Banking/Borrowing at 7 month mark for SAP

[PinkPixel]

Thought experiment about buying a 50point contract to bank/use/ borrow for a total of 150 every three years. How does this work in reality on the morning of 7 month mark? I would be trying to book GFV resort studios lagoon or theme park view during April or other more peak times. Do all the transactions already have to have occurred in order to snag something you want? Or can you do that in real time and also purchase the one time use year points? Worried if it’s required before 7 month booking day you could end up with all your points for 3 years stuck in that year with no results. Also, can you pay the dues for the borrowed year in advance? The thought of a lingering payment a year after using the points seems kind of a downer for me.

 

[Sandisw]

You can not borrow until you are making a reservation and then only the number of points you need to complete the trip, so it is done in real time when you are booking.

Keep in mind, that DVC does have the power to amend the banking/borrowing rules and like we saw in 2020 until around 2022, they changed it to only 50%. If they feel it needs to happen to balance things, they could do it again.

There are going to be times when getting into those rooms will be difficult at 7 months...DVC peak times go from mid September to just after marathon weekend in January. In April, around Easter time can be busy too.

While it does seem that there is better chance of getting into VGF now with those resort studios added, no idea if that will be the case. Things have changed over the years and it does seem to get harder and harder to get the near park resorts at 7 months.

You can always start a credit on your account to prepay the dues so that when the bill comes due, you have most of it covered.

I am one that would be frustrated to buy at a different resort, only to find out I really wanted to be one place and had trouble getting it.

 

[PinkPixel]

You can not borrow until you are making a reservation and then only the number of points you need to complete the trip, so it is done in real time when you are booking.

Keep in mind, that DVC does have the power to amend the banking/borrowing rules and like we saw in 2020 until around 2022, they changed it to only 50%. If they feel it needs to happen to balance things, they could do it again.

There are going to be times when getting into those rooms will be difficult at 7 months...DVC peak times go from mid September to just after marathon weekend in January. In April, around Easter time can be busy too.

While it does seem that there is better chance of getting into VGF now with those resort studios added, no idea if that will be the case. Things have changed over the years and it does seem to get harder and harder to get the near park resorts at 7 months.

You can always start a credit on your account to prepay the dues so that when the bill comes due, you have most of it covered.

I am one that would be frustrated to buy at a different resort, only to find out I really wanted to be one place and had trouble getting it.

Thank you, your expertise is amazing. I do like that you can string it together in real time if you can get a reservation. But sounds like it might not be really reliable plan because I do like to be walking/boat distance to MK and Epcot if possible.

 

[RichVIII]

I purchased a 50 pointer to add a new resort. It is a lot more nerve racking only playing with 50 points, needing to bank and borrow. That said, it is the way to dip your toes in, I would do it.

I also would make sure you book something at home resort so you do have something or is it VGF or bust? You also will have to call MS to add on the 24 One Time Use Year Points so that also puts you an hour behind unless you buy earlier and hold a reservation and modify it to include your new booking.

Like others said, availability has seemed good but also still in sales mode with many units declared.

 

[Jayunit09]

I purchased a 50 pointer to add a new resort. It is a lot more nerve racking only playing with 50 points, needing to bank and borrow. That said, it is the way to dip your toes in, I would do it.

I also would make sure you book something at home resort so you do have something or is it VGF or bust? You also will have to call MS to add on the 24 One Time Use Year Points so that also puts you an hour behind unless you buy earlier and hold a reservation and modify it to include your new booking.

Like others said, availability has seemed good but also still in sales mode with many units declared.

Interesting....

So theoretically if we knew we were going to need one time use points, we could call the week ahead of our 7 month window, make a reservation and get the points, cancel the reservation, and have the points ready for the real 7 mnoth window? Do I have this right?

 

[CarolMN]

Interesting....

So theoretically if we knew we were going to need one time use points, we could call the week ahead of our 7 month window, make a reservation and get the points, cancel the reservation, and have the points ready for the real 7 mnoth window? Do I have this right?

Yes. There is some risk involved with this strategy - you would be stuck with the OTUP if there isn't availability for what you plan to book.

 

[Sandisw]

Interesting....

So theoretically if we knew we were going to need one time use points, we could call the week ahead of our 7 month window, make a reservation and get the points, cancel the reservation, and have the points ready for the real 7 mnoth window? Do I have this right?

You also need to make sure that whatever fake night you book to buy the OTU points is at least 31 days or more in advance so That when you cancel it, they don’t go into holding.

You also need to make sure that the fake reservation is in the same UY as your trip. For example, if I wanted to book a night in Feb at 7 months using my Dec UY, that night for thr OTU points needs to be after Dec 1st so they are in the correct UY.

 

[RichVIII]

And I wouldn’t cancel it, I would modify it so you can keep track of it. I have not had to cancel it, but my understanding is that you can’t see them and they would then require another call to MS to use them again.

 

[Cyberc1978]

And I wouldn’t cancel it, I would modify it so you can keep track of it. I have not had to cancel it, but my understanding is that you can’t see them and they would then require another call to MS to use them again.

You can see them - But only like you see transferred points. You need to create or modify a reservation and then at the time when you select contracts you can see a contract with ie 8 Old Key west points.

 

[Sandisw]

And I wouldn’t cancel it, I would modify it so you can keep track of it. I have not had to cancel it, but my understanding is that you can’t see them and they would then require another call to MS to use them again.

They are put in a temporary contract on your account. If you cancel a reservation with them, then they will just sit there and can be used online like your other contracts.

They just will only show up when choosing the contracts when booking.

 

[intamin]

Yes. There is some risk involved with this strategy - you would be stuck with the OTUP if there isn't availability for what you plan to book.

Something you could do to have some insurance on this if for whatever reason booking with the OTUP fell through is if you had another trip already booked in the same UY you could go back in and modify the other trip so it takes the OTUP and then you just bank your regular points.

 

[Sandisw]

Something you could do to have some insurance on this if for whatever reason booking with the OTUP fell through is if you had another trip already booked in the same UY you could go back in and modify the other trip so it takes the OTUP and then you just bank your regular points.

Assuming that other trip was booked 7 months or less. They won’t show up as an option when modifying a trip booked during home resort priority

 

[intamin]

Assuming that other trip was booked 7 months or less. They won’t show up as an option when modifying a trip booked during home resort priority

Woops I changed my comment and then forgot to add back in the 7 month part but yes lol.