Getting points for the correct date?

[PinkTink63]

I just thought I would run this by the experts here on the Dis! I am planning a big trip for my sons graduation Aug. 2012. I know that I don't have enough points for that trip so I need to rent some. If I want the 11 month booking window, do I need to get those points in my account by the end of this month so I can bank them?
Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

It sounds like you are talking about a point transfer, not a rental (rental is renting a reservation for a particular set of dates). Transferred points retain their own home resort advantage and use year.

Someone else will have to tell you if you can borrow or bank transferred points - you can only do one of those and I always forget which one.

Question - why don't you just borrow your own points from the following use year to use for the reservation? What is your use year?

I really don't understand how all the other parts of your question go together - things about getting them this month so you can bank them and get the 11 month window? That is very confusing so either I don't understand what you said, or maybe you don't understand how the booking timeframes work? I'm just confused!

 

[Sandisw]

If you are seeking a point transfer, then you simply need to have them in your account by the time you want to make the reservation.

Since you are traveling in August 2012, you want to seek a transfer of points that would be eligible for that time of travel.

So, you could get someone to transfer you either Feb or Mar 2011 UY points now and then bank them so they are valid for your trip. Or, you can wait until August and then you can widen your search and include April, June or Aug 2011 UY points, which would then all need to be banked for your trip.

Any of these transfers would count as your one and only 2011 UY transfer.

Good luck!

 

[PinkTink63]

If you are seeking a point transfer, then you simply need to have them in your account by the time you want to make the reservation.

Since you are traveling in August 2012, you want to seek a transfer of points that would be eligible for that time of travel.

So, you could get someone to transfer you either Feb or Mar 2011 UY points now and then bank them so they are valid for your trip. Or, you can wait until August and then you can widen your search and include April, June or Aug 2011 UY points, which would then all need to be banked for your trip.

Any of these transfers would count as your one and only 2011 UY transfer.

Good luck!

I'm not sure I follow you! I think I am even more confused now! Maybe I will just tell what I want to do here...I want to get AKV points because I want to get Concierge. I have tried to get it three years in a row with no luck, so I really need to get the 11 month booking window for this. I have an Aug. UY right now and I think my points have to be banked by March 31st? If I rent points for a Feb. or March 2011 UY, how can I even bank those points? Don't I want to rent Aug. UY points to give me the best booking window?

 

[vicki_c]

Use year and booking windows are NOT connected in the way you seem to be thinking.

You just need enough AKV points to book whatever club level accommodations you want, and you need them to be in your August 2012 use year in time to book 11 months out - so September 2011 for an August 2012 reservation.

Do you have your own AKV points or not? Assuming you do, and you have some left right now - you can't bank those to use for an August 2012 trip it is too far away. If you bank your points by 3/31, they will become good for stays from August 2011 - July 2012, so they wouldn't help you at all.

But you could use all your August 2012 points for your trip that occurs in August 2012. If AK is your home resort (I'm guessing not), you could book that trip in September 2011. If you don't have enough points, you can borrow some from the next year and bring those into your 2012 use year to use them as well.

 

[MAO]

To make a reservation 11 months in advance, *all* points used in the reservation must be 'home resort' points. In other words, if you want to stay at AKV and the dates you want will cost 300 points, *all* 300 points must be AKV points.

If you haven't been able to get a reservation at this resort in the last 3 years, my presumption is that you don't have AKV as your home resort. Assuming that, you need to either a) get someone to transfer *all* of the points you need for your vacation to you or b) get someone (or, possibly, multiple someones) to make the reservation(s) for you and you then 'rent' it/them from said individual(s).

A -- transferring points can only be done once per year, both for you and for the individual transferring the points. You, as recipient, would be able to bank them, and they would be treated (as you surmised) as though they had all the rights (i.e., home resort priority) normally associated with them even though you usually wouldn't be considered an owner at that resort. The person you want to transfer from can only transfer current points, so you could start looking for someone now as you can bank them until the August 2012 trip. It might take a while to find someone, and you might have to wait until their 2011 UY begins to make the actual transfer, but it doesn't hurt to start asking around. The important thing, as far as I can tell from your comments, is to remember that these points will be completely separate from your own points -- at least, until you're within the 7 month time period at which time they pretty much can be intermingled with yours. But it sounds like yours are not AKV points, so that's not going to help you much with your current quest.

B -- depending on how many points you need, it may be easier to get someone or multiple someones to "rent' you the points -- you don't have control over the reservation(s), but careful communication between yourself and the renter(s) should keep any concerns to a minimum. Keep in mind that I am assuming you have zero AKV points of your own, so you *have* to use someone else's for the entire reservation if you want to make it 11 months in advance. By 'renting' points, you are essentially paying someone who has AKV home resort points to make the reservation for your use. It really doesn't matter what their UY is, as long as they are capable of (and, of course, actually *do*) make the reservation under your name for the dates you want. You will not be able to modify the reservation in any way as it will be treated as though you are a guest of the actual owner. And you may have to resort to two or more such reservations, depending on how long you want to stay and how many people you can find willing to rent a reservation for you. (I don't think it's a big deal to do something like that, though you might have to technically 'check out' of one reservation and into another -- MS would probably try to keep you in the same room.)

