Lama pa'ipa'i on the Lanai – an Aulani TR -Aloha and Mahalo Aulani! Link to PTR 11/5

[eandesmom]

Congrats on getting the airline tickets taken care of, and such a good deal!

Very happy about it...just wish the rest would book and then I can firm up the rest of the plans and start working on the other trips!

I feel so bad for you both, having to wake up early and then endure another crummy day in paradise like that! I can't imagine the misery you had starting your day in such a horrible way. At least it wasn't so bad you found yourself screaming like a banshee though..........

It's rough isn't it? Pure torture

More beautiful island scenery in the gardens, and I was at your wildlife pictures, especially the first one when I was so unprepared. It appears the falls were so worth the hike to get there!

Pretty "wild" huh. the falls were pretty and really it was just a little nice walk, very mild incline and not long at all, 1.5 miles round trip, mostly shady or options to find shade if you wanted it.

Never tried fish tacos, but those blackened ones sound yummy!!!

There are a lot of ways to make them, you will find them with all different kinds of fish, seasoned or not, fried, grilled or blackened, so good! I only do grilled or blackened. I prefer blackened but it can also really depend what is served with it. A great mango salsa is pretty tasty versus the more traditional taco ingredients.

WOW I will take a crummy day in paradise anytime.

Yes me too!

A lovely morning even with the banshee on the slide.

She actually made us smile, it wasn't a terrified kind of scream, but a happy, crazy albeit very loud on the vergoe of out of control, scream.

What a nice Margarita and fish taco, almost beats the deep fried apple pie and Dole whip.

I have a sugar high just reading about option #2. But it does sound almost as good! Actually it could just be dessert. No reason not to eat and drink it ALL.

The gardens and waterfall look very peaceful and relaxing.

They were lovely

Don’t you just hate it when you can sleep in and then wake up early?? My body just seems to like getting up early, unfortunately, my brain doesn’t really agree!

I do. Most of the time it's fine but sometimes I look forward to jsut even the concept of sleeping in and then it is very frustrating on a day you "could" to find out you really can't.

Can I get you to convince my husband that we could have paid for DVC by now with our trips?? We have toyed with DVC for years and of course now resell have gone up. Oh well…now we have been renting points a compromise I suppose.

That is a decent compromise. Theoretically you are spending less than a cash ressie (if all things were equal) and getting more for your $$ so that is something. In all fairness though my DH may or may not be really convinced but is letting me have this as my thing...payback for letting him build a plane in the garage. He's still ahead of me on the financial investment for sure but with the add on, if we do it, we will probably be equal and then I am cut off. LOL!

HI looks wonderful and I can’t wait to get there someday. I’ll definitely be using your pointers!

Christine

It is wonderful, I can't wait to go back.

Those gardens looked beautiful! There was a DVC discount? What is it with all this wind you encountered? Is that year round? Too funny about the screaming woman that early, that's much too early to be screaming! Lunch looked scrumptious.

Yes, I think it's $10 off of entry with your DVC card. Hawaii has winds year round, I don't think it was necessarily better or worse than usual. The northshore is known for them, it's what makes it so great to surf. We had the winds at Ka'ena as the tip of Ka'ena is where the Northshore starts. So great if that's what you want to do, just not as good for snorkeling. Best snorkeling can be in more protected areas unless you go early in the am, otherwise the sand churns up and clouds the water a bit, making it hard to see plus more current to fight. I'm sure we'd have seen stuff had we done it, we just weren't in the mood to fight the current and knew we would have other opportunities to snorkel.

I think 8am is much to early to go on the slide. If you don't go on it that early, no screaming. LOL! But, as I mentioned, really if you were in your room you would never have heard it. And because the pool was largely empty and it is a valley, she likely echoed way more than she would have otherwise. It was funny. Certainly not the only screams we heard over the course of the week.

Congratulations on getting plane tickets taken care of. I'm glad to see the pieces falling into place for the NYE trip!

Thanks! Now I just need everyone else to get theirs done!

Too bad the wind didn't cooperate with the plans to snorkel, but it looks like you made the most of the situation and got to explore some beautiful nature areas!

We did, it was a very nice little outing.

