Best way to do this?

[MJ6987]

Hi All, I know this is some way off but it pays to be organised with DVC!

Me and my wife are planning a trip to WDW (from UK) in Sept / Oct 2020. This will be for our 25th wedding anniversary and our first trip without the kids!

We own at Boardwalk but thinking we'd like to do maybe 4 nights there and 3 or 4 nights at a Monorail resort (flexible as to which one and never stayed at any before), Studio in both cases.

Obviously we can book the Boardwalk portion at 11 months so that should be OK, but what is the best way to get the Monorail resort part?

The two options I have in mind are:
1. Book the whole stay at BWV at 11 months then at 7 months see what we can get at a Monorail resort, cancel this part of the BWV stay and book that, or
2. Try (via DIS) to do a points swap where I will book a BWV stay for someone else at 11 months (I imagine it's pretty popular during Food and Wine) and ask them to book our Monorail resort with their points at 11 months.

Which option is my best bet? No.2 seems more assured though more complicated.

Thanks

Edit: actually as we don't have a lot of spare points, with option 1 I think I might need to just book the Boardwalk portion (4 nights) at 11 months - this will give me the advantage of being able to try and book the other portion at 7 months online rather than having to have to wait an hour to phone MS to cancel and rebook (right? Or can this all be done online?)

 

[Marionnette]

Hi All, I know this is some way off but it pays to be organised with DVC!

Me and my wife are planning a trip to WDW (from UK) in Sept / Oct 2020. This will be for our 25th wedding anniversary and our first trip without the kids!

We own at Boardwalk but thinking we'd like to do maybe 4 nights there and 3 or 4 nights at a Monorail resort (flexible as to which one and never stayed at any before), Studio in both cases.

Obviously we can book the Boardwalk portion at 11 months so that should be OK, but what is the best way to get the Monorail resort part?

The two options I have in mind are:
1. Book the whole stay at BWV at 11 months then at 7 months see what we can get at a Monorail resort, cancel this part of the BWV stay and book that, or
2. Try (via DIS) to do a points swap where I will book a BWV stay for someone else at 11 months (I imagine it's pretty popular during Food and Wine) and ask them to book our Monorail resort with their points at 11 months.

Which option is my best bet? No.2 seems more assured though more complicated.

Thanks

3. Do a points transfer from someone who owns at a monorail resort and do the booking yourself at 11 months. And then rent out your BWV points to pay for the cost of the transfer. That way, you retain control of the reservation for the monorail resort instead of hoping that you don't get burned in the deal.

 

[MJ6987]

3. Do a points transfer from someone who owns at a monorail resort and do the booking yourself at 11 months. And then rent out your BWV points to pay for the cost of the transfer. That way, you retain control of the reservation for the monorail resort instead of hoping that you don't get burned in the deal.

Thanks. How does this work? Do you mean like renting points? I would then also need to rent out some of our points to avoid losing them. Coming from the UK we tend to come ever other year by banking / using. Or is there a way to do a one-off points transfer "swap" with someone who wants to trade BWV points for Monorail resort points?

 

[CarolynFH]

Hi All, I know this is some way off but it pays to be organised with DVC!

Me and my wife are planning a trip to WDW (from UK) in Sept / Oct 2020. This will be for our 25th wedding anniversary and our first trip without the kids!

We own at Boardwalk but thinking we'd like to do maybe 4 nights there and 3 or 4 nights at a Monorail resort (flexible as to which one and never stayed at any before), Studio in both cases.

Obviously we can book the Boardwalk portion at 11 months so that should be OK, but what is the best way to get the Monorail resort part?

The two options I have in mind are:
1. Book the whole stay at BWV at 11 months then at 7 months see what we can get at a Monorail resort, cancel this part of the BWV stay and book that, or
2. Try (via DIS) to do a points swap where I will book a BWV stay for someone else at 11 months (I imagine it's pretty popular during Food and Wine) and ask them to book our Monorail resort with their points at 11 months.

Which option is my best bet? No.2 seems more assured though more complicated.

