I'm losing 231 points

[asunutgirl]

So frustrated. We need to cancel our Aulani vacation for this May. Because I'm a March use year and not April, those points have to be used by March 2021. Can't use them to pay for the 2021 member cruise. Can't book a vacation because nothing is open. I'm getting penalized for nothing. Not a happy camper right now. That's a crap load of money.

 

[graychef]

You could rent them and recoup some $. There are openings for the WDW resorts.

 

[Sandisw]

I’m so sorry. But, at least you have almost a year to use them.

Sounds like your points are banked from 2019. Even banked April 2019 points are not being extended, It is only the ones from 2018 which already expired

Im sure something will be open before they expire.

 

[bumbershoot]

Can't use them to pay for the 2021 member cruise.

You don’t have to use points to pay for the cruise, as far as I know. Consider renting them out and use the cash to pay for the cruise.


What do you mean that nothing’s open and you can’t book? You could book for later in the year. Just not *now*.

 

[tamu91]

I think renting those points on the DVC rental board would be your best option. There are some restrictions you must meet to post but even if you end up paying the $50 fee, you can recoup that through your rental rates. Good luck.

 

[JVSJr]

So frustrated. We need to cancel our Aulani vacation for this May. Because I'm a March use year and not April, those points have to be used by March 2021. Can't use them to pay for the 2021 member cruise. Can't book a vacation because nothing is open. I'm getting penalized for nothing. Not a happy camper right now. That's a crap load of money.

You always have the ability to use points at other Disney (non DVC) resorts. Not the best value for the points, but at least it's an option.

 

[asunutgirl]

You don’t have to use points to pay for the cruise, as far as I know. Consider renting them out and use the cash to pay for the cruise.


What do you mean that nothing’s open and you can’t book? You could book for later in the year. Just not *now*.

I am aware that I can pay cash. My hope was to pay for one person with the points so that we could afford to go. And get use out of those points.

As for booking somewhere else - I have no interest in booking a resort until I know that parks are open. Why book a vacation for August when I will likely just be in the same position in just a few months? Also - I have two adult children that travel with us. One is a college student and one is a teacher so our travel dates are limited. As this point, I just plan to take the loss and move on.

 

[Carol_]

Can you use the RCI exchange for when your kids are available?

 

[stlrod]

Wow, "losing 231 points" is an overreaction. There have been people who have been placed in far worse situations. You have options plenty of options available and there is availability. I've picked up plenty of great October reservations at the popular resorts and rent them, agreeing to a refund if the WDW resort is closed.

 

[bashuck]

I am aware that I can pay cash. My hope was to pay for one person with the points so that we could afford to go. And get use out of those points.

As for booking somewhere else - I have no interest in booking a resort until I know that parks are open. Why book a vacation for August when I will likely just be in the same position in just a few months? Also - I have two adult children that travel with us. One is a college student and one is a teacher so our travel dates are limited. As this point, I just plan to take the loss and move on.

So if you drop a $100 bill on the ground do you just say "too much effort to pick it up, I'll just take the loss". No, you lean down and pick it up. You have a year. You could easily rent the points for 3 grand....but you'll just take nothing. At least be consistent and do NOTHING, and not write a post about it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I am aware that I can pay cash. My hope was to pay for one person with the points so that we could afford to go. And get use out of those points.

As for booking somewhere else - I have no interest in booking a resort until I know that parks are open. Why book a vacation for August when I will likely just be in the same position in just a few months? Also - I have two adult children that travel with us. One is a college student and one is a teacher so our travel dates are limited. As this point, I just plan to take the loss and move on.

I agree that you have a couple of options and lots of time before March of 2021. The availability may not be exactly what you had but there's definitely availability to be found in all months. As mentioned you also could elect to rent out the points and then use that cash you are paid from that rental to pay for the cruise instead of paying for it directly with the points.

