we have until Jan 7th to decide...
No, you have
as much time as you need to decide. If you wait past a certain date, you might lose some incentive, but that's a small price to pay for being sure. From the January 7th date, it almost sounds like you've already purchased and have until then to rescind your purchase. If you are not sure by then, by all means back out.
No, a
DVC agent can't talk to you, but there is always resale. You can click on the
DVC Resale Listings link above and select from dozens of resale contracts. You will need to learn the basics of resale purchases, but you might save a significant amount of money. Or not -- depending on the resort, size of the contract, and pricing, resale may work out about the same or only slightly less than buying direct from Disney. But it's another option you may not have considered.
It's not that we don't love Disney but we don't like planning vacations a year out - and then if you change your mind and cancel the reservation you must use your points in a certain time? So for example, we are thinking next Christmas may be great, but maybe by October we'll decide no and 2009 will be better. We can't do this without having to lose/use 2007 points? If we did decide to wait until 2009 - we would have to bank 2007? How long can it stay banked? We have 160 points, and an October date. Thanks to all.
In your canceling a Christmas trip in October example, you might have a problem or you might not. It would depend on when your Use Year is.
Your Use Year is the 12-month period during which allocations of points are valid. I have an October Use Year, so my 2007 points are valid from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008. You can bank up to 100% of your annual allocation of points into the following UY at any time (or multiple times) during the first eight months of your UY. For me, that's May.
In your example, if you had a Christmas ressie and an October UY, and you canceled in October (more than 31 days prior to arrival), the points would simply go back into your account and they could be used at any time prior to Sept 30 of the following year. OR...you could bank them at any time prior to the end of the following May. In that case, they would be available for the entire subsequent UY.
On the other hand, if you had a Feb UY, you'd be out of luck because you would be past your banking deadline (Sept 30).
Just remember that banking and borrowing are irreversible transaction, so banked points can't be "un-banked," and borrowed points can't be put back in their original UY in the event of a cancellation involving borrowed points. Also, if you bank points, they must be used during that subsequent UY -- they can't be banked again.
We live in Calgary and have a October use year also!
