First/Second booking...help and clarification...

[ClaraOswald]

This is going to be long and detailed, so bear with me. I'm going to be making our very first booking soon following shortly by our 2nd booking. I just want to make sure I am going to do it correctly. I thought I had it figured out until I realized that flight options won't be released for our January trip until AFTER I need to book.

First...here are the basics of what we're working with and what we want to do.
June Use Year.
2023 = 185 pts (25 banked from previous owner)
2024 and beyond = 160 pts

January 2024 - SSR for 5 nights, studio. 60 or 63 pts total. HOWEVER, we will initially book 7 nights (90 pts) and then chop it down to 5 once we figure out which days have the best flight options for us.
June 2024 - VGC for 6 nights, studio. 128 pts total. (We're driving so no need to worry about flights.)
January 2025 - WDW again, just 5 nights or maybe 6 in a studio again. Or maybe VGC for 5 nights?
December 2025 - VGC for 6 nights, in a 1-bedroom.

For 2025, we don't know exactly but that's a rough idea to keep in mind while booking 2024.

OKAY....so here goes....tell me if I'm going to do this right. I don't want to end up losing any points.

Next month, June 2023, I will book our January 2024 trip - Book SSR for 7 nights, using the 25 banked points, plus 65 points from 2023 UY. That leaves 95 points left in 2023 UY. I will bank those into 2024 at that time.

In July 2023, I will book our June 2024 trip - Book VGC for 6 nights using those 95 banked points, plus 33 points from 2024 UY. (This leaves 127 pts in 2024.)

In August 2023, I will modify the January 2024 trip dates - I think this is when SWA should release late January flights. So once we figure out exactly which days we want, I will go in and chop a few days off of our January trip. I will then get either 27 or 30 points back.

This is where I get a little confused. So I assume I can then bank those 27 or 30 points into 2024 UY. So my 2024 at this point would have 27/30 banked points that definitely expire in May 2025. And then I'd have 127 points that also expire May 2025 or can be banked into 2025 UY.

So we'd probably decide to use those 27 or 30 points for a January 2025 trip so we don't lose them. Then we'd use some of our remaining 127 points and bank the rest to be used for a December 2025 trip (which will cost more because we want to do a 1-bedroom so we may end up needing to borrow to cover that as well.)

OKAY....if you made it through all of that and it makes any sense at all....am I doing this right?? I feel like it's really complicated!

 

[Sandisw]

You have it correct. Once you bank the 27 to 30 points you chop off of the January 2024 trip into the 2024 UY, go in and modify your June 2024 trip to VGC. Don't change a thing and follow it to the end. It will now pickup those newly banked points and leave you with all of your 2024 points to book your January 2025 trip.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

For a first timer you sure know what you are doing. So you have everything correct and they system will automatically use your points that are going to expire first when you make reservations

 

[ClaraOswald]

You have it correct. Once you bank the 27 to 30 points you chop off of the January 2024 trip into the 2024 UY, go in and modify your June 2024 trip to VGC. Don't change a thing and follow it to the end. It will now pickup those newly banked points and leave you with all of your 2024 points to book your January 2025 trip.

I'm confused on what you mean by this. Can you explain more? Why do I need to do this? Is this so the "older" points get used first?

I wasn't sure if I would need to call MS to do this or not. I also wasn't sure if I need to since we are hoping to take another trip in January 2025 so those points would still be valid, I think.

For a first timer you sure know what you are doing. So you have everything correct and they system will automatically use your points that are going to expire first when you make reservations

Thanks. Good to know. I thought I might have to select which points to use when I go to book.

 

[lilsonicfan]

This is how I'm planning out my bookings as well - I have a spreadsheet (of sorts - I'm not very good at spreadsheeting) to try to keep track of all of these points!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I'm confused on what you mean by this. Can you explain more? Why do I need to do this? Is this so the "older" points get used first?

I wasn't sure if I would need to call MS to do this or not. I also wasn't sure if I need to since we are hoping to take another trip in January 2025 so those points would still be valid, I think.



Thanks. Good to know. I thought I might have to select which points to use when I go to book.

I am not sure what Sandy is trying to tell you about modifying the reservation. The system will use the banked points once you make the reservation. If you decide to shorten your trip by a day the points put back into your acct will be current use year points not banked points. The system always uses banked point first. When you made the original reservation it used your banked points. So by shortening the trip the system will always put back into your acct current use year points.

 

[Sandisw]

I'm confused on what you mean by this. Can you explain more? Why do I need to do this? Is this so the "older" points get used first?

