Help figuring out points

[maryloubsw]

Hi all! Ok here is the scenario: I am trying to figure out HOW I will work it with my points and I'm still a little unsure how this works. I have 160 points. I am using 210 points for 2010 (all of 2009's points plus 50 of 2010's) so I will have 110 to bank. I bought in March so is that when I get my new points? Do they come on March 1? or 12 months from the date of my closing? For 2011 I will get another 160 totaling 270 to use in 2011 but I don't want to plan a trip until Feb 2012. When do my banked 2010 points expire I guess I am really asking and will I lose any of my points by not traveling until Feb 2012? Sorry if this is confusing, i'm confused myself....I want to use 315 points in 2012 by the way for a 2br at SSR.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Hi all! Ok here is the scenario: I am trying to figure out HOW I will work it with my points and I'm still a little unsure how this works. I have 160 points. I am using 210 points for 2010 (all of 2009's points plus 50 of 2010's) so I will have 110 to bank. I bought in March so is that when I get my new points? Do they come on March 1? or 12 months from the date of my closing? For 2011 I will get another 160 totaling 270 to use in 2011 but I don't want to plan a trip until Feb 2012. When do my banked 2010 points expire I guess I am really asking and will I lose any of my points by not traveling until Feb 2012? Sorry if this is confusing, i'm confused myself....I want to use 315 points in 2012 by the way for a 2br at SSR.

If you bought in March, that does not necessarily mean that is your use year. You need to check your contract and find out what your use year is.

When you book has nothing to do with your use year. The points are taken from the use year the trip occurs in unless you need to borrow from the next use year.

For example:
With a March use year, points for a stay between March 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011 come from your 2010 use year unless you need to borrow from your '11 year to complete the reservation. For ease, let's say you have 100 points and needed 150 for the '10 ressie, so you would borrow from '11 to fill out the reservation. Those 50 points you borrowed from '11 now become '10 points and MUST be used in the current use year.

Also for ease, let's say you decide not to use your 50 remaining '11 points, so you need to bank them before the end of October 2011 so you can use them in your 2012 use year.

Any reservation you make can be made starting 11 months from the date of check in, and the points will be taken from the appropriate use year. You need to log into DVC member and look at your account so you know what you are doing.

 

[Sandisw]

It sounds to me like they probably gave you the March UY (but as the PP stated, check your contract).

If you do indeed have a March UY, then your points become current on that first day every year.

If you end up banking 2010 UY points in your 2011 UY, these points would be good from March 1st, 2011 until February 29th, 2012. That means they would still be good for that Feb 2012 trip. Since you would only have 270, you would need to borrow points to fulfill the SSR reservation.

Once you bank points, they are only good for UY that you bank them in to.

The easiest way to figure out what points can be used for vacations is to first figure out what UY your trip will fall. Trips can be "paid" for with banked points from the previous UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the following UY. So, if you are traveling in your 2011 UY, you can use banked 2010 points, 2011 points, and borrowed 2012 points.

The only thing to be aware of is that traveling in February, with a March UY is a risk. If you had to cancel that trip and were beyond your banking window (September 30th) when you did, you would be forced to use up the points by February 28th. In essence, you would probably use a lot of points.

If this is a typical time you travel, you may want to contact your guide and discuss getting a different UY. Getting a UY that starts just before you will typically travel is recommend as it allows for flexiblity. You can only bank points in those first 8 months. Of course, if you travel all different times of the year than UY is less important.

We travel in primarily August so we got a June UY. That means we have a lot of time to use up points if we ever had to cancel at least 31 days out. We would also be able to still bank points since we are well within our window.

Good luck!

 

[maryloubsw]

It sounds to me like they probably gave you the March UY (but as the PP stated, check your contract).

If you do indeed have a March UY, then your points become current on that first day every year.

If you end up banking 2010 UY points in your 2011 UY, these points would be good from March 1st, 2011 until February 29th, 2012. That means they would still be good for that Feb 2012 trip. Since you would only have 270, you would need to borrow points to fulfill the SSR reservation.

