Holding account

[Jaylie]

I had to cancel our vacation at the last minute (well, 29 days out) and now those points are going to a holding account. I would like to extend my son's vacation by a day on each end, but Member Services said I couldn't do that yet (his vacation is July 28--July 30), and I don't quite understand why I can't just use those points for his July trip right now. MS said I had to wait til May 27. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[rlovew]

You can only use the points 60 days for check in- therefore if you wanted to check in on July 27th the 60 day mark is May 27th. You also must use those points by the end of your use year (that the vacation was in).

 

[DebbieB]

I had to cancel our vacation at the last minute (well, 29 days out) and now those points are going to a holding account. I would like to extend my son's vacation by a day on each end, but Member Services said I couldn't do that yet (his vacation is July 28--July 30), and I don't quite understand why I can't just use those points for his July trip right now. MS said I had to wait til May 27. Anyone have any experience with this?

That's correct. Holding points can only be reserved 60 days or less before arrival and expire at the end of the use year. It's a penalty for canceling 30 days or less.

 

[LisaS]

If you cancel your reservation 30 days or less from check in (up to 1 day from check in), the points go into the Holding account. Holding points can only be used to book something 60 days or less from check in.

When you cancel 30 days or less from check in, it's possible DVC will not be able to fill the room you had reserved. To compensate, they restrict the use of those returned points to booking last-minute inventory, 60 days or less from check in.

 

[Jaylie]

I guess I understand the rule, but the annoying part is that I had just booked this short vacation two days before! Then I realized it wasn't going to work, so I wanted to use the points a different way. Oh well, I learned a tough lesson because i didn't know about the Holding Account issue. In over 13 years of being a DVC member I've never run into this. I think I'll be able to use the points to extend my son's trip, though, because he and his wife won't mind staying at different resorts if that's what it comes to.

 

[Judique]

I guess I understand the rule, but the annoying part is that I had just booked this short vacation two days before! Then I realized it wasn't going to work, so I wanted to use the points a different way. Oh well, I learned a tough lesson because i didn't know about the Holding Account issue. In over 13 years of being a DVC member I've never run into this. I think I'll be able to use the points to extend my son's trip, though, because he and his wife won't mind staying at different resorts if that's what it comes to.

You will have 60 days prior to the vacation to rearrange the whole trip. I've cancelled several times in the last 13 years and have ended up with holding points.

I was able to piece together a trip that I just returned from last night using holding points. July should be easier than Easter!

Also, upgrading to a larger room size is another way to use holding points. Our last night was in a one bedroom and we enjoyed the extra space, used the kitchen to cook a nice meal and got our laundry done!

 

[abner1776]

Many times people learn about these rules the hard way but it sounds like the holding period may not be a big problem for you anyway which is the best resolution cause no one wants to lose points.

When I first read about the holding period rules years ago my first reaction was "why ??" and then I started to think about the fall out if the holding rules were not in effect. People would be booking reservations all over the place and then waiting until the last minute to cancel and what a mess that would be.

This rule forces people to plan ahead of time and commit to their vacation plans.