Newbie question, is there any harm to booking a reservation and canceling it, assuming it' more than 31 days out and doesn't require borrowing points?

[mauionabreakaway]

We're in the midst of closing on our first contract and I'm trying to get a feel for the booking process, I've watched a few videos and read a bunch, but when the point finally get loaded on our account, would there be any downside to doing some test bookings at 10 months out and then canceling them? I would make sure not to borrow points, but the points very briefly used for my test booking, do they get affected in any way? One of the videos I watched said points that were used can't be banked, even if the reservation was canceled and that surprised me.

 

[AstroBlasters]

No harm whatsoever.

 

[drusba]

If you cancel 31 or more days from arrival date, the points go back into your account the same way they went in -- current use year points remain current, and banked or borrowed remain banked or borrowed.

But there is still a risk to consider, and that is your banking deadline, although it would not be an issue if you are cancelling 10 months before the arrival date of the reservation being cancelled. To be able to bank points, you must do so before the end of the eighth month of your use year, e.g., if your use year beginning month is March, banking must occur by no later than Oct 31. Thus, if a reservation is canceled after the eighth month of your use year, you will not be able to bank any of those current use year points and must use them for a trip that ends before your next use year begins. Moreover, if you used any banked or borrowed points for the original reservation, and then cancel at any time, those also must be used before the end of your current use year.

Example: March use year, and you reserve Dec 2-9, and then cancel on Nov 1, 31 days before date of arrival, but 1 day after the end of the 8th month of your use year. All points used for that canceled reservation must then be used for a reservation that ends no later than the end of Feb or they are lost. And to add insult to injury, you may learn that even if you can make a reservation that ends before the end of Feb, you may find nothing is open that you can reserve for the time you may want to reserve.

 

[mauionabreakaway]

If you cancel 31 or more days from arrival date, the points go back into your account the same way they went in -- current use year points remain current, and banked or borrowed remain banked or borrowed.

But there is still a risk to consider, and that is your banking deadline, although it would not be an issue if you are cancelling 10 months before the arrival date of the reservation being cancelled. To be able to bank points, you must do so before the end of the eighth month of your use year, e.g., if your use year beginning month is March, banking must occur by no later than Oct 31. Thus, if a reservation is canceled after the eighth month of your use year, you will not be able to bank any of those current use year points and must use them for a trip that ends before your next use year begins. Moreover, if you used any banked or borrowed points for the original reservation, and then cancel at any time, those also must be used before the end of your current use year.

Example: March use year, and you reserve Dec 2-9, and then cancel on Nov 1, 31 days before date of arrival, but 1 day after the end of the 8th month of your use year. All points used for that canceled reservation must then be used for a reservation that ends no later than the end of Feb or they are lost. And to add insult to injury, you may learn that even if you can make a reservation that ends before the end of Feb, you may find nothing is open that you can reserve for the time you may want to reserve.

This all makes sense. I’m just looking to test drive the interface and see how it all works. I would be canceling the reservation right after.

 

[J-Dog]

If you cancel 31 or more days from arrival date, the points go back into your account the same way they went in -- current use year points remain current, and banked or borrowed remain banked or borrowed.

But there is still a risk to consider, and that is your banking deadline, although it would not be an issue if you are cancelling 10 months before the arrival date of the reservation being cancelled. To be able to bank points, you must do so before the end of the eighth month of your use year, e.g., if your use year beginning month is March, banking must occur by no later than Oct 31. Thus, if a reservation is canceled after the eighth month of your use year, you will not be able to bank any of those current use year points and must use them for a trip that ends before your next use year begins. Moreover, if you used any banked or borrowed points for the original reservation, and then cancel at any time, those also must be used before the end of your current use year.

Example: March use year, and you reserve Dec 2-9, and then cancel on Nov 1, 31 days before date of arrival, but 1 day after the end of the 8th month of your use year. All points used for that canceled reservation must then be used for a reservation that ends no later than the end of Feb or they are lost. And to add insult to injury, you may learn that even if you can make a reservation that ends before the end of Feb, you may find nothing is open that you can reserve for the time you may want to reserve.

Sorry to hijack, I guess, but I've always wondered what the point of the banking deadline rule was.

Is there any specific reason for having a banking deadline? And/or is there any specific reason for making it 8 months? Or is the 8-month thing just something that DVC made-up arbitrarily to decrease the amount of banked points overall?

 

[drusba]

Originally for DVC, there was a multiple banking deadline. You could bank any or all points by the end of the sixth month of your use year, you could then bank up to a 50% total by the end of your ninth month (but that was a cumulative total in that you would also count toward that 50% possible total any points banked in the first six months), and you could bank up to 25% of your points by end of tenth month (also a cumulative total that included any points already banked before then). The rule was changed to banking any or all points by the end of the eighth month of your use year effective January 2008.

I do not remember DVC ever providing an explanation for the chosen banking deadlines but assumed it had something to do with avoiding having a large number of points banked near the end of the use years leaving DVC unprepared for some possible extremely excess demand months for reservations in the next year.

 

[J-Dog]

Originally for DVC, there was a multiple banking deadline. You could bank any or all points by the end of the sixth month of your use year, you could then bank up to a 50% total by the end of your ninth month (but that was a cumulative total in that you would also count toward that 50% possible total any points banked in the first six months), and you could bank up to 25% of your points by end of tenth month (also a cumulative total that included any points already banked before then). The rule was changed to banking any or all points by the end of the eighth month of your use year effective January 2008.

I do not remember DVC ever providing an explanation for the chosen banking deadlines but assumed it had something to do with avoiding having a large number of points banked near the end of the use years leaving DVC unprepared for some possible extremely excess demand months for reservations in the next year.

Thanks very much for the history lesson! I had no idea. Sounds, though, like it's likely somewhat arbitrary, but your reasoning seems sound. Thanks again.