months questions ??

[4 mickey]

HI
I'm very interested in dvc but I,m about the months thing
Let's say you have points in april in let's say AKL villas
for booking what does that mean ??? that I only have to book 11 months in advance at my home resort ??? if I decide I want to go just a few weeks in advance will I get a ressie ??
If I want to try another resort than my home resort ( in this exemple AKL ) but want to try old key west or boardwalk when do I need to book ?? if I plan to vacation let's say in september, or end of january ???
does dvc mean you cannot plan a trip omly a fwe weeks in advance ??
we usually plan at least 6-7 months ahead of the trip but it did happen that we decided a trip in less than 4-5 weeks what would be the odd of getting a room in either our home resort or another one ( if we would like to try another one ) ??
thanks for bearing with a very confused disers

 

[Donald is #1]

I'll take a shot at your questions.

HI

Let's say you have points in april in let's say AKL villas
for booking what does that mean ??? that I only have to book 11 months in advance at my home resort ???

The 11 month mark means that only owners at that resort can book from 11 months to 7 months +1 day at the resort.

So let's say that you wanted to go on a trip ending (I'm ignoring day by day booking) Nov 1 at AKV and AKV is your home resort. Then from Dec 1 until March 31 (these dates are approximate only), only people with AKV as their home resort can book there. You can still book the trip after March 30th, but you will be competing with all the other DVC members for the rooms,

if I decide I want to go just a few weeks in advance will I get a ressie ??

It depends. At the 60 day mark, DVC opens the remaining rooms up to CRO. So after 60 days, non-members can book any remaining rooms for cash.

If I want to try another resort than my home resort ( in this exemple AKL ) but want to try old key west or boardwalk when do I need to book ?? if I plan to vacation let's say in september, or end of january ???

If you want to book a different resort than your home resort, then you need to wait until the 7 month mark. So in my example above, you would need to wait until April to book. Many members book at their home resort before 7 months and then at 7 months move their reservation to a different resort. This method assures them that they will have a room.

does dvc mean you cannot plan a trip omly a fwe weeks in advance ??
we usually plan at least 6-7 months ahead of the trip but it did happen that we decided a trip in less than 4-5 weeks what would be the odd of getting a room in either our home resort or another one ( if we would like to try another one ) ??

I can't help too much here. I think that it would depend upon when you were going.

 

[JimMIA]

There are two concepts here, and they're only slightly related.

The first concept is the Use Year. For example, my Use Year is October. That means on October 1 every year, my current year points become available and they are available until September 30 of the following calendar year. The real importance of UY is the banking deadline. Starting in 2008, I will be able to bank all of my points into my following UY at any time during the first eight months of the UY -- in my case, up through the end of May.

The second "month thing" is booking window. Each contract has a home resort. Some of us have more than one contract, so we may have multiple home resorts. But in your example, AKV would be your home resort.

What that means is that you could book reservations at AKV any time after 11 months from your checkOUT date. This booking window has nothing to do with your UY, it is only related to the dates of your planned visit.

During the first four months of your booking window, only you and your fellow AKV owners would be able to book ressies there. At seven months, however, any owner can book at any resort...subject to availability, of course. So the home resort gives you a substantial advantage to get the accommodations you want at your home resort. Once you reach the seven month window, however, "points is points," and nobody has any advantage -- it's a free-for-all.

Does this mean you can't book a vacation a few weeks in advance?

No...but depending on the time of the year, it may be difficult. DVC works best for folks who can reliably plan ahead and book early.

Having said that, both of my adult daughters routinely book vacations only a few weeks ahead. For example, one of them booked a mid-January stay today. It was a weekend stay, and that's easier because the point costs are so high for Friday/Saturday, but still...six weeks ahead.

My daughters are a special case because we live only 4 hours away -- they're not trying to put lodging and airfares, etc, etc, together. If they get a ressie, they drive up; if not, oh well. The thing that makes it work for them is they are very flexible about where they stay, and if they can't get anything they'll just go another time -- so they're not typical DVC owners.

Another thing you need to be aware of is that any unbooked DVC points availability at 60 days out is made available to the regular Disney reservations service. So you are not only in competition with all other DVC owners, but all cash customers as well.

If you are going to be typically trying to book DVC only a few weeks in advance, I suspect you may be disappointed more often than you're successful. If I were going to be routinely trying to book only a few weeks out, I don't think I would buy DVC. It is really not designed for that type of vacationer.

