than 30 days out? Or should I just deal with the repurcussions of using the "banked" points and if I cancel...what happens to those points? I have no intention of cancelling with less than 30 days - so my questions are based on only cancelling prior to 30 days.

NO. You should use the banked points first. There aren't any consequences to canceling 31 days out. You have to use the banked points before the end of that UY in any event, so you should burn them up first. You will still be able to bank your current year points if you like, but you don't have any options with banked points, so use them first.

 

[JimMIA]

One clarification. When I say there are no consequences, I'm referring to ressies made and canceled at a DVC resort. If you reserve outside of the DVC resorts, there are consequences regardless of when you cancel.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

1. If I change my mind and want a vacation prior to Dec. 2007 I can always "borrow" from next year's point...correct? (I know that I can't "borrow" the "banked" points - but I can borrow my regular points right?)

2. I'd like to tentatively plan a vacation for end of December 2007. Should I tell MS to use my "banked" points for that?
Thanks in advance!

Question 1. Without borrowing from 2008 points disneyfan2kids technically doesn't have any current points, right?

#2 Can you make a ressie now for the 2008 use year, can disneyfan2kids "tell MS to use my "banked" points for that?"

So much to learn.....
Thanks
Chris

 

[Caskbill]

Question 1. Without borrowing from 2008 points disneyfan2kids technically doesn't have any current points, right?

#2 Can you make a ressie now for the 2008 use year, can disneyfan2kids "tell MS to use my "banked" points for that?"

So much to learn.....
Thanks
Chris

Answer #1:disneyfan2kids said he/she banked their current points. With a December UY that means their Dec 2006 points are banked, so yes, they don't have any current UY points. Nothing available until 12/1/2007.

That's why the question of borrowing regular 2007 points into 2006 if they want to go before 12/1/2007.

Answer #2:You can make a reservation for any use year, and use any appropriate points for that reservation. Be they banked, regular, or borrowed. The only condition is the reservation can only be made at 11-months (home resort) or 7-months (non-home resort) If the OP, with a December UY wanted to make a reservation for Jan 2009 (which would be part of their 2008 Use Year, they could do so by calling Feb 2008 (11-months ahead). Since the reservation would be in their 2008 UY, they could use banked 2007 points. They could not use banked 2006 points, as they would expire at the end of the 2007 UY (Nov 30th, 2008 in their case)

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Answer #2:You can make a reservation for any use year, and use any appropriate points for that reservation. Be they banked, regular, or borrowed. The only condition is the reservation can only be made at 11-months (home resort) or 7-months (non-home resort) If the OP, with a December UY wanted to make a reservation for Jan 2009 (which would be part of their 2008 Use Year, they could do so by calling Feb 2008 (11-months ahead). Since the reservation would be in their 2008 UY, they could use banked 2007 points. They could not use banked 2006 points, as they would expire at the end of the 2007 UY (Nov 30th, 2008 in their case)

So for my own mind, MS will recognize the banked points in the account that become available prior to the actual stay even though the were not available at the time of the reservation? Did I get this right?

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Next question. Can you make a ressie if you don't have enough points currently available, not borrowing from the next year, even if you plan on a transfer?
So you would have to transfer points in first, then hope they still have what accomodatios you want available?
Thanks
Chris

 

[Caskbill]

MS will use the points that are in the account at the time the reservation is made.

If you make a reservation today that takes place in the next UY, they will use whatever points are available for that reservation. If you later bank points into that same year, you must call MS and tell them to reallocate the banked points for the points originally used for the reservation.

They do not automatically use banked points.

If you plan to use transferred points, you must do that first.

Sometimes a chart helps. Suppose you have a June UY month. Your chart would look like this:

UseYear...Vacation Dates
2006....Jun 1, 2006 thru May 31, 2007
2007....Jun 1, 2007 thru May 31, 2008
2008....Jun 1, 2008 thru May 31, 2009
2009....Jun 1, 2009 thru May 31, 2010
etc.

You don't actually get your points on your UY month. They are already there. And may be used at any time to make reservations, subject to all reservation windows.

Example: You want to take a vacation in July, 2008. That requires UY 2008 points. These can be either regular 2008 points, banked 2007 points, or borrowed 2009 points.

If your regular allocation is 150 points, and the vacation you want to take requires 200, then you must have 200 points assigned to that use year before you can make the reservation. Assigned points would be your regular 150 points, plus 50 points from somewhere else (banked, borrowed, transferred). When all 200 points are identified, MS will complete the reservation.