Once you bank points, they are only good for UY that you bank them in to.

The easiest way to figure out what points can be used for vacations is to first figure out what UY your trip will fall. Trips can be "paid" for with banked points from the previous UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the following UY. So, if you are traveling in your 2011 UY, you can use banked 2010 points, 2011 points, and borrowed 2012 points.

The only thing to be aware of is that traveling in February, with a March UY is a risk. If you had to cancel that trip and were beyond your banking window (September 30th) when you did, you would be forced to use up the points by February 28th. In essence, you would probably use a lot of points.

If this is a typical time you travel, you may want to contact your guide and discuss getting a different UY. Getting a UY that starts just before you will typically travel is recommend as it allows for flexiblity. You can only bank points in those first 8 months. Of course, if you travel all different times of the year than UY is less important.

We travel in primarily August so we got a June UY. That means we have a lot of time to use up points if we ever had to cancel at least 31 days out. We would also be able to still bank points since we are well within our window.

Good luck!

OK it says "Use year for this unit begins on the first day of March 2009". Does that mean if I primarily travel in February I should try to get my use year changed to April so I could have until March 31st to reshchedule a cancelled February trip? And how would I go about doing this, just call my guide?

 

[Sandisw]

OK it says "Use year for this unit begins on the first day of March 2009". Does that mean if I primarily travel in February I should try to get my use year changed to April so I could have until March 31st to reshchedule a cancelled February trip? And how would I go about doing this, just call my guide?

IMO, Yes, if you that is when you travel, I would suggest a different UY. April is better than March, but I think you should go with Oct or Dec UY. That puts your travel still within the banking window. If you cancelled, you would still be able to bank those points or have until the fall to use them up.

Feb UY is really ideal but at this point, because we are already in the 2010 UY for that month, you would lose out on the 2009 points.

Besides February, are there any other months that you like to travel? That can help you choose a UY as well. Oct UY is good for trips through the fall, winter, spring. It leaves summer trips a little vulnerable. Dec UY works well for winter, spring, and summer, but leaves the fall trips a bit vulnerable.

Its not that you can't travel, but it just leaves you with less flexibility. Of course, if you can travel on short notice, then it doesn't matter as much. But, if you have a time you travel most of the time, you really want to try to avoid that month being one of the last 3 of your UY.
I teach so I can only travel certain times. As I said, we went with June UY because it covers all my travel times except for Spring Break (which we never go then anyway).

Call your guide and discuss it with him/her. Tell him/her that you want to change the UY because you don't want it always be traveling in the month before the UY starts. He/She can get the paperwork changed for you.

 

[maryloubsw]

OK we definitley (almost always) will travel in Feb or Mar because my husband loves going on winter vacations and Jan is too cold there and Dec is possible but unlikely for us. We are using our 2009 points and some of 2010's when we go in August, so 2009 points will be gone anyway, I will bank 2010's. But what your saying makes sense, I don't want to lose my 2010 points if for some reason I can't travel in Feb 2012 like planned.

 

[Sandisw]

OK we definitley (almost always) will travel in Feb or Mar because my husband loves going on winter vacations and Jan is too cold there and Dec is possible but unlikely for us. We are using our 2009 points and some of 2010's when we go in August, so 2009 points will be gone anyway, I will bank 2010's. But what your saying makes sense, I don't want to lose my 2010 points if for some reason I can't travel in Feb 2012 like planned.

Then maybe August would work out for you (you would still get your 2009 points).

This would put travel from August through April in the safe zone for being able to bank points if you cancelled or changed your trip at least 31 days in advance.

The months that would be least desirable for travel would be May, June, and July.

But, I would definitely not go with March if Feb is a typical travel time.

Good luck!

 

[dianeschlicht]

OK it says "Use year for this unit begins on the first day of March 2009". Does that mean if I primarily travel in February I should try to get my use year changed to April so I could have until March 31st to reshchedule a cancelled February trip? And how would I go about doing this, just call my guide?

You can not change your use year unless you sell your contract and buy a different one. If you usually travel in February, then a March use year is definitely the worst for you if you are in the habit of needing to change dates late.