Rather than "why book a vacation for August when I will likely just be in the same position" I'd say why NOT book a vacation for August. It costs you nothing to reserve the room with the points. You don't have to book airfare or anything else but you'll have the vacation component that will get to be more difficult to book already reserved. If it's not happening by then just cancel it and you'll be no further behind than you are now.

Lastly, if it gets to be January you can deposit the points into RCI and extend their life for up to 2 years. Even if you didn't want to go you may have friends or family who would appreciate taking a trip off your hands.

 

[nagshead]

We have a May Poly trio that won’t be happening. I just booked a stay for Thanksgiving week over the last few days. It’s definitely a busier week but I still saw availability this morning and a lot teachers and college students have that week off. Best of luck and I hope you can find something that works

 

[zakdavid]

So frustrated. We need to cancel our Aulani vacation for this May. Because I'm a March use year and not April, those points have to be used by March 2021. Can't use them to pay for the 2021 member cruise. Can't book a vacation because nothing is open. I'm getting penalized for nothing. Not a happy camper right now. That's a crap load of money.

When you say there is no availability are you looking at a specific room or something? I see pretty decent availability early next year including at Aulani.

 

[mentos]

When you say there is no availability are you looking at a specific room or something? I see pretty decent availability early next year including at Aulani.

I did a cursory look as well and found wide open availability for studios. 231 points can easily be rented and cash used elsewhere.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

. Even if you didn't want to go you may have friends or family who would appreciate taking a trip off your hands.

Or me..... I will gladly take those off your hands rather than them go to waste.

 

[piccolopat]

I am aware that I can pay cash. My hope was to pay for one person with the points so that we could afford to go. And get use out of those points.

As for booking somewhere else - I have no interest in booking a resort until I know that parks are open. Why book a vacation for August when I will likely just be in the same position in just a few months? Also - I have two adult children that travel with us. One is a college student and one is a teacher so our travel dates are limited. As this point, I just plan to take the loss and move on.

Why would you just take the loss and move on when you can use the points without your adult kids? It might not be the way you usually travel, but losing your points because your kids can't go is not what many other people would do.

 

[justadreamaway77]

Hey guys, maybe lighten up a bit. It is a stressful time and maybe they are just not thinking rationally right now. I highly doubt they are just going to "throw away" over 200 points but maybe right now they feel like just shutting down. They did mention one of the travelers was a teacher, so that takes a lot of options off the table. I'm sure after a few days they will take a big breath, put their big kid pants on, and figure out an alternative option.

 

[AaronEuth]

My previous response was deleted for being too specific in regards to dates, resorts, and availability. To the OP; check out the weeks during Christmas 2020 at your home resort.


I don't know what your home resort is, but those dates are when the schools are off and still in the home resort window. All properties have some types of rooms available for decent chunks of time.

 

[Brian Noble]

So frustrated. We need to cancel our Aulani vacation for this May. Because I'm a March use year and not April, those points have to be used by March 2021. Can't use them to pay for the 2021 member cruise. Can't book a vacation because nothing is open. I'm getting penalized for nothing. Not a happy camper right now. That's a crap load of money.

Hawai’i is one of the places RCI has a number of good options. We’ve stayed in three of the Hiltons (a Lagoon tower 3BR penthouse on Oahu, and 2BRs at both King’s Land and Kohala on the Big Island) and all were excellent. With the RCI grid they are fewer points than Aulani as well.

 

[Goldfish Are Feral]

This situation stinks all around. While I'm "only" going to lose 102 points, I'm like you and my travel is limited. I work in a hospital and trying to get time off is a nightmare (especially now) and I can't really take my kids out of school. So I did consider doing a resort only stay if I could possibly swing the time off. It could be nice to relax in the realm of Disney and hang out in Disney Springs and really take it in since we usually do the parks. Maybe that could be a nice option especially since you have adult children. Good luck!

Also FWIW I am desperately trying to rent my points out. My fear is that there aren't a whole lot of renters, so I'm asking friends and co-workers if they'd want to rent my points deeply discounted.