Hope this helps.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

MS will use the points that are in the account at the time the reservation is made.

If you make a reservation today that takes place in the next UY, they will use whatever points are available for that reservation. If you later bank points into that same year, you must call MS and tell them to reallocate the banked points for the points originally used for the reservation.

They do not automatically use banked points.

If you plan to use transferred points, you must do that first.

Sometimes a chart helps. Suppose you have a June UY month. Your chart would look like this:

UseYear...Vacation Dates
2006....Jun 1, 2006 thru May 31, 2007
2007....Jun 1, 2007 thru May 31, 2008
2008....Jun 1, 2008 thru May 31, 2009
2009....Jun 1, 2009 thru May 31, 2010
etc.

You don't actually get your points on your UY month. They are already there. And may be used at any time to make reservations, subject to all reservation windows.

Example: You want to take a vacation in July, 2008. That requires UY 2008 points. These can be either regular 2008 points, banked 2007 points, or borrowed 2009 points.

If your regular allocation is 150 points, and the vacation you want to take requires 200, then you must have 200 points assigned to that use year before you can make the reservation. Assigned points would be your regular 150 points, plus 50 points from somewhere else (banked, borrowed, transferred). When all 200 points are identified, MS will complete the reservation.

Hope this helps.

I am fairly certain you answered the question, but...you obviously don't speak dummy so here it goes
here is scenario:

You banked all your 150- 2006 points.
You have a Sept. UY.
You have 150- 2007 points coming.
You call in May.
For ressie in Nov.

Will MS use the 2006 points first since they will be available before stay.
Or must I borrow from 2008 allotment.
Thanks
Chris

 

[Caskbill]

I am fairly certain you answered the question, but...you obviously don't speak dummy so here it goes
here is scenario:

You banked all your 150- 2006 points.
You have a Sept. UY.
You have 150- 2007 points coming.
You call in May.
For ressie in Nov.

Will MS use the 2006 points first since they will be available before stay.
Or must I borrow from 2008 allotment.
Thanks
Chris

The key here is that once you banked your 2006 points, they are no longer 2006 points. They are now 2007 points with a status classification of 'banked'.

A September UY month looks like this, using the numbers you provided.

UseYear....Vacation Dates.....Points Available
2006.....Sep 1, 2006 thru Sep 1, 2007.....0
2007.....Sep 1, 2007 thru Sep 1, 2008.....300 (150 banked + 150 reg)
2008.....Sep 1, 2008 thru Sep 1, 2009.....150
2009.....Sep 1, 2009 thru Sep 1, 2010.....150

You want to vacation in November. You call in May. Since the vacation dates are in UY 2007, they will use 2007 points. If the vacation requires 300 points or less, they will take from those 300 points currently in that UY. They will take the banked points first, and then any other points needed from the regular allotment. (It never hurts to verify and be sure that they are indeed taking the banked points first, as mistakes can happen)

Suppose the reservation required 230 points. Then after you make the reservation, your account looks like this:

UseYear....Vacation Dates.....Points Available
2006.....Sep 1, 2006 thru Sep 1, 2007.....0
2007.....Sep 1, 2007 thru Sep 1, 2008.....70 (regular points)
2008.....Sep 1, 2008 thru Sep 1, 2009.....150
2009.....Sep 1, 2009 thru Sep 1, 2010.....150

If your reservation requires more than 300 points, they will take all 300 of the vacation UY points, plus will borrow from your 150 points in UY 2008 as necessary to complete the reservation.

Suppose your reservation required 320 points. Then the in-process picture would look like this:
UseYear....Vacation Dates.....Points Available
2006.....Sep 1, 2006 thru Sep 1, 2007.....0
2007.....Sep 1, 2007 thru Sep 1, 2008.....320 (150 banked + 150 reg + 20 borrowed)
2008.....Sep 1, 2008 thru Sep 1, 2009.....130
2009.....Sep 1, 2009 thru Sep 1, 2010.....150

and after you finish the reservation, your account looks like this:
UseYear....Vacation Dates.....Points Available
2006.....Sep 1, 2006 thru Sep 1, 2007.....0
2007.....Sep 1, 2007 thru Sep 1, 2008.....0
2008.....Sep 1, 2008 thru Sep 1, 2009.....130
2009.....Sep 1, 2009 thru Sep 1, 2010.....150

If you later cancel the reservation (at 31 days or more prior to check-in), the points return to your account with the status as shown in the 'in-process' chart.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Got it! Thank you very much I can't wait for your new program to come out!
Thanks for taking the time.
Chris