Help please, room with points and cash?

[lenshanem]

Fooling around here with next use year points again-

We are planning on 3 nights at GF in February 2005 using points for an anniversary. We will be short some points as this is an "extra" trip so I was planning on getting some points transferred into our account from the rent board.

BUT... I just realized we have enough points for 2 nights, then I could just pay for the third night with cash hopefully with an AP discount rate. (We'll be buying our first APs this coming summer.)
If I can get a discount rate it would come out much cheaper than me renting out the extra points at the standard $10 per point. Maybe even over $100.

If I do this, can they link the nights together? Would CRO have to book the AP rate or can DVC do it? Or even better would I get a discount rate through DVC for a stay at the GF if I'm short the points for one night?

EDIT - If I booked the third night with a DVC cash discount and then a better AP rate came out could I switch or does DVC have penalties on cash nights like they do point nights?

Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
Fooling around here with next use year points again-

We are planning on 3 nights at GF in February 2005 using points for an anniversary. We will be short some points as this is an "extra" trip so I was planning on getting some points transferred into our account from the rent board.

BUT... I just realized we have enough points for 2 nights, then I could just pay for the third night with cash hopefully with an AP discount rate. (We'll be buying our first APs this coming summer.)
If I can get a discount rate it would come out much cheaper than me renting out the extra points at the standard $10 per point. Maybe even over $100.

If I do this, can they link the nights together? Would CRO have to book the AP rate or can DVC do it? Or even better would I get a discount rate through DVC for a stay at the GF if I'm short the points for one night?

Thanks!

MS (DVC) can only book the non-DVC WDW resorts if you are paying with points. They cannot book the GF for cash and they cannot give you you any discounts for the GF. To pay with cash and get any discounts such as the AP discount, you need to go through CRO/WDWTC or a TA.

You can request that a points reservation be linked to a cash reservation, but it can't be guaranteed ahead of time. I'm sure Disney will do its best to keep you in the same room.

If I were staying two nights on points and one on cash, I'd ask that the two reservations be cross-referenced to each other, and that both include a request not to be moved. I'd repeat the request at check in and it wouldn't hurt to fax the GF a few days ahead of time to repeat the request. That should maximize your chances of staying in the same room for the entire period.

Hope it all works out for you and you have the best anniversary ever!

 

[lenshanem]

Thanks CarolMN!

So then would I have to check in again on the third day for the cash night?

And does anyone know if the standard garden view rooms at the GF have any king beds or does that cost more points? Is this something I just request when I book it?

It looks like I might just book 2 nights with points a few months ahead of time, then closer to the date wait and see if an AP rate comes out, then just book the third night with cash through CRO and ask them to cross reference. I guess then I'll just call MS back and have them add the cross reference, too.

This is for our tenth anniversary, so hopefully it will work. If all else fails, we'll still have 2 nights away from the kids!