Thanks

Edit: actually as we don't have a lot of spare points, with option 1 I think I might need to just book the Boardwalk portion (4 nights) at 11 months - this will give me the advantage of being able to try and book the other portion at 7 months online rather than having to have to wait an hour to phone MS to cancel and rebook (right? Or can this all be done online?)

You might consider making two BWV reservations at 11 months, one for the 4 nights you want to stay there and one for the remaining nights (put different names as primary guest - your name on one, your wife’s on the other, so MS doesn’t automatically combine them). That ensures you have a place to stay! Then at 7 months you would cancel one when you book the monorail resort & leave the other intact, which could be done online at 8 AM instead of having to call MS at 9 the day the 7 month window opens.

ETA I have no experience with Option 3 so don’t want to comment!

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks. How does this work? Do you mean like renting points? I would then also need to rent out some of our points to avoid losing them. Coming from the UK we tend to come ever other year by banking / using. Or is there a way to do a one-off points transfer "swap" with someone who wants to trade BWV points for Monorail resort points?

You cannot "swap" points with another member via transfer. The transfer of points between members is limited to one transfer in OR out per UY. IOW, you can transfer points in from another member, but then you would not be able to transfer points out to that member or any other member.

Technically, transfers should not involve any money changing hands, as per your contract with DVC. It happens all of the time but DVC looks the other way as long as there is no mention of any financial transaction when the members are conference calling DVC. The amount you pay and how you pay it is between you and the other DVC member to determine. If something goes awry, DVC will not step in and mediate. Transfers are final actions and are irreversible.

Listing your points with a rental agency is the easiest way for someone who has never rented before. You contact the agency and tell them your home resort, your UY and the number of points you are willing to part with. The agency will match you with a potential renter and ask you to make a reservation in their name using your points. The agency handles collecting the money from the renter and sends you a share of it. You retain control of the reservation up until the day that the renter checks in.

Now, if transferring points into your account is not something you're willing to try, you can use one of the rental agencies to rent a reservation at a monorail resort from another member. In the meantime, do as @CarolynFH suggests and book the split stay at BWV. If/when the rental for the monorail resort comes thru, you can cancel the BWV reservation that is concurrent with the monorail resort ressie and then put those BWV points up for rent.

 

[lisaviolet]

You might consider making two BWV reservations at 11 months, one for the 4 nights you want to stay there and one for the remaining nights (put different names as primary guest - your name on one, your wife’s on the other, so MS doesn’t automatically combine them). That ensures you have a place to stay! Then at 7 months you would cancel one when you book the monorail resort & leave the other intact, which could be done online at 8 AM instead of having to call MS at 9 the day the 7 month window opens.

Great advice.

____________________________________________________________

Both the Polynesian SV and Bay Lake Tower LV studios have a ton of inventory (Polynesian has 288 standard studios). If you don't get either at seven months, I'm sure you would get that amount of nights via stalking/waitlist.

Good luck. Enjoy!

 

[MJ6987]

Thanks all! I think I'll probably go the route that @CarolynFH suggests. Seems less complicated and at the end of the day I'm happy to stay wherever at WDW - Monorail resort would just be a bonus if we get it.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks all! I think I'll probably go the route that @CarolynFH suggests. Seems less complicated and at the end of the day I'm happy to stay wherever at WDW - Monorail resort would just be a bonus if we get it.

Best wishes for success. Keep in mind that the Riviera might be open in time for your trip, too, and might be just as special as the monorail resorts (I hope)!

 

[chalee94]

Thanks all! I think I'll probably go the route that @CarolynFH suggests. Seems less complicated and at the end of the day I'm happy to stay wherever at WDW - Monorail resort would just be a bonus if we get it.

The challenge is that you are staying during September/October (what we call "Fall Frenzy") - it's a busy time for booking and owners at all resorts (but especially monorail and near-park resorts) book early to make sure that they have a reservation. Changing at 7 months is not impossible but a lot less common than say, in February.