You might consider a rental "swap" of some kind, depending on how many points you need, how many you have, and what your home resort is. You cannot accept a transfer and then transfer your points away in the same year, or I would have suggested finding someone willing to do that.

I hope this helps somewhat. Unless you have AKV points (at which point this discussion needs to get many more details to be of much help,) you're going to have to find someone to use their points for you in one form or another. So your UY really doesn't matter for this particular reservation.

 

[PinkTink63]

To make a reservation 11 months in advance, *all* points used in the reservation must be 'home resort' points. In other words, if you want to stay at AKV and the dates you want will cost 300 points, *all* 300 points must be AKV points.

If you haven't been able to get a reservation at this resort in the last 3 years, my presumption is that you don't have AKV as your home resort. Assuming that, you need to either a) get someone to transfer *all* of the points you need for your vacation to you or b) get someone (or, possibly, multiple someones) to make the reservation(s) for you and you then 'rent' it/them from said individual(s).

A -- transferring points can only be done once per year, both for you and for the individual transferring the points. You, as recipient, would be able to bank them, and they would be treated (as you surmised) as though they had all the rights (i.e., home resort priority) normally associated with them even though you usually wouldn't be considered an owner at that resort. The person you want to transfer from can only transfer current points, so you could start looking for someone now as you can bank them until the August 2012 trip. It might take a while to find someone, and you might have to wait until their 2011 UY begins to make the actual transfer, but it doesn't hurt to start asking around. The important thing, as far as I can tell from your comments, is to remember that these points will be completely separate from your own points -- at least, until you're within the 7 month time period at which time they pretty much can be intermingled with yours. But it sounds like yours are not AKV points, so that's not going to help you much with your current quest.

B -- depending on how many points you need, it may be easier to get someone or multiple someones to "rent' you the points -- you don't have control over the reservation(s), but careful communication between yourself and the renter(s) should keep any concerns to a minimum. Keep in mind that I am assuming you have zero AKV points of your own, so you *have* to use someone else's for the entire reservation if you want to make it 11 months in advance. By 'renting' points, you are essentially paying someone who has AKV home resort points to make the reservation for your use. It really doesn't matter what their UY is, as long as they are capable of (and, of course, actually *do*) make the reservation under your name for the dates you want. You will not be able to modify the reservation in any way as it will be treated as though you are a guest of the actual owner. And you may have to resort to two or more such reservations, depending on how long you want to stay and how many people you can find willing to rent a reservation for you. (I don't think it's a big deal to do something like that, though you might have to technically 'check out' of one reservation and into another -- MS would probably try to keep you in the same room.)

You might consider a rental "swap" of some kind, depending on how many points you need, how many you have, and what your home resort is. You cannot accept a transfer and then transfer your points away in the same year, or I would have suggested finding someone willing to do that.

I hope this helps somewhat. Unless you have AKV points (at which point this discussion needs to get many more details to be of much help,) you're going to have to find someone to use their points for you in one form or another. So your UY really doesn't matter for this particular reservation.

Thanks everyone for responding and trying to help me figure this out! You would think after being DVC for six years I would have this down!

You are correct in assuming I have no AKV points! That is why I want to get the points transferred into my account so I can get that home resort advantage. I am going to need about 153 pts. for what I need. I am planning on booking during the last week in Aug., probably about the 28 or 29th 2012. I know that we are only able to do one transfer per year, so I want to get enough points for that part of the trip.

I know that I can actually rent the ressie, but I would rather have the pts. transferred. I would not want to do any kind of trade, because I'm greedy and don't want to give up any of my precious pts.! Besides I will need all of my points for the rest of the trip!

This is where I get a little confused...I know that I want to be able to book the trip this Sept. 28th or 29th, so don't I need those pts. to be in my account and don't I need them to be an Aug. UY? I have an Aug. UY and I have to bank my pts. by the end of March (If I had any pts. to bank at this time!)

Sorry for the confusion!

 

[vicki_c]

I can't decide if I'm overthinking this now or if I am just overall befuddled too!

On the date you want to make your reservation, September 29, 2011, you need to have points in your account (AKV points) that are valid for a stay in August 2012.

For YOUR use year, that means you would need 2012 points (because your points run from August 2012 - July 2013). Those can be 2012 points that were banked from 2011.

For you to be able to bank 2011 points into 2012, you can't get them before August 2011 because you can only bank 1 year forward.

So I agree with Mao, you need to find someone now that can transfer you AKV points no earlier than August, so you can bank those and then book your reservation in September. I can't see any reason that those points you get from someone else need to be an August use year (even though thinking about that is making my brain hurt).

And if someone sees anything faulty in my logic here, please shout out!

