New to DVC Boards, some Qs

[HenDuck]

I am starting to investigate DVC and I have a few Qs.

1. Can I use points to stay at DL resorts? How much would I need?

2. When Disney opens their resort in Hawaii, do you have any idea of how much those points will cost?

3. If I think we will travel in June or August, what use year should I be targeting for my home resort?

TIA!

 

[ballcaptodd]

I am starting to investigate DVC and I have a few Qs.

1. Can I use points to stay at DL resorts? How much would I need?

2. When Disney opens their resort in Hawaii, do you have any idea of how much those points will cost?

3. If I think we will travel in June or August, what use year should I be targeting for my home resort?

TIA!

1) Yes, you can. Points depend on the length of stay, time of travel & which resort you will be visiting.

2) Unfortunately, that information has not yet been made available.

3) To take advantage of the 11-month window, try to get a use year as close to July, or after, as possible in order to book June dates.

 

[chalee94]

1. Can I use points to stay at DL resorts? How much would I need?

here is a link that is a useful resource.

the grand californian will only be available for DVC stays soon (in other words, the hotel portion will be completely unavailable on points.)

2. When Disney opens their resort in Hawaii, do you have any idea of how much those points will cost?

probably a lot. maybe more.

3. If I think we will travel in June or August, what use year should I be targeting for my home resort?

the prior poster is completely mistaken.

you want a UY month that is immediately prior to when you travel - so april or june would probably be ideal (so long as you don't travel much in the 3 months before your UY starts - such as jan-feb-march for an april UY).

please read the Understanding Use Year thread for more details...but make sure you understand that UY month has nothing to do with when you can call and book (i.e. the 11 month window.)

 

[ballcaptodd]

Points for an April or June use year would expire on March 31st or May 31st of the following year. Therefore, this member would be required to BANK their points in order to travel in June or August of the following year.

 

[CarolMN]

Points for an April or June use year would expire on March 31st or May 31st of the following year. Therefore, this member would be required to BANK their points in order to travel in June or August of the following year.

No that is not quite right.

You match your vacation dates to your use year. Points are already in your account. You need points to be available at the time of your vacation, not the time of your call to make the reservation.

Briefly, if you have a June use year, your 2009 points are good for trips between 6/1/09 and 5/31/2010.

You could have called to make a June 2009 reservation in July 2008 for your home resort) or in November, 2008 for a non home resort. MS would have used the polints in your 2009 use year for that trip, even though you called in 2008.

It is true that if you didn't want to travel during your 2008 use year (which would cover trips between 6/1/2008 and 5/31/2009), you could bank the points to use for trips during your 2009 use year.

Again, making the DVC reservation is not restricted by use year. To see what use year points you use, match the vacation dates to the use year.

The link Charles gave you is more detailed and explains when use year is important and how to choose one.

 

[Sandisw]

I am starting to investigate DVC and I have a few Qs.

1. Can I use points to stay at DL resorts? How much would I need?

2. When Disney opens their resort in Hawaii, do you have any idea of how much those points will cost?

3. If I think we will travel in June or August, what use year should I be targeting for my home resort?

TIA!

As others have said, April or June would be a good UY for your typical travel. If you think that those June trips may ever start at the end of May, then you should probably go with April.

The ideal situation is to travel in the first 8 months of you UY so that if you have to cancel a trip (at least 31 days out) or want to make changes to the trip, you would still be in your banking window so that any points not needed can be banked for the following UY.

When you book your vacation, the points that you will use are based on the time of travel and not when you call and book. DVC reservations can be "paid" for with banked points from the previous UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the following UY.

For example, I have a June UY. My next trip will be July 31st - August 6th, 2010. Since my 11 month window opened up this week, I was able to call and book the reservation. Since this trip will take place in my 2010 UY, I "paid" for it with 2009 banked points and 2010 points.

 

[ballcaptodd]

I was specifically addressing HenDuck's question. Since she is not yet a member (that's the key), my answer was correct. If she thinks she will be travelling mostly in June or August, she would want a July use year. That way she can immediately book her first vacation for the following June and still be within the current ues year without having to bank any points. If her first trip were going to be the following August, however, then this scenario would obviously not work and she would have to bank the points.

I know how to bank and borrow, but thanks for the refresher course.

 

[CarolMN]

I was specifically addressing HenDuck's question. Since she is not yet a member (that's the key), my answer was correct. If she thinks she will be travelling mostly in June or August, she would want a July use year. That way she can immediately book her first vacation for the following June and still be within the current ues year without having to bank any points. If her first trip were going to be the following August, however, then this scenario would obviously not work and she would have to bank the points.

