Question on booking strategy/home resort

[belias21]

I'm in the process of buying right now and (as one might imagine), I've been doing tons of research and stuff. I have a question that I haven't been able to find any information on though...

I totally understand the 11 month booking privilege that your home resort affords you. I also understand that one can have multiple home resorts. The question is - can you book at 11 months for one of your home resorts even if you don't have enough points for that particular resort to cover the reservation. As I understand it, points aren't deducted until you check-in so, at that time, it wouldn't matter what points are used. So, for example...

If I own 100 OKW points and 40 BLT points...
Can I book a BLT stay costing 140 points at 11 months out? Or, are only 40 of my points eligible for that booking.

If that's legit, it would seem to be beneficial to maybe have a bunch of small point contracts at anyplace you would want to stay. Check my thinking here...

Thanks!

 

[DannysMom]

You as an owner do not have the 11 month booking advantage, the points do. So if you only own 40 BLT points only those 40 points (or if you are banking and borrowing on that contract up to 120 points) may be used to secure a BLT reservation at 11 months out.

 

[lions1995]

You only have home resort 11 month adavantage for the points that at that resort. Else every one would buy 40 points at BLT and 500 at OKW. Tat said, you may be able to borrow points from your next UY (up to 40 in this example) and if you have some banked from the previuos UY (again - up to 40 in this example), you could have up to 120 BLT points to use. Of course the followinf year you will have 0.

 

[DizBub]

I'm in the process of buying right now and (as one might imagine), I've been doing tons of research and stuff. I have a question that I haven't been able to find any information on though...

I totally understand the 11 month booking privilege that your home resort affords you. I also understand that one can have multiple home resorts. The question is - can you book at 11 months for one of your home resorts even if you don't have enough points for that particular resort to cover the reservation. As I understand it, points aren't deducted until you check-in so, at that time, it wouldn't matter what points are used. So, for example...

If I own 100 OKW points and 40 BLT points...
Can I book a BLT stay costing 140 points at 11 months out? Or, are only 40 of my points eligible for that booking.

If that's legit, it would seem to be beneficial to maybe have a bunch of small point contracts at anyplace you would want to stay. Check my thinking here...

Thanks!

If you are only taking one vacation a year you could book BLT for a couple of days with your 40 points and then book OKW for a split stay, all at 11 months. I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this option. If I am not correct I'm sure someone will set things right.

 

[DannysMom]

If you are only taking one vacation a year you could book BLT for a couple of days with your 40 points and then book OKW for a split stay, all at 11 months. I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this option. If I am not correct I'm sure someone will set things right.

Yep that is a valid option. But what you CAN'T do is use any of your OKW points to secure any portion of your BLT stay at 11 months out. At 7 months out, if there is availability, you can switch your OKW ressie to your first choice resort.

 

[belias21]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

I'm sure all of this will be abundantly clear to me once I actually see the reservation system first hand.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

 

[DizBub]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

I'm sure all of this will be abundantly clear to me once I actually see the reservation system first hand.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

I've been doing this for a few years now and did not know that they deduct your points until check-in. In fact when I go to the Members site they appear to have already been deducted. I only have 21 points left in my 2012 allotment. Otherwise I should have 232 banked 2011 points and 67 current points showing (278 total points for an upcoming vacation). Am I missing something?

 

[Sandisw]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

I'm sure all of this will be abundantly clear to me once I actually see the reservation system first hand.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

Just to clarify, points are taken when the reservation is made. Its just that what points can be used have to be valid for the time of travel. When you call does not change that.

In order to book a reservation during home resort booking period, you must have points that will be valid points in your account for that to happen.

OKW points would not be valid to be used at BLT until 7 months prior to the vacation.

For example, I have a June UY. In order to book my August 2012 trip in September 2011 at BLT, I needed BLT points that were valid for that trip. Since this trip is taking place in my 2012 UY, the CM when making the reservation took my banked 2011 points and some of my 2012 UY points. Had I needed them, she would have borrowed 2013 UY points.

Once I had the reservation and looked at my account, those points were gone as they were tied up in the reservation. So, when people say its based on when you travel and not when you book, they are simply referring to the status of those points--banked, current or borrowed in terms of UY.

 

[LisaS]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

The points are deducted from your account at the time you book the stay. If you later modify or cancel that stay, the appropriate number of points are returned to your account to be used for something else.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

Ask away! Since many questions get asked over and over again, browse through several pages of threads in the DVC forums. You will discover that a lot of what you want to know has already been asked and answered many times. There is a wealth of information in those posts. Since policies can and do change, don't read back further than a couple of months. No sense getting you excited about the free valet parking or any of the other perks that have been withdrawn over the past couple of years.

 

[ELMC]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

I'm sure all of this will be abundantly clear to me once I actually see the reservation system first hand.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

So the whole "when points are taken" question has already been addressed, so I'm not going to talk about that. What I did want to add is that if they did allow you to use any points that you had available at the time of check in, it would essentially negate the 11 month booking window advantage. That's the reason for attaching the home resort advantage to the points, and not the member or membership. That's also the reason why points from different resorts can't be combined for a reservation until the 7 month window opens.

 

[ELMC]

If you are only taking one vacation a year you could book BLT for a couple of days with your 40 points and then book OKW for a split stay, all at 11 months. I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this option. If I am not correct I'm sure someone will set things right.

