Reservation/Ownership Question

[JohnNJ]

1) Let's say I own 200 points at BWV and 50 points at BCV. I want to book a vacation that will use 200 points at BCV.

Can I book it all at the 11 month window or can I only book the 50 points I own at BCV and book the remaining 150 points at the 7 month window?

2) Is the 11 month window based on the first day of the vacation or the last day?

3) Do members book the whole vacation at once or one day at a time based on the window?

Thanks, John-NJ

 

[drusba]

You cannot mix points 11 months out; you would have to book with those 50 and then try to book the rest at 7 months.

It is 11 months (or 7 at non-home resort) from the day you will end your vacation at the resort, not start date.

Day by day booking is done because of the above rule (book one day 11 months before your first vacation day, then the day after book the second day, etc, and then link all the days when done). It is most often not necessary but may sometimes be to get a Grand Villa or standard view at BWV for peak DVC times (like early December)

 

[dvc_john]

Also note though that in your example, you could conceivably have 150 points to use at the 11 month window at BCV by using banking and borrowing (ie use 3 years of points in 1 year).

 

[JohnNJ]

Originally posted by dvc_john
Also note though that in your example, you could conceivably have 150 points to use at the 11 month window at BCV by using banking and borrowing (ie use 3 years of points in 1 year).

How would this work? Can you explain?

Thanks, John

 

[LoveMyDVC]

That would work as follows:

If you are in your 2003 use year, and you banked all 50 points from 2002, you could use your 50 banked points, your current 50 points for 2003, and borrow all 50 from next year to make a reservation 11 months out

 

[JohnNJ]

Originally posted by LoveMyDVC
That would work as follows:

If you are in your 2003 use year, and you banked all 50 points from 2002, you could use your 50 banked points, your current 50 points for 2003, and borrow all 50 from next year to make a reservation 11 months out

Are banked/borrowed points subject to the same 11/7 month rules as the current points? IOW, all points, whether banked, current or borrowed, can be used for an 11 month reservation at the home resort only. The 7 month rule applies if those points are used at another DVC resort, even if I own points at that other resort also.

Is my understanding correct?

Thanks, John

 

[dianeschlicht]

Sounds like you have it.

 

[JCW]

I have a question. If you own 2 separate contracts at 2 different resorts (like JohnNJ), could you transfer the points from one contract to the other (like you would if you were transfering them to another DVC member) ?

Then once those points are transfered, can't you use them as you would your original points, in the contract you transfered them into? (ie. transfer 150 BWV pts. into the 50 BCV account, then use them all at the 11 month window?)

I am new to the DVC and have never transfered points (haven't even taken my first trip home), so I don't know if this is possible. Just a thought.

 

[dvc_john]

I'm pretty sure that that wouldn't work. Transferred points retain all original properties, including resort, use year, banked/borrowed status, etc.

 

[JohnNJ]

I called Member Services and tried to get an answer on this and they said it was very complicated. They would need specific information including travel dates and use years before they could tell me if it would work.

They did say that to transfer it would have to be two different memberships and not just an add on. Maybe someone else can get more info.

Thanks, John

 

[RobDoc]

Since each resort has a fixed number of points, transfers that would allow non-home points to be used prior to 11 months would violate that policy and could skew the intent of transfer.

The complication mentioned by MS is that, once transferred, MS sometimes has difficulty trackignt the original use year and home resort and could let the non-home points be used before the 7 month window.

However, I would sure hate to have points transferred to my account depending on being able to use them in that fashion and then have MS tell me they can't be used until 7 months. IMO, it's not worth the hassle. If you must use a transfer, plan to have the correct home resort---or plan to wait until 7 months to use them for a reservation at a location other than their original home!

 

[JCW]

I knew that seemed like it would be too easy. I just couldn't figure out why they wouldn't allow it. I forgot that each resort has an assigned number of points. So that does make sense.

Oh well.