Home Resort question/aulani question

[schoen]

Hi all! I am sure this has been asked a million times, and I am actually not quite sure why I don't know the answer....BUT

If you want to book at your home resort at 11 months out, do you need to have enough points at that property to cover the entire stay? It seems like you would, but I don't know. I am more of a seven month out person.

Also, we are thinking of adding on at Aulani, do you think it will be necessary to have the 11 month window? This property seems hard to predict for me.

 

[disneydenisel]

Yes, if you want to book your home resort at 11 months out, you must have enough points from that home resort to cover the entire reservation at the time of booking.

You can do this by banking and borrowing, so in theory you could have three years of points available to you for one reservation, if necessary.

Aulani, being so new and not even open yet, has been booked by posters here at 7 months out with no problem, yet. However, it is not sold out yet and not complete. It is very hard to say what will happen at that resort. But if you have your heart set on Aulani, then my opinion is that you should own there for the assurance that you will have the best possible chance of getting your first choice. If you are flexible and could go to either WDW or Hawaii, then the 7-month window will work fine for you.

We are 11-month out planners, and like the peace of mind that comes with owning where we want to go, every year or every other year.

 

[chalee94]

If you want to book at your home resort at 11 months out, do you need to have enough points at that property to cover the entire stay? It seems like you would, but I don't know. I am more of a seven month out person.

if you have 1000 SSR pts and add-on a 50 pt aulani contract then you have 1000 pts for booking SSR/treehouses at 11 months each year and 50 pts for booking aulani at 11 months. at 7 months out, you have 1050 pts to book anywhere with availability.

if you bank and borrow from your aulani contract, you can use up to 150 aulani pts (50 banked + 50 current + 50 borrowed) every 3rd year to book aulani at 11 months out. (your SSR pts, whether banked/borrowed/whatever, would still only be good at aulani at the 7 month window if there is availability.)

 

[crisi]

I suspect that Aulani availability will be really dependent on what happens to gas prices and airfare in the future. If gas prices continue to climb, airfare will climb, and fewer people will choose Hawaii as often. If and when airfare deals are available, Aulani will be difficult to book.

 

[fdwang]

I believe it will depend on whether or not you are booking during peak times. Without 11 month availability there is not sure method of reserving, and if you are like our family, booking Frequent Flyer miles to Hawaii requires a 330 day advance booking.