Can you book using member cash before 7 months

[WendyinNC]

I was wondering if you can book a resort using member cash before the 7 month window and then try converting to points when the 7 month window opened, thereby ensuring your stay at a particulr resort? Or, is this not allowed?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I was given cash prices for both a Beach Cottage and for a GV at BWV at around 10 months out. We chose not to go that way, but we could have booked for cash then.

Bobbi

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was wondering if you can book a resort using member cash before the 7 month window and then try converting to points when the 7 month window opened, thereby ensuring your stay at a particulr resort? Or, is this not allowed?

Yes, you can book on Member's Cash at any of the DVC resorts at 11 months, whether you're an owner there or not. Then at 7 months you can try to get the resort on points, if it's available (points and Member's cash are different iinventories). That way, if you have your heart set on staying at a particular resort, regardless of how it's paid for (points or cash), you can book it at 11 months.

 

[RobDoc]

I was wondering if you can book a resort using member cash before the 7 month window and then try converting to points when the 7 month window opened, thereby ensuring your stay at a particulr resort? Or, is this not allowed?

The member discount is not always available at all. There are certainly times when it may be reserved at 11 months, but there are also dates when it will not allowed at all.

MS first responsibility is to make reservations using points. If they have a past history of availability for certain dates or if they recognize, based on current reservation status, that a villa will not be needed for a point reservation, then they may make the villa available at the member discounted rate. There have been a number of times when we've had to make a rack rate cash reservation thru MS and were later informed it had been modified with the DVC discount (usually at about 6 months). We have also been told at 11 months there is no cash availability at all and to check back at about 6 months prior ... and we have also been given the 25% discount right at 11 months. I was able to make a discounted cash reservation right at 11 months for a GV at HH for next July for a Saturday night.

It's certainly worth asking MS about cash availability, but there may not be any consistent answer or pattern regarding availability of the discount. The advantage of making the reservation thru MS is that it can be linked with your point reservation (at the same resort and same room type) so you will not need to change rooms or even check-in a second time. In some cases, you can find a better rate thru CRO but the reservations will not be automatically linked and changing rooms could be a possibility.