New to DVC Boards, some Qs

[vellamint]

Sad to say....I am still as confused about cancellation in regard to Use Years. I guess I will keep my February UY and plan on never cancelling a vacation.... I think I will understand this ONLY once I start booking DVC vacations for myself.....

 

[Chuck S]

Sad to say....I am still as confused about cancellation in regard to Use Years. I guess I will keep my February UY and plan on never cancelling a vacation.... I think I will understand this ONLY once I start booking DVC vacations for myself.....

It is simply this. If you have a February use year, and make a reservation for October, November, December or January, and have to cancel, even if you cancel 31 days or further from arrival, if you cancel after September 30, you can not bank the points. If you cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival and before September 30, you can bank them to next use year.

In other words, if you cancel a January reservation in October, those points have to be used for a stay that must be completed before January 31. Meaning you have a good chance of losing those points. But if you cancel a February stay in October, you can bank the points if you wish, giving you two years to use those points.

No matter what your use year, is it best to avoid booking a stay for nights during your 0% banking window, if possible.

 

[vellamint]

It is simply this. If you have a February use year, and make a reservation for October, November, December or January, and have to cancel, even if you cancel 31 days or further from arrival, if you cancel after September 30, you can not bank the points. If you cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival and before September 30, you can bank them to next use year.

In other words, if you cancel a January reservation in October, those points have to be used for a stay that must be completed before January 31. Meaning you have a good chance of losing those points. But if you cancel a February stay in October, you can bank the points if you wish, giving you two years to use those points.

No matter what your use year, is it best to avoid booking a stay for nights during your 0% banking window, if possible.

Thank you....this makes the most sense to me so far. So using your example....if I cant bank those points because it is after September 30 or less than 31 days before the reservation.....those points then HAVE to be used before the expiration of those points...which would be January 31st correct? Does that apply even if they were borrowed from the next year points? And my 0% banking window would be January or all of October, November, December AND January....because I told the guide that I want to travel Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec.....

 

[Chuck S]

Thank you....this makes the most sense to me so far. So using your example....if I cant bank those points because it is after September 30 or less than 31 days before the reservation.....those points then HAVE to be used before the expiration of those points...which would be January 31st correct? Does that apply even if they were borrowed from the next year points?

Yes, borrowing is a final transaction, and once borrowed, they go under the same rules as current use year points...except, borrowed points can never be banked back to the year they were borrowed from. The borrowed points would have to be used by January 31, no matter when you cancelled the reservation.

 

[vellamint]

So...in a nutshell. A potential buyer should look for the 4 contiguous months of the year that they would "least likely" want to use their points and choose a use year that starts the month IMMEDIATELY after them.

If I am least likely to travel in February, March, April or May then wouldnt June be the best use year for me?

 

[Chuck S]

So...in a nutshell. A potential buyer should look for the 4 contiguous months of the year that they would "least likely" want to use their points and choose a use year that starts the month IMMEDIATELY after them.

If I am least likely to travel in February, March, April or May then wouldnt June be the best use year for me?

Yes, if that is your least likely travel season, a June use year would be good for you. In fact, I've only made one reservation during those months since 1992. Because even if you'd cancel a June 1, reservaton on May 31, you'd still have a full use year to use those points, even though they would be in "holding" status (meaning you have to book within 60 days of check-in date) and couldn't be banked because you cancelled with 30 days of arrival.

 

[jpm1000]

Hi Chuck,
How do you close a post? I need to close my post, but I don't know how to do it. I am afraid I will get penalize. Can you help me?
Thank you.
Terri