Use of Points

[kstorms27]

In looking at buying points, Im thinking 100 is were Im going to start. My question is, if we wanted to book a room that would cost more then my 100 points, could I pay cash for the remaining balance? I know I can borrow and all that but that would only be an option if we didnt plan on going on a vacation the following year.

 

[Chuck S]

Cash and points can not be mixed for any one night. But you can "purchase" up to 24 one time use points (basically renting points from DVC) for $15 per point to complete a reservation*. Another option would be to seek a transfer of points from another member using a site, such as our Rent/Trade board, or paying all cash for some nights of the reservation and all points for other nights of the reservation. The DVC Member cash rate is a 25% discount off the full room rate, but the discount is not always available.

It is also often cheaper (if you have an Annual Pass) to use the Annual Pass rate for those cash nights.

*One time use points are only available if booking within 7 months of the check-in date. You can not use the one time points while booking within the 11 month home resort priority window.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

It is also often cheaper (if you have an Annual Pass) to use the Annual Pass rate for those cash nights.

Don't count on a Annual Pass (AP) discount being available. I had an AP last year, which I bought in June, and AP discounts never materialized for my trip in early-December....the resorts were full enough that they didn't need to offer discounts.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Another thing about AP discounted rooms. Sometimes the DVC villa category isn't available using anything but points. Like BWV BW view.

Plus you cannot link a non-DVC reservation with a DVC reservation. You can note both on the other reservation and hope for the best when you arrive. So you might have to move. Say you got a dedicated two bedroom villa with points and a lockoff for cash. You'd have to move.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Another option is to borrow points from the next use year to combine enough points for your reservation. i.e. If you have 100 points annually, you can borrow up to that amount from the next use year. Going forward, you can also bank one year's points into the next and that next year you would have 200 points available (100 banked and 100 current), and you could also borrow forward from the following use year giving you access to as many as 300 points at one time.

For small contracts like that, the bank and borrow option works well for an every other or every third year trip.

My guess is you will find you don't have enough points and will eventually end up adding on. We started with 230 points and were sure that would be plenty for us, but after a year we added on another 150 and then later added another 69. Now our 449 seems about right.