It has been mentioned before, but not frequently enough IMO. In fact, this was my thinking behind buying just a 100 point BLT contract and then 475 points at BWV. We only need a few nights at a MK resort each trip and then we would want to spend the rest of our time at the Epcot resort area. A lot of people don't want to do split stays, but if you don't mind it, it's a great work around the whole 11/7 system.

 

[DizBub]

It has been mentioned before, but not frequently enough IMO. In fact, this was my thinking behind buying just a 100 point BLT contract and then 475 points at BWV. We only need a few nights at a MK resort each trip and then we would want to spend the rest of our time at the Epcot resort area. A lot of people don't want to do split stays, but if you don't mind it, it's a great work around the whole 11/7 system.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[belias21]

Once I had the reservation and looked at my account, those points were gone as they were tied up in the reservation. So, when people say its based on when you travel and not when you book, they are simply referring to the status of those points--banked, current or borrowed in terms of UY.

Ahh, well there's the rub. That's the piece I was certainly missing (or making invalid assumptions on). Certainly critical.

Thanks to all for the answers. Can't wait to get through ROFR so I can start booking!

 

[belias21]

So, I guess then on a similar note...

If you don't plan on staying at your home resort, but want to guarantee a vacation at a specific time, you book "home" as soon as you can and then go on waitlist or book your desired destination at the 7-month mark? Worst case, you stay on the original reservation.
Does waitlisting pull from current point availability or does it just hold your spot in line until something opens up and then you have the option to modify your reservation?

 

[DizBub]

So, I guess then on a similar note...

If you don't plan on staying at your home resort, but want to guarantee a vacation at a specific time, you book "home" as soon as you can and then go on waitlist or book your desired destination at the 7-month mark? Worst case, you stay on the original reservation.
Does waitlisting pull from current point availability or does it just hold your spot in line until something opens up and then you have the option to modify your reservation?

Yes, you should book your home resort at 11 months and at the 7 month mark call and try to switch to where you want to stay. If that's not immediately available THEN you waitlist. Most people report that when and if their waitlist comes through it just automatically switches and if there are point differentials they will put points back or take more points. I've also heard about people getting calls from MS asking if they still want what they waitlisted.

Worst case scenario is that you might have to stay at your home resort. But you will have a place to stay.

 

[Sandisw]

It has been mentioned before, but not frequently enough IMO. In fact, this was my thinking behind buying just a 100 point BLT contract and then 475 points at BWV. We only need a few nights at a MK resort each trip and then we would want to spend the rest of our time at the Epcot resort area. A lot of people don't want to do split stays, but if you don't mind it, it's a great work around the whole 11/7 system.

This is why I now own both BLT and BWV. Our annual August trip is always a split stay...BWV for a few nights and then BLT for the rest.

I bought both so I could book exactly what I wanted at 11 months with no worries about having to wait until 7 months.

If I want to change, I certainly could, but as it stands right now, I have what I need to book the trip I want, with no waiting. I realized early on that where I stay was too important to leave it to chance with non-home resort points.

Plus, by owning at both those resorts, I can take advantage of the SV options, which helps to stretch my points, especially at BLT.

 

[com_op_2000]

This all makes sense - I guess my assumption was that since your points aren't deducted until check-in, it didn't really matter. As long as you had any number of points at that particular resort and then the proper total across the board at check-in.

I'm sure all of this will be abundantly clear to me once I actually see the reservation system first hand.

Not much else to do while in the ROFR waiting game than to come up with a million questions.

Once you see the online booking screen, your OKW points will not even be available/listed for you to choose from for a BLT reservation at 11 months.

 

[BrerNashville]

Does waitlisting pull from current point availability or does it just hold your spot in line until something opens up and then you have the option to modify your reservation?

The waitlist will NOT pull from point availability until the reservation is secured. Note that you can set up a waitlist to automatically substitute for an existing reservation (using those points, if otherwise usable) or to create a whole new reservation, which would pull from available points. I don't know whether you have to set it up to automatically borrow if you didn't have enough points at the time a waitlist came through, or if that happens automatically in the system.

If you go the substitution route, be sure you keep you eye on banking windows and hold point windows if your waitlisted reservation uses less points than your original reservation. The excess points will be returned to your account, subject to all of the applicable restrictions.

 

[belias21]

Thanks for all the great information! I can't wait to book some stuff when this deal closes...

While we're on the topic of waitlists... Not entirely -
I've seen (for example) where people have reserved a Monday and Wednesday and waitlisted the Tuesday in between. If that becomes available, who's to say you won't have to switch rooms? Or does DVC not work that way? It seems like you can piece your days together more easily than with regular hotel booking.

Or am I just crazy?

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for all the great information! I can't wait to book some stuff when this deal closes...

While we're on the topic of waitlists... Not entirely -
I've seen (for example) where people have reserved a Monday and Wednesday and waitlisted the Tuesday in between. If that becomes available, who's to say you won't have to switch rooms? Or does DVC not work that way? It seems like you can piece your days together more easily than with regular hotel booking.

Or am I just crazy?

Not crazy. Shorter waitlists have a greater chance of working so some members do waitlist as you describe if they can.

(Remember, you may only have two waitlists active at the same time).

If the waitlist works and assuming all the nights are for the exact same booking category at the same resort, MS can link the individual reservations such that it appears as one continuous reservation to the resort. No room change required.

The risk of booking some nights and waitlisting the "holes" occurs when the waitlist doesn't work. Then you may have nothing at all or have to move between rooms, depending on what kind of back up reservation(s) you have.

Some members prefer to book their home resort at 11 months and then if their preferred choice is not available at 7 months, waitlist the entire stay so that they do not have to chance a move.