I know how to bank and borrow, but thanks for the refresher course.

There isn't a July use year.

If there were a July use year, it would be a terrible choice for someone who regularly travels in June. If the June vacation had to be cancelled after the banking deadline (which would be the end of February), the points would have to be re-used by June 30 or they would be forfeited.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I was specifically addressing HenDuck's question. Since she is not yet a member (that's the key), my answer was correct. If she thinks she will be travelling mostly in June or August, she would want a July use year. That way she can immediately book her first vacation for the following June and still be within the current ues year without having to bank any points. If her first trip were going to be the following August, however, then this scenario would obviously not work and she would have to bank the points.

I know how to bank and borrow, but thanks for the refresher course.

Respectfully, I think you're mistaken... It's no big deal if she uses banked points for her first ressie. She can still book 11 months ahead using the banked points.

I agree.. a July use year (if there was one) would be a bad choice for someone who vacations in June.

MG

 

[chalee94]

If she thinks she will be travelling mostly in June or August, she would want a July use year. That way she can immediately book her first vacation for the following June and still be within the current ues year without having to bank any points...

let's say i bought a resale contract with an aug UY which was completely stripped of points until aug 2011. nothing at all left in the 2009 or 2010 use years.

when the contract closes, i want to make a reservation for september 2010. as long as i have 2011 pts that i can borrow to use for a 2010 reservation, i can still call up in next month in october 2009 and have MS make that reservation at my home resort. i can book my reservation 11 months in advance even if i don't have any available points in my contract until the year after that.

please read the use year thread linked above.

 

[ballcaptodd]

As stated previously, I am perfectly aware of how to bank and borrow. I was simply giving the best scenario for making a June reservation eleven months out without having to do either with the first year's points. Period. Since there is no July use year, the best scenario (in MY opinion) would be an August or September use year. It seems pointless to me to have to bank or borrow points just to plan your first vacation. But, then again, it really depends on how many points you're buying to begin with since every contract is different.

 

[TLSnell1981]

As stated previously, I am perfectly aware of how to bank and borrow. I was simply giving the best scenario for making a June reservation eleven months out without having to do either with the first year's points. Period. Since there is no July use year, the best scenario (in MY opinion) would be an August or September use year. It seems pointless to me to have to bank or borrow points just to plan your first vacation. But, then again, it really depends on how many points you're buying to begin with since every contract is different.

No. You only need to have the points available at the time of your reservation...NOT the time you make it.

Example.. I have a Sept. UY and want to make a reservation for Sept. 2010. Let's say I've used all of my '09 points.... I can make the reservation during Oct. 2009 and MS will use my 2010 points. There's no banking or borrowing involved.

 

[Chuck S]

As stated previously, I am perfectly aware of how to bank and borrow. I was simply giving the best scenario for making a June reservation eleven months out without having to do either with the first year's points. Period. Since there is no July use year, the best scenario (in MY opinion) would be an August or September use year. It seems pointless to me to have to bank or borrow points just to plan your first vacation. But, then again, it really depends on how many points you're buying to begin with since every contract is different.

I have a June use year, and travel in June all the time. The others are correct, you really want an April or June use year for June travel, otherwise if you have to cancel the reservation less than 4 months out you'd have to use those ponts by May 31 of that year, as you'd be beyond the banking window for that cancellation. You need to think way beyond the first year as to how your use year may affect your banking borrowing options in case of a cancellation.

 

[Sandisw]

As stated previously, I am perfectly aware of how to bank and borrow. I was simply giving the best scenario for making a June reservation eleven months out without having to do either with the first year's points. Period. Since there is no July use year, the best scenario (in MY opinion) would be an August or September use year. It seems pointless to me to have to bank or borrow points just to plan your first vacation. But, then again, it really depends on how many points you're buying to begin with since every contract is different.

While you may understand banking and borrowing, it appears that you have some confusion regarding booking trips and UY. One has nothing to do with the other since the only thing that matters is the UY that you are TRAVELING in and what points you will have at that point.

First, it makes no sense for someone who is traveling in June and August to have a Sept UY. Regardless of when her first trip is, with a Sept UY, she will always be traveling AT THE END of it. Any changes or cancellations of those future trips would have to be made by April 30th in order to still be able to bank them for the following year. That is the worst case scenario for anyone.

Second, if she chooses June UY, she would not have to bank any points to cover her first trip. Since either the June or August 2010 trip would happen after her June 2010 UY starts, she will have those points, the ones that become current year points available to cover the trip. No banking or borrowing is necessary.

