Booking w/o airline dates

[SWofDisorder]

We don't know our airlines flights and most are not even opened up yet for Jan of 2016.

Can I book 10 days of DVC and then adjust it to fit the 7 nights we finally end up staying?

I also worry because we will have to borrow points to do this and then what happens when we drop a few nights at the beginning or end?

I wonder when this got so hard.

 

[erionm]

MS can modify a reservation to shorten it by changing either (or both) the check-in date or check-out date. MS should return any current UY points first, but you should also remind them that the reservation includes borrowed points.

 

[SWofDisorder]

Thank you Michael, I will make sure they start with regular points for this year and then borrow. Hopefully the extra days at the beginning can go back to regular use year and not touch the banked.

 

[DenLo]

I hear people doing that all the time. I would caution you that if you have a difficult to book room type, like AKV Club level, or even a room at VGF it might not be that easy to change your DVC reservation.

 

[SWofDisorder]

Ours is going to be very generic reservation at either OKW or BCV both 1 bedroom. I don't know which one yet.

 

[drusba]

If I understand correctly, what you are planning to do is book 10 nights and then later when you get airfare, cancel three of those nights. That can easily be done by calling MS since MS can take any days off the beginning or end (or both) of the trip without losing the reservation for the time in between. Also, if you use borrowed points in additon to current year points for the 10 day reservation, MS will remove and place back into your account current use year points first for the canceled days. And note that it does not matter whether you desiganted the borrowed points for any particular days in the first reservation, i.e., that is neither needed nor done; they will still take out current use year points first. The only thing you have to make sure of at time of changing the reservation is that the MS agent actually does it properly because sometimes (and many believe all too often) you get a fairly new agent who has no idea what he is doing.

 

[disneynutz]

We don't know our airlines flights and most are not even opened up yet for Jan of 2016.

Can I book 10 days of DVC and then adjust it to fit the 7 nights we finally end up staying?

I also worry because we will have to borrow points to do this and then what happens when we drop a few nights at the beginning or end?

I wonder when this got so hard.

I don't understand why you need to drop nights from your reservation. Doesn't your airline have a rate pattern and wouldn't you have open availability when the dates open up?

We book DVC and book SWA as soon as they open the new dates.

Bill

 

[SWofDisorder]

Our DVC is open to book before we can get our flights to the USA.

 

[disneynutz]

Our DVC is open to book before we can get our flights to the USA.

Ours is too but booking airfare isn't an issue. Must be different where you are from.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

Our DVC is open to book before we can get our flights to the USA.

Yes, but why does that cause a problem? If Sunday->Sunday costs $200 more than Tuesday->Tuesday, is that enough of a problem to change your dates? How much different do you think the pricing will be, and how big does the difference need to be before you change your travel dates?

 

[SWofDisorder]

I just need to wait and see for the dates to open. Maybe airfare first and then DVC but now DS doesn't want to go to WDW. Oh well.

 

[disprincess2213]

So if you cancel rooms made with borrowed points, they can go back to the next use year? I thought once points were borrowed, they are "stuck" in that year? Is there a way around this?

 

[disneynutz]

So if you cancel rooms made with borrowed points, they can go back to the next use year? I thought once points were borrowed, they are "stuck" in that year? Is there a way around this?

You are correct, once you move banked or borrowed points, they can't be moved again and they expire at the end of the UY that they were moved to.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

So if you cancel rooms made with borrowed points, they can go back to the next use year? I thought once points were borrowed, they are "stuck" in that year? Is there a way around this?

But if you also used current year points in that reservation, then those can be redeposited into your account and banked into the next year.

 

[tasha99]

I'm surprised how many people seem to think it's silly to be flexible with dates when booking a vacation. A couple hundred bucks difference--when put on a whole family--can really add up! I think the OP has a great idea for booking in advance but keeping options open (going to remember than one in case I ever need it. )

 

[SWofDisorder]

I'm surprised how many people seem to think it's silly to be flexible with dates when booking a vacation. A couple hundred bucks difference--when put on a whole family--can really add up! I think the OP has a great idea for booking in advance but keeping options open (going to remember than one in case I ever need it. )

Thank you Tasha, I know some people it doesn't matter but it does for us. I rather be safe than sorry and get the days we need.

 

[supersnoop]

I'm surprised how many people seem to think it's silly to be flexible with dates when booking a vacation. A couple hundred bucks difference--when put on a whole family--can really add up! I think the OP has a great idea for booking in advance but keeping options open (going to remember than one in case I ever need it. )

It's not about being flexible with dates. The OP stated she didn't have enough points to cover the extra days, so she would have to borrow. In this case, we need to weight the costs; the risk that airfare is higher on one of the three days she plans to depart, or the risk of losing points because you moved them to a different use year and won't be able to use them before they expire. I think the risk of the airfare being significantly different over those three days is a much smaller concern.

 

[SWofDisorder]

I do have to borrow for the trip and it would put us very close to my UY end. I am lucky because now when I ask DS, he says he doesn't want to go to WDW and fight Darth one last time. I hope he changes his mind but if not, I am excited to see what he picks for the holiday. I hope it is a warm sunny beach this year.