Swapping points or reservations can be tough to do, but renting your pts for cash gives you more options (although there is likely to be a small loss in the transaction). You could then use the cash received to book a monorail stay during the home resort window by renting a points stay from an owner or else paying for a transfer so you can control the stay yourself.

But if you are OK with BWV, then make the 2 reservations as discussed and most likely waitlist a BLT-lake view room at the 7 month window and hope for the best...

 

[kboo]

You might consider making two BWV reservations at 11 months, one for the 4 nights you want to stay there and one for the remaining nights (put different names as primary guest - your name on one, your wife’s on the other, so MS doesn’t automatically combine them). That ensures you have a place to stay! Then at 7 months you would cancel one when you book the monorail resort & leave the other intact, which could be done online at 8 AM instead of having to call MS at 9 the day the 7 month window opens.

As others have said, I would do this. You may be ok at 7 months on the dot with BLT lake view. Good luck and happy anniversary!!

 

[Cyberc1978]

Another option to swap points is to transfer your 2019 points to a member and then the member transfer his 2020 points to you.

You can either do this with the same member or two separate members. With the latter you would need some compensation upfront.

 

[MJ6987]

The challenge is that you are staying during September/October (what we call "Fall Frenzy") - it's a busy time for booking and owners at all resorts (but especially monorail and near-park resorts) book early to make sure that they have a reservation. Changing at 7 months is not impossible but a lot less common than say, in February.

Swapping points or reservations can be tough to do, but renting your pts for cash gives you more options (although there is likely to be a small loss in the transaction). You could then use the cash received to book a monorail stay during the home resort window by renting a points stay from an owner or else paying for a transfer so you can control the stay yourself.

But if you are OK with BWV, then make the 2 reservations as discussed and most likely waitlist a BLT-lake view room at the 7 month window and hope for the best...

Would I have to have the points in hand when waitlisting? If so, I would need to cancel one of the BWV reservations at 7 months as I wouldn't have enough points to hold both. Or do you use the points at the point the waitlisted reservation becomes available? Thanks

 

[chalee94]

You probably need to cancel your BWV stay to free up pts to book a monorail stay if it is available.

If everything is booked at 7 months, you can waitlist a monorail stay. If the monorail stay becomes available, your BWV stay would be cancelled by MS and the points would then be used to book the monorail stay by MS.

 

[Marionnette]

Would I have to have the points in hand when waitlisting? If so, I would need to cancel one of the BWV reservations at 7 months as I wouldn't have enough points to hold both. Or do you use the points at the point the waitlisted reservation becomes available? Thanks

You can set up your wait list so that an existing reservation gets canceled to free up the points IF the wait list comes thru. This ensures that you get to keep your BWV reservation in the event that the monorail resort reservation doesn't come thru. The cancellation would be done by the CM who fulfills the wait list. All you have to do is indicate that the wait list is to replace the existing reservation. If points will need to be borrowed to complete the wait list, you have to indicate that you permit them to borrow the points.

 

[MJ6987]

You can set up your wait list so that an existing reservation gets canceled to free up the points IF the wait list comes thru. This ensures that you get to keep your BWV reservation in the event that the monorail resort reservation doesn't come thru. The cancellation would be done by the CM who fulfills the wait list. All you have to do is indicate that the wait list is to replace the existing reservation. If points will need to be borrowed to complete the wait list, you have to indicate that you permit them to borrow the points.

Ah right, great. Thanks!

 

[CarolynFH]

You can set up your wait list so that an existing reservation gets canceled to free up the points IF the wait list comes thru. This ensures that you get to keep your BWV reservation in the event that the monorail resort reservation doesn't come thru. The cancellation would be done by the CM who fulfills the wait list. All you have to do is indicate that the wait list is to replace the existing reservation. If points will need to be borrowed to complete the wait list, you have to indicate that you permit them to borrow the points.

This is the reason I recommend making two 11 month reservations, one you plan to keep and one you'd like to trade! Yes, you will have to book the two 11 month reservations separately (have to wait for the window to open for the 2nd one) but when it comes time to make your trade you won't have to call MS to split a reservation.