Help me understand banking/borrowing

[AshleeH]

We get our 2016 points in December - the way I'm understanding it, if we bank those points, we have until December 2018 to use them, is that correct?

There's a chance we might use them in February 2017, but if we don't, our next option will be October 2018. I want to make sure I have it 100% correct before finalizing vacation plans for February.

 

[chalee94]

bookmark this:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-april-27-2016.1942668/

don't think of use year as when you "get" the points. instead, think of use year as the 12 month period when you can use the pts for a stay.

for your dec 2016 UY, your pts are valid for a stay from dec 1, 2016 through nov 30, 2017.

if you don't want to stay during that period, you can bank those pts forward and they would THEN be valid for a stay from dec 1, 2017 through nov 30, 2018.

(keep in mind also that you can only move pts with banking or borrowing ONE TIME. after that, they will expire if you don't complete a stay by the end of that use year.)

a feb 2017 stay falls within the dates for your 2016 UY (dec 1, 2016 through nov 30, 2017.) so you could call as early as march 2016 to book your home resort for feb 2017 using those current 2016 UY pts. if those are not enough, you would have the option to borrow 2017 UY pts to complete that stay within your 2016 UY. (and you could borrow from 2017 if you called in march 2016 - just to be clear.)

if you bank your 2016 UY pts forward but decide later to stay in your 2016 UY, you would still have the option of borrowing from 2017 - but that is not a great plan. if you cancel the feb 2017 trip more than 30 days out, your 2016 pts drop back into your 2016 UY and you still have the option to bank them later (by the end of July 2017) if you choose. like i said above, if you borrow and cancel, you cannot move the pts again and have fewer options.

generally, banking is something you can choose to do if you don't plan to make a reservation. but you don't borrow pts unless you actually need them to complete a reservation.

but the linked thread is a great, great resource.

 

[chalee94]

...our next option will be October 2018.

just a general warning in case your mind is still spinning from the above: it can be more risky to travel late in your UY.

if you book feb 17 with current UY (2016 in that case) pts and cancel in mid-december 2016, you still have until the end of july 2017 to decide whether to use those pts or bank them to 2017 - lots of options.

but if you book oct 2018 and had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances in mid-august 2018, you would be past your banking window of july 31 even for current pts in that reservation. (and banked/borrowed pts cannot be moved again, regardless.) so that would mean all pts for the october 2018 reservation will still expire if not used for a stay before nov 30, 2018. you might find a renter at the last minute who wanted exactly those dates or have the option to gift your stay to a friend or relative, but you would have limited options and trying to rebook a stay on short notice for the last quarter of the year would be very tough. not a lot of options.

just something to be aware of...

 

[AshleeH]

bookmark this:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-april-27-2016.1942668/

don't think of use year as when you "get" the points. instead, think of use year as the 12 month period when you can use the pts for a stay.

for your dec 2016 UY, your pts are valid for a stay from dec 1, 2016 through nov 30, 2017.

if you don't want to stay during that period, you can bank those pts forward and they would THEN be valid for a stay from dec 1, 2017 through nov 30, 2018.

(keep in mind also that you can only move pts with banking or borrowing ONE TIME. after that, they will expire if you don't complete a stay by the end of that use year.)

a feb 2017 stay falls within the dates for your 2016 UY (dec 1, 2016 through nov 30, 2017.) so you could call as early as march 2016 to book your home resort for feb 2017 using those current 2016 UY pts. if those are not enough, you would have the option to borrow 2017 UY pts to complete that stay within your 2016 UY. (and you could borrow from 2017 if you called in march 2016 - just to be clear.)

if you bank your 2016 UY pts forward but decide later to stay in your 2016 UY, you would still have the option of borrowing from 2017 - but that is not a great plan. if you cancel the feb 2017 trip more than 30 days out, your 2016 pts drop back into your 2016 UY and you still have the option to bank them later (by the end of July 2017) if you choose. like i said above, if you borrow and cancel, you cannot move the pts again and have fewer options.

generally, banking is something you can choose to do if you don't plan to make a reservation. but you don't borrow pts unless you actually need them to complete a reservation.

but the linked thread is a great, great resource.

Thank you! That thread is definitely useful and your explanation made it much clearer to me. I appreciate it!

just a general warning in case your mind is still spinning from the above: it can be more risky to travel late in your UY.

if you book feb 17 with current UY (2016 in that case) pts and cancel in mid-december 2016, you still have until the end of july 2017 to decide whether to use those pts or bank them to 2017 - lots of options.

but if you book oct 2018 and had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances in mid-august 2018, you would be past your banking window of july 31 even for current pts in that reservation. (and banked/borrowed pts cannot be moved again, regardless.) so that would mean all pts for the october 2018 reservation will still expire if not used for a stay before nov 30, 2018. you might find a renter at the last minute who wanted exactly those dates or have the option to gift your stay to a friend or relative, but you would have limited options and trying to rebook a stay on short notice for the last quarter of the year would be very tough. not a lot of options.

just something to be aware of...

Thanks! I can see where it would be risky to bank for a vacation so close to the deadline. This is more than likely going to be a rare occurrence for us as we'll rarely have points banked, since we tried to get close to the exact amount we would need year-to-year. But we got a great signing bonus of extra points, so the overflow will have us banking for a few years. Not a bad problem to have .

We are planning to use a portion of December's points for a short stay at the Grand Floridian next January and then bank the remainder. We are actually going back in November of 2017, but for various reasons we will be paying out of pocket for that. The main reasons among them: We want to guarantee an Epcot resort since it's just my husband and myself going for F&W, so we can book at 499 days out and the other reason is that we both always wanted to stay at the Yacht Club and this seems like the prime opportunity for that (and an opportunity we didn't think we'd have when we bought into DVC). We can always stay at BC later if we love YC, but this is going to be a very rare OOP trip, so we're taking advantage of the opportunity.

My husband will get a vacation in July and October of 2018, so it's entirely conceivable that we'll use the points in July (we're thinking about going to Disneyland that year, but it's too early to decide), but just in case we decide to go in the Fall, I wanted to make sure that was an option.

Thanks for all the help! This board is invaluable when learning the ropes .

 

[bumbershoot]

But we got a great signing bonus of extra points, so the overflow will have us banking for a few years. Not a bad problem to have .

Yes, it's lovely that they give us points in the current UY when that seems like something they wouldn't do. (Sales people call it a bonus but it's what we are legally supposed to have access to)

"Builder's points" when we bought brand new bay lake kept us fat with points for awhile too.

December is the most complicated UY so expect to have more questions.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks! I can see where it would be risky to bank for a vacation so close to the deadline. This is more than likely going to be a rare occurrence for us as we'll rarely have points banked, since we tried to get close to the exact amount we would need year-to-year. But we got a great signing bonus of extra points, so the overflow will have us banking for a few years. Not a bad problem to have .

Banking close to your deadline is not the issue. Using your points for stays that are past your banking deadline can be if you ever have a late cancellation. So with a Dec UY that means stays in Aug-Nov. If that's your normal time of travel you will be running the risk of losing points with last minute cancellations because you would have to use the points whether they be banked, current or borrowed, prior to Dec 1st or else they will expire. If you never have to cancel then you'll never be affected but one trip cancellation could be tough. It's also a difficult time of year to rebook as it's very popular for DVC. It's why some of us stress the importance of selecting a UY that starts as early in your travel year as possible. I've had 2 last minute cancellations due to deaths in the family but have yet to lose a point in good part because of paying attention to UY when purchasing coupled with the fact we have quite a bit of flexibility in our travel.