Use year does matter.Updated...

[alldiz]

Hi,
I'm thinking maybe I should have thought more about my use year.

I own at WLV with an April use year. I have 133pts coming in April.

I want to make a ressie now for OCT 08 to take advantage of my 11 mth
window....However I will need to borrow my 08 pts to make ressie because
my use yr starts in april.

If for some reason I need to cancel....I can't bank those points right?
I'm thinking to fully take advantage of 11 months and to be able to bank
my points from if I need to cancel....Jan, Feb and March are the
only months that really work for this?
Am I correct?
Thanks
Kerri

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I am confused. You want to use your April 08 points for a reservation in October of 08? You can do that now.

For example, I have reservations already made for May 08, July 08, and Oct 08 using my Feb 2008 UY points. If I cancelled those trips within my banking window (say by July) I could bank my 08 points if I wanted to.

As long as the reservation falls within your use year, you don't have to borrow anything.

The points have to be used (meaning the reservation dates must fall) within the use year, so for you: 04/01/2008 to 03/31/2009. The date that you call MS and make the reservation is irrelevant.

 

[JimMIA]

No -- if I understand your question -- you are not correct.

Your April '08 points are valid for stays from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009. 100% of your '08 points would be bankable through November 30, 2008.

Your proposed Oct '08 stay is right in the middle of your 2008 UY. You are within your 11-month window, so you could make ressies tomorrow using your 2008 points.

There would be no borrowing unless the ressie was more than the 133 points you have. If you needed more points, MS would borrow from your 2009 UY.

Assuming no borrowing was necessary, as long as you cancelled more than 31 days in advance, there would be no effect. You would have until November 30, 2008 to bank those points from the cancellation into 2009.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Hi,
I'm thinking maybe I should have thought more about my use year.

I own at WLV with an April use year. I have 133pts coming in April.

I want to make a ressie now for OCT 08 to take advantage of my 11 mth
window....However I will need to borrow my 08 pts to make ressie because
my use yr starts in april.

If for some reason I need to cancel....I can't bank those points right?
I'm thinking to fully take advantage of 11 months and to be able to bank
my points from if I need to cancel....Jan, Feb and March are the
only months that really work for this?
Am I correct?
Thanks
Kerri

Well, first of all, you do NOT need to "borrow from your '08 use year" for the October ressie, because it is IN your '08 use year. If you are making a reservation now for October, '08, you will be able to use any banked '07 points, all of your available '08 points, and you may also borrow '09 points to finish the reservation should you need to.

Remember: WHEN you make the reservation has nothing to do with what points are CURRENTLY in your "account". Think of each use year as a seperate entity. If a trip falls within your '08 use year (April 1, '08-March 31, '09) You will be using '08 points NO MATTER WHEN you make that call. You can always book 11 months from check out.

 

[DebbieB]

You look at the date of stay. October 08 would be in your April 08 use year. So 08 points would be current year. You could also use banked 07 and borrow 09. You could borrow 2009 points now for this stay because the date of stay is in your 2008 use year. There's no waiting for the use year to start, it goes strictly by date of stay. This is a common misconception with new members, they imagine that points are not "deposited" into their account until their use year starts. They are already there.

 

[dianeschlicht]

To help you understand better, go to your account on My DVC and notice that you can click on each use year seperately. Any trips you have booked already will show up in the correct use year, and the points are tallied for that use year seperately. That might be a visual way for you to understand how it all works.

 

[alldiz]

Thanks everyone....

You see I just booked OKW in April 08 for 88pts....I had 50 07 pts from
my add on(agent must have banked them to 08).....and he said that
I needed to "borrow" 33pts from my 08 use year.....I said OK....

Maybe I should call MS tomorrow and find out about those 33pts that
I needed to "borrow" from 08....Maybe the agent was Mistaken
Kerri

 

[LisaS]

Thanks everyone....

You see I just booked OKW in April 08 for 88pts....I had 50 07 pts from
my add on(agent must have banked them to 08).....and he said that
I needed to "borrow" 33pts from my 08 use year.....I said OK....

Maybe I should call MS tomorrow and find out about those 33pts that
I needed to "borrow" from 08....Maybe the agent was Mistaken
Kerri

Log in to the members' website and check your Points Activity. You should be able to see which points were used for your Apr '08 reservation. You can also check your contract's point balance for each UY: 2007, 2008, 2009 and see if any points have been moved from your 2009 UY into your 2008 UY. There should have been no reason to borrow any points unless you were out of 2008 points.

As JimMIA pointed out, under the new banking rules for 2008, you can bank up to 100% of your points during the first 8 months of your UY. In your case, your 100% banking window will be Apr 1 - Nov 30th so you are well protected for check-in dates as far out as Dec 31st as long as you cancel at least 31 days in advance to avoid having your points go into holding and becoming unbankable. If you cancel your Oct trip (or any other trip) 30 days or less from check-in, you would have points in holding that could not be banked and would expire on Mar 31st of the following year.

 

[JimMIA]

You're just giving us scraps of information, not the full picture, and that doesn't provide enough info for folks here to help you.

Your best bet is to call MS tomorrow and run through 1) the status of your account before you made these two ressies, 2) the details of each ressie, including how many points were used, from where, for each ressie, and 3) the status of your account after both ressies are completed.

It's unlikely that MS made a mistake, but by going over everything and explaining what was done, when, and why, they can help you understand it better.

 

[alldiz]

Thanks everyone.....I'm embarressed

Everyone was right...Funny thing is....I knew it already...
CM just confused me when he asked me to borrow points...
so excited with my add-on.....wasn't thinking straight.

I did NOT have to borrow any points for my april ressie....
my 08 pts were used which are bankable.

Sorry if I confused people.....
Kerri

 

[disneynutz]

Make your life eaiser... Down load Caskbill's point tracker program. Once you have it set up, it makes your points and reservations very easy to understand and track.

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Thanks everyone.....I'm embarressed

Sorry if I confused people.....
Kerri

Don't be embarrassed!! It gets extremely confusing with UY/points banking and borrowing, etc. I sit down before each phone call with a sheet of paper and write down EXACTLY how I want my points used so it is easier on the phone. It seems like the rep misspoke, he should have said you were "using" 08 points, not "borrowing". Things like that throw you off.

DH knows how things work pretty well, but I start with "we can bank these, borrow these, use these points" and his eyes glaze over and he just says "WHAT?"

 

[alldiz]

Make your life eaiser... Down load Caskbill's point tracker program. Once you have it set up, it makes your points and reservations very easy to understand and track.

Sounds like a good plan

Don't be embarrassed!! It gets extremely confusing with UY/points banking and borrowing, etc. I sit down before each phone call with a sheet of paper and write down EXACTLY how I want my points used so it is easier on the phone. It seems like the rep misspoke, he should have said you were "using" 08 points, not "borrowing". Things like that throw you off.

DH knows how things work pretty well, but I start with "we can bank these, borrow these, use these points" and his eyes glaze over and he just says "WHAT?"

Thanks
Hubby is real smart....but he looks at me like a deer caught in a headlight when I start talking points
Kerri

edit....although he did say "I can see you will never have enough points"