The Mexican place looks very good as well. Nothing like going to Hawaii for Mexican food. I don't know if you've ever seen Duck Dynasty or not, but I started thinking about Uncle Si in Hawaii when you mentioned the Mexican place.

That's funny. See to me surfing makes me think of So. Cal and So. Cal makes me think of good Mexican food so it didn't seem out of context at all. Not to mention the fact that fish tacos are standard brew pub fare both here and HI but OH was the quality of that Ahi incredible!

I don't watch DD but Evan is obsessed with it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I got behind.....again. I don't see how you could endure such a crappy view each and every time you walked out on the lanai. It's too bad you and Jeff didn't get to go snorkeling but the gardens looked like a nice alternative. The flowers and foliage is beautiful.

 

[eandesmom]

I got behind.....again. I don't see how you could endure such a crappy view each and every time you walked out on the lanai.

It was torture let me tell you, pure torture!

It's too bad you and Jeff didn't get to go snorkeling but the gardens looked like a nice alternative. The flowers and foliage is beautiful.

Honestly I was ok with it. I don't snorkel enough to be super comfy if the water is rough like that and I knew we still had plenty of days. The gardens and waterfall were lovely and a nice contrast to the more desert landscape of the Ka'ena hike.

 

[annmarieda]

Exactly. I do wish we'd bought earlier but it just wasn't possible and realistically at the time we'd have used it first I couldn't have done as many points as we'd have needed anyway. But still, add up what you already spent and boom...it's a contract, or 2! Granted, that doesn't account at all for dues but still. It does depend on how you use your points as to the payoff value though. We've been going at peak season and places like Aulani and VCG does make the rack rate comparison to this pay off a heck of a lot faster for sure.

Shh.. I don't even want to count the dues. using funny disney math... those don't count.

We only bought in in 2012 and have already paid "off" the first contract in terms of cash rates to contract price and are over 1/3 of the way there on the 2nd. And that's in just 3 trips. Obviously had I done resale it would have been faster but we are happy with our choice and recognize it's not for everyone.

I think had I known about resale sooner, we would have gone that route...well.. maybe. I have been tempted a couple times by the incentives that direct offered.

Reps tend to assume they are talking to you about whatever resorts are currently being actively sold. And all of those are ok. The sold out ones you have to ask about and honestly, he may not realize that they aren't available for sale here. Mine didn't until she sent a contract through that got kicked back! As far as I know resale is fine anywhere.

It is definitely something I will have to keep in mind since I would hope at some point to get a small contract direct.

Less and less resale contracts seem to have anything banked.

I know.. I almost feel lucky that I had full 2013 points coming in December. I mean.. at least they had not been borrowed against. It seems like I am seeing a lot of contracts like that.... nothing coming for quite some time.

 

[Moira222]

We have PLANE TICKETS!

woohoo for scoring good prices for cross country like that too!



I like to start my day early on the veranda with coffee. and I LOVE Kona coffee. mmmm. too bad the first day's coffee was burnt.

too funny about the lady on the slide!

I could get used to starting my days with that crummy view for sure!




POG with rum sounds good....did you try it?

what a gorgeous hike you took. Not quite the snorkeling you'd been hoping for but certainly beautiful and some nice glimpses of wildlife too. that bird is so pretty!

Hope you made it snorkeling at some point after running around to find the rash guard! but 13 is a great price!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Just checking in............

 

[eandesmom]

Shh.. I don't even want to count the dues. using funny disney math... those don't count.

Well, there are at least 3 ways to look at it. All nice and fuzzy!

One is just rack rate or even discounted rack rate compared to what the point rental value would be as a method of how fast you pay it off.

Then you have is just rack rate or even discounted rack rate for that trip just subtracted from the total you paid as a method of how fast you pay it off.

Last, and maybe the truest measure, is if you figure out actual per point cost. Which would be total paid, divided by the number of years in your contract, divided by # of points and then that current years dues added. That's what you actual paid and are paying for the points used on any given trip. A lot of folks don't look at this one but it's a very good comparison when considering buying at an older resort versus a newer one as it looks at it over the life of the contract.

