Family of 12 Grandvilla week of thanksgiving HELP!

[ain0004]

We are finalizing our plans with my parents and brother for 2016. My family and my parents are arriving at WDW several days ahead of my brother. So we will be staying in a 2 bedroom and switching to a grand villa the sunday before thanksgiving and checking out Thanksgiving day. Looking at current availability. It looks like Saratoga or AKL will be our only options. Everything else looks mostly booked that week. I know OKW is going to be a no. It requires so many less points. Has anyone traded points to get a resort they wanted at 11months? How would I go about doing this? I would really like to switch my Grand Floridian points for some BLT points to make this happen. Any thoughts?

 

[jekjones1558]

You could find a points transfer from another member for a resort you want and transfer those points into your account. And you could transfer out points to another member from a different use year to pay for the points you need. Messy but doable. Or you could rent a reservation for the GV and do either a transfer or rental of your own points to pay for the GV. You could use a service like David's to help simplify these strategies. Good luck!

 

[nalajms]

Transferring - pros: you have full control of the reservation. cons: you'll have to book on the phone, can't do anything online, you use up your 1 transfer for that UY.
Renting from someone - pros: you can have them book at 11m at 8am. cons: you have no control of the reservation.

Not sure how popular the GV at BLT are, but I know for BW standard view rooms last year, if I waited till Sunday before Thanksgiving to book, they were mostly gone by then at 11m. Luckily I booked starting Friday.

 

[drusba]

As you noted, for 2015 you would have problems for a GV even now at 8 1/2 months out except for SSR and Kidani savanna view. Be aware that, if prior years are an indication, by April 22, 7 months out from that Sunday this year, you may find those AKV GVs will also be missing multiple nights, and, though in 2013 SSR GV's were open, they were missing the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs of Thanksgivng week in 2014. In other words, your best shot for a GV is likely to either have points transferred to you or or for you to rent from another member, such as through David's, a GV reservation for that Sun to Thurs at the 11 months window. Finding someone to transfer the points will likely be more difficult than doing a rental such as through David's, and, though the possibility was mentioned above, I think it will be near impossible to find someone who will transfer points to you for the GV in exchange for you transfering points to them in a different use year.

In other words, if payinmg cash for a resrvation, or even for a possible transfer, is not something you are considering, then you are going to need a back-up plan to the GV concept unless you can get a GV with your points at your home resort 11 months out, and that back-up plan shpuld itself incude making the reservation for the rooms you need (e.g., two 2BRs or a 2BR and 1BR) for that Sun to Thurs at your home resort, because even those room sizes could be gone at most resorts by 7 months out for that time period.