 

[maryloubsw]

You can not change your use year unless you sell your contract and buy a different one. If you usually travel in February, then a March use year is definitely the worst for you if you are in the habit of needing to change dates late.

I would never change plans last minutes honestly, I'm the person who books 11 mths out and keeps the ressie. I just don't want to lose my points if something happens where I can't go but in reality I can't see that happening where I wouldnt be able to go shortly after (ie if my kids were sick, move the trip a week or so).

 

[dianeschlicht]

I would never change plans last minutes honestly, I'm the person who books 11 mths out and keeps the ressie. I just don't want to lose my points if something happens where I can't go but in reality I can't see that happening where I wouldnt be able to go shortly after (ie if my kids were sick, move the trip a week or so).

In that case, I'd stick with what you have. We have a March use year and are in the habit of visiting in December or January, so not the best for us either, but it's never been an issue in 13 years of ownership.

 

[Sandisw]

You can not change your use year unless you sell your contract and buy a different one. If you usually travel in February, then a March use year is definitely the worst for you if you are in the habit of needing to change dates late.

I think the OP just purchased through Disney and has not yet finalized things. There should be time for her to talk to her guide to discuss getting a different UY.

 

[maryloubsw]

I think the OP just purchased through Disney and has not yet finalized things. There should be time for her to talk to her guide to discuss getting a different UY.

Yes that's true, I just mailed in paperwork on Wednesday and did leave a vmail for my guide, I would at least like to change my use year to April because if my Feb trip has a problem, at least I would have until March 31. Will they just remail me paperwork or can they just change it? Thanks for all the advice Sandy!

 

[Sandisw]

Yes that's true, I just mailed in paperwork on Wednesday and did leave a vmail for my guide, I would at least like to change my use year to April because if my Feb trip has a problem, at least I would have until March 31. Will they just remail me paperwork or can they just change it? Thanks for all the advice Sandy!

They will have to re-do the paperwork, but it won't take long and it won't change anything in terms of you being in the system. Even if you have already booked a reservation, it won't affect that either.

I did that last year with changing my contract a few times (more points, better incentive, etc.).

I am glad to hear that you would be able to re-book in March and April will work out better for you...just keep in mind that with short notice booking, you may not be able to get exactly what you want and availability would be limited.

If you haven't talked to your guide yet, you might even consider June UY (I know, I keep throwing them out there!!!). That would give you a bit of extra time to re-book a cancelled Feb trip.

I know that many don't necessarily think that UY is that important as peoples' travel habits change over time. But, IMO, if you know you have a set time to travel, and can choose your UY, then picking one that gives you the most flexibility is a good thing.

We took June UY, as I said, because we travel primarily in the summer. Even when we retire, our plans will be for fall travel and this works out well for that too.

Good luck!

 

[maryloubsw]

They will have to re-do the paperwork, but it won't take long and it won't change anything in terms of you being in the system. Even if you have already booked a reservation, it won't affect that either.

I did that last year with changing my contract a few times (more points, better incentive, etc.).

I am glad to hear that you would be able to re-book in March and April will work out better for you...just keep in mind that with short notice booking, you may not be able to get exactly what you want and availability would be limited.

If you haven't talked to your guide yet, you might even consider June UY (I know, I keep throwing them out there!!!). That would give you a bit of extra time to re-book a cancelled Feb trip.

I know that many don't necessarily think that UY is that important as peoples' travel habits change over time. But, IMO, if you know you have a set time to travel, and can choose your UY, then picking one that gives you the most flexibility is a good thing.

We took June UY, as I said, because we travel primarily in the summer. Even when we retire, our plans will be for fall travel and this works out well for that too.

Good luck!

Yeah we live in Pittsburgh so we like to go away in the winter usually but I'm sure as kids get older we might go when school is out.

 

[Hopefully]

When we purchased BCV through Disney a few years ago, we had no choice of UY, unless we waited longer. In other words, they could only sell what they currently had in inventory at a "sold out" resort. We would not have been able to just change UY,
HTH