Complications of banking and borrowing with a fixed/guaranteed week?

[DVCRad]

We are thinking about buying a direct contract with a fixed week. How complicated is banking and borrowing when you have a fixed week? The contract states that if in any year you wish to bank vacation points to the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. It also says that if in any year you wish to borrow vacation points from the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. The contract also states that to opt out of the fixed week, you must first call member services.

Will we have to call member services every year to cancel our FW if we want to bank those UY points into a following year? The contract makes it sound like that if we are going to do any sort of banking and borrowing and do an alternative vacation to our FW, then we must give them a call first. Given the long hold times, this could become a real pain every year.

 

[STA]

From what I’ve read, if you borrow even 1 point from upcoming use year allotment, that will implicitly cancel that year’s GW, if it has yet to be booked. Once it is booked you MUST call to cancel because it requires supervisory authorization to cancel/reallocate points which depending on specific week can add or subtract points used to book reservation.

If you know your plans include deviating from GW, it is better to cancel *before* it’s booked since that is easier than canceling a GW that has already been booked since no point adjustments for the booking have been made.

Hope this helps!

 

[robotsneedlove2]

(STA replied right before I posted, so this is a reply to OP. My understanding is the same as STA's.)

Your fixed week will only be booked when all of the points for a year are available. If you have borrowed any points for a year or if you have already booked another reservation with the points, your fixed week will not be booked.

The only time I've had to call member services, is when I've wanted to cancel my fixed week. This is because the extra points for the reservation need to be manual added back to the account.

 

[Sandisw]

Just to add, that if you cancel one year, bank those points, and then decide to use the FW the next year, they will not use the banked points for the fixed week. FW can only be booked using the points allocated for it for that year.

As already mentioned, if you decide to bank or borrow points that would need to be used prior to when they would book it, then it won't get booked for you. As mentioned, you may need to call for those extra points.

We opted out of getting a FW because we knew we would never use it and it seemed more of a hassle to worry about it than just getting the points we wanted and having the flexibility of use!

 

[dropd]

We are on the verge of buying a fixed week at RIV for the first week of December, but I appreciate some of the subtleties discussed in this thread. Aside from the hassle around what you need to do to opt OUT of the fixed week, it seems like all upside for that early december period, as the cost of the fixed week is actually a few points *cheaper* because of reallocation (starting with the 2023 points chart) than buying enough points to cover that week straight up.

 

[robotsneedlove2]

We are on the verge of buying a fixed week at RIV for the first week of December, but I appreciate some of the subtleties discussed in this thread. Aside from the hassle around what you need to do to opt OUT of the fixed week, it seems like all upside for that early december period, as the cost of the fixed week is actually a few points *cheaper* because of reallocation (starting with the 2023 points chart) than buying enough points to cover that week straight up.

I know the points for my fixed week at PVB will be *cheaper* then booking the week starting in 2023 too. I was wonder if that was true for resorts currently for sale. What a GREAT deal!!

 

[princesscinderella]

We bought fixed week 52 at RIV in a standard studio, we haven't been able to use the fixed week yet as we just bought last year and don't plan on using it for at least 5 more years while the kids are still in the house. I have already used the points for a November 2022 stay so my week was never booked. If you aren't zeroing out the points in the contract every year and banking, I think it will be a bit more complicated. If you have other contracts in the same UY it should be easy to use up the banked points once the FW reservation is booked at the 7 month window combining the extra points banked points with other contract(s) points for a reservation.

 

[dropd]

Agree if your GW is in a different UY than any other contracts you may have, that there are extra hoops to jump through to not forfeit points.

That is actually the scenario I will likely be in as my primary set of contracts is October UY but I'd like my RIV contract to be in a June UY s/t we have year-round coverage to book. Any year I don't use my GW will likely require phone calls to member services to get points transferred between UY and to complete bookings, which is a minor hassle that I think I'm willing to live with.

 

[DVCRad]

Agree if your GW is in a different UY than any other contracts you may have, that there are extra hoops to jump through to not forfeit points.

That is actually the scenario I will likely be in as my primary set of contracts is October UY but I'd like my RIV contract to be in a June UY s/t we have year-round coverage to book. Any year I don't use my GW will likely require phone calls to member services to get points transferred between UY and to complete bookings, which is a minor hassle that I think I'm willing to live with.

We are looking at a fixed week in December as well, but it would be the second week. We ended up asking them to change the UY to match our current contracts so I don't have to worry about two memberships. I did that in the past and it just got too confusing.

I'm ok with calling to cancel a fixed reservation that was made and my wife and I plan on using the week in 5-10 years after all of our kids are out of the house. I was just reading through the contract and wanted to make sure if I wanted to bank or borrow points from it, I didn't first have to call member services to forfeit the FW even if they hadn't booked it yet. That would be a really pain!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We are thinking about buying a direct contract with a fixed week. How complicated is banking and borrowing when you have a fixed week? The contract states that if in any year you wish to bank vacation points to the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. It also says that if in any year you wish to borrow vacation points from the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. The contract also states that to opt out of the fixed week, you must first call member services.

