Points question

[BlakeNJ]

We are looking into DVC and I have a question about point usage.

Just say I have 100pts at VWL w/ Feb. UY and 50 pts at OKW Mar. UY. My November vacation that I would like to go on needs 150 total pts at OKW. Can I book 11 months out at OKW only having 50pts there and when the time comes for the vacation (Nov) use my total 150 pts (100 VWL)? Does this make sense?? Just wondering if it would be wise to have two smaller contacts at two different resorts and be able to book both at 11 months.

Thanks.

 

[MinMouse]

We are looking into DVC and I have a question about point usage.

Just say I have 100pts at VWL w/ Feb. UY and 50 pts at OKW Mar. UY. My November vacation that I would like to go on needs 150 total pts at OKW. Can I book 11 months out at OKW only having 50pts there and when the time comes for the vacation (Nov) use my total 150 pts (100 VWL)? Does this make sense?? Just wondering if it would be wise to have two smaller contacts at two different resorts and be able to book both at 11 months.

Thanks.

BlakeNJ -- you would only be allowed to use the OKW points at the 11 mos window. The only way you could book a 150 point trip at 11 mos with 50 OKW points is to bank one year's points (Mar 06), use the current year's points (Mar 07) and borrow the following year's points March 08). This way you could take a 150-point OKW trip once every three years.

On having multiple contracts at different resorts, we have contracts at BWV & SSR and like having the flexibility of the 11 mos window at each.

Good luck! Hope we can say "Welcome Home" soon!

Mindy

 

[dianeschlicht]

Mindy is correct, and that is exactly why we own both of our contracts at the same resort. We wanted 11 month booking priveledges with ALL our points at the same place.

 

[Caskbill]

We are looking into DVC and I have a question about point usage.

Just say I have 100pts at VWL w/ Feb. UY and 50 pts at OKW Mar. UY. My November vacation that I would like to go on needs 150 total pts at OKW. Can I book 11 months out at OKW only having 50pts there and when the time comes for the vacation (Nov) use my total 150 pts (100 VWL)? Does this make sense?? Just wondering if it would be wise to have two smaller contacts at two different resorts and be able to book both at 11 months.

Thanks.

In your example, if you have 100 VWL (FEB) and 50 OKW (Mar) then those would be totally different membership numbers. It would not be a master contract and add on. You would have to manage each contract toally separately. Points cannot be combined at the 7-month window for booking purposes, and points are not combined to determine banking percentages.

If you do get two different resorts, be sure to get them with the same use year month so that it is all under one membership number. Then at 7-months, you could combine the two and have 150 points to book at any of the DVC resorts. And your banking percentages would be based on 150 points total, and not 100/50 points separately.

 

[Dean]

We are looking into DVC and I have a question about point usage.

Just say I have 100pts at VWL w/ Feb. UY and 50 pts at OKW Mar. UY. My November vacation that I would like to go on needs 150 total pts at OKW. Can I book 11 months out at OKW only having 50pts there and when the time comes for the vacation (Nov) use my total 150 pts (100 VWL)? Does this make sense?? Just wondering if it would be wise to have two smaller contacts at two different resorts and be able to book both at 11 months.

Thanks.

You've gotten the answer as it regards to reserving at 11 months out. However, there are other approaches. For example, you could book at 11 months out using the 50 points with or without any banked or borrowed points as well. Then a 7 months out, add to your reservation with the non home resort points. And in many cases, one could even sub the non home resort points in the reservation at 7 months out and thus free us the home resort points.

 

[BlakeNJ]

You've gotten the answer as it regards to reserving at 11 months out. However, there are other approaches. For example, you could book at 11 months out using the 50 points with or without any banked or borrowed points as well. Then a 7 months out, add to your reservation with the non home resort points. And in many cases, one could even sub the non home resort points in the reservation at 7 months out and thus free us the home resort points.

Ok, I understood about half of that...So, at 11 mos, I can book my OKW 150pt. vacation--but only book enough using the 50 OKW pts--then at 7 months, add the remaining days/pts needed using my VWL pts? It's possible that the added dates will have to be waitlisted. Am I getting it?

Thanks.

