Transferring Points and Borrowing Points

[Kevin Hayes]

As a new DVC member, I am trying to determine what pool of points that Disney pulls from in certain situations. I have a contract of 175 points. I attempt to book a reservation at the 11 month mark at my home resort. The days/room I need takes 25 more points. I assume Disney allows me to do this since I could borrow for the next year's allotment. Disney takes 200 points and applies it to my reservation. The month I am going to check in, a member puts 25 points up that I can transfer that is about to expire. If I buy these points and the points are transferred into my account, will Disney use these 25 points instead of borrowing them from next year's points. How does this work?

 

[LauraLea]

Well, the original 25 points will have been borrowed and cannot be put back into the use year they came from, they remain in the UY the reservation is in. However, if you are still within your banking window 25 points could be banked into the next UY.

If a reservation was made 11 months out, you can only swap out points from the same resort.

Laura

 

[Minniesgal]

If you make a booking at 11 months you cannot swap in points that would have had to be used at the 7 month window. So if you do a transfer it would have to be same resort. This is however to no advantage as you have borrowed points so those would be left in this UY and you would now have 25 points you have to use.

Also I'm confused you talk about transferring points that are about to expire to make a booking at the 11 month window? but the transferred points will expire long before 11 months so this wouldn't work

 

[CMNJ]

Also I'm confused ou talk about transferring points that are about to expire to make a booking at the 11 month window? but the transferred points will expire long before 11 months so this wouldn't work

I think the OP meant if another member was offering distressed points that would be transferred in after the original reservation was made but before they expire could MS reallocate the points.

OP as others have stated you would have to have a point transfer from your same resort in order to do so and MS couldn't return your borrowed points to their use year. However they can bank the current use year points into the next use year.

 

[LisaS]

The particular points to be used for a reservation are committed to that reservation at the time you make it. If you need to borrow 25 points to complete your reservation those points are borrowed at the time the reservation is made. No matter what happens in your account after the reservation has been made (banking some of your points from the prior UY into the UY of the reservation, transferring in some points) it doesn't automatically change the points assigned to your reservation and it shouldn't -- you might have other plans for those points so it would not be good for the reservation system to make any assumptions about why you banked or transferred in some additional points into your account.

Also, just an FYI: you cannot "unborrow" points if you cancel that reservation -- the borrowed points remain in the UY into which they were borrowed and will expire if not used by the end of their new Use Year.

If you transfer in some points after you make a reservation, you would have to call MS and ask them to reallocate the points currently associated with your reservation to use the 25 transferred points in place of 25 "current" UY points. You would want to do this no later than 31 days prior to check-in because otherwise the freed up points would go into the holding account and could not be banked and could only be used to book a last minute reservation (within 60 days of check-in). Also, unless the transferred points were from the same resort you could only do this reallocation if an identical room was available to be booked at that very moment, and that's unlikely at just over 31 days from check in. In addition, unless you had plans to use the freed points for another reservation in that same UY, you would need to do this reallocation before your banking window closed at the end of the 8th month of your UY so that you could bank the points that were freed up due to the reallocation.

 

[CMNJ]

Good point about the banking window-wasn't thinking of that when I posted. Also I wasn't sure if the points went into holding under 31 days if it was just a point reallocation (as opposed to a cancellation)-good to know it would be as that might change the OP's mind about pursuing this is as it appears the point was to regain points in the next use year.

 

[LisaS]

Good point about the banking window-wasn't thinking of that when I posted. Also I wasn't sure if the points went into holding under 31 days if it was just a point reallocation (as opposed to a cancellation)-good to know it would be as that might change the OP's mind about pursuing this is as it appears the point was to regain points in the next use year.

Prior to a few weeks ago I was of the opinion that doing a reallocation at 30 days or less from check-in should not result in points going into the holding account. It didn't seem logical. The reason for the holding account is so that if you cancel a room at the last minute, the points you get back are restricted such that they can only be used for a last minute reservation. A reallocation is not a cancellation so why would points end up in holding?

However, a few weeks ago there was a thread on this very question of whether a reallocation at 30 days or less from check-in causes the freed up points to go into holding. A couple of people reported that they were told by MS that a reallocation at 30 days or less from check would result in their points going into Holding. It's possible that the system is set up to put any points being returned to someone's account at 30 days or less from check in into the holding account, regardless of how it happens. It doesn't seem right in the case of a reallocation and it might be possible to convince MS to fix it if it happens but who knows if they would or not.

Personally, I wouldn't risk asking MS to do anything as fiddly as a reallocation to one of my reservations so close to check-in. It just seems like a risky thing to do!

 

[Kevin Hayes]

I think the OP meant if another member was offering distressed points that would be transferred in after the original reservation was made but before they expire could MS reallocate the points.

OP as others have stated you would have to have a point transfer from your same resort in order to do so and MS couldn't return your borrowed points to their use year. However they can bank the current use year points into the next use year.

Yes, in my example, I would only want points transferred in for the resort of my original reservation (home resort since I made the original reservation at the 11 month mark).

Thanks !

 

[LisaS]

Just so you are aware, members can transfer points once per UY either into or out of their membership. Because of that rule people are reluctant to transfer a small number of points because it uses up their one opportunity per UY to do so. The exception would be someone who was past their banking deadline and had some stray points left over that they would rather transfer than let expire but I think that is the exception and probably doesn't happen often.

Also, there are a lot of rules when it comes to transferring points. You have to transfer to/from the same Use Year (but not necessarily Use Year Month). For example, if someone has Feb 2016 UY points available for transfer, they would have to transfer into your 2016 UY. If you had an Oct UY and wanted to use the transferred points for a reservation prior to Oct 1, 2016 you could not use those transferred points for that reservation because you cannot borrow transferred points. You can bank transferred points however.

If you receive a transfer of points that does not exactly match the resort and Use Year Month of a contract that you own, you will not see those transferred points online and must call MS in order to use them. If you are trying to book a hard to get reservation (that requires being online at 8am when your booking window opens) you may miss out as you wait an hour for MS to open for the day.

In general, I wouldn't plan my DVC usage around transferred points. It could work out sometimes but it adds a level of complexity to your vacation planning. There is also a small risk that you pay for the points and the other party never transfers them. It doesn't happen often but it is a risk you take. DVC will not get involved if this sort of thing happens.

Most of the MS CMs are pretty good but the software they use is less than perfect. Many of us feel the less you (or MS) touch your reservation after you've made it, the better. If a glitch happens and suddenly your reservation is gone or your points are gone MS will eventually fix it but it can take weeks in some cases.