New owner . . . newbie questions about 2014 points and reservations

[sgrap]

We closed 3/31 on our VGC contract, 1st time DVC owners! We have a Dec. UY with 300 2014 points (and 300 points every year after). We are hoping to get reservations for November. My question is what is the best use of our 2014 points. If we use them to make November reservations, what would happen to those points if we had to cancel? We have several family members with health issues, and I'm wondering if it would be better to borrow our 2015 points and bank our 2014 points to make sure we don't lose them if we had to cancel.

Also, if we aren't completely sure of our exact dates, is it better to reserve the whole week? Can we then drop a day from one end or the other?

If we want a 1-bedroom for part of the trip and a 2-bedroom for the 2nd part, is it possible to book a one bedroom and then book the lock-off portion of an adjoining room for later in the trip? We might have our grown sons join us for the weekend, but don't really want to use the points for a 2-bedroom the entire trip.

Any other tips for a first-time owner hopefully make reservations soon?

Thanks!

 

[com_op_2000]

Home and Much
That said:
A Dec UY going mostly in Nov is a bad combination.
If you had to cancel, then the points would have to be used before the end of that month or they expire. Mid-Sept through mid-Jan are the busiest times of the year for bookings with DVC.
You want a UY, in which most of your vacations occur in the first 8 months of the UY. For travel in Nov, the best UYs would be Oct or Sept.
If you are still within the 10 day cancellation period, you might want to cancel, read up on what you bought so that you fully understand the benefits and limitation of DVC, and then repurchase.

 

[sgrap]

A Dec UY going mostly in Nov is a bad combination.
If you had to cancel, then the points would have to be used before the end of that month or they expire. Mid-Sept through mid-Jan are the busiest times of the year for bookings with DVC.
You want a UY, in which most of your vacations occur in the first 8 months of the UY. For travel in Nov, the best UYs would be Oct or Sept.

Well, too late to change that now. We generally go in the spring, but want to go on a holiday trip. So can I bank the 2014 points and use the 2015 points for a Nov trip? Would that be safer?

 

[com_op_2000]

Well, too late to change that now. We generally go in the spring, but want to go on a holiday trip. So can I bank the 2014 points and use the 2015 points for a Nov trip? Would that be safer?

Not safer. Any trip you take in Nov with your UY and the possibility of cancelation, you run the risk of loosing the points if you can not reschedule your vacation within that month. You will have a diffucult time rebooking a Nov trip in the last few weeks due to limited number of available rooms at that time of the year.

 

[rlovew]

You will lose any points in he reservation if you cancel close to it and don't reschedule before the end of your use year. You have to cancel before your banking period to be able to bank them and if you were to borrow points even if you canceled early you would not be able to bank them. I suggest you are probably a good candidate for trip insurance as long as it covers the problems that might come up for you going.

 

[JDirrim]

I could be mistaken but if you borrow your 2015 points for the 2014 reservation, they become "2014" points. There is no difference here in using your 2014 or 2015 points. If you cancel, you lose the points at the end of your 2014 use year. Points stayed borrowed, so even if you cancel you cannot move your 2015 points back into the 2015 use year..does that make sense?

 

[cvjw]

With a December use year, ANY points (banked or borrowed) used for a November trip will EXPIRE at the end of November if you have to cancel your trip. If you use current year points, you would have to cancel the trip before your banking deadline in order to roll them over for use in the next year. If you did not cancel by your banking deadline, current points would also expire at the end of November if you cancel your trip.

As others have said, November trips with a December use year are very dangerous!

 

[tasha99]

Two things . . . no, three:

1. Ask people here about the insurance they sell. Maybe you could protect your points for less than a $100--I think it might be worth it, but I've never gotten the insurance, so I don't know about the rules and potential pitfalls.

2. What you ask about moving from a 1BR to 2BR via a lockoff room seems like it should be doable. However, we were in the same situation last summer and they were unable to do that for us. Moving was easy, but we were DVC homeless from 11-4 one day of our trip.

3. WELCOME fellow VGC owner! It's my favorite resort so far.

 

[sgrap]

Two things . . . no, three:

1. Ask people here about the insurance they sell. Maybe you could protect your points for less than a $100--I think it might be worth it, but I've never gotten the insurance, so I don't know about the rules and potential pitfalls.

2. What you ask about moving from a 1BR to 2BR via a lockoff room seems like it should be doable. However, we were in the same situation last summer and they were unable to do that for us. Moving was easy, but we were DVC homeless from 11-4 one day of our trip.

3. WELCOME fellow VGC owner! It's my favorite resort so far.

Thanks so much! We love GCH, so excited to own at VCG! I will look into the insurance. I would hope to not have to move, that is a pain with everything I pack. ;-)

 

[tasha99]

Thanks so much! We love GCH, so excited to own at VCG! I will look into the insurance. I would hope to not have to move, that is a pain with everything I pack. ;-)

I would call the hotel and ask after you book it. We didn't ask until a few days ahead of time, and then at check in. Also, our reservations were not really linked. I have a pretty small contract, so I had to rent points for our last day in the 2BR. Maybe it would have been easier if it were all in one place in their reservation system.

 

[bumbershoot]

The insurance will pay you back the dues for the points you lose. You don't get the points back. Just the dues.

FWIW you can't call directly to the hotel. Closest you can do is call DVC and put in the request, then do it again when you get there. No guarantees though.

 

[Sparrow624]

My suggestion (worth a grain of salt as I am new as well), if you have a friend who is DVC as well, work out a deal if you can. We have some friends with an Sept UY at BLT. We have a Dec UY at GFV. We basically have an agreement with each other to book trips for each other in years it works out (ie, we want a christmas trip one year and they want a spring break or early summer, etc.). Just a thought. We will probably buy some points with a Sept/oct (just 50 or so) UY eventually just for short 3-4 night Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas trips in the future