What is your booking strategy?

[brazzledazzler]

Hi all! New DVC member here! I’m excited to start booking vacations for my family.
I was wondering what strategies everyone uses to make sure they use all their points (no point wasted!) and stay at the resort(s) you want during trips.

Do you always book your trips at the 11 month window at your home resort or wait for 7 months for another?

I appreciate any advice from you seasoned DVC members!

 

[Sandisw]

I book all my trips at 11 months at my home resort. Sometimes, I adjust dates during the home resort period, but most often I know ahead of time. We like split stays so if you think you might want that, book it that way from the start. It is easy to modify online that way at 7 months.

I have only lost 5 points so far in 12 years of owning (and that was from the resale contract that I bought last year that had banked points). I just make sure that if I am going to have extra, I upgrade my view or room size.

We more often banked over the years vs. borrow so that really helps!

 

[Stargazer65]

Keep track of banking windows for one thing. Book early in the use year if possible, that way a cancelled reservation can be rescheduled with more flexibility (we oftentimes break that policy though, and so far have turned out okay because we haven’t cancelled). So far in 11 years I’ve never lost a point, even though I came close with two points that came unexpectedly with a resale. I made it a vendetta to use them, and did so.

We try to always book at the 11 month point, and then modify if we feel like it at the 7 month point. (A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush). Sometimes you must book at the very beginning of the 11 month window. How punctual you need to be depends on the resort and room you plan, and the time of year. Some rooms at some resorts are a cinch to get what you want. For instance when we want to book a 1 bedroom villa at SSR it’s a pretty leisurely affair, oftentimes we don't even need to care about the home resort 11 month window. OTOH if we want something at BRV during Christmastime, we need to definitely be ready to book it at the 11 month window. BLT is kind of in between, but if we want the standard view rooms which cost less points, we need to be ready to book at around 11 months. Some people describe certain rooms at certain resorts as near impossible to get even at 11 months exactly, because the reservations are walked.

I assume you have a resort and points ready to plan with? You could get good advice here if you post specifics about the resort and what type of room you want. That way you could plan ahead.

 

[Skicks35]

I book all my trips at 11 months at my home resort. Sometimes, I adjust dates during the home resort period, but most often I know ahead of time. We like split stays so if you think you might want that, book it that way from the start. It is easy to modify online that way at 7 months.

I have only lost 5 points so far in 12 years of owning (and that was from the resale contract that I bought last year that had banked points). I just make sure that if I am going to have extra, I upgrade my view or room size.

We more often banked over the years vs. borrow so that really helps!

Just curious: assuming you do split stays based on location to the parks, correct? For example, you start out booking a 4 night reservation and a second 3 night reservation, both at the 11 month mark. Then at the 7 month mark, you pick one to modify based on availability. Let's say VGF/MK for the former and BCV/EP&HS for the latter

But I'm curious as to how exactly you know which parks you'll be attending that far in advance without park hours updated or anything. Do you just do you best guess based on previous knowledge and adjust if necessary? Or maybe I assumed too much and you don't do split stays based on park location.. ha

 

[brazzledazzler]

Keep track of banking windows for one thing. Book early in the use year if possible, that way a cancelled reservation can be rescheduled with more flexibility (we oftentimes break that policy though, and so far have turned out okay because we haven’t cancelled). So far in 11 years I’ve never lost a point, even though I came close with two points that came unexpectedly with a resale. I made it a vendetta to use them, and did so.

We try to always book at the 11 month point, and then modify if we feel like it at the 7 month point. (A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush). Sometimes you must book at the very beginning of the 11 month window. How punctual you need to be depends on the resort and room you plan, and the time of year. Some rooms at some resorts are a cinch to get what you want. For instance when we want to book a 1 bedroom villa at SSR it’s a pretty leisurely affair, oftentimes we don't even need to care about the home resort 11 month window. OTOH if we want something at BRV during Christmastime, we need to definitely be ready to book it at the 11 month window. BLT is kind of in between, but if we want the standard view rooms which cost less points, we need to be ready to book at around 11 months. Some people describe certain rooms at certain resorts as near impossible to get even at 11 months exactly, because the reservations are walked.

I assume you have a resort and points ready to plan with? You could get good advice here if you post specifics about the resort and what type of room you want. That way you could plan ahead.

