Points in account when making reservation?

[BrianD]

I have a question as a prospective buyer. When you get inside your 11-month home resort window, do you need to already have the points in your account when you make the reservation, or is it as long as the points are there when your trip is? (This is probably a stupid question.) So, let's say in February I want to make a reservation at my home resort for December, but my use year is October, and I will be using that next year's points. Is this allowed? Or does use year matter, and in this scenario I would need to have a use year of January so that I can make an 11 month reservation in February for December?

All this to ask, does use year matter?

Does this make sense, or am I just being an idiot?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[CarolMN]

The points need to be in your account when you arrive.

Use year has nothing to do with WHEN you can make a reservation. That will always be 11 months prior to check out for your home resort and 7 months prior to check out for a non-home resort.

Use year determines your banking deadlines and it only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that is scheduled to occur late in your use year.

For example, if your use year is February and you have to cancel a December vacation, that could be a problem. You would only have until the end of January to use or lose the points from the cancelled vacation because your banking options would be very limited at that point.

With a February use year, you can only bank 25% of your annual allotment of points if you don't call to bank until November. You can't bank any points at all in December or January if you have a February use year.

Most people do not have to cancel vacations very often and many do not always travel at the same time every year, so use year doesn't matter all that much to them. Also vacation patterns change over the course of your membership, so starting out with a "perfect" use year (for you) may not end up to be so perfect later on.

Best wishes -

 

[stampinshauna]

I think CarolMN explained it well. It is not a stupid question, I asked the same one in December. These boards are a great resource.

 

[LisaS]

When you get inside your 11-month home resort window, do you need to already have the points in your account when you make the reservation, or is it as long as the points are there when your trip is? So, let's say in February I want to make a reservation at my home resort for December, but my use year is October, and I will be using that next year's points. Is this allowed?

To add to what Carol has already explained, you also have the options to bank and borrow points. In the scenario you described (October Use Year, traveling in December 2007, making the reservation in February 2007) you have the following options for which points to use for that reservation:

1. Oct '06 points are valid for stays from Oct 1, 2006 to Sep 30, 2007 but if you bank those points into the next Use Year they could be used for your December 2007 trip. Once banked, they cannot be moved back to their original Use Year and would expire on Sep 30, 2008.

2. Oct '07 points are valid for stays from Oct 1, 2007 to Sep 30, 2008 so they could be used for a December 2007 trip.

3. Oct '08 points are valid for stays from Oct 1, 2008 to Sep 30, 2009 but can be borrowed into your Oct '07 Use Year and could be used for the Dec '07 trip. Once borrowed, they cannot be moved back to their original Use Year and would expire on Sep 30, 2008.

When you call Member Services in Feb 2007 to make the Dec 2007 reservation, you would tell them which points you want to use for the reservation: bank 2006 points and use those, use the 2007 points or borrow 2008 points and use those, or any combination of those points.

Oh and one more thing: I know this was just an example but the month of December is a very popular time for DVC members to go to WDW. If you do buy into DVC and plan to book your home resort for December, don't wait until February! Call exactly at the 11 month mark and call day by day.

 

[Caskbill]

Everybody's explained it well. I'll just add that seeing it in chart form can help.

For a member with an October use year month, their chart would look like this:

Use Year.....Vacation Dates
2005.....Oct 1, 2005 thru Sep 30, 2006
2006.....Oct 1, 2006 thru Sep 30, 2007
2007.....Oct 1, 2007 thru Sep 30, 2008
2008.....Oct 1, 2008 thru Sep 30, 2009
2009.....Oct 1, 2009 thru Sep 30, 2010
2010.....Oct 1, 2010 thru Sep 30, 2011

and so on.

A reservation for December 2006 requires points from your 2006 Use Year. Those can be any combination as follows: A) Regular 2006 allocation points, B) Banked 2005 points, C) Borrowed 2007 points.

You make the reservation relative to the check-out date (11/7 months ahead), and use the points from the appropriate use year for that specific vacation's dates. In your example, they would be 2006 use year points.

Thus you could call in Feb 2006 to make a reservation for Dec 2006, using your 2006 points. And if needed, in the same phone call, you could actually borrow 2007 points to make that reservation. Or, optionally, could be banking 2005 points into 2006 and use them to make that reservation. Again on the same phone call.

To make a reservation, it's only necessary that enough points are in the correct use year 'account' (either regular allocation, banked, or borrowed points) to cover the reservation dates.

Hope this helps.

 

[DebbieB]

I look at it this way - the points are "in your account" for the remainder of the years in the contract for use in the appropriate use years based on date of stay. They don't "drop" into your account on any particular day.