long complicated planning question

[disneykins]

My use year begins in December. I have 299 points right now in 2010 use year and I get 230 points every year. Assuming I get all my first choices, can I do the following:
Book OKW for 9 nights in Feb 2011 for 141 points, leaving me 158 points. Then book AKL in March for 76 points leaving me 82 points. Then I want to book 2 cabins on DCL Dream for 4 nights at 152 per cabin plus 54 points for a third adult. This is a total of 358 points. I would use my remaining 82 points and borrow 222 from the 2011 use year which wont begin until Dec. 2011. That leaves me 8 points in the 2011 use year.
That’s the easy part, I’m pretty sure I can do all that. Now the tough part. I want to do AKL again in Jan 2012, so I use about 125 points for that, using my 8 2011 points and borrowing 117 from my 2012 points. This leaves me 113 in the 2012 use year. Then I want to go to Hawaii in the fall of 2012 for about 200 points. I would need to borrow from the 2013 use year about 87 points. My problem, if I go to Hawaii in fall 2012, I would have to book in early 2012, using points from my 2013 use year. I don’t think I can do this until after Dec. 2012, is this correct?

Anyone have any ideas how I can do all this without buying or borrowing any more points? I’m trying to sort it out before Christmas to give the family the Dream as a Christmas gift.

Thanks,
Tony

 

[jolia]

If you get a full reply to your post... you better start believing in Santa! I would suggest you get your "sexiest" voice and try to charm a MS representative into figuring this out! Even if you get a reply here, its not from an official source!

 

[dianeschlicht]

My use year begins in December. I have 299 points right now in 2010 use year and I get 230 points every year. First I have to know if you have banked any of your 2009 points into 2010. Since your 2010 use year just started, I'm going to assume you have 69 banked points from 2009. Assuming I get all my first choices, can I do the following:
Book OKW for 9 nights in Feb 2011 for 141 pointsSure, if there is anything available for that time period when you call to book), leaving me 158 points. Then book AKL in March for 76 points leaving me 82 points. Again, that is assuming there is something available when you call. I would make all of those reservations ASAP! Then I want to book 2 cabins on DCL Dream for 4 nights at 152 per cabin plus 54 points for a third adult. Not sure, but I think there is still a moretorium on booking the cruise with points. This is a total of 358 points. I would use my remaining 82 points and borrow 222 from the 2011 use year which wont begin until Dec. 2011. That leaves me 8 points in the 2011 use year.
That’s the easy part, I’m pretty sure I can do all that. Now the tough part. I want to do AKL again in Jan 2012, so I use about 125 points for that, using my 8 2011 points and borrowing 117 from my 2012 points. This leaves me 113 in the 2012 use year. Then I want to go to Hawaii in the fall of 2012 for about 200 points. I would need to borrow from the 2013 use year about 87 points. Since the fall of 2012 falls in your 2011 use year, you are only able to borrow from 2012 use year for that stay. You can NOT borrow two years ahead. My problem, if I go to Hawaii in fall 2012, I would have to book in early 2012, using points from my 2013 use year. I don’t think I can do this until after Dec. 2012, is this correct?

Anyone have any ideas how I can do all this without buying or borrowing any more points? I’m trying to sort it out before Christmas to give the family the Dream as a Christmas gift.

Thanks,
Tony

I'm going to answer in your quoted post. Now, besides the answers in red, I think your only choice for Aulani is to either transfer points in from another member (hopefully one who owns at Aulani), or rent a reservation for part of that stay.

 

[disneykins]

Thats exactly what I was looking for. The fall of 2012 in Hawaii was confusing me, its so far out. I guess if we put it off until Spring 2013 it would be less complicated.
When you said a "moratorium on booking the cruise with points", did you mean officially or just here on the boards about the wisdom of using points on the cruise?

Thanks again for helping me think it through.

Tony

 

[rlovew]

If I follow you correctly you want to go to Hawaii in your 2012 use year and need to borrow from 2013 to do so. You can do this without a problem- you don't have to wait until 1 use year starts before booking using future years points. I would guess you have at least a couple of years points listed in your account online at the moment.

You can book as soon as your booking window opens as long as you will have the points(available by travel time).

 

[Rob S.]

If you want to go to Hawaii in the fall of 2012, you would still be in your 2011 use year. You would not be able to borrow from 2013 for a trip in your 2011 use year (even though it is calendar year 2012).

You might also want to double check your math. You mentioned that the Dream cruise would use 358 points - 82 remaining points plus 222 borrowed. That only adds up to 304 points - you are not accounting for an extra 54.

Keep it simple and pay cash for the cruise so you are not perpetually borrowing.

 

[Chellymouse]

Sounds like you need to do an add-on!! Just a word on the cruise, book early as there is limited availablity for DVC members. We found out the hard way...went to book a cruise 8 months out and were told we could not book until 5 more months than when we wanted to go.

 

[owensamo]

DCL has severely limited the number of available points cruises, so there are very few staterooms available on points between now and October 2011. My guess is that points staterooms are going to be harder to get until the Fantasy has been online for about year, and DCL/DVC has a better idea of the popularity and what the right balance of cash vs. pts rooms is. It never hurts to call MS and ask, though!

Also note - you can save points if you want by paying for one or two adults per room on points and paying cash for the extras. We found with our DD that paying cash for her when we cruised on points made the most sense - and was cheaper than the extra person fare if we paid cash from DCL. As long as you pay for each individual only with points or cash, you can mix them in the same stateroom through DCL so that might help stretch your points a bit.

That said, to answer your question, your booking window is independant of your use year. What matters is what points are available for use during the reservation period, not what's in your account today. Since it's a yearly allotment, they can accurately predict what will be available when, and bank and borrow for you accordingly. So you just call at 7mo for Aulani and let MS figure out the details!