Banking question and first reservation

[jennybear]

We just signed the contracts this week and I think I have a decent understanding of how things work. But I just need some clarification about use year and the Rule of 4.

Our use year is 10/10 and we have 400 points at SSR. I would like to make our first reservation for Thanksgiving at HHI. I know I have to wait until April before I can try to book it so I am trying to figure out the best thing to do with our points.

Should I immediately bank all of our points for next year and then make our reservation or should I make our reservation in April and then bank the remainder?

There is a chance we will be planning a January trip to SSR, but we haven't made a final decision yet.

Final question is, to bank points must I do that by the May 31st date, or can I bank up to 9/30/11?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!

 

[vicki_c]

The Rule of 4 has no relevance to your situation (other than your annual banking deadline) since you are planning on using your points at a DVC resort.

If you are getting 400 2010 use year points, you will have to bank them to use them for your HHI Thanksgiving trip. If those are the points you want to use, it would be best to bank them. If you don't, they will expire in September 11. They must be banked by May 31 2011.

If you are unsure, just book the T-giving trip using the 2011 points. If you decide later that you are not going, you can bank the 2010 points and you can request that Member Services switch your points usage for the T-giving trip from 2011 points to 2010 points that you have banked. I have never done that, so hopefully others with more expertise can chime in on the pitfalls or advice. You definitely would have to make that switch before you pass your May 31 2011 banking window for those points.

You can also bank those points (this is what I would probably do) for the T-giving trip. Then if you decide you want an earlier trip, borrow some 2011 points into your 2010 use year for that trip. Actually now that I write it out I think that's the best approach.

 

[jennybear]

Thanks for the advice! I mentioned the Rule of 4 because I thought I had to bank by the May 31st date. I know we won't take a trip before November, so I think I will go ahead and bank and then use those points for our Thanksgiving and then use the remainder for our January trip.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks for the advice! I mentioned the Rule of 4 because I thought I had to bank by the May 31st date. I know we won't take a trip before November, so I think I will go ahead and bank and then use those points for our Thanksgiving and then use the remainder for our January trip.

You are correct with your banking deadline. That is also part of the rule of four.