What to do when you don't have enough points...

[lostpro9het]

Been kicking some serious DVC tires lately and was curious about what happens when you have a reservation you want to book and you come up a few points short. Let's assume there are no points to utilize from the next year. Is there a per point dollar amount they charge to make up the difference or do you have to modify the reservation to come under the point allotment?

 

[journ116]

DVC offers its members a "one-time" set of points for a nominal fee. You can purchase up to 24 points @ $15/point.

Important things to remember:
-You can only purchase said points per use year to put toward your reservation (points are non-bankable).
-Purchase is a FINAL transaction.
-Once you do buy how ever many points you need to cover the reservation, you cannot buy any more for that use year (i.e. say your current reservation is short 4 points, but a couple of months out from your reservation, you decide to switch resorts which requires more points).
-For more rules surrounding these points, log onto your DVC membership page.

How to purchase the one-time points:
-Call DVC directly & then have them book your reservation.

 

[WWWD]

DVC members can purchase (rent) one-time-use points for $15 per point. You can only purchase a maximum 24 points per use year per membership in a single transaction. So if you need just a few points to satisfy a reservation, then this is an option to use. However, "the one-time-use points used for DVC Resort reservations can only be used for reservations made as early as 7 months before your check-in date". Also, you can not bank these points.

So it looks like if you make reservations at your home resort at the 11 months window, you'll have to try and modify the reservation at the 7 months window to add the extra points.

 

[lostpro9het]

Thanks for the info!

 

[tjkraz]

* Cut the trip short by a day (or more)
* Book a cheaper view
* Book a cheaper resort
* Book a smaller villa
* Bank / borrow points
* Pay cash for a day
* Buy one-time-use points
* Get a transfer of points from another member
* Buy more points

The entire DVC concept can be hard to wrap your head around so it's a fair question. But in the end, these things tend to work themselves out. You may buy enough points for an annual 7-night stay during a mid-priced season at a mid-priced resort. If you want to visit during a more expensive season or stay at a more expensive resort, you could cut the trip down to 5-6 days, pay cash for the extra nights, borrow points or somehow acquire additional points.

It's not much different than falling in love with a $40K car when you only planned to spend $35K. You either compromise in other areas (reduce your spending elsewhere) or settle for the lesser vehicle.

 

[BCVTalsJam]

You can borrow up to three years of points at a time so for example:
As of right now we have 2013 2014 and 2015 points available to use.

 

[DVCOwner]

Well in my case I guess I am lucky. I have two very good friends that are both are DVC members. When one of us needs a few more points, we just borrow from each other. Members can transfer points once a year.

 

[tjkraz]

You can borrow up to three years of points at a time so for example:
As of right now we have 2013 2014 and 2015 points available to use.

You can only BORROW one year's worth of points at a time. However owners can have access to three years worth of points: banked from the prior year, current year plus borrowed. It does take advance planning, though, to make sure points are properly banked.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Aah, the DVC game gets even more complicated. I had no idea you could up to 3 years ahead of time; I thought it was just one year. Handy thing to know if I predict an imminent end to the world, a nasty bout of terminal leprosy, or an impending prison sentence.

 

[mrerk]

You can borrow up to three years of points at a time so for example:
As of right now we have 2013 2014 and 2015 points available to use.

You can only borrow one years worth of points. To use 3 years worth of points you would have had to have banked your 2012 points, use your current year (2013) points and borrow from your 2014 points.

 

[BCVTalsJam]

I want to double check this...not saying your wrong I just have had 2 DVC guides as well as our rep for when we bought our points tell us this. And I think either myself or my parents have done this...anyone else know for sure yea or know? Not saying anyone's wrong just I have heard this many times by Disney sources

 

[dreamfinder]

I want to double check this...not saying your wrong I just have had 2 DVC guides as well as our rep for when we bought our points tell us this. And I think either myself or my parents have done this...anyone else know for sure yea or know? Not saying anyone's wrong just I have heard this many times by Disney sources

Double checking what, the 3 years of points? As PPs mentioned, you can only bank points for a year, and borrow points for a year. So as pointed out to travel in 2014, you could bank 2013, use the 2014, borrow 2015. So in 2014 you would have 3 years of points. But in 2013 and 2015 you would have none. If you bank your 2013 points and don't use them in 2014, they expire. And in 2013 you could only borrow your 2014 points, not 2015.

 

[Ralphlaw]

That makes more sense. Otherwise, you could borrow for a Christmas 2013 vacation by using your 2013 points, and then borrowing from your 2014 and 2015 points. Sounds great, especially if you have no intention of paying your 2014 and 2015 annual dues, and will let the whole thing slide into foreclosure. No. it would be pretty stupid of DVC to allow that.

 

[EOD K9]

I can also confirm, you can only have a total of three years' worth of points. Banked a previous, use the one you're in now, and borrow from the next. I have 150 at SSR. If I banked all of 2012 and borrowed all of 2014, I would have 450 points total to use in this year. That means though, I cannot vacation at all in 2014 on points. If people borrowed three years ahead, the system would be really wrecked.