Availability reality at non home resort 7 months out

[gisele2]

I own at BLT and BCV, but like to try other resort too. I used the tactic of booking my home resort and then right at seven months tried to modifiy the reservation and if not available waitlisted it right away. Sometimes had the waitlist come true, sometimes was successful with stalking the site.

 

[CarolynFH]

When you reference loosing points, you can loose points if you book at your home resort then decide to book elsewhere for less points?

Banked and borrowed points can’t be put back into their original UY, they’re stuck in the year they’re moved to. So if you borrow to book the home resort and the resort you change to doesn’t use all those borrowed points, they could end up lost if you don’t have another reservation in the same UY that can use them.

 

[jrieder]

Banked and borrowed points can’t be put back into their original UY, they’re stuck in the year they’re moved to. So if you borrow to book the home resort and the resort you change to doesn’t use all those borrowed points, they could end up lost if you don’t have another reservation in the same UY that can use them.

So just to clarify if I bank 100 points from 23 uy into 24, I can use them regardless. Same goes if I have 100 pts booked at my home resort but decide to cancel and stay elsewhere with a new reservation.

 

[CarolynFH]

So just to clarify if I bank 100 points from 23 uy into 24, I can use them regardless.

Yes, just realize that if you don’t use all 100 during your 2024 UY, you’ll lose them.

Same goes if I have 100 pts booked at my home resort but decide to cancel and stay elsewhere with a new reservation.

Yes.

(In either case, if the new reservation takes fewer points, be sure to modify at least 31 days before checkin, or the excess points go into Holding with a different set of restrictions.)

 

[jrieder]

Yes, just realize that if you don’t use all 100 during your 2024 UY, you’ll lose them.

Yes.

(In either case, if the new reservation takes fewer points, be sure to modify at least 31 days before checkin, or the excess points go into Holding with a different set of restrictions.)

Why would they go into holding and not just into the regular 24uy?

 

[PolyRob]

Why would they go into holding and not just into the regular 24uy?

A modification or cancellation resulting in less points used under 31 days to check-in results in holding points. Holding points can only be used to book something within 60 days on a rolling basis. They also expire at the end of your UY regardless of it they were previously bankable (current UY allotment).

 

[jrieder]

A modification or cancellation resulting in less points used under 31 days to check-in results in holding points. Holding points can only be used to book something within 60 days on a rolling basis. They also expire at the end of your UY regardless of it they were previously bankable (current UY allotment).

Right that is only if you cancel with 30 days of check in. I was under the impression you would be booking at home resort at the 11th month mark just so that you have something in place and then waiting for the 7-month mark to book your new one. So if you did have any points left over you would have to use them in the current use year. Thanks I'm new to DVC and learning through interacting with you.

 

[Philsfan77]

Right that is only if you cancel with 30 days of check in. I was under the impression you would be booking at home resort at the 11th month mark just so that you have something in place and then waiting for the 7-month mark to book your new one. So if you did have any points left over you would have to use them in the current use year. Thanks I'm new to DVC and learning through interacting with you.

Just want to clarify something in this exchange...the system should automatically pull Banked points first, then borrowed points and then current UY if you modify in that order. If you have all 3 tied to the reservation, you should be left with current UY points.

 

[mamaofsix]

When you're looking at predicting availability, this site is really helpful: dvchelp.com

 

[Sandisw]

Right that is only if you cancel with 30 days of check in. I was under the impression you would be booking at home resort at the 11th month mark just so that you have something in place and then waiting for the 7-month mark to book your new one. So if you did have any points left over you would have to use them in the current use year. Thanks I'm new to DVC and learning through interacting with you.

Any changes or cancel within 31 days of check in results in a penalty. It doesn’t matter where you are in your UY or the status of the points in the reservation

If you book the trip 11 months ahead and the change it at 7 months, you are way ahead of the 31 days so no worries about the points.

But, if you decided later on you needed to cancel or change the trip to use fewer points, and you are within that 31 days, the freed up points are now restricted.

For example, I booked my Dec trip last January…if decided that I couldn’t go and had to cancel it in November, those points are now holding points.

Even though that trip is at the beginning of my Dec UY, the cancellation last minute means those points are now stuck in my 2023 UY, and can’t be used for anything new except 60 days or less from check in.

 

[crisi]

Just want to clarify something in this exchange...the system should automatically pull Banked points first, then borrowed points and then current UY if you modify in that order. If you have all 3 tied to the reservation, you should be left with current UY points.