Will we have to call member services every year to cancel our FW if we want to bank those UY points into a following year? The contract makes it sound like that if we are going to do any sort of banking and borrowing and do an alternative vacation to our FW, then we must give them a call first. Given the long hold times, this could become a real pain every year.

Yes, yes, yes. It’s not that complicated. Calling and getting thru to MS is an issue that hopefully will get resolved soon. That should have no bearing on your decision to purchase a FW.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

We are thinking about buying a direct contract with a fixed week. How complicated is banking and borrowing when you have a fixed week? The contract states that if in any year you wish to bank vacation points to the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. It also says that if in any year you wish to borrow vacation points from the following year, you must first opt out of the fixed week. The contract also states that to opt out of the fixed week, you must first call member services.

Will we have to call member services every year to cancel our FW if we want to bank those UY points into a following year? The contract makes it sound like that if we are going to do any sort of banking and borrowing and do an alternative vacation to our FW, then we must give them a call first. Given the long hold times, this could become a real pain every year.

I have a FW contract at AUL and don't find it complicated at all. MS can cancel your FW via the chat function. We did this on the weekend and it took less than 5 minutes. The FW usually gets booked at ~ 12 month mark, so you have almost an extra month before the 11 month window opens to decide what you want to do with it.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I’m also strongly considering a fixed week (November) at VGF/VGF2 when they begin sales. Obviously borrowing would cancel out your upcoming GW, but I didn’t envision that banking would keep MS from making the guaranteed reservation for you.

It is definitely going to be a bit more complicated than I realized.

 

[Littlelulu01]

You can use, borrow.. the points online without need to call until the week is booked. Once they book it (a year out vs 11 months) you have to call or request online to cancel or change. Idk if they have any first week of December left though if that’s the week you’re looking for

 

[OPDman]

If you want to travel in December, want to stay for the 7 days, and plan to do it regularly, a fixed week contract is the only way to go. The hassle of stalking a room online with the walkers is far worse than a simple call to member services to cancel.

I have 2 fixed week contracts. As someone who travels the same periods during the year, my great regret is that I don’t have more.

For me, having Disney book the room is worth the premium (A premium I have seen virtually disappear in each instance.). Also for the Riviera, I believe my December guarantee of a standard studio will provide a hedge against the resale restrictions, should I decide to sell.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, give serious consideration to a fixed week. Best wishes to you!

 

[DVCRad]

Thank you everyone for your replies! We love DVC and have been doing it and my wife and I will definitely be using the week in December, our favorite time to go. When grandkids come along we may need to alter it or bank and borrow to get 1 or 2 bedrooms so I am happy to hear of everyone's experiences. Seems like this is the way to go for us. Now to sign the contract before that price increase that is incoming...

 

[DVCRad]

I’m also strongly considering a fixed week (November) at VGF/VGF2 when they begin sales. Obviously borrowing would cancel out your upcoming GW, but I didn’t envision that banking would keep MS from making the guaranteed reservation for you.

It is definitely going to be a bit more complicated than I realized.

We originally wanted a FW at GFV but we already had GFV points and I can't justify buying as many as would be needed for a FW there. Plus we only had 75 at BCV and wanted more Epcot points since that is our favorite area.

 

[EYL]

Guaranteed weeks are booked automatically about 12 months out. But if you use ANY points slated for that Use Year before then, they will not book it. For example, I have a June UY and an October Guaranteed Week. If I book a stay - any stay - for August using current UY points, the GW will not be booked. It's one way to stay ahead of the game so you don't have to call to cancel.

For VGF2, I wonder if will they use the old GW premium pricing or the new...

 

[Sandisw]

Guaranteed weeks are booked automatically about 12 months out. But if you use ANY points slated for that Use Year before then, they will not book it. For example, I have a June UY and an October Guaranteed Week. If I book a stay - any stay - for August using current UY points, the GW will not be booked. It's one way to stay ahead of the game so you don't have to call to cancel.

For VGF2, I wonder if will they use the old GW premium pricing or the new...

For a resort studio, the 2023 chart is all there is so any GW for those would use that as they didn’t exist prior to then.

And, the new points will all be deeded to those so any GW in any other rooms size would require enough points they acquired back.

My guess would be GW will only be offered via the new rooms.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

For a resort studio, the 2023 chart is all there is so any GW for those would use that as they didn’t exist prior to then.

And, the new points will all be deeded to those so any GW in any other rooms size would require enough points they acquired back.

My guess would be GW will only be offered via the new rooms.

Excellent points! I just keep learning more & thinking it over

 

[Cubbiefan1734]

I just called MS this morning to cancel my FW reservation. (Chat wasn't available) Took 20 minutes (including hold time) and it was done. Points were there immediately for me to book a new reservation online. Not too bad at all.