New member points borrowed, banked, purchase additional points question

[mlayman7]

Hello all, new to this site and a new member at the BLT. I am figuring out points needed for several vacations years from now and am wondering if some ideas I have for maximizing my points are actually possible. First question: I have 150 BLT contract (Dec UY), we need 162 points for a possible stay September 2015. I would be using 150 points from 2014 and 12 points borrowed from 2015 initially to book 11 months out. I was wondering if at 7 months I could purchase 12 additional points to use for that trip and then would the 12 points borrowed from 2015 go back to my 2015 year? That way I wouldn't have to wait until 7 months prior to my trip and hope the room is still available.
Question 2: Say I want to stay during the first week of December, which from what I read is very difficult to get a place, is this true of your home resort 11 months out? If it is, do people book a trip earlier than expected to reserve a room then continually modify their dates so they know they will have that room for the dates they need. For example, what is to stop somebody from reserving a room from Nov 27-Dec. 8th 11 months out from nov 27th then 11 months out from Nov 28th, change their reservation to Nov 28th- Dec 8th and continually do that until they get the reservation they need, like say Dec 2nd - Dec 8th. I would be a little frustrated to hear if this happens and is allowed to happen but cannot really think it could be avoided especially if my first question is possible and whatever points you do not end up needing from borrowed points will be returned if your reservation is modified. Sorry thinking a lot into this but just trying to figure out all of the rules way before I get settled in my head what I think can happen only to find out it is not possible.

 

[disneynutz]

Once borrowed or banked, points are stuck in their new UY, they can't be put back.

"Walking" is making a reservation and moving the dates along to get the period that you really want. Yes people do it and it isn't against the rules.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

Hello all, new to this site and a new member at the BLT. I am figuring out points needed for several vacations years from now and am wondering if some ideas I have for maximizing my points are actually possible. First question: I have 150 BLT contract (Dec UY), we need 162 points for a possible stay September 2015. I would be using 150 points from 2014 and 12 points borrowed from 2015 initially to book 11 months out. I was wondering if at 7 months I could purchase 12 additional points to use for that trip and then would the 12 points borrowed from 2015 go back to my 2015 year? That way I wouldn't have to wait until 7 months prior to my trip and hope the room is still available.
Question 2: Say I want to stay during the first week of December, which from what I read is very difficult to get a place, is this true of your home resort 11 months out? If it is, do people book a trip earlier than expected to reserve a room then continually modify their dates so they know they will have that room for the dates they need. For example, what is to stop somebody from reserving a room from Nov 27-Dec. 8th 11 months out from nov 27th then 11 months out from Nov 28th, change their reservation to Nov 28th- Dec 8th and continually do that until they get the reservation they need, like say Dec 2nd - Dec 8th. I would be a little frustrated to hear if this happens and is allowed to happen but cannot really think it could be avoided especially if my first question is possible and whatever points you do not end up needing from borrowed points will be returned if your reservation is modified. Sorry thinking a lot into this but just trying to figure out all of the rules way before I get settled in my head what I think can happen only to find out it is not possible.

Once you borrow points, they stay in the UY you borrowed them into.

As far as "walking" a reservation. Although people do that, I do not know that it is strictly speaking necessary in all the cases that they do it for. I have taken my chances, and have always gotten what I needed. I am concerned that it is allowed, but I do not have a plan that would abolish it!

 

[Kidanifan08]

Hello all, new to this site and a new member at the BLT. I am figuring out points needed for several vacations years from now and am wondering if some ideas I have for maximizing my points are actually possible. First question: I have 150 BLT contract (Dec UY), we need 162 points for a possible stay September 2015. I would be using 150 points from 2014 and 12 points borrowed from 2015 initially to book 11 months out. I was wondering if at 7 months I could purchase 12 additional points to use for that trip and then would the 12 points borrowed from 2015 go back to my 2015 year? That way I wouldn't have to wait until 7 months prior to my trip and hope the room is still available.
Question 2: Say I want to stay during the first week of December, which from what I read is very difficult to get a place, is this true of your home resort 11 months out? If it is, do people book a trip earlier than expected to reserve a room then continually modify their dates so they know they will have that room for the dates they need. For example, what is to stop somebody from reserving a room from Nov 27-Dec. 8th 11 months out from nov 27th then 11 months out from Nov 28th, change their reservation to Nov 28th- Dec 8th and continually do that until they get the reservation they need, like say Dec 2nd - Dec 8th. I would be a little frustrated to hear if this happens and is allowed to happen but cannot really think it could be avoided especially if my first question is possible and whatever points you do not end up needing from borrowed points will be returned if your reservation is modified. Sorry thinking a lot into this but just trying to figure out all of the rules way before I get settled in my head what I think can happen only to find out it is not possible.