 

[4 mickey]

Thanks
If I understand right at my home resort I have 11 months in advanced for booking so let's say I plan on going in end nov early december and my points are giving to me in april I have until at least september and I should be safe and the room I want at AKV ( my home resort ) .

 

[Donald is #1]

Thanks
If I understand right at my home resort I have 11 months in advanced for booking so let's say I plan on going in end nov early december and my points are giving to me in april I have until at least september and I should be safe and the room I want at AKV ( my home resort ) .

No quite I think. Let's see. If you have an April use year, then that "years" points are good from April 1 until March 30. Let's take 2008 points for example, your 2008 points will be good from April 1, 2008 and March 30, 2009. By good, I mean that you can use them for a stay. More clarification: You can book the trip before April 1 if it is within the 11 month window (assuming AKV) but the vacation itself needs to occur while the points are good.

Now in your example of an end of November to early December trip. You can book it at AKV starting 11 months out which would be the beginning of January. Only other AKV members can book at AKV during the same time from January until April. After April any DVC member can book if rooms are available.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks
If I understand right at my home resort I have 11 months in advanced for booking so let's say I plan on going in end nov early december and my points are giving to me in april I have until at least september and I should be safe and the room I want at AKV ( my home resort ) .

Nope. Your Use Year has nothing to do with your booking window.

In your example, if you plan on checking out on December 4, you can book your ressie on or after January 5 at your home resort...period. That's eleven months from checkout.

Or at any other resort on or after May 5 (seven months). Also at seven months, every other DVC owner has the same booking opportunity at your home resort that you have, so you are in competition with ALL DVC owners at that point.

If you don't have current points in your account, MS will automatically borrow the points needed from your next UY.

The only connection UY has with reservations is in the case of a cancellation. If you cancel prior to your UY's banking deadline, and don't plan to make a trip before the end of that UY, you can bank the points to the next year.

If you are in your last 4 months of your UY, you won't be able to bank, so you'll have to either do something with the points or lose them. Also, if you used borrowed points, those cannot be put back into their original UY -- they would be use or lose.

But UY has nothing to do with when you can make reservations.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks
If I understand right at my home resort I have 11 months in advanced for booking so let's say I plan on going in end nov early december and my points are giving to me in april I have until at least september and I should be safe and the room I want at AKV ( my home resort ) .

You should also know that this particular time period (after Thanksgiving through mid-December) is probably THE busiest period of the year for DVC for a variety of reasons (low points costs, holiday decorations/events, membership meetings, etc.). Many, many DVCers book exactly at 11 months for that period.

If you wait until seven months, you probably will find zero availability at ANY DVC resort during that period. Many times of the year you'll be fine, but not late November/early December. Just ain't happening.

 

[DebbieB]

Points use is based on date of stay. They are available in your account for when you need them, they don't "deposit" on the date your use year starts. If you have an April use year and want to go in December 2008 at your home resort, you can call in January and use your April 2008 points and even borrow April 2009 or use banked April 2007 points. The date of stay is in your 2008 use year (4/1/08 to 3/31/09), so that controls which points can be used.

 

[4 mickey]

Thank you all
it shows I don't quite know all there is to know about dvc just yet .
Sorry you have to answer all my newbie ( who wants to learn prior to get in dvc )
Another ? let's say I book for me & dh in a studio ( wich sleeps up to 4 ) and later as months go on a friend or a couple of friends ( the joy of dvc ) wants to comme along do I just call and add them up to my ressie ( wich originaly was for me & dh ) and are they any cost in adding people on an existing ressie ?
thank you again you are all angels

 

[DVCsince02]

There is no cost for adding people to your reservation as long as your room type accomodates the number of people in your party.

If you add more than 2 poeple to the reservation stated above, you should upgrade to a larger room type or get 2 rooms. Then there would be an increase in the amount of points you are using.

Hope that helps.

 

[jamstew]

Points use is based on date of stay. They are available in your account for when you need them, they don't "deposit" on the date your use year starts. If you have an April use year and want to go in December 2008 at your home resort, you can call in January and use your April 2008 points and even borrow April 2009 or use banked April 2007 points. The date of stay is in your 2008 use year (4/1/08 to 3/31/09), so that controls which points can be used.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That makes everything so much clearer (not to mention simpler).

 

[dvc at last !]

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