Cash for room vs points?

[DVC Grandpa]

Can you pay “cash’ for a DVC room if you have not exhausted all your points? I have noticed there are two types of “cash” payments, one “full” cash and the second member discount, and I would like to know if both incorporate a 6 day cancellation policy? If one could book a room, eleven months out using cash and a 6 day cancellation policy, and only transfer that cash payment to a points payment once the time for travel gets near. This would eliminate the need to barrow or buy points until one is sure the trip is “on”.

I have a use February use year and would like to go to Disney in January using '05 points but if this trip does not come about I would not have time to reschedule therefore loose the points. If I can plan using a cash payment method, I could change everything to points and if things don't work out I can cancel up until 6 days before arrival.

Where is my logic flawed?

 

[pumpkinboy]

Yes you can get cash rooms, either at rack rate or, if available, at the 25% DVC discount. We did just this for our November trip: we got the first two nights on points, got the DVC discount for the two weekend nights, then points again for the final night. In the arbitrage here, I was able to rent out the points for the weekend nights for almost $200 more than the cost of the cash price less DVC discount.

I think your logic is spot-on here. Reserving with cash, then switching to points when you are more sure could work well. Just be aware, that sometimes points reservations sell out in which case you would be stuck with whatever cash rate you managed to get, which isn't so bad if you've managed to get the 25% DVC discount; still, an AP rate might be more advantageous.

Another thought is to rent points (perhaps by transfer) with a different use-year than yours. I understand your conundrum, we also have a February UY and like to travel over MLK Day in January; for this year's trip, we rented some VB points from a member with an October UY. Last year, we thought about bringing friends with us in January, only to find (in late December) that there were no rooms (of our preferred size) still available for points on the nights we wanted.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[queenof4hearts]

How far in advance can you make a DVC discounted room ressie? Can you get the discount at say GF or AKL? What is the cancellation policy? Thanks

 

[sheryl0521]

Heads up - we wanted to add a cash night onto our recent Columbus Day weekend visit - and I called daily for a month prior - sold out! On one call I was able to get a room only for points, not for cash - there are two "buckets" for ressies. One for cash and one for points.

So if you reserve with cash and wish to switch to points at a later date, you may not be able to.

Just some food for thought.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by queenof4hearts
How far in advance can you make a DVC discounted room ressie? Can you get the discount at say GF or AKL? What is the cancellation policy? Thanks

From my experience, they are usually released after the 7 month mark, but it could happen any time. I managed to get BWV during Food & Wine at 9.5 months out (I had been asking since 11 months), which surprised MS too. I got VB weekend nights at 5 months out (having asked since 8 months out), which appears more normal.

Note that the DVC discount is only available at the DVC resorts, none at AKL or GF. But then again, there is a great code for those resorts available thru CRO thru April 16. I found it on www.mousesavers.com and it saved us a bundle on our first weekend in our April trip.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by sheryl0521
Heads up - we wanted to add a cash night onto our recent Columbus Day weekend visit - and I called daily for a month prior - sold out! On one call I was able to get a room only for points, not for cash - there are two "buckets" for ressies. One for cash and one for points.
So if you reserve with cash and wish to switch to points at a later date, you may not be able to.
Just some food for thought.

Good points Sheryl! I would only add one more bucket: 1 for points, one for cash @rack rate and a third for cash @DVC discount.

 

[RobDoc]

Cash reservations thru MS are usually not available 11 months ahead. The first priority for DVC reservations is using points. When MS perceives that a villa won't likely be needed for a point reservation, they will release it for a cash reservation. Cash reservations can't just be converted to a point reservation at a later date. A point reservation may be made- based on availability and the cash res can be cancelled.

60 days ahead, any rooms unreserved using points are released to CRO for cash reservation, so members have competition for reservations during that period of time.

The 25% DVC discount is not always available, but rack rate cash reservations can usually be made thru MS. Point/cash reservations made thru MS can be easily linked together. Cash reseravtions made thru CRO won't be directly linked with a point reservation, but a request can be made to be able to stay in the same room. The DVC discount is available only at DVC resorts based on availability. MS can't even make a cash reservation at a non-DVC resort.

 

[DVC Grandpa]

Even though January is one of the slower DVC usage months, perhaps making reservations on a cash basis and then transferring them to points may be too risky. Think I’ll take my chances on everything working out.
Thanks for the thoughts.