 

[Dean]

Ok, I understood about half of that...So, at 11 mos, I can book my OKW 150pt. vacation--but only book enough using the 50 OKW pts--then at 7 months, add the remaining days/pts needed using my VWL pts? It's possible that the added dates will have to be waitlisted. Am I getting it?

Thanks.

It seems like you understood the entire point. You'd have to decide how to balance borrowing points vs taking the chance at the 7 month window. Remember weekends are much higher and usually much easier to book. One way is to have banked and current years points, in your example, giving 100 OKW (banked and current use year) points to book at 11 months out. Then at 7 months out you would call (likely day by day) and see if any of the days you need are available to use your non home resort points. You could, if you wanted, see if any of the days you already have booked were available to book at 7 months out. You could then sub the non home resort points freeing up the home resort points. To take it a step further, say you booked 3 days at the 11 month window and needed 5 total. You could call 7 months out for the first day and sub the non home resort points freeing up home resort points. You could then use those freed up points to add days to your reservation which would be just a few days before the 7 month window opened giving you a better chance of success. You could repeat this scenario daily until you had everything you wanted and had used exactly the points you wanted to use. You would then wait list (each day individually) for any days you didn't get otherwise.

 

[BlakeNJ]

It seems like you understood the entire point. You'd have to decide how to balance borrowing points vs taking the chance at the 7 month window. Remember weekends are much higher and usually much easier to book. One way is to have banked and current years points, in your example, giving 100 OKW (banked and current use year) points to book at 11 months out. Then at 7 months out you would call (likely day by day) and see if any of the days you need are available to use your non home resort points. You could, if you wanted, see if any of the days you already have booked were available to book at 7 months out. You could then sub the non home resort points freeing up the home resort points. To take it a step further, say you booked 3 days at the 11 month window and needed 5 total. You could call 7 months out for the first day and sub the non home resort points freeing up home resort points. You could then use those freed up points to add days to your reservation which would be just a few days before the 7 month window opened giving you a better chance of success. You could repeat this scenario daily until you had everything you wanted and had used exactly the points you wanted to use. You would then wait list (each day individually) for any days you didn't get otherwise.

Oh my gosh, thanks Dean for explaining but I am totally confused. It seems a little complicated to have multiple contacts at different resorts. Maybe it will take me time to "get it" but I think I am going to start off with a 160 or so points at one resort and go from there. I was trying to have the advantage of booking at 11 mos at multiple resorts but it seems to be complicated. From what I am reading on the boards, it seems that most have luck at 7 mos. at resorts other than their home resort. I am also trying to kill two birds with one stone--Once my DH agrees to "go for it", it's unlikely he'll want to add another contact later. I was going to talk him into two smaller contracts at one time. I feel really stupid right now! Duh!

 

[lisareniff]

... You could call 7 months out for the first day and sub the non home resort points freeing up home resort points. You could then use those freed up points to add days to your reservation which would be just a few days before the 7 month window opened giving you a better chance of success. You could repeat this scenario daily until you had everything you wanted and had used exactly the points you wanted to use. You would then wait list (each day individually) for any days you didn't get otherwise.

Whoa, Dean! You are the master! I hadn't thought of that one!

 

[Caskbill]

Keep in mind that adding days at 7-months, or subbing non-home resort points for the originally used home resort points, at 7-months, depends entirely on availability. If at 7-months, there is no availability, then no more days can be booked, and no substitution of the home resort points used for the non-home resort points, can be made.

 

[Dean]

Oh my gosh, thanks Dean for explaining but I am totally confused. It seems a little complicated to have multiple contacts at different resorts. Maybe it will take me time to "get it" but I think I am going to start off with a 160 or so points at one resort and go from there. I was trying to have the advantage of booking at 11 mos at multiple resorts but it seems to be complicated. From what I am reading on the boards, it seems that most have luck at 7 mos. at resorts other than their home resort. I am also trying to kill two birds with one stone--Once my DH agrees to "go for it", it's unlikely he'll want to add another contact later. I was going to talk him into two smaller contracts at one time. I feel really stupid right now! Duh!

It's not that complicated once you get a little info under your belt.