I wasn't sure if I would need to call MS to do this or not. I also wasn't sure if I need to since we are hoping to take another trip in January 2025 so those points would still be valid, I think.


Thanks. Good to know. I thought I might have to select which points to use when I go to book.

You said when you shorten the January 2024 trip it will be after you book the June 2024 trip.

Once shortened, that will put some of your 2023 points back into your account. You’d the bank them into 2024.

By modifying your June 2025 trip and having all the banked points now out there, you are using them for the earliest trip.

If you don’t do that, they will now sit in your account. You could of course use them for the January 2025 trip as well, but if you ended having to cancel that after you went on the June trip, you’d be stuck.

So, if you bank extra points after booking something, it’s always good to get those banked points in the earliest trip that you can.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Now I'm even more confused. Ha! When you say June 2025, do you mean my June 2024 trip?

 

[Sandisw]

Now I'm even more confused. Ha! When you say June 2025, do you mean my June 2024 trip?

Yes. Fat fingers. I’ll change it!

 

[ClaraOswald]

So I would go in like I'm modifying the reservation but change nothing and just save it? Is that risky? Could I lose the dates? Since it's VGC, I know they disappear so easily.

 

[Sandisw]

So I would go in like I'm modifying the reservation but change nothing and just save it? Is that risky? Could I lose the dates? Since it's VGC, I know they disappear so easily.

No, you can’t lose the dates. But, if you feel more comfortable, just ask via chat or call MS and ask them to reallocate the points for you.

I do it all the time because I don’t bank my points early so I am always banking after several trips have been made.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Thanks! I was considering just waiting until flights were released to book SSR but that would probably put us closer to the 5-month mark and I don't want to risk it. So hopefully all will be well. I might just contact them via chat for the sake of my nerves. Ha!

I'm getting excited and have a countdown on my phone for when I can book!

I was to request the Paddock area and maybe even a specific building (not sure yet.) Do I do that when I book or closer to the trip? Do I do it via chat?

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks! I was considering just waiting until flights were released to book SSR but that would probably put us closer to the 5-month mark and I don't want to risk it. So hopefully all will be well. I might just contact them via chat for the sake of my nerves. Ha!

I'm getting excited and have a countdown on my phone for when I can book!

I was to request the Paddock area and maybe even a specific building (not sure yet.) Do I do that when I book or closer to the trip? Do I do it via chat?

When you ask for them to note the request, doesn't really matter, so its up to you. We don't do requests because I always want the first available room as we almost always arrive well before the 4 pm check in time!

 

[ClaraOswald]

UPDATE....

So it looks like Southwest Airlines will be releasing flights for late January on June 29th! So not as far out as I expected, which is nice.

So here's my next question....

I no longer will need to worry about booking our 2nd trip BEFORE altering our January trip dates. So let's say on June 20th, I go onto the DVC site and book 7 nights for January.

Then on June 29th, SWA releases flights and I now know the exact 5-nights I want to stay in January. Do I just go online to chop 2 dates off our trip? Or do I have to contact member services to do that?

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm so happy I can book the WDW trip and the flight BEFORE booking our June 2024 VGC trip. I won't need to fuss around with MS and having them switch which points go to what trip!

 

[CarolynFH]

UPDATE....

So it looks like Southwest Airlines will be releasing flights for late January on June 29th! So not as far out as I expected, which is nice.

So here's my next question....

I no longer will need to worry about booking our 2nd trip BEFORE altering our January trip dates. So let's say on June 20th, I go onto the DVC site and book 7 nights for January.

Then on June 29th, SWA releases flights and I now know the exact 5-nights I want to stay in January. Do I just go online to chop 2 dates off our trip? Or do I have to contact member services to do that?

You can do it online. Just click on the January reservation, click on Modify and change the dates. No call to MS needed.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Then on June 29th, SWA releases flights and I now know the exact 5-nights I want to stay in January. Do I just go online to chop 2 dates off our trip? Or do I have to contact member services to do that?

You just go online and chop them off! Easy!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Fantastic! I'm so happy SWA is releasing the late January flights before I need to book our VGC trip for June 2024. Saves a lot of headache for me, I think.

I'm getting so excited! Only 12 days until I can book! I think my husband is still hoping something other than SSR will be available but I'm actually excited about staying there.

Of course...then comes the stress of figuring out transportation to and from airport.
And then figuring out which building I want to request.
And whether or not we want to get Genie+.
And which parks we want to do each day.
And figure out if DAS is different at all.
And research restaurants to see what our son might be willing to eat.