I think most folks look at how long it takes to pay the full thing off, including dues and then once that is done really your costs are only dues and so they calculate the "value" or money saved, comparing rack rate, discounted rack, or rental, against the dues cost.

Bottom line is you can make fuzzy Disney math tell you whatever you want it to if you try hard enough And really, to be honest, it is a timeshare. It is not an investment. Not really. You will spend more at Disney by owning it. More trips, more tickets, more over the life of your contract (even if theoretically less on food). It is a luxury purchase. For us, it's simply prepaying for part of the vacation which frankly does allow us to go more. Win win for everyone. If you are lucky, when you sell it, if you sell, you break even. Maybe you make some but certainly buying it with the thought of flipping it...is not the right reason to do it. Some do. They buy, strip, and flip. In fact I heard yesterday 2 VGF contracts hit the resale market already. Crazy!

I think had I known about resale sooner, we would have gone that route...well.. maybe. I have been tempted a couple times by the incentives that direct offered.

Yes, I do wish we could have done resale back before the restrictions but I am still ok with what we did end up doing. I am amazed at how that market has turned around but I guess when you look at the regular real estate market it does seem a bit aligned, I know things have gone a bit nuts around here that's for sure.

It is definitely something I will have to keep in mind since I would hope at some point to get a small contract direct.

I know.. I almost feel lucky that I had full 2013 points coming in December. I mean.. at least they had not been borrowed against. It seems like I am seeing a lot of contracts like that.... nothing coming for quite some time.

The challenge with buying direct right now is that if you want a sold out, it could be a LONG wait. Which might be ok, or not depending on what you want. Part of the reason we went direct versus resale was immediate points and if timed right, basically a year of points with no dues. When I was looking hard at resale I could never seem to find a contract in the size I wanted, at the resort I wanted, in my UY, that wasn't stripped. I think you got a lovely one! Not loaded but not bad either given the current market.

woohoo for scoring good prices for cross country like that too! [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Very happy, but also grateful we did have miles to play with plus a few credits, made a huge difference.

I like to start my day early on the veranda with coffee. and I LOVE Kona coffee. mmmm. too bad the first day's coffee was burnt.

Thankfully it was our second cup (or third lol) we had brought some and brewed in the room every day.

too funny about the lady on the slide!

it was!

I could get used to starting my days with that crummy view for sure!

Me too!

POG with rum sounds good....did you try it?

Oh yes, we had it quite a bit on the trip! I made mine with coconut rum and Meyers, Jeff with Meyers and Captain Morgan I think. And then we found it in our local store a couple of weeks ago so we've had it a couple times on our deck with Bacardi Gold.

I like POG, but prefer a mango based blend for my rum drink ideal juice. Evan however is in heaven, had never tried POG and is now begging me to buy it weekly for him.

what a gorgeous hike you took. Not quite the snorkeling you'd been hoping for but certainly beautiful and some nice glimpses of wildlife too. that bird is so pretty!

Hope you made it snorkeling at some point after running around to find the rash guard! but 13 is a great price!

It was a very pretty little walk and we figured that the rash guard was a good thing to have even it if didn't get used this trip. He could have used it the previous summer at Vero for sure and there will be other times. I will say, it does get used on this trip.

Just checking in............

Update coming soon

 

[annmarieda]

Well, there are at least 3 ways to look at it. All nice and fuzzy!

One is just rack rate or even discounted rack rate compared to what the point rental value would be as a method of how fast you pay it off.

Then you have is just rack rate or even discounted rack rate for that trip just subtracted from the total you paid as a method of how fast you pay it off.

Last, and maybe the truest measure, is if you figure out actual per point cost. Which would be total paid, divided by the number of years in your contract, divided by # of points and then that current years dues added. That's what you actual paid and are paying for the points used on any given trip. A lot of folks don't look at this one but it's a very good comparison when considering buying at an older resort versus a newer one as it looks at it over the life of the contract.

I think most folks look at how long it takes to pay the full thing off, including dues and then once that is done really your costs are only dues and so they calculate the "value" or money saved, comparing rack rate, discounted rack, or rental, against the dues cost.

