Thinking about DVC again...some questions!

[jmatias]

Aloha!

We are looking into DVC again. Whenever we ask our boys where they want to go next its the same answer...WDW!

Because our boys ( 7, 5) are still young we are stuck with summer vacations June to August. I have read the board for several days but still find myself confused. What would be the best use year for us?

Since we live very far away ( Hawaii) we probably would visit WDW only every other year and since we have to travel so far we will probably stay 2 weeks, with the first week being off site.

My husband thinks we should just rent from a DVC member. I want to belong I would appreciate any thoughts!

Aloha,
Jen

 

[Caskbill]

Remember that use year means absolutely nothing except in the case where you have to cancel a reservation. If you cancel, points are returned to your current use year. If the timeframe is such that you are near the end of your use year, you have passed the banking deadlines to save the points into the following year. You are then stuck with a use them or lose them situation.

Thus the best use year is one shortly before your normal vacations. This way if you cancel, you are still near the front end of your use year and are well within your banking deadlines.

Thus if you will be making your trips during the Summer, than a March, April or June year would be good (there are no May use years).

And conversely, August, September and October would not be good. (Actually August would be OK for August vacations, but not for June or July). There is no July use year.

For reference, DVC use year months are Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct, and Dec.

 

[jmatias]

Thanks for the reply!

I am still a bit confused.

Say I buy a resale March contract that has use of the 2003 points. Then I would have March 2003 to Feb. 2004 to use the points. I want to take advantage of the 11 month booking window for a June 2004 vacation so in July of 2003 I can call for June 2004. But don't I have to use my March 2003 points by Feb. 2004?

Thanks again for the help!

Jen

 

[jaysue]

Jen, you have 6 months from your use year month to bank your points without penalty

So if you had a March 2003 use year and all the points were intact you could bank all your points as long as you acted by the last business day Member Services is open in August 2003

This would move your points so effectively you would now have 2 years of points to consume. The banked points must be in that next use year period or be lost

So in July 2003, you call and make your reservation, bank your 03 points for the June 04 trip + use however many 04 use year points you need to complete the reservation

You can even borrow from your 05 use year for an 04 trip as well giving you up to three use years worth of points. You may not want to go that far unless you are ok going every three years.

**********

"Key Term:
Banking
Moving current Use Year Vacation Points to the next Use Year.

One of the great advantages you have as a Disney Vacation Club Member is vacation flexibility. Some years, you may not be able to take enough time away from home to use all your Vacation Points. Other years, you may want to set your sights on a longer vacation than your current Vacation Points would allow. Banking Vacation Points for future use can help you reach your goals.

The earlier you make a banking request, the more Vacation Points you can bank:

If you contact Member Services to bank your Vacation Points during the first six months of your Use Year, you can bank as many as 100% of this year's Vacation Points to use next year.
If you contact Member Services to bank your Vacation Points with three to six months left in your Use Year, you can bank up to 50% of this year's Vacation Points to next year.
If you contact Member Services to bank your Vacation Points with three months left in your Use Year, you can bank up to 25% of this year's Vacation Points to next year.
If you do not contact Member Services to bank your Vacation Points, or if you call within the last two months of your Use Year, you cannot bank your Vacation Points for next year! So please, plan ahead.
If your banking deadline falls on a weekend, you must complete your transaction by the Friday before your deadline.
Sign up for Member Exclusive Emails and receive "friendly" email Banking reminders.






This chart gives you monthly deadlines for banking Vacation Points. Find your Use Year, and note the three months you need to remember.


A reminder: Banking percentages are based on the cumulative number of Vacation Points banked as of the banking deadline.


Instead of banking your Vacation Points, you may be able to use them to reserve a seven-night stay in a one- or two-bedroom Vacation Home at your Home Resort, then deposit that week through the World Passport Collection for exchange use within the next two years.

Or perhaps you have a handful of Vacation Points you don't know what to do with. You might take someone special away for the weekend to any number of getaway options found in the Concierge Collection. Or, if you don't have time for a long vacation this year, you can book a three-day stay at a favorite Walt Disney World® Resort hotel. With Disney Vacation Club, your choices are practically endless.




Percentages for each banking window refer to the total annual allotment of Vacation Points—not the available number of Vacation Points. For instance: If you have an allotment of 200 Vacation Points with an August Use Year, you can bank up to 200 of them between August 1 and January 31; you can bank up to 100 of them between February 1 and April 30; and you can bank up to 50 of them between May 1 and May 31.





Vacation Points can only be banked from your current Use Year into the following Use Year.
Vacation Points can only be banked one time. If banked Vacation Points are not used by the end of the Use Year they have been banked into, they will expire.
Vacation Points that have been banked cannot be returned to their original Use Year.
Banked Vacation Points cannot be borrowed or transferred.
Banked Vacation Points may be applied to all exchange program reservations, including other Disney Vacation Club Resorts, The Disney Collection, World Passport Collection, Concierge Collection, and Adventurer Collection.
You will be given a banking transaction number when you bank Vacation Points. Since you will not receive confirmation of the banking transaction in writing, please record the number in a secure spot.
Example
Let's say your Use Year begins in February, and your annual Vacation Points allotment is 400 Vacation Points. In March, you decide to bank some of your Vacation Points. Since you are in the first six months of your Use Year, you can bank all 400 Vacation Points into your next Use Year. However, you choose to bank only 150 Vacation Points at this time. In August, you decide to bank more of your Vacation Points. While you still have 250 Vacation Points available in your current Use Year, you can only bank up to 50 more Vacation Points. Because you are now in the third quarter of your Use Year, you can bank Vacation Points until the total bank reaches 50% of your annual allotment. When these 50 Vacation Points are added to the 150 Vacation Points already in your bank, your total banked to date will equal 200 Vacation Points—or 50% of your annual allotment. Once your bank is "full," you cannot bank any more Vacation Points during your current Use Yea

 

[PamOKW]

Just to echo Caskbill. The only time Use Year really matters is when you have to cancel a vacation that is near the end of the Use Year and you cancel close to the date. Your options to bank or to use the points for non-DVC vacations are then limited or non-existent. You can take a non-DVC vacation at any time but you must make the reservation 60 days or more before the end of your Use Year. (This allows DVC to sell you DVC accomodations to pay for your trip). Also, as described above, the number of points you can bank decreases as the year goes by. In the last 60 days you can't bank any points.

As for making your WDW vacation reservations, having a regular time you travel makes it somewhat easier. You can pretty much always call at the 11 month mark and thus have an excellent chance of getting what you want when you want it.

 

[jmatias]

Thank you all for the explanations.

I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Aloha,
Jen

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Something I didn't get in the beginning was that points needed to be available at the time of your proposed stay (using current year, banking or borrowing options to have enough points), not at the time when you make your reservations. So as long as I would have the needed points by June of 2004, I could make the reservation 11 months ahead of time, even though 11 months ahead of time I might not have enough points to cover the accomodations until the actual date of the accomodation stay.

Renting is always an option, especially for your next trip. You can use the time for scouting your choice for a home resort, which is an important decision. Perhaps the change in atmosphere of WLV might be appealing over a beach them given your Hawaii home.

 

[jmatias]

Thanks Captain Midnight..you just answered my other question with your post.