booking strategies

[twinsouvenirs]

So if you definitely want to go on specific dates, but not your home resort, and it is, say 9 mo out, does it make sense to book AT your home resort and then switch if you can later? only problem i see with this is that if your home resort is expensive then you may end up having to bank/ borrow and getting stuck

 

[CarolMN]

So if you definitely want to go on specific dates, but not your home resort, and it is, say 9 mo out, does it make sense to book AT your home resort and then switch if you can later? only problem i see with this is that if your home resort is expensive then you may end up having to bank/ borrow and getting stuck

It depends, LOL. I think about banking deadlines and back up plans.

If we plan to go no matter where we end up staying, I book my home resort and plan to switch at 7 months UNLESS -

1. Dates I want to go and villa type I need are likely to be available at 7 months.

2. I wouldn't mind staying at SSR. There is virtually always something there at 7 months.

3. I wouldn't mind taking a larger villa if my first choice were booked.

I almost always book my home resort to have the confidence to book airfare. Truthfully, that's usually my first choice anyway. We love it there and only venture out to BLT for a couple of nights now and then. May do the same for VGF or VWL in the future. If 1-3 above are true, it's not necessary to book home first. I'd feel safe buying airfare knowing I will get something acceptable at 7 months.

You do need to think about "stranding" points. If your home resort is more expensive than what you want and you have to borrow to get the home resort reservation , you need a plan to use the borrowed points that may be left over. Usually, you can use up the borrowed (or banked) points on the 7 month reservation and get back the extras as current use year. Then if you are not past your banking deadline, you can bank them.

Making a reservation that will occur early in your use year gives you a lot more flexibility than one that is scheduled for late in your use year.

Hope that helps a little. Welcome home!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

ohhh i think i see! so if we cancelled or came in 'under' on points we could first use the borrowed ones and still be able to bank any of the extras remaining from the reservation current use year points... as in, they will use the borrowed ones first?

 

[drusba]

Reserving home resort at 11 months out guarantees you will have your dates if you cannot switch at 7. However, I probably would not use borrowed points to do that. Whether you need to do it depends. If your home resort is SSR, it is not really needed because SSR is always open at 7 months out and thus you can always get it if you cannot get something else at 7 months. Moreover, if at 7 months out, you would be satisfied with BLT lake view, BWV pool/garden, BCV, VWL, AKV standard or savanna view, or OKW, and you are trying for times between mid-Jan and end of Sep (including holidays), then you can also skip reserving 11 months out because you will find those open at 7 months out during that period. If trying for times between end of Sep and Marathon weekend in Jan, it can be more difficult for any near park resort at 7 months out. Even then you should be able to get OKW and AKV standard and savanna view at 7 months out with some risk otherwise around Columbus Day weekend, couple days at Thanksgivng, first week of Dec and NYE time.

If you use borrowed points at 11 months out and then cancel and switch to a lower point resort or room category at 7, they wii apply borrowed points to the new reservation first, although you should verify that is being done when you call.

 

[Minniesgal]

We always book our home resort and have a plan for switching at 7 month. I book my flights at 11 months and need a confirmed accomodation.

I am always banking and borrowing as we plan to travel every three years. We use the banked and UY points first and we borrow what we need when we need it. Our home resort is AKV so we are usually trading up in terms of points so we would normally be borrowing more points at 7 months if we switch. It is something I put a lot of thought into before I book and sometimes would take a risk of needing one cash night or a night at an airport hotel to get the points balance right. Usually there is a way to work it out but it does take some pre thought. I never just go and book a room.

If we want to do a split stay (which we always do) I also split my 11 month booking so I may only be cancelling part of it to change. For example this year we wanted 4 nights AKV, 4 nights treehouse and 4 nights BLT so we had 3 lots of 4 nights booked at AKV. Of course we ended up booking something completely different as I changed my mind after 6 months and have had to do a bit of fiddling to get something close. We have ended up with 6 nights treehouse, 2 nights AKV, 5 nights BLT.

The more flexible you can be the better it all works out.

 

[bltpoppins]

ohhh i think i see! so if we cancelled or came in 'under' on points we could first use the borrowed ones and still be able to bank any of the extras remaining from the reservation current use year points... as in, they will use the borrowed ones first?

Yes. When you book on the website, it will give you your contract details. You choose which points to use.

Or call MS and explain you want to use up your borrowed points first.


Make sure you keep track though and know what you have.

 

[Deb & Bill]

ohhh i think i see! so if we cancelled or came in 'under' on points we could first use the borrowed ones and still be able to bank any of the extras remaining from the reservation current use year points... as in, they will use the borrowed ones first?

If you do get to book something that requires fewer points, when you call MS, ask them to make sure they use the borrowed points first or banked points first. Then you bank the current points you cannot use for that reservation. Or you add another night.

 

[disneynutz]

Make your favorite resorts your home resort and you don't have to deal with switching.

Bill