Using points for Hotel room

[LeahA]

Has anyone used their points for a regular hotel room? Is it hard to get? Does it follow the same 11 month window for booking?

 

[erionm]

We used points at the Poly for NYE a few years ago (before the $95 fee). We booked short notice (2 days out or so) with no problem.

For the WDW & DL Resort Hotels, you can book up to 11 months out. For the Hotels at the Disney locations outside of the US, you can book up to 6 months out. Except for DL, you can't book and stay during the last four months of your UY.

 

[Deb & Bill]

And you can't book any value resorts with points. And you cannot book any deluxe resort that has a DVC connected to it - so that leave Yacht Club, Polynesian and Grand Floridian.

Oh, and we did use points at the Contemporary several years ago (not our points, they were distressed reservation points from another member). We really enjoyed our stay there, but I wouldn't have used my own points to do it. The member gave us a really good deal on them because they had a very short fuse on them and they were going to lose them totally.

 

[edisneydreaming]

We used our points for Paradise Pier and were able to book it within three months of our trip! I thought it was a good use of our points for a last minute trip when all the Villas were booked.

 

[dzorn]

I have not. Given I could get larger DVC accomidations I cannot see spending more points for less room.

Denise in MI

 

[MrShiny]

We used it for Disneyland Paris. It actually worked out well for us because of the exchange rates. That, and booking us at the Buffalo Bill dinner they charged us too little but did not make us pay the difference.

 

[dvc_john]

I've used points for Paradise Pier, Grand Californian, and Disneyland Hotel at DLR, all before VGC opened.

Also used points for Newport Bay Hotel at Disneyland Paris, a long time ago when it was a better value, and park tickets were included with the room. (Back then, park tickets were included at no cost. Now you are required to purchase length-of-stay park tickets.)

No problem booking any of them.

Never used points for a hotel at WDW, and most likely never will.

 

[DebbieB]

I have not. Given I could get larger DVC accomidations I cannot see spending more points for less room.

Denise in MI

I did it once when DVC rooms were not available (before the $95 fee). I also used points for DL before VGC was available.

 

[LeahA]

I have not. Given I could get larger DVC accomidations I cannot see spending more points for less room.

Denise in MI

We have enough points for a week at AKV without borrowing. We would like to stay st BCV or BWV which require more points. I was thinking doing a split stay, staying at POR for a couple nights to be able to stay at another DVC for the rest of our trip.

 

[Lynne M]

Have you looked at the point charts for the moderates? You're not going to be saving points by staying at POR. In the cheapest season, i believe, it takes twice as many points to stay at a moderate as it does to stay in an OKW studio. And, there's that $95 fee.

If you're just wanting to stay at POR, look for discounts on cash reservations instead of burning points you could use for your DVC stays.

 

[GranJan]

I agree that using points for a stay at a moderate resort is a waste unless you have no other option. We booked a Disney MR cruise for Oct. 2011 & were having seconds thoughts about traveling to Mexico. Once points are used to book a cruise, you can't use them at a DVC resort if you cancel. After realizing it takes twice as many points to stay a week at a mod resort, we decided we'd stick with the cruise.

 

[juncker]

I think that I'd only use my points for a Hotel instead only as a last resort to burn some points that I would have lost. I'd figure a way to use them at a DVC property first. Cash would be a better way to go if you had other options for the points. You could probably even rent your points and end up ahead of the game paying cash (plus could qualify for any current incentives Disney was offering).

I think that you need a special situation before you use our points this way. Look at the charts.