Transferred Points Questions

[DJmommy]

If I decided to transfer in some points into my account considering the new 2010 charts requiring more points to book our usual reservation, can these transferred in points be used to reallocate a reservation that I have for the current year, thus allowing me to bank some of my current year points into next year?

I hope I worded that OK. We are within 7 months of our existing reservation in August and I have used about all of our August 2009 points for this reservation.

I have never done a transfer so I am not sure exactly what type of information I would have to provide to the person potentially transferring points to me. If anyone has done this, can you give me a rundown as to exactly how the two parties handle the actual logistics.

 

[deva]

If I decided to transfer in some points into my account considering the new 2010 charts requiring more points to book our usual reservation, can these transferred in points be used to reallocate a reservation that I have for the current year, thus allowing me to bank some of my current year points into next year?

I hope I worded that OK. We are within 7 months of our existing reservation in August and I have used about all of our August 2009 points for this reservation.

I have never done a transfer so I am not sure exactly what type of information I would have to provide to the person potentially transferring points to me. If anyone has done this, can you give me a rundown as to exactly how the two parties handle the actual logistics.

I just did a transfer to get more points to my account. It went very smoothly as I sent money via paypal. Upon receipt (within minutes) the seller got the funds, called MS and transferred the points to us. For the transfer we didn't have any type of written agreement as it all happened fairly quickly and I felt comfortable with seller, but I did technically send the money first. I know some people do a conference call with MS. They buyer sends the money while both are on the phone. Once seller gets it, they do a 3-way call to MS and buyer hears the seller making the transfer. The points are available right away. Within a few minutes of the seller calling me to confirm it was a done deal I was on the phone booking a trip.

I had the same situations with ressies too. I already had an Oct 2009 trip booked. I was hoping to free up my points and use the new transferred points instead. MS told me that they couldn't just "switch" the points on the ressie. They'd need to cancel the first one to close it out and free up my "old" points and then go back in and rebook using the "new" transferred points. Our ressie was at BCV and we did not in any way want to chance losing it if someone else happened to book while we were trying to make the change.

Good news is that transferred points are bankable - you just need to make sure you follow their use year as transferred points retain original home resort and use year.

 

[DJmommy]

deva,

Thank you so much for your explanation.

What information did you need to give to the member who transferred points into your account?

Can you actually see the points in your account when you go online?

I, also, would not want to mess up my August reservation, but it would be nice to have some extra points to bank as a cushion.

Did the person that transferred the points have the same use year or resort as you? I would imagine it would make things really easy, but I am assuming it is not absolutely necessary for it to be that way.

Happy vacationing!!!

 

[deva]

deva,

Thank you so much for your explanation.

What information did you need to give to the member who transferred points into your account?

Can you actually see the points in your account when you go online?

I, also, would not want to mess up my August reservation, but it would be nice to have some extra points to bank as a cushion.

Did the person that transferred the points have the same use year or resort as you? I would imagine it would make things really easy, but I am assuming it is not absolutely necessary for it to be that way.

Happy vacationing!!!

I gave her my name and DVC member number which they need to make the transfer, also possibly my address (don't remeber for sure).

You can't see transferred points online (I confirmed this with MS because I was wondering where they were) which, in my opinion stinks! You need to track them on your own. What's odd is that they show my current reservation that I made with the transferred points, but they don't show them coming in, nor do they track the remaining balance. I ended up with a few transferred points left over based on where I ended up booking, so I just need to use these first for my next ressie or bank.

I agree, same resort and use year would keep it simple, but we ended up with neither. With the different use year you really need to make sure you closely monitor banking deadlines since they don't line up with your own. With regard to the resort, I think it is actually nice to get points from a resort other than your "home" because it gives you the 11 month booking advantage at a different location.

Good luck and enjoy your trip(s)! We are 2 months away from OKW!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

If I decided to transfer in some points into my account considering the new 2010 charts requiring more points to book our usual reservation, can these transferred in points be used to reallocate a reservation that I have for the current year, thus allowing me to bank some of my current year points into next year? . . .

Whether you substitute your new points received in thransfer for the points used for the existing reservation depends on when and where you made the reservation. If you made the reseration within 7 months of your check in date, then you should be able to substitute any valid points. However, if you booked your reservation at your home resort prior to 7 months, then you will need points transferred from your home resort. Otherwise, you will need to cancel some days of your reservation and then rebook to "swap" the points.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[DJmommy]

Suzanne

Let me see if I understand you. We did book part of our reservation at 11 months at the BWV which I do not want to lose - Standard view 1 BR. Our use year is August so I used our Aug 2009 current year's points. If I were to have BWV points transferred into my account from another member that could be used for that current reservation, then MS would allow me to reallocate those transferred in points. This would free up my current Aug 2009 points, allowing me to bank my own points. Did I get this the way you said it? That was exactly what I was hoping to do since we would like to bring some family with us next year and need more points for next year's vacation, which I wanted to book at the 11 month window.

Have you done this yourself? And do you think they are still allowing members to do this?

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Suzanne

Let me see if I understand you. We did book part of our reservation at 11 months at the BWV which I do not want to lose - Standard view 1 BR. Our use year is August so I used our Aug 2009 current year's points. If I were to have BWV points transferred into my account from another member that could be used for that current reservation, then MS would allow me to reallocate those transferred in points. This would free up my current Aug 2009 points, allowing me to bank my own points. Did I get this the way you said it? That was exactly what I was hoping to do since we would like to bring some family with us next year and need more points for next year's vacation, which I wanted to book at the 11 month window.

Have you done this yourself? And do you think they are still allowing members to do this?

I think you have it right. The concept is that points from the same resort should be interchangable. I have never done this, as the only points I have had transferred were from another home resort.

Another option would be to bank the transferred points. I have done this last year, banking Apr 2008 points into 2009, whic I will use for our May 2009 vacation. Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[DJmommy]

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[deva]

DJ Mommy-

Let me know if the transfer and reallocation you are proposing works. In my situation I booked in Dec. 2008 at my home resort for Oct 2009 (so 10 mos out). I transferred in points in Jan (diff resort, diff UY) in order to take a trip in March 2009. I was hoping to free up my home resort points by using some of the excess transferred points against my October ressie, but this is where MS said they had to cancel and rebook. Admitedly I did not really press them on the exact reason why this type of "reallocation" was disallowed, rather had assumed that once a reservation was made those points were "spoken for".

Looks like having the transferred points from your home resort may be the key.

So much to learn!