Yearly Point Redistribution

[cdotla]

I have a question about point redistributions. I know each year Disney can "balance" the points to change point distributions over seasons of the year and as between Sun-Thurs vs. weekends.

However, can they increase the overall points throughout the entire year as well?

I guess my concern is - if we buy in, I can figure out what my points will entitle me to based on this year's points. But can Disney keep diluting the points so that it will take more points overall such that the equivalent of a week's worth of vacation points starts to be whittled down. I assume there is protection against this...can someone confirm?

 

[DVCconvert]

no that can't happen. In recent years they rebalanced so that it costs less to stay a weekend night than it used to..this increased the weeknight point cost but the overall amount has to stay the same.

HTH

 

[disneynutz]

I have a question about point redistributions. I know each year Disney can "balance" the points to change point distributions over seasons of the year and as between Sun-Thurs vs. weekends.

However, can they increase the overall points throughout the entire year as well?

I guess my concern is - if we buy in, I can figure out what my points will entitle me to based on this year's points. But can Disney keep diluting the points so that it will take more points overall such that the equivalent of a week's worth of vacation points starts to be whittled down. I assume there is protection against this...can someone confirm?

The result could be the same.
Many owners found that they needed more points to vacation at their usual times. Disney responded by selling smaller add on contracts and making a new transfer rule where they will transfer members up to 24 points at $15 per point.

Bill

 

[cdotla]

Thanks for the responses.

I am fine knowing that my vacation times, or my resort choices, may have to change to get the same amount of nites each year out of my points.

However, I just wanted to be sure that Disney can't dilute the value of the points by increasing the total amount of points distributed over the calendar year at the various resorts.

I assume from each of your comments that this is not the case.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Disney can redistribute the points any way they want across a resort, but the total number of points allotted cannot go up. In other words, if today a 2 bedroom at SSR costs you 316 points for a week, Disney can redistribute things and make that same unit cost you 321. However, if they do that, they will have to take those 5 points away somewhere else (a studio, 1 bedroom or GV). Think of it as a million dollars among a bunch of people. You could distribute a million dollars across people any way you want, but at the end of the day, it's still a million dollars.

Fortunately, there haven't been major shifts. But, people did buy a certain number of points and when Disney redistributed a few years ago, it left some short for the vacation they normally took. Personally, I'd buy a few more than what you think you'll need, then you always have a little bit of a buffer so you're not in a situation where you're borrowing from next year's points to make a reservation each year. Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[cdotla]

Thanks for reply. I assumed this, but just wanted confirmation.

Just three more questions...

1. If you bank or borrow points from yourself, is there any cost to do this, such as a fee to transfer points between use years?

2. What about if you rent points from another member? Apart from whatever amount the individual members exchange between themselves for the points, does Disney charge a transfer fee?

3. And finally when points transfer btwn members, do you get the 11 month booking window opportunity for whatever home resort the points came from?


Thanks in advance for all the info!

Disney can redistribute the points any way they want across a resort, but the total number of points allotted cannot go up. In other words, if today a 2 bedroom at SSR costs you 316 points for a week, Disney can redistribute things and make that same unit cost you 321. However, if they do that, they will have to take those 5 points away somewhere else (a studio, 1 bedroom or GV). Think of it as a million dollars among a bunch of people. You could distribute a million dollars across people any way you want, but at the end of the day, it's still a million dollars.

Fortunately, there haven't been major shifts. But, people did buy a certain number of points and when Disney redistributed a few years ago, it left some short for the vacation they normally took. Personally, I'd buy a few more than what you think you'll need, then you always have a little bit of a buffer so you're not in a situation where you're borrowing from next year's points to make a reservation each year. Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[kamik86]

Thanks for reply. I assumed this, but just wanted confirmation.

Just three more questions...

1. If you bank or borrow points from yourself, is there any cost to do this, such as a fee to transfer points between use years?
No, you can bank to the next year or borrow without a fee. There are rules on when your allowed to do this though (can't bank at the very end of your use year for example)

2. What about if you rent points from another member? Apart from whatever amount the individual members exchange between themselves for the points, does Disney charge a transfer fee?
I don't believe so, someone else will have to confirm


3. And finally when points transfer btwn members, do you get the 11 month booking window opportunity for whatever home resort the points came from?
I don't believe so, someone else will have to confirm

Thanks in advance for all the info!

Added answers above in bold (well to the one I knew the answer to anyway).

I do second buying a few more points then you think you need. Some people looked at the week they wanted and said I need exactly 123 points. Even a tiny shift can cause that to be an issue.

 

[erionm]

1. If you bank or borrow points from yourself, is there any cost to do this, such as a fee to transfer points between use years?

To add to kamik86 comment, you can only bank during the first 8 months of your UY.

2. What about if you rent points from another member? Apart from whatever amount the individual members exchange between themselves for the points, does Disney charge a transfer fee?

You mention rent and transfer in this question, but those are two unique transactions. If you rent, the member you rent from still has full control over the reservation that was made using those points. Officially, DVC does not allow a member to charge for a points transfer. If you call MS to transfer points to another member and tell them the other member paid you, they will not process the transfer.

3. And finally when points transfer btwn members, do you get the 11 month booking window opportunity for whatever home resort the points came from?

Points transfered in retain their original home resort and use year.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for reply. I assumed this, but just wanted confirmation.

Just three more questions...

1. If you bank or borrow points from yourself, is there any cost to do this, such as a fee to transfer points between use years?

2. What about if you rent points from another member? Apart from whatever amount the individual members exchange between themselves for the points, does Disney charge a transfer fee?

3. And finally when points transfer btwn members, do you get the 11 month booking window opportunity for whatever home resort the points came from?
Thanks in advance for all the info!

Let me start by letting you know that until a couple of years ago the DVC was a different kind of timeshare. A laid back, easy going product with few changes. Disney has decided that it's a cash cow and many things are changing. They have made mention that they will evolve to be just like the other timeshares so expect more changes and the policies and rules that we have today, could change tomorrow. Based on current policies here are your answers.

1 No fee to bank, borrow, or transfer.
2 You rent a reservation, you transfer points. No fee and current rules state that transferring can not be a monetary transaction between members.
3 Transfered points retain their home resort status and UY.

 

[cdotla]

Thanks so much for answering all my questions everyone! Very helpful.

I am really inching closer to making the leap to DVC!

 

[DebbieB]

The only way the total points would change is if more rooms are added to the resort. This happened at BWV, they added rooms when the sales center closed down.

 

[Sandisw]

The other piece to consider is to look at what your typical vacation would cost, points-wise, in some of the higher priced seasons. That will give you an idea what you could end up needing and go from there, even if you will be traveling now in the lower point ones.

We travel in the summer, Magic Season. Based on that, I was able to figure out what we needed (with a few extra and would still like about 100 more!).

Since that was 2nd highest in terms of points, I knew that I would be pretty okay with adjustments.