Bottom line is you can make fuzzy Disney math tell you whatever you want it to if you try hard enough And really, to be honest, it is a timeshare. It is not an investment. Not really. You will spend more at Disney by owning it. More trips, more tickets, more over the life of your contract (even if theoretically less on food). It is a luxury purchase. For us, it's simply prepaying for part of the vacation which frankly does allow us to go more. Win win for everyone. If you are lucky, when you sell it, if you sell, you break even. Maybe you make some but certainly buying it with the thought of flipping it...is not the right reason to do it. Some do. They buy, strip, and flip. In fact I heard yesterday 2 VGF contracts hit the resale market already. Crazy!

You are so right that you can make fuzzy Disney math come up any way you like. Personally, I don't like the more accurate way. That third way you mentioned.

I don't have intentions of selling any time soon.... probably wont. Even if I am 70, I am sure that i will be headed to disney... and if not me... kids and grandkids can use it. It is paid for.. so we just have dues to worry about... so I like to use the "how much are my points costing me in dues" method. Like for the one night I just booked. 16 points... I just thought in terms of how much 16 times the amount I am paying in dues per point is to make me think of how much the room was worth. A lot less than rack...even with a discount. I think.... And if I compare our January OKW stay with rack to what we paid for the contract... OMG! Why would anyone put that much toward a single stay? I want to say rack rate puts it close to a quarter of what we paid for our contract AND we still will have points for another trip. Course, I doubt many people pay rack. To spend $500 to $600 per night?

But I do realize what you are saying to be true. There will be more money spent because there are more trips... and as flights tend to be increasing in cost... I could see there being a year that we have to rent the points. Maybe not though, maybe we just make it one big trip. I know though...despite more trips... even one trip a year, I would likely not always go with a deluxe... and this definitely will make it so I can stay in a little nicer accommodations for what it would cost to stay in a value.

I can't believe VGF are already hitting resale!!! The owner could not even have stayed there yet! I guess they could have used their points elsewhere and stripped it though, right?

Yes, I do wish we could have done resale back before the restrictions but I am still ok with what we did end up doing. I am amazed at how that market has turned around but I guess when you look at the regular real estate market it does seem a bit aligned, I know things have gone a bit nuts around here that's for sure.

That they have! Do you remember what resale prices looked like back in March? I can't believe how fast they went up. I will be happy to see the home prices in our area go back up... not that I am looking to sell... but it would make me feel better knowing it was worth closer to what it was a few years back.

The challenge with buying direct right now is that if you want a sold out, it could be a LONG wait. Which might be ok, or not depending on what you want. Part of the reason we went direct versus resale was immediate points and if timed right, basically a year of points with no dues. When I was looking hard at resale I could never seem to find a contract in the size I wanted, at the resort I wanted, in my UY, that wasn't stripped. I think you got a lovely one! Not loaded but not bad either given the current market.

I think we were lucky. I really do. I mean... I tried to go with a different agency... and I was not even getting past making offers. I would HIGHLY recommend our agent. She was awesome and put together an offer that really was good for us. True, had it been preloaded with 2012 points it would have been good... or if the UY had been earlier in the year. (December is basically the next year for points) However, December is nice because it keeps it tidy. Like with the 7months to bank... it puts it in July. Easy to remember... It does however present an issue in the fact that we will be traveling often in the fall. I have really appreciated your guidance in this... So my understanding will be if we borrow points in the fall from the points that will come in December (no matter what year..not specifically this year) and the trip is cancelled... they are gone. If we use current points, they go into holding? What then? I really need to have a handle on this in case it ever happens.

 

[eandesmom]

You are so right that you can make fuzzy Disney math come up any way you like. Personally, I don't like the more accurate way. That third way you mentioned.

I don't have intentions of selling any time soon.... probably wont. Even if I am 70, I am sure that i will be headed to disney... and if not me... kids and grandkids can use it. It is paid for.. so we just have dues to worry about... so I like to use the "how much are my points costing me in dues" method. Like for the one night I just booked. 16 points... I just thought in terms of how much 16 times the amount I am paying in dues per point is to make me think of how much the room was worth. A lot less than rack...even with a discount. I think.... And if I compare our January OKW stay with rack to what we paid for the contract... OMG! Why would anyone put that much toward a single stay? I want to say rack rate puts it close to a quarter of what we paid for our contract AND we still will have points for another trip. Course, I doubt many people pay rack. To spend $500 to $600 per night?