 

[MAO]

Yes, I would think you'd have to have the points in your hot little hands before you could make the reservaton. ;-)

Since the transferred points have to be "current" at the time they are transferred to you, but you can then bank them, I'm not convinced that they have to be an August UY. For example, if someone has Jan 2011 points they transfer to you, they'd be good for a trip through December 2011. If they give them to you now, in March 2011, and you banked them, they'd be good anytime from January 2012 through December 2012 -- covering the August timeframe that you want.

If someone still has August 2010 points, that won't help you as those points expire at the end of July 2011 -- and banking them would only extend them to the end of July 2012 which is prior to the desired reservation. August 2011 points will work, and have the advantage that you would not have to bank them to keep the availability of an August reservation viable. Though, if you're calling that late in September for a reservation, I have to wonder if the reservation will continue into September 2012 and you might have to do something funky to make the 2011 points valid past their UY. I've never been in that situation; perhaps you'd have to bank some points so the system would let you use them?

I guess what it boils down to is that it doesn't matter what UY they are, as long as they're either valid for the length of the reservation and/or they can be banked to cover the reservation. I think that leaves out most everything from 2010, though it looks like (based on my quick chicken scratching) something from November or December 2010 could be banked and last long enough for your reservation. (October 2010 might also work.) I find it hard to imagine anything from 2011 wouldn't work. Just make sure they will cover the *whole* reservation -- you've got me wondering if it's all in August or if it goes into September.

 

[PinkTink63]

Yes, I would think you'd have to have the points in your hot little hands before you could make the reservaton. ;-)

Since the transferred points have to be "current" at the time they are transferred to you, but you can then bank them, I'm not convinced that they have to be an August UY. For example, if someone has Jan 2011 points they transfer to you, they'd be good for a trip through December 2011. If they give them to you now, in March 2011, and you banked them, they'd be good anytime from January 2012 through December 2012 -- covering the August timeframe that you want.

If someone still has August 2010 points, that won't help you as those points expire at the end of July 2011 -- and banking them would only extend them to the end of July 2012 which is prior to the desired reservation. August 2011 points will work, and have the advantage that you would not have to bank them to keep the availability of an August reservation viable. Though, if you're calling that late in September for a reservation, I have to wonder if the reservation will continue into September 2012 and you might have to do something funky to make the 2011 points valid past their UY. I've never been in that situation; perhaps you'd have to bank some points so the system would let you use them?

I guess what it boils down to is that it doesn't matter what UY they are, as long as they're either valid for the length of the reservation and/or they can be banked to cover the reservation. I think that leaves out most everything from 2010, though it looks like (based on my quick chicken scratching) something from November or December 2010 could be banked and last long enough for your reservation. (October 2010 might also work.) I find it hard to imagine anything from 2011 wouldn't work. Just make sure they will cover the *whole* reservation -- you've got me wondering if it's all in August or if it goes into September.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't completely clear on my dates! They would start in the last week of Aug. and yes, they would go into Sept. I never even considered 2010 pts. because I was thinking I need to bank 2011 pts. to use in 2012.

I may be just over thinking this! My confusion lies with the banking. When I get pts. transferred in...will they be under the same guidelines for the banking rules? Say I get Sept. 2011 UY pts...won't they have to be banked by the end of April? Then, can they be used in starting Aug. 2012? I thought once they were banked...they can't be borrowed? Or would they only be able to be used starting Sept. 2012? Or...if I got July 2011 pts...would it even be possible to bank those because they are not within banking guidelines? But those pts. would be able to be used if they were banked in my account from July 2012-June 30th 2013? Am I correct in thinking this?

 

[MAO]

You are probably correct that they will need to be banked by a certain date. (I must say, you're making my head hurt. LOL!)

Are you expecting to go advertising for transfer points or are you planning on just looking for someone offering to transfer? If you advertise, you could explain what you need -- 153 AKV points for use in a reservation dated Aug whatever through Sept whatever. Anyone who is looking to make a transfer would have some idea, I would hope, whether what they have would work for you or not. From what I read on the DVC site, you have to contact Member Services to make the transfer, so I'd probably double check with MS at that time that the points you are wanting to transfer will be useable when you want them.

But you are probably correct that you'll be restricted to the normal banking guidelines. I think I'd start advertising and looking for potential transfer opportunities -- and, once you get a potential to talk to you, call Member Services and walk through the process to make sure it will work for you. You shouldn't have to give them a lot of details; just something like "I have a friend who's willing to transfer some points to me. They have 'these points' and 'this use year' and I want to go to AKV on 'this date to this date.' Will my friend's idea work and do we have enough time to do whatever needs to be done in order to try and get the reservation?" If MS says no, they'll probably explain what the problem is with that particular scenario which would give you more information to continue looking for another transfer opportunity.

Are you *sure* you don't want to just rent a reservation or even just pay cash? That seems so much easier to me.

 

[PinkTink63]

Thanks everyone for trying to help me with this! Not only have I given my fellow disers a headache, but I have one as well!

I think that I will give membership a call and runs some things by them! My biggest fear is that I rent a bunch of pts. that I can't use!

I really didn't want to have to rent a reservation, because I like to have control over it, but if I don't have the pts. I need by the time I need to book...that is probably what I'll have to do!

Thanks again!