Great tips! I'm glad to see there's some consistency about booking at the home resort at 11 months...even if you plan on changing it.

My DH and I just bought 200 points directly at RIV. We have a Sept UY, so I have 2020 points I banked for use.

I'm trying to make sure every point gets used, and it's definitely been a careful balance. I plan on calling Member Services today to book my "welcome home" trip for February. We already rented points for a January trip, before we decided to buy into DVC. I wish we could get Fall or December, but availability is terrible and we're hoping for the younger children's covid vaccine to be available by January for our 3-year-old.


We have FL resident annual passes that are blocked in June-mid August, so I'm booking quite a few stays in a short period. We typically only stay 2-4 nights. Trying to use all the points before August 31, 2022!

While I've been planning, I definitely see that the 8-11 month window really matters for RIV. My husband loves RIV, but sometimes we'll have a few extra points that don't quite make a 2-night stay at RIV, but will give us 2-nights somewhere else. I'm trying to figure out what I do about that for the future.

 

[SarahWI]

Do you always book your trips at the 11 month window at your home resort or wait for 7 months for another?

We almost always book around 11 months - usually at 10 months, 3 weeks or so. We own at BCV and VGF. F&W season is our preferred time to travel and it’s important to us to get 8-9 nights in a 1 br at our home resorts.

The only exception to this is when we travel to California. We book at 7 months for VGC.

I was wondering what strategies everyone uses to make sure they use all their points (no point wasted!)

Calendar reminders and a careful understanding of UY, banking, borrowing. We normally would never trade out of DVC but converted some points to RCI because of covid. I feel like we lost those points but maybe we’ll use them.

Keep track of banking windows for one thing.

Do not screw this one up. Calendar alerts are your friend.

assuming you do split stays based on location to the parks, correct?

We generally don’t like to move rooms. We alternate staying at VGF and BCV.

That said we are in the process of acquiring a BLT resale and in 2022, we plan on spending most of the trip at BCV but then using the BLT points as SAP to stay at a poly bungalow or a CCV cabin. Depending on booking patterns, we may book a backup 1 br at BLT at month 11 and then change it at month 7 OR just wait to book at month 7.

I would generally recommend having a backup room at your home in case you can’t get the 7 month ressie.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Thank you all! I'm bookmarking all your comments on this thread to refer back to. I'm sure I'll get the hang of the booking process, but it's good to see what experienced DVC-ers do to use every point effectively.

Thankfully, I'm good at balancing a budget, and booking DVC is basically that.

 

[RoseGold]

It really depends on what you are trying to do. There's no magic trick. Just points and charts and deadlines.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Just curious: assuming you do split stays based on location to the parks, correct? For example, you start out booking a 4 night reservation and a second 3 night reservation, both at the 11 month mark. Then at the 7 month mark, you pick one to modify based on availability. Let's say VGF/MK for the former and BCV/EP&HS for the latter

But I'm curious as to how exactly you know which parks you'll be attending that far in advance without park hours updated or anything. Do you just do you best guess based on previous knowledge and adjust if necessary? Or maybe I assumed too much and you don't do split stays based on park location.. ha

Edit: Oops! I realized this was not replied to OP. Sorry! Ignore my comments below.

We are Florida residents and live less than 2 hours away. So, we only visit for 2-4 nights at a time. I don't think getting 2-4 nights in a row is as challenging as 7-10 nights in a row, I would assume.

 

[Stargazer65]

We are Florida residents and live less than 2 hours away. So, we only visit for 2-4 nights at a time. I don't think getting 2-4 nights in a row is as challenging as 7-10 nights in a row, I would assume.

Yes, unless the 2-4 nights are special Holidays, Holiday weekends, etc... Then it can be just as challenging.

 

[bwvBound]

We purchased SSR in pre-opening 2004. I'd call our current booking strategy "opportunist." Others might say our points are "sleep around points" (true enough).