Even with a good PIN code...you can still be well over $300 a night. It adds up fast.

I can't believe VGF are already hitting resale!!! The owner could not even have stayed there yet! I guess they could have used their points elsewhere and stripped it though, right?

Apparently neither are stripped and are listed at 4130. Of course the points aren't even "in" yet as it's not open. Points won't be live on any contract until the Oct 13 UY's.

That they have! Do you remember what resale prices looked like back in March? I can't believe how fast they went up. I will be happy to see the home prices in our area go back up... not that I am looking to sell... but it would make me feel better knowing it was worth closer to what it was a few years back.

Us too but it is definitely moving up here. Our new pastor got outbid on SIX houses, lost one during inspection (lender required a 2nd inspection and then the owner wouldn't budget on repairs) and finally got a house. We have 2 houses "down the street" from us...basically 2 lots in the middle of 10 acres of wetlands that were supposed to be built when we build our house. The lots were listed for months as presales, didn't sell, bottom fell out. Fast forward 9 years and the just re-cleared all the land again. Utilities have been sitting there waiting for 9 years! Same thing on a street next to us, builder went bankrupt, partially cleared lots sat for several years, got built about 18m ago. 3 other houses just up the street being squished into what seriously at best should be a one house lot. The oddest part of the whole things is that a house on each side of it, went up for sale. it is a busy busy street. We said, "what horrible timing to try and sell your house with all that construction happening next door". I swear both houses sold the first week.

I just really hope they list the 2 buy us back where they were originally slotted for at a minimum. I still think we are a few years away from our house being worth what it was a few years back though but it should help. There haven't even been comps to look at for years!

However, December is nice because it keeps it tidy. Like with the 7months to bank... it puts it in July. Easy to remember... It does however present an issue in the fact that we will be traveling often in the fall. I have really appreciated your guidance in this... So my understanding will be if we borrow points in the fall from the points that will come in December (no matter what year..not specifically this year) and the trip is cancelled... they are gone. If we use current points, they go into holding? What then? I really need to have a handle on this in case it ever happens.

We have December as well. I actually love it. It's a bit weird as the UY doesn't match the calendar year but the July bank date works SO well for me and that was my main concern. Fall trips are tricky and risky so it just depends on how solid you are on things.

To answer your questions

No. If you borrow they are not necessarily gone and current points don't necessarily go into holding. It depends on the timing. Basically...

1. You cancel the booking more than 30 days before the reservation. The borrowed points go into the UY you borrowed them into (and current UY points stay in that UY, banked ones as well). You have to use them before your UY expires (11/31) or you lose them. Once borrowed they become part of the UY you borrowed them into. So in theory for your fall trip, if you cancelled in august but it was more than 30 days, you aren't in a holding situation but you still have a clock ticking for any points on that reservation (banked, borrowed or current). This scenario is where you could be in a point situation that is perfect for renting out if you don't plan to be there that soon. I think these would still be transferable to another member as well, which is a way of "selling them" instead of a rent scenario. You can only do that once a year and it would only apply to the current UY points in that ressie but it can be an option.

2. You cancel the booking less than 30 days out. If you do that, they go into holding. This would be true of any points used for a reservation cancelled less than 30 days out, whether current UY, banked or borrowed. If you do that you can only use those points within 30 days. Meaning that if you cancel 10/1, you could only use them (immediately) for a booking that is from 10/1 to 11/1 (ish). If you wanted to use them for a 11/5 booking you'd have to wait till 10/5 to try and book. And if you don't use them by 11/31 they are gone. These are trickier to rent, often go for a lower price but not totally unusable. Depending on how many points it is of course. Say it's only 11...it might not be very usable.

Does that make sense?

The way I've looked at it, as honestly I have cancelled and made changes after our bank date with current and borrowed Dec UY points for an August trip was this.

If the change I am making is more points, then I really have nothing to lose other than more overall at risk if it got completely cancelled.