Which won't do you any good if you are past your banking window and aren't going to take another trip in your use year.

 

[crisi]

Right that is only if you cancel with 30 days of check in. I was under the impression you would be booking at home resort at the 11th month mark just so that you have something in place and then waiting for the 7-month mark to book your new one. So if you did have any points left over you would have to use them in the current use year. Thanks I'm new to DVC and learning through interacting with you.

What happens is that a lot of people waitlist and stalk the website to piece together some of these reservations - and waitlists and stalking often become most effective right before travel - stuff happens and people cancel trips. So especially if you are stalking, watch for holding.

 

[Philsfan77]

Which won't do you any good if you are past your banking window and aren't going to take another trip in your use year.

For sure...I should have clarified that point as well, but I am probably naive, and have hope that most people look for UY's that benefit their travel patterns that if something does happen, they have the ability to still bank their points.

 

[DisneyFive]

You can find some historical data on availability here:

https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

What an amazing resource!! Thank you so much!

 

[DisneyFive]

Book SSR in two or three day segments. Trade them out for AKL or BW or whatever is available. You can always merge later. It's much easier to fill a couple days or waitlist a couple days.

What is the process to merge? Can you do that on the website or do you need to call member services?

 

[gmi3804]

What is the process to merge? Can you do that on the website or do you need to call member services?

MS has to do it. Resort/villa type and guests have to be identical. Give them a call.

 

[Sandisw]

What is the process to merge? Can you do that on the website or do you need to call member services?

If the rooms are all the same type and in the same membership, call Ms and they put in a request to combine into one.

 

[DisneyFive]

Also, that does SAP stand for? I've seen it tossed around in this thread.

Seriously considering purchasing DVC, but don't know all the lingo yet. Thanks

EDIT: Nevermind. Found it... Sleep Around Points (typically points in the 7 month window)

 

[crisi]

For sure...I should have clarified that point as well, but I am probably naive, and have hope that most people look for UY's that benefit their travel patterns that if something does happen, they have the ability to still bank their points.

Well, the naïve part is that most people's patterns of travel are very likely to change over years. For a lot of DVC members, they have changed the timing of their yearly trip due to school/work or Disney events - "we've never been to the F&G Festival" or "Now that Austin is doing Spring and Summer baseball, late Fall works better" or "the new job has its big project crunch, we need to move the trip." Others discover they start adding trips - deciding to squeeze in a trip every year or every few years for Christmas decorations or F&W or they decide to try a RunDisney event.

Our initial travel pattern was October - our young kids had a school break that let us remove them for three days to get a full week. Weather was great. But once they hit middle school, taking them out for three days was a no-go because of the workload and school policies around make up work - and by high school that break was even more difficult to justify since it was used for sports and drama practices. So we moved the family trip to late August - school hadn't started and my kids didn't do those "right before school" activities like football and marching band that mean you start early. Then the kids got to be young adults, and now we use points for a snowbird trip out of Minnesota to Hilton Head in February while the kids hold jobs and go to college - and when we do tend to take family trips - they tend to be late Spring.

 

[Philsfan77]

Well, the naïve part is that most people's patterns of travel are very likely to change over years. For a lot of DVC members, they have changed the timing of their yearly trip due to school/work or Disney events - "we've never been to the F&G Festival" or "Now that Austin is doing Spring and Summer baseball, late Fall works better" or "the new job has its big project crunch, we need to move the trip." Others discover they start adding trips - deciding to squeeze in a trip every year or every few years for Christmas decorations or F&W or they decide to try a RunDisney event.

Our initial travel pattern was October - our young kids had a school break that let us remove them for three days to get a full week. Weather was great. But once they hit middle school, taking them out for three days was a no-go because of the workload and school policies around make up work - and by high school that break was even more difficult to justify since it was used for sports and drama practices. So we moved the family trip to late August - school hadn't started and my kids didn't do those "right before school" activities like football and marching band that mean you start early. Then the kids got to be young adults, and now we use points for a snowbird trip out of Minnesota to Hilton Head in February while the kids hold jobs and go to college - and when we do tend to take family trips - they tend to be late Spring.

Yet I still find it to be one of the best pieces of advice we received when the inevitable does UY matter question comes up on these boards, or in the facebook groups by tons of members. So far has worked out for us...to each their own I guess.