One time use points

[jmassey1samchi]

I currently have a reservation for april booked using my contract points for next year. I am going to be about 7 points short for my 2 night 11 month reservation that I will be making in January for December stay.
I know the one time use points need to be used in the 7 month window. My question is can I call member services and pay for 7 one time use points and use them for the april reservation that I have booked? and free up those 7 contract points for my upcoming 11 month reservation?

thanks

 

[drusba]

I currently have a reservation for april booked using my contract points for next year. I am going to be about 7 points short for my 2 night 11 month reservation that I will be making in January for December stay.
I know the one time use points need to be used in the 7 month window. My question is can I call member services and pay for 7 one time use points and use them for the april reservation that I have booked? and free up those 7 contract points for my upcoming 11 month reservation?

thanks

No, because

(a) you need to be making a reservation or adding a night or more to another one to get one time use points,

(b) you can get them only if you are out of current use year points that would be needed to complete the reservation and you cannot get them just so you can reactivate current use year points.

 

[dismedvc]

drusba is correct. However IMO the current rules are somewhat "absurd" if your April reservation is still available, or was made inside the 7 month mark. Take a closer look at the very clever user name "drusba" backward.

Assuming your April reservation was made inside the 7 month window, you could have accomplished what you wanted had you done the following: Prior to making you reservation for April, you could have made an unneeded reservation for anytime in 2016 that used the same number of "regular" points that you will need for your 11 month reservation in December (As long as that unneeded reservation was made with points that could also later be used for your December reservation). Then when you made your reservation for April, you would have needed (and been able to) purchase one time use points to complete that reservation. After you secured the April reservation, with the one time use points, you could have then cancelled the unneeded reservation and had the "regular" 11 month points from that cancelled reservation available for your December reservation. (Cancelling a reservation does not reverse the previous purchase of one time use points)

You could still effectively do the above, if the dates for your April reservation are still available. You would have to cancel your April reservation, make an unneeded reservation with regular points, for the amount of points you need for the December reservation, and then rebook your April reservation, which would require purchasing 7 one time use points for that April reservation. Then you could cancel the unneeded reservation, and those regular points would be available for your December reservation. Obviously, you could not do that if the April reservation is not currently available.

ETA: If you have points you could borrow for the December reservation, that would be simpler and IMO better, especially for only 7 points. I only outlined the above to show what could be done.

2nd edit: Based on information in the posts below, the following I had added in my first edit appears to be incorrect.
Also, I believe you can only purchase one time use points once per use year, so if you did purchase them for your April reservation, you might not be able to purchase them again for your December reservation if it turned out you needed more points than you expected for that December reservation.

 

[supersnoop]

No, because

(a) you need to be making a reservation or adding a night or more to another one to get one time use points,

(b) you can get them only if you are out of current use year points that would be needed to complete the reservation and you cannot get them just so you can reactivate current use year points.

drusba is correct.

(b) is no longer true.

 

[dismedvc]

(b) is no longer true.

Please explain further. Does this mean the OP could have purchased one time use points to make the April reservation (assuming it was in the 7 month window) and had their regular points still available for future bookings at the 11 month window?
That would sure be a lot easier than my convoluted way of "hiding" regular points in an unneeded reservation and then cancelling it.

 

[supersnoop]

Please explain further. Does this mean the OP could have purchased one time use points to make the April reservation (assuming it was in the 7 month window) and had their regular points still available for future bookings at the 11 month window?
That would sure be a lot easier than my convoluted way of "hiding" regular points in an unneeded reservation and then cancelling it.

This is the best I've got. People have also reported exceptions to (a), even though it's expressly spelled out.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/one-time-use-vacation-points.3400416/#post-53452733

 

[dismedvc]

This is the best I've got. People have also reported exceptions to (a), even though it's expressly spelled out.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/one-time-use-vacation-points.3400416/#post-53452733

Thanks. Very informative link. Appears I was totally wrong when I said "I believe you can only purchase one time use points once per use year". I edited my previous post #3 to indicate that error.

However, it still seems unclear if you can purchase one time use points if you have current year points available that could be used instead of purchasing the one time use points.

 

[jmassey1samchi]

thanks for everyones help. I like the booking an unnecessary reservation idea going forward. It is a boardwalk ressie so using that strategy wont work at this point. I didn't learn about the 7 month booking period thing with the one time use points until after booking the april reservation. I guess I will have to call ms and beg them to let me purchase 7 points towards it.

 

[dismedvc]

. I guess I will have to call ms and beg them to let me purchase 7 points towards it.

The link above shows all the "official rules" for one time use points, and those explicitly say you cannot retroactively purchase them for previously booked reservations. That makes sense to keep people from booking at 11 months and then later substituting 7 month one time use points.

However, WAS YOUR APRIL RESERVATION MADE INSIDE THE 7 MONTH WINDOW?
If so, if seems unfair that you cannot substitute one time use points now, because you did not "hide" regular points in an unneeded reservation before booking your April reservation, or book your April reservation with one time use points, if that is allowed even if you have available points as was suggested in a previous post.

 

[erionm]

Appears I was totally wrong when I said "I believe you can only purchase one time use points once per use year". I edited my previous post #3 to indicate that error.

The original policy was once per UY, they have since changed it to allow multiple purchases up to the 24 points per UY limit.

 

[jmassey1samchi]

However, WAS YOUR APRIL RESERVATION MADE INSIDE THE 7 MONTH WINDOW?
If so, if seems unfair that you cannot substitute one time use points now, because you did not "hide" regular points in an unneeded reservation before booking your April reservation, or book your April reservation with one time use points, if that is allowed even if you have available points as was suggested in a previous post.

Yes, I made the reservation sometime in September or October. It seems that allowing us to retroactively use one time use points would effectively solve the problem of having to make a dummy reservation. So in that regard it would make sense, and save some time.
I ended up finding that one of the dates in my april reservation is actually still available and will be renting points for it. I will then cancel that date on my contract and have what I need for my December reservation once I get into the 11 month window.