If the change I am making is less points, I risk that difference as being unusable points.

What this means is that I have been conservative in bookings till I knew for sure that the risk was lower, and I made sure I made those changes (where there were point differences) before the 30 day window. I had one other change after 30 days but it was a waitlist with equal points so that was low/no risk.

 

[eandesmom]

After lunch we debated what to do. Neither of us really felt like heading back the direction we had come, into the traffic and the beach right in Haleiwa looked very crowded as well. We decided to go rouge and explore the other direction and just see what we could see.

We took the smaller Crozier Road that you can see on this map so wed be near the water. As you drive it turns into what felt like a private access road, running behind houses that blocked our view of the water. However the beaches are all public and as we drove, wed see small parking lots and public access paths. So we stopped at one and decided wed see what we could see.

Pretty beach.



If you look close though&check out the row of windmills! Yep, catching all those Northshore winds and giving Hawaii power!

Not sure if Jeff was trying to pretend to be blown away? Didn't work if that was the intent.





We decided to walk for a bit. Lots of homes with fishing rods set up right there. You can also see that the tide gets a lot higher, that slide at some point goes into the water versus Dumping you on the sand



Most of the activity in the water was kite surfing, and a fair amount of activity above our heads in the form of sky diving.























Uh oh, one down



No house? No problem, you can fish right from the beach too





It was VERY windy and again, still too windy for our taste and fin size so the snorkeling gear stayed in the trunk.

Now you may have noticed on that map a little further down...something that may have caught Jeffs interest. Can you guess?

It was VERY windy and again, still too windy for our taste and fin size so the snorkeling gear stayed in the trunk.

Now you may have noticed on that map a little further down...something that may have caught Jeffs interest. Can you guess?

Shocker I know.

He'd better behave!





Keep driving just a little bit and guess what you come to?



Yep, the North entry to our hike.

More Dillingham on the way back




Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Continued from previous

Check out the windsock





Right next to Dillingham was a skydiving outfit. We decided to pull in and watch for a bit













By now it was getting close to 4pm...amazing how a day can disappear and you dont feel like you've done a whole lot sometimes but it was still a nice day. Still, we had some daylight and sun left and decided to head away from the wind and back to Aulani.

It is a pretty drive in parts

Cloudy over the mountains, thats up toward Ka'ena







Heading back we missed a turn and ended up taking a slightly different route back. It worked but had many more lights. However, as it was getting closer to rush hour it might have been equal as the H1 traffic could have been heavier. Who knows? All I do know is that my AAA app really saved us again in finding our way around. The weather was off and on all the way, showers, clear, showers, clear but we did get a nice rainbow!

I am glad we went up to the Northshore but I can't honestly say I feel I experienced it the way I think you are supposed to. Not sure why...perhaps the lack of watching real surfers "live". We've seen turtles on the beach in Hawaii before so that wasn't a big deal to miss (though it would have been cool). Maybe it was just hard to beat the previous couple of days. It's not like there was anything wrong with it that's for sure. If it were just Jeff and I again, I am not sure I would head up there. With the kids probably, Evan will want to do a surf lesson and I could see Eric trying paddle-board (though he could do it at Aulani) so who knows. But, were it just the two of us Id probably be looking for another, different hike instead. LOL!

 

[MEK]

First of all - love all your tickers. Very nice!

Sorry your day was not as great as you had hoped it would be. I'm sure it was disappointing that it was so windy. Bummer about the snorkeling.

Despite that I think your pictures are great and I appreciate you posting the map. I am amazed as how consistently beautiful Hawaii is. Just lovely!

 

[franandaj]

I forgot to reply after I read your post about the fish tacos! The food looked really good, but the margaritas looked even better! Bummer about the traffic, but I sounds like it's inevitable.

I always love driving down random roads just to see what you find and it's always fun to go back from someplace in a different way than you came. Beautiful scenery. I definitely want to book a trip there sooner rather than later!

 

[Poolrat]

Thanks for the tour of the North Shore. I think you had a few great sights there.

Sorry it was so windy that some activities were just not possible to enjoy.

