When are points truly "available"?

[Honest John]

Here's a hypothetical situation I've been wondering about.

I have a 150 point contract. My Use Year is October.

I log into the dvcmember.com website and on the "My Membership --> Vacation Points Page", it says the following about my account:

Use Year October 2010
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150

Use Year October 2011
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

Use Year October 2012
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

Use Year October 2013
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

Now, let's imagine I want to book a stay in December of 2011 at my home resort. I want to call DVC Member Services and do the booking in January of 2011.

According to what I understand about DVC rules, in January of 2011, I will only have 300 points available to use for December of 2011 (150 pts from my current October 2010 Use Year and 150 to borrow from my October 2011 Use Year). On October 1st of 2011, another 150 points will become available to borrow from my October 2012 Use Year. But in January of 2011, I will only have 300 points available. Let's call my intuition Scenario 1.

Now, it's conceivable that the DVC computer systems are 'smart' enough to know that by my travel date of December of 2011, my October 2012 Use Year points will be available to borrow, and consequently, I will be able to use up to 450 points for my December 2011 trip, even booking in January of 2011. That would make sense to me, I suppose. Let's call this Scenario 2.

However, literally interpreting the information on dvcmember.com, that seems to imply I could book a vacation right now and use up to 600 pts. I'm entirely skeptical that's the reality, but it's what the dvcmember.com website seems to suggest. Let's call this Scenario 3.

So, given the above, assume that I'm booking a trip in January of 2011 for a stay in December 2011. How many points will be available to use?

Scenario 1: 300
or
Scenario 2: 450
or
Scenario 3: 600

I can't find a coherent answer to this anywhere, despite some searching.

 

[Honest John]

Actually, after a little more digging, I think the right answer is Scenario 2.

The dvcmember.com website is clearer when you actually read the fine print.

Use Year October 2010
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150

Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points is the total number of Vacation Points you receive on the first day of each Use Year.
• Total Vacation Points Remaining is the number of Vacation Points in this Use Year you have not yet used.
• Total Vacation Points Available to Bank is the total number of Vacation Points remaining from this Use Year that you can bank for vacations that take place in the following Use Year. If you have Vacation Points transferred in, they will not be displayed here. To bank Vacation Points online, select the Bank Vacation Points link above.

Use Year October 2011
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points is the total number of Vacation Points you receive on the first day of each Use Year.
• Total Vacation Points Remaining is the number of Vacation Point's in this Use Year you have not yet used.
• Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow is the total number of Vacation Points remaining from this Use Year that you can borrow for vacations that take place in the current Use Year.

Use Year October 2012
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

• Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points is the total number of Vacation Points you receive on the first day of each Use Year.
• Total Vacation Points Remaining is the number of Vacation Points in this Use Year you have not yet used.
• Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow is the total number of Vacation Points remaining from this Use Year that you can borrow for vacations that take place in the previous Use Year.

Use Year October 2013
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points
150
Total Vacation Points Remaining
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank
150
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow
150

• The Vacation Points above reflect the sum of all of your Contracts under this Member ID. These Vacation Points are from the Use Year three years in the future.
• Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points is the total number of Vacation Points you receive on the first day of each Use Year.
• Total Vacation Points Remaining is the number of Vacation Points in this Use Year you have not yet used.
• Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow is the total number of Vacation Points remaining from this Use Year that you can borrow for a Disney Cruise Line® vacation that will take place in the previous Use Year.

If I were booking a DCL vacation for December of 2011 in January 2011, then Scenario 3 would be accurate.

Can anyone confirm?

 

[dvc_john]

In your scenario, 450 points is the correct answer for booking DVC resorts.

Your travel date - December 2011 - is in your October 2011 UY. All reservations are based on what UY your travel dates are, not on when you actually make the reservation.
So, when you call MS in January, you can bank your October 2010 points, and use those. You can then use your October 2011 points (no need to borrow these points as they are in the proper UY already). And finally you can borrow up to 150 points from your October 2012 UY. You can do it all in one phone call since in January 2011 you will still be within your banking window.

 

[riatees]

Your scenario 2 is correct. The way it was explained to us when we were purchasing is that you can have up to 3 years of points to use at one time, if you have banked the previous years points, you use your current use year and borrow from the next use year. 3 years of points is the max you can use at any one time.

 

[Deb & Bill]

BUT if your vacation crosses over UYs, such as in your case, starts in late Sept and goes into early Oct, you could ultimately use four year's worth of points for the trip. But the fourth year could only be used for the October nights. And the first years' points could only be used for the Sept nights.

 

[rcchello]

It gets more interesting if you consider booking a cruise 2 years out in 2012. You can then use 2011, 2012, and 2013 points if necessary.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

This may muddy the water but it helped me when my guide explained it to me this way one day.

You get ALL of your points up until the contract expires the DAY you buy your contract. They are all yours IMMEDIATELY. You don't actually wait until each UY to "get" them. In other words, you didn't buy the right to be given 150 points each year. Nobody's "giving you" anything. You bought them all up front (Years left on contract * 150).

Then, it's simply a matter of when you can book what, and what points are available during a given booking year based on banking and borrowing.

 

[Sandisw]

What has been easiest for me to remember is that my UY simply tells me when my points go from next year's points to current year's points.

But, when making a reservation, I simply first figure out what UY I will be traveling. Once I know that, it is as simple as knowing that I can pay for any vacation with banked points from the previous UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the next UY.

So, if I am traveling in my 2012 UY, then I can pay for it with 2011 banked points, 2012 points, and borrowed 2013 point.

It is always important when figuring this out to look at the UY of travel and not the calendar year as most UY's overlap two of these.

 

[palaemon]

BUT if your vacation crosses over UYs, such as in your case, starts in late Sept and goes into early Oct, you could ultimately use four year's worth of points for the trip. But the fourth year could only be used for the October nights. And the first years' points could only be used for the Sept nights.

Mind. Blown.

 

[Honest John]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! Very helpful.