Third, if she buys NOW, because we are still in the June 09 UY, she will get set of points to use between now and May 31st, 2010. She can use those to plan an extra trip, or if she doesn't want to, she can bank them into the June 2010 UY, giving her an entire extra set of points to use in the future.
I am really seeing how this is a bad thing.

 

[chalee94]

Since there is no July use year, the best scenario (in MY opinion) would be an August or September use year.

please don't take this stuff personally. if you just spent thousands on a real estate interest, it's useful to you to understand how it works. but this is not an issue of people just having different opinions.

let's look at traveling in august with a sept UY as opposed to a june UY:

(again, regardless of which UY you own, you could call in sept of the prior year to book your home resort - no banking or borrowing necessary.)

but now let's say that it's the first of august and - due to unforeseen circumstances - you cannot use the reservation.

1) if you have a sept UY, you are well past your banking window and the points will expire at the end of august. you will have very-little-to-no time to rent that reservation or rebook another reservation, right?

2) if you have a june UY, you are still towards the beginning of your UY - the pts will not expire until the end of may in the next year. so - even though canceling within 31 days turns the points into "holding pts" and restricts how you can use them - you still have around 9 months to book another reservation or decide whether to use the pts yourself or rent them.

if you had to cancel 45 days out (for example), you would be past your banking window with a sept UY and would still be more limited than if you had a june UY and still had several months to decide whether to bank the pts or not.

if you never have to cancel a reservation, UY would never be an issue. but traveling in the last couple of months of your UY can be a risky proposition.

 

[whitfamily]

One thing to consider is that you're buying DVC for 40+ years. So we got a Dec UY, mainly because it follows a regular year. We seem to constantly jump around with our dates and I am sure as our kids get older (and move out) we'll change out pattern again.

 

[ballcaptodd]

I only take it personally when I'm attacked, which I was. I have never come across a group of DVC members who were this rude, and hope that I never stoop to the same level. I pray that HenDuck doesn't think this is typical, besause it's not. There are plenty of other sites where everone is cordial and respects various opinions. I would be more than happy to recommend them to HenDuck via private communication if asked. Meanwhile, I will most likely spend the majority of my time elsewhere where everyone is welcomed "home".

 

[Chuck S]

I'm sorry if you felt attacked. People were disagreeing with your opinion on appropriate use year, and listing the reasons why.

You are correct that if HenDuck bought now, with a June use year, the points would need to be banked for a June 2010, trip. However, it is still very important to consider the banking window in case of cancellations in the future. DVC is a long term commitment, and cancellations will occasionally happen even with the best plans. If the cancellation is short term for an emergency, an August use year would only give the person 2 months to attempt to reschedule, as the points could not be banked, and if cancelled 30 days or less from arrival, would be in holding status for reservations made 60 days or less prior to check-in...likely resulting in the total loss of those points for that use year. With a June use year, you'd have 11 months to try to reschedule using those holding status points.

 

[ballcaptodd]

I'm sorry if you felt attacked. People were disagreeing with your opinion on appropriate use year, and listing the reasons why.

You are correct that if HenDuck bought now, with a June use year, the points would need to be banked for a June 2010, trip. However, it is still very important to consider the banking window in case of cancellations in the future. DVC is a long term commitment, and cancellations will occasionally happen even with the best plans. If the cancellation is short term for an emergency, an August use year would only give the person 2 months to attempt to reschedule, as the points could not be banked, and if cancelled 30 days or less from arrival, would be in holding status for reservations made 60 days or less prior to check-in...likely resulting in the total loss of those points for that use year. With a June use year, you'd have 11 months to try to reschedule using those holding status points.

When the post immediately after mine states "the prior poster is completely mistaken.", that's a personal attack. It just snowballed from there. I happened to have had a more positive outlook when I chose my use year, and focused on the booking window rather than the cancellation window. If I ever have to cancel a trip, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But I refuse to base the next 40 years on that particular fear. Take care, everyone.

 

[Chuck S]

When the post immediately after mine states "the prior poster is completely mistaken.", that's a personal attack. It just snowballed from there. I happened to have had a more positive outlook when I chose my use year, and focused on the booking window rather than the cancellation window. If I ever have to cancel a trip, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But I refuse to base the next 40 years on that particular fear. Take care, everyone.

The booking window is still 11 months at your home resort, 7 at others, no matter what your use year month happens to be. All that it will determine is just which year's points you have to use, and the important banking window.

I still would rather not put my points at risk in the event of an emergency cancellation. I've traveled almost every June with a June use year since 1992, and have had no problems booking. A May reservation would have me sweating about cancellation, which is why I've only booked in May once. Since 1992, I've only had to cancel one trip, and I was grateful for my June use year then.