 

[annmarieda]

Apparently neither are stripped and are listed at 4130. Of course the points aren't even "in" yet as it's not open. Points won't be live on any contract until the Oct 13 UY's.

That is just crazy!

Us too but it is definitely moving up here. Our new pastor got outbid on SIX houses, lost one during inspection (lender required a 2nd inspection and then the owner wouldn't budget on repairs) and finally got a house. We have 2 houses "down the street" from us...basically 2 lots in the middle of 10 acres of wetlands that were supposed to be built when we build our house. The lots were listed for months as presales, didn't sell, bottom fell out. Fast forward 9 years and the just re-cleared all the land again. Utilities have been sitting there waiting for 9 years! Same thing on a street next to us, builder went bankrupt, partially cleared lots sat for several years, got built about 18m ago. 3 other houses just up the street being squished into what seriously at best should be a one house lot. The oddest part of the whole things is that a house on each side of it, went up for sale. it is a busy busy street. We said, "what horrible timing to try and sell your house with all that construction happening next door". I swear both houses sold the first week.

I just really hope they list the 2 buy us back where they were originally slotted for at a minimum. I still think we are a few years away from our house being worth what it was a few years back though but it should help. There haven't even been comps to look at for years!

Things are definitely improving and selling. I swear this time last year... or maybe a year and a half... a good third of my neighborhood sat empty. Now, I don't believe a single house is vacant.

We have December as well. I actually love it. It's a bit weird as the UY doesn't match the calendar year but the July bank date works SO well for me and that was my main concern. Fall trips are tricky and risky so it just depends on how solid you are on things.

I thought it was... but wasn't sure. I think I will like it. We have never actually cancelled a trip. (knock on wood) So even our fall trips should be ok for us... we will just have to be mindful.

To answer your questions

No. If you borrow they are not necessarily gone and current points don't necessarily go into holding. It depends on the timing. Basically...

1. You cancel the booking more than 30 days before the reservation. The borrowed points go into the UY you borrowed them into (and current UY points stay in that UY, banked ones as well). You have to use them before your UY expires (11/31) or you lose them. Once borrowed they become part of the UY you borrowed them into. So in theory for your fall trip, if you cancelled in august but it was more than 30 days, you aren't in a holding situation but you still have a clock ticking for any points on that reservation (banked, borrowed or current). This scenario is where you could be in a point situation that is perfect for renting out if you don't plan to be there that soon. I think these would still be transferable to another member as well, which is a way of "selling them" instead of a rent scenario. You can only do that once a year and it would only apply to the current UY points in that ressie but it can be an option.

2. You cancel the booking less than 30 days out. If you do that, they go into holding. This would be true of any points used for a reservation cancelled less than 30 days out, whether current UY, banked or borrowed. If you do that you can only use those points within 30 days. Meaning that if you cancel 10/1, you could only use them (immediately) for a booking that is from 10/1 to 11/1 (ish). If you wanted to use them for a 11/5 booking you'd have to wait till 10/5 to try and book. And if you don't use them by 11/31 they are gone. These are trickier to rent, often go for a lower price but not totally unusable. Depending on how many points it is of course. Say it's only 11...it might not be very usable.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for answering them. I am still trying hard to learn all this. I will get there though... And so yes, most of what you wrote I followed.


Your windy day looked beautiful! I love the pictures of the mountain area. I think if I were there I would be more inclined to head toward hiking there than playing on the beach.

 

[Leshaface]

I think you had a great, fulfilling day! A very windy, but gorgeous day by the looks of it.

Didn't know you can fish right off the shore like that. Wonder if they caught anything!?

 

[Pinkocto]

You already know how I feel about wind. I would have been one cranky lady people fishing on the beach make me so nervous. What if their hook gets someone in the water?

At least you were with your love on vacation. Nothing better than that even if the day wouldn't be repeated.

 

[englishrose47]

Wonderful pix of Kite Surfin, that looked neat !!! Really nice scenery too !!! Sounded like nice lazy type day !!!!

 

[rentayenta]

I am finally caught up. I think surfing when I think Northshore as well. Bummer the winds were so strong but you got some great shots.

 

[teekathepony]

North shore looks really nice, too bad the wind took away some fun though.

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