When are points counted as available to reserve?

[mvenez]

The disboards have been a great source of info to me over the years, especially when I have a trip coming up and I check the boards every night for a couple of months. Now that my wife and I are thinking about buying into the DVC, this section has really been a fountain of information and I thank all of the contributors.

There is one technical question that I have been trying to get an answer to but the answers that I have received have been inconsistent. Basically, do I need to have the points for a future vacation available to me at the time that I call to make the reservation or is it sufficient if I have them on the date that I check-in? For example:

I purchase a 200-point resale that closes on May 15th with an August UY. The contract has no 2021 UY points. I plan a December, 2022 trip that will take 275 points. So, I call on May 16th to make the December reservation. When I make that call on May 16th, I have no points in my hand other than being able to borrow 100 points from my August 2022 UY. However, when I would check-in in December, I would have my 200 points from August 2022 along with being able to borrow the 75 that I need from my August 2023 UY. So, I will have enough points available to pay for the trip at check-in. The question: will I be able to make this December reservation on May 16th or will I need to wait until after August 1st?

Thanks much.

 

[Marionnette]

The disboards have been a great source of info to me over the years, especially when I have a trip coming up and I check the boards every night for a couple of months. Now that my wife and I are thinking about buying into the DVC, this section has really been a fountain of information and I thank all of the contributors.

There is one technical question that I have been trying to get an answer to but the answers that I have received have been inconsistent. Basically, do I need to have the points for a future vacation available to me at the time that I call to make the reservation or is it sufficient if I have them on the date that I check-in? For example:

I purchase a 200-point resale that closes on May 15th with an August UY. The contract has no 2021 UY points. I plan a December, 2022 trip that will take 275 points. So, I call on May 16th to make the December reservation. When I make that call on May 16th, I have no points in my hand other than being able to borrow 100 points from my August 2022 UY. However, when I would check-in in December, I would have my 200 points from August 2022 along with being able to borrow the 75 that I need from my August 2023 UY. So, I will have enough points available to pay for the trip at check-in. The question: will I be able to make this December reservation on May 16th or will I need to wait until after August 1st?

Thanks much.

The points need to be available on your check in date. So a December 2022 reservation using 275 points could be made using all of your August 2022 points plus 75 points borrowed from your 2023 UY. This could be done as soon as the points are loaded into your account as long as you are 11 months or less from check in at your home resort or 7 months or less from checking into a non-home resort.

The bad news is that even if you close on May 15, you will not have access to your points on May 16 when buying resale. DVC drags their feet on processing resale transactions and it can take a few weeks to over a month before they create an account for you and load the points.

 

[Sandisw]

Everything is based on the trip and not when you book. Easiest way for me when I first joined was simply start with which UY the trip will take place.

Then, whenever you book, you know it can be reserved using banked points from the UY prior to the trip, points from the UY of the trip and borrow up to 50% from the UY after the trip.

So, a Dec 2022 trip is in your Aug 2022 UY. You can use banked 2021, 2022 and borrow up to 50% from 2023.

Since you have no 2021 points, then when you have your account, you can use 2022 points to book it along with borrowing from 2023.

If you were already an owner, this trip could have been booked as early as January, and it would use the same points as when you call in May....or whenever the account is set up and points loaded.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

The disboards have been a great source of info to me over the years, especially when I have a trip coming up and I check the boards every night for a couple of months. Now that my wife and I are thinking about buying into the DVC, this section has really been a fountain of information and I thank all of the contributors.

There is one technical question that I have been trying to get an answer to but the answers that I have received have been inconsistent. Basically, do I need to have the points for a future vacation available to me at the time that I call to make the reservation or is it sufficient if I have them on the date that I check-in? For example:

I purchase a 200-point resale that closes on May 15th with an August UY. The contract has no 2021 UY points. I plan a December, 2022 trip that will take 275 points. So, I call on May 16th to make the December reservation. When I make that call on May 16th, I have no points in my hand other than being able to borrow 100 points from my August 2022 UY. However, when I would check-in in December, I would have my 200 points from August 2022 along with being able to borrow the 75 that I need from my August 2023 UY. So, I will have enough points available to pay for the trip at check-in. The question: will I be able to make this December reservation on May 16th or will I need to wait until after August 1st?

Thanks much.

You just need to have those points available at time of check in. So you can book a vacation before those points are actually in your account. For example, I am a June UY and I have no remaining points from my 2021 UY. But I have a reservation for later this year because my 2022 points will be available by that time.

 

[mvenez]

Thanks all for the info, clear explanations and examples - I should have known to start here. Sandisw - that's a great way to think about the timing aspect.

 

[DebbieB]

Points are loaded 3 years in advance. So you never have a situation where points you need are not loaded (except as new points).

I have an April use year, my dashboard shows 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. On 4/1, 2025 will load. Adventures by Disney can be booked 2 years in advance, so that’s why they are loaded in advance.

 

[bbeagle]

I like to think that I'm using a time-machine to the first day of my reservation.

If I want to book December 4-10, I think of myself on December 4th and looking at what points I have. Banked from 2021, current from 2022, and available to borrow in 2023.

If I want to book July 22-28, putting me at July 22 with an August UY just gives me 2021 to use - and available to borrow in 2022.

UY's are tricky because a July 2022 booking with an August UY is technically a 2021 points reservation.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I like to think that I'm using a time-machine to the first day of my reservation.

If I want to book December 4-10, I think of myself on December 4th and looking at what points I have. Banked from 2021, current from 2022, and available to borrow in 2023.

If I want to book July 22-28, putting me at July 22 with an August UY just gives me 2021 to use - and available to borrow in 2022.

UY's are tricky because a July 2022 booking with an August UY is technically a 2021 points reservation.

Yep, UY's are tricky. When booking a reservation I still have to do the mental exercise of walking through what the UY points are, which obviously can be completely different from the calendar year. Also remember that the biggest UY concern is if you need to cancel a reservation. Every UY has it's banking window, but if you cancel a reservation within that last 4 months then that's where the UY really comes into play. That's why it is good to get a UY date that is just before the time you normally stay at the resorts. Other than that, UY really doesn't matter too much (which is what two DVC guides told me early on).