Booking a stay that crosses two UY ... guidance, please!

[angey77]

OK, I tend to overcomplicate things in my head before even doing it, so I was wondering if some of you DVC vets can help me out here.
We will be booking our first stay as DVC members this December for Nov/Dec. 2009 trip (Nov. 28 or 30 - Dec. 7). Our UY is December.
How would that work as far as booking? Since it starts in November, would the entire trip fall into our 2008 UY? Or would banking and borrowing be involved since the last six nights fall in our 2009 UY?
Anyone have any guidance as to what to expect when I call MS to book?

 

[Deb & Bill]

OK, I tend to overcomplicate things in my head before even doing it, so I was wondering if some of you DVC vets can help me out here.
We will be booking our first stay as DVC members this December for Nov/Dec. 2009 trip (Nov. 28 or 30 - Dec. 7). Our UY is December.
How would that work as far as booking? Since it starts in November, would the entire trip fall into our 2008 UY? Or would banking and borrowing be involved since the last six nights fall in our 2009 UY?
Anyone have any guidance as to what to expect when I call MS to book?

The nights in Nov would fall in a Dec 08 UY and the nights in Dec would fall in the Dec 09 UY. If you plan to use Dec 08 points for Dec 09, you'll have to bank them before you book the reservation.

 

[CraftyMouse]

OK, I tend to overcomplicate things in my head before even doing it, so I was wondering if some of you DVC vets can help me out here.
We will be booking our first stay as DVC members this December for Nov/Dec. 2009 trip (Nov. 28 or 30 - Dec. 7). Our UY is December.
How would that work as far as booking? Since it starts in November, would the entire trip fall into our 2008 UY? Or would banking and borrowing be involved since the last six nights fall in our 2009 UY?
Anyone have any guidance as to what to expect when I call MS to book?

Each night is looked at individually. The nights that are in November would be part of your '08 UY and the nights in Dec. would be part of your '09 UY (as Deb & Bill said).

If you have '08 points that you want to use you'll want to use them for the November nights and then bank any remaining into '09. Then you'll use those banked points, or your '09 points if you haven't banked any, to reserve the December nights.

If you have no '08 points you'll need to borrow '09 points for the Nov. nights and then book the Dec. nights with your remaining '09 points (and borrowed '10 points if you need them).

Keep in mind that, should you need to cancel this reservation, any banking and/or borrowing cannot be undone. Once banked or borrowed points remain in that UY. You cannot put them back into their original UY. With a reservation that is at the end of your UY this can be a risk, as you would lose the points associated with the Nov. nights if you had to cancel at the last minute. It probably won't be an issue, but it's good to keep it in mind, just in case.

 

[Caskbill]

Technically you are making two separate reservations, one for November and one for December.

Be sure when you call that you have the two reservations linked so you do not have to move. They should do this for you automatically, but it never hurts to tell them.

 

[angey77]

Thanks for all the responses and clarification, it is much appreciated! It looks like we will be banking points into 09, so that works!

 

[DaveH]

Caskbill- It is still one reservation. I have Dec UY and do this all the time.

angey77- be very careful on this. If you change your ressie make sure you use all your UY08 points. Sometimes they will borrow from UY09 and you have points sitting there that can only be used in UY08. Just watch your points usage carefully. Make sure all your points for UY08 are used or banked. If you cancel after the banking deadline you have to use or lose your points. This almost happened on our first trip home in 2001. Just understand what points are being used and where. Do not get off of the phone until you are sure and comfortable with what you have. I have my laptop or PC up when I call member services and check my account before I hang up. It is easier to get something corrected at the time than later. I am not trying to scare you but warn you what can happen.

 

[angey77]

Thanks for the pointers, Dave. I'll be checking and double-checking and triple-checking if I have to! After so many years of hounding my DH to join DVC, he will never let it go if I even lose one point.

 

[RobDoc]

It will just be one reservation, but you would need to bank any 08 points to use them beyond November 30.

This is the one example where it would be possible to use up to FOUR years of points for the single reservation. For this trip you could use points banked from your 2007 UY and/or 2008 UY for the first couple of nights and then use points banked from 2008 and/or current points from the 2009 UY ... AND ... could even borrow from your 2010 UY all for the one reservation.

For those with a 50 point contract, it would be possible to use up to 200 points under these circumstances - but that is only possible when a reservation straddles two Use Years as in this case.

Enjoy the planning!

 

[angey77]

Webmaster Doc,
You just opened my eyes to a wealth of possibilities! Not for this year, but for the future!

 

[DaveH]

Good luck with your planning. I found these boards right before our first trip home. I would have lost points if DVCReg did not tell me about this stuff happens. I am passing it on. Now you can someday.

 

[liznboys]

angey77, we just did this over the summer.

We took a trip from late July into early August, and we have an August UY. Not only that, but we had developer points involved that were being used for a different reservation already that had to be switched, and then some points had to be borrowed and some had to be banked in order to make it work, AND some of the nights were only available on cash, so we ended up with 5 different reservation numbers (that were linked) for our 8 night stay!! Oh, and this was a very last minute trip, booked 3 days before we checked in. lol

I ended up with the best MS rep. and she took care of everything without any trouble. It was a long phone call, and at the end I told her how much I appreciated her help. And then I spoke to her supervisor and told him too.

Despite our "messy" reservation, our trip went exactly as planned.

 

[bzzelady]

Doc,

How do you think that this scenerio would work if you are booking crossing over the end/beginning of the use year with the new booking guidelines. If this would have to be booked as two separate stays, would this put one behind the proverbial 8 ball in securing the second part of the vacation?

Example...own 50 BCV points with October UY.
Want to book studio last few days in September into the first week of October for F&W.

Since it is a split reservation, will the DVC reservation system allow one to book both portions of the vacation at the same time on the first phone call now or do two separate phone calls have to be made now the window for reservations is based on check in...not check out date?