• 98% of our reservations are booked at the 7 month window. I don't bother with booking our home resort at 11 months as it is a useless exercise given my intentions and style unless I'm booking Treehouse units. (We are on the west coast and visit both Aulani and Grand Cal with some frequency. Booking SSR and then switching makes Zero sense -- agreed?)
• PURPOSE: For the first 10 years we booked a 1BR at BWV every January for a tech conference. The conference was our reason for buying DVC and BWV was the only location, during those years, acceptable for our purposes. For this reservation, I was prepared and ready to book the moment reservations opened at the 7-month window. I had a purpose and was determined to meet it. This worked every year!
• OPPORTUNIST or "JBIWT." Sometimes I book something "just because it was there." I enjoy stalking the inventory online when I'm in a dreaming mood ... and sometimes I'll book something JBIWT. Book it right away and figure out the logistics (air, vacation time, schedule conflicts, etc) later.
  FWIW, the JBIWT strategy is how I happened to have a Beach Club Villas reservation already in hand before 2020's Moonlight Magic @ Epcot was announced. My dates were a bit awkward (arriving same day as event) but I was able to snag an earlier check-in date by using the waitlist.
• FLEXIBILITY. Now that we are past the conference period of our ownership, I'm flexible with respect to exact travel dates, resort location and unit size. We are OK (as in "just ok") with taking a studio if the visit is short (~2n) ... but generally look for 1BR units and have also enjoyed 2BR units (including the Cabin) with just two of us JBIWT.
  Takeway tip: Don't get hung up on a specific unit size, resort name or travel dates. Keep super flexible! Take what is available and work around it or tweak it to fit using the waitlist.
• WAITLIST. The waitlist is an important ingredient in my booking strategy.
• Mix'n'match. We avoid split-stays ... but have often combined a WDW or Vero resort stay booked via RCI with nights added using DVC points. Adding a night here or there on either end, using points, sometimes shifts our air-travel to lower-cost travel days. Thus, we stay in the same unit ... but are paying for the room using different tools: 7-nights booked through RCI against other timeshare plus a night or two on either end using DVC points.
  Assume that anything booked via RCI was strictly JBIWT ... including a 3BR Grand Villa at SSR during F&W in 2009. How fab!!

Best wishes with your new membership. Hope you enjoy many marvelous adventures ahead!

 

[Travel60]

We own at HHI so no WDW home resort. Usually when going to HHI for more than a day or two, it is with extended family so I'm online 11 months out to book a 3 bedroom. Have never had a problem.

Every few years we do an extended family at WDW and I get online at 7 mo out for a 3 BR. Had a 3 BR booked last summer at Boardwalk that Covid messed up. Hope to rebook that for 2022 or 2023.

DH and I sold a condo in Florida last year that had been our winter home for several years. Now we plan to use DVC points for 1 BRs in Jan/Feb. We were a little late booking (DH didn't believe me when I said inventory was tight). We got a week at VB and 3 weeks in SSR then several days at HHI. I like SSR but have stayed there a lot. Would have liked to try a different resort but wanted somewhere we could "move in" not jump around every 2-3 days. We don't usually go to the parks so SSR being close to DS is nice.

We also randomly decide to go somewhere at fairly short notice and just see what's available.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We usually book around 11 months but then 80% of the time end up changing it. We go about 4X per year. Our planning tends to be very up in the air because of our kids. Stuff just always seems to come up. I feel like we start off as high rollers and then keep trading “down” as time passes and availability tightens. Lol. We started at grand Californian for next month and now after a few reservation changes we are booked at SSR. Lol. Oh well. In September we are still holding onto our original RIV reservation, so hopefully no schedule changes there! We have a split stay at thanksgiving where we ended up with 1/2... yes, SSR again. That was due to some guests dropping out and rebooking a smaller room. Never fails.

 

[LSchrow]

I always book 8 nights in a Studios for our son & his gf, exactly at 11 months - they alternate between Riviera & BoardWalk, some split stays. The Standard Views at BWV go quickly, with RIV not far behind, for both the May & Oct trips.
For my husband or daughter & myself, I book a RIV and/or BWV 1-bdrm for 2 weeks every May & Oct/Nov. These I can wait a bit longer to book, but try to have it done before 10 months. If available at 7 months, I book the first night or two at BWV/RIV using the SSR points, then modify those days off the original reservation (asking Member Services to mark the reservation as a "continuing stay" so we likely won't have to move). Note that we do love SSR, we've just stayed at BWV so much, it is "home".
We usually rent out our Beach Club points.
In over 20 years, we only lost points once - we had a Disney cruise booked, and 9/11 happened, We couldn't fly out of NY and the only option offered (after a lot of pleading) was short cruise a few days later, & forfeit the extra points.

