using banked points

[Joni]

I have a question about banked points. Once they are banked are they subject to 11 & 7 month window. My husband called MS today and I think that is what he took away from the conversation. We have currently banked 333 points. Now I know they have to be used in the next use year. We just got back from vacation yesterday and I know I have to wait to book next year at the 11 month window. What my problem is I have points at 3 different resorts banked in that 333 points. She made it sound like I decide where to stay and use those points at the 11 month window and I would have to wait on the other 2 resorts banked points until 7 months. In my mind they are all 2005 points so they will be past the 7 months. I know I am probably wrong about this but I am just trying to understand in my head how this works. If it is that case then it would make sense to me to own at one resort so you can book the points anytime together. Hope i haven't made it worst to understand.

 

[DebbieB]

Banked points have nothing to do with the 11/7 month window. The 11/7 month window has to do with the date you are checking out and making a reservation, not the use year or banking. You can only book at 11 months from check-out with the points from your home resort, it doesn't matter if they are banked. So for example if you want to stay at BWV, you can make a reservation at 11 months from checkout with your BWV points using banked, current or borrowed points. You could not use points from another resort at 11 months. So it depends on which resort you want to stay at and which resort points were banked. What member services told you was correct.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Also, points banked into the next use year, are still subject to the home resort restrictions. In other words, each contract's points will remain with that contract. If you own points at two different resorts or have two different contracts, the points get banked into the use year of their original contract. That means those points are subject to the same booking restrictions as the original use year.

 

[CarolMN]

Joni - Sounds like maybe you need help to better understand use year.

The points you want to use for your vacation have to be valid for the dates of your stay.

For example, if you have an August use year and want to stay in February 2007, you need to use 2006 use year points. With an August use year, 2006 points are good for stays that occur between 8/1/2006 and 7/31/2007.

The earliest you can make the February 2007 reservation with home resort points is March of 2006. It doesn't matter that your 2006 use year hasn't started yet. You can make the reservation because your vacation dates fall within the 2006 use year and you have 2006 use year points to use. The date you call to make the reservation does not have to be within your 2006 use year to use 2006 points. The date only has to be 11 months prior to your desired check out date if you are using home resort points to reserve.

Now if you have banked 2005 points, those points would also be valid for a February 2007 vacation. The banked points will expire on 7/31/2007 if they are not used prior to that. You can't bank those same points again. SInce the banked points are valid for stays betwen 8/1/2006 and 7/31/2007, they are also available for a February 2007 reservation made in March 2006 (assuming they are home resort points).

If you needed more points, you could borrow them from your 2007 use year. 2007 points are good for stays that occur between 8/1/2007 and 7/31 2008. However if you borrow them, they become good for stays in your 2006 use year (8/1/2006 - 7/31/2007). Once borrowed, they must be used by 8/31/2007 or they expire. Those borrowed points can also be used to make the February 2007 reservation at the 11 month window (assuming they are home resort points).

Now if you want to use non home resort points for the February 2007 stay, the earliest you can call for that reservation is July 2006. Again, even though the 2006 use year hasn't started yet, you can still call for the reservation. The points you plan to use are valid for the dates of your stay and you are following the 7 month window reservation rules.

Hope that helps.

If you post the use year and the number of points you have at each resort along with the month and year fow which you want to make a reservation, I can post an explanation of how it all works for your specific case.

Best wishes -