Welcome Home! Regarding your first question, you can purchase up to 24 one time use points. Those points have to be purchased at the time of making the reservation and cannot be purchased prior to the 7 month mark. So, your idea of booking at 11 months and purchasing OTU points at 7 months is not allowed.

Your second question alludes to a practice called "walking" a reservation. This is a method whereby you book up to a week before your actual arrival date and then call back daily (or every few days) to add days at the end and remove days from the front of the reservation. This method is used for difficult to get rooms (e.g. AKV concierge) or peak times and really only works at the 11 month mark. As far as being shut out for the first few weeks of December, there is probably little chance of that if you book right at 11 months. You may find it difficult to get a BLT standard view, even at 11 months, but you should be able to get a LV without having to "walk" the reservation.

Keep in mind that you cannot use the online booking system to book a stay that crosses use years, so with a December UY, you would have to call MS at 9AM ET to book a stay that starts in Nov and ends in December. Alternatively, using your example, you could book 11/27-11/30/15 online at 8AM on 12/27/14, but you would have to wait until 1/1/15 to book 12/1-12/8/15 using the online booking system. You could then call MS to link the two reservations, if those were the dates that you really wanted.

Enjoy planning! We are always thinking a few years out, as well!!

 

[mlayman7]

So could you borrow 12 points from the next year, then at 7 months purchase 12 points and have 12 current use year points put back in to your account, and then bank those 12 points to use in the next use year. Of course the downside would be you would have to use those points the following year and cannot bank them again. Thanks for answering these questions. I have come across the term "walking" several times and never knew what it meant.

 

[mlayman7]

nevermind previous post, answer was already there after I sent it in. So could you make a reservation 11 months out say for 5 nights and use 145 points then at 7 months out, call and add on to the reservation with 5 current use year points and purchase the additional points. After that could the reservations be joined? Of course then you run the risk of not having the availability.

 

[Dean]

Hello all, new to this site and a new member at the BLT. I am figuring out points needed for several vacations years from now and am wondering if some ideas I have for maximizing my points are actually possible. First question: I have 150 BLT contract (Dec UY), we need 162 points for a possible stay September 2015. I would be using 150 points from 2014 and 12 points borrowed from 2015 initially to book 11 months out. I was wondering if at 7 months I could purchase 12 additional points to use for that trip and then would the 12 points borrowed from 2015 go back to my 2015 year? That way I wouldn't have to wait until 7 months prior to my trip and hope the room is still available.
Question 2: Say I want to stay during the first week of December, which from what I read is very difficult to get a place, is this true of your home resort 11 months out? If it is, do people book a trip earlier than expected to reserve a room then continually modify their dates so they know they will have that room for the dates they need. For example, what is to stop somebody from reserving a room from Nov 27-Dec. 8th 11 months out from nov 27th then 11 months out from Nov 28th, change their reservation to Nov 28th- Dec 8th and continually do that until they get the reservation they need, like say Dec 2nd - Dec 8th. I would be a little frustrated to hear if this happens and is allowed to happen but cannot really think it could be avoided especially if my first question is possible and whatever points you do not end up needing from borrowed points will be returned if your reservation is modified. Sorry thinking a lot into this but just trying to figure out all of the rules way before I get settled in my head what I think can happen only to find out it is not possible.

It is potentially possible to purchase the 12 points and make them work, you'd have to get a new single day reservation at 7 months out and cancel 1 day on what you have. There are several ways you could approach it. However, IMO, it doesn't make sense to pay $15 a point (or rent or transfer points) to keep from borrowing the 12 points. IF you get into a situation later on where you have a true deficit, there are ways to easily handle that, you can always skip a year, do something non DVC points (cash discount, off property), pay for a larger points transfer or rent a reservation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

So could you borrow 12 points from the next year, then at 7 months purchase 12 points and have 12 current use year points put back in to your account, and then bank those 12 points to use in the next use year. Of course the downside would be you would have to use those points the following year and cannot bank them again. Thanks for answering these questions. I have come across the term "walking" several times and never knew what it meant.

One time use points do not have a resort assigned to them. So they could not be used to trade out for home resort points used at 11 months out.

You could transfer home resort points from another member (one time per year) to make the 11 month booking though. You just have to make sure you could use the points the right way. Transferred points cannot be borrowed, but they can be banked. And banked or borrowed points cannot be transferred.