 

[Imkarlawithak2005]

Congrats on your new membership! This year was the first time I booked 11 months out. We purchased Aulani in 2012, but have only been once. We’ve used our points at Paradise Pier, VGC (4 times and 1 x for a friend), Kidani (2x), Boardwalk (1x), SSR (for my brother 1x). These were mostly two bedrooms, with a one bedroom and a studio thrown in. But in 2018 we were finding it harder to book at WDW and said if we wanted to come, we needed a WDW resort. We purchased Copper Creek earlier this year and I am so glad we did because the competition for the first week of December was fierce. Since we purchased direct we received 2020 points and decided to go with 8 nights in a cabin. I did snag a Treehouse at SSR for a week for a friend. I’m interested to see how the post pandemic points situation plays out. Our next vacations aren’t theme park centered so I can sit back and watch how things play out. We have never lost points, as we were always borrowing and offering accommodations to friends and family. Our next purchase will be the Disneyland Tower and then we have all the points we need. Good luck with your future travels!

 

[natty650]

We’ve used our points at Paradise Pier, VGC (4 times and 1 x for a friend), Kidani (2x), Boardwalk (1x), SSR (for my brother 1x). These were mostly two bedrooms, with a one bedroom and a studio thrown in.

I've been told that it's hard to get VGC at 7 months, but seeing you used Aulani points four times makes me feel better. Lol

I just passed ROFR for an Aulani contract, and we have a small VGC contract that was just sent to ROFR. (We usually go to Hawaii once a year and visit Disneyland at least twice a year.)

Did you notice limited availability on the booking calendar for VGC? Or does it depend on time of year, length of stay, etc?

 

[Imkarlawithak2005]

I've been told that it's hard to get VGC at 7 months, but seeing you used Aulani points four times makes me feel better. Lol

I just passed ROFR for an Aulani contract, and we have a small VGC contract that was just sent to ROFR. (We usually go to Hawaii once a year and visit Disneyland at least twice a year.)

Did you notice limited availability on the booking calendar for VGC? Or does it depend on time of year, length of stay, etc?

I’m sure if you want to travel during more popular times it is impossible. We generally travel the end of April/first week of May and the first week of December. In 2019, we went the week before Halloween and had to adjust our days to get the rooms. We are very flexible with dates, and I start trying to book a few days before we actually want to go. The date I get is the first date of our trip. Our trips are always 5-7 days. I watch the calendar for a few months before we want to go, looking for patterns and walkers. We also book a 2 bedroom, which at VGC is a lot of points even in the off season. It is hard, because the rooms are gone in a second. This was all pre-Covid so I’m hopeful it returns to normal.

 

[anomamatt]

I book something at 11 months. Because I have too many contracts at too many resorts, it's usually a crazy 3- or 4-way split stay. But I always try to make something at 11 months, so I have something on paper... And once it gets to 7 months, I clean things up and try to consolidate to 1-2 resorts.

 

[bwvBound]

This just in: JBIWT wins again!

"Just because it was there" Wins again! I had a random, single night in Oct booked at the Grand Cal. I've been holding that reservation for a long while but without a purpose/reason. I figured we'd cancel it when we neared the 30-day window ... but today I received a Disney Destinations email advertising the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney's California Adventure theme park.

To my joy ... there was a party event on my lonely, single night reservation at the Grand Cal. Too cool. I booked tickets for the event. Now we have a reason for that random, JBIWT reservation. Score!

 

[gharter]

I book all my trips at 11 months at my home resort. Sometimes, I adjust dates during the home resort period, but most often I know ahead of time. We like split stays so if you think you might want that, book it that way from the start. It is easy to modify online that way at 7 months.

I have only lost 5 points so far in 12 years of owning (and that was from the resale contract that I bought last year that had banked points). I just make sure that if I am going to have extra, I upgrade my view or room size.

We more often banked over the years vs. borrow so that really helps!

Agree. Booking at 11 months, we have always been able to get any room type that we wanted.
Moving at 7 months is a crap shoot.