Least number of points owned?

[ricesk]

Hey - so a couple of questions not directly on point?

1. If you own only 50 pts at BWV, what do you do, only make a reservation for one night? I don't get it? Then, do you make a cash reservation for the remainder of your stay or move to another resort?

2. If you own a small number of points at various resorts, how does that work?

Say you have:

50 pts, BWV
100 pts WVL
150 points total

Do you make the reservation 11 months out for one night at BWV, then wait til 7 months and try to get something at BWV for the remaining 100 points?

Just wondering....sorry if this is obvious...still learning.....

Thanks!

Karen

[Zach Skellington]

Hi Karen.

Never a dumb question on here... everyone is usually so helpful.

I didn't buy a small contract because I didn't understand what good it was either. But I've learned that those owners use the bank and borrow system to vacation every 2 or 3 years. It really makes good sense.

Have fun learning from everyone on here... I do.

[newjerseynick]

Hey - so a couple of questions not directly on point?

1. If you own only 50 pts at BWV, what do you do, only make a reservation for one night? I don't get it? Then, do you make a cash reservation for the remainder of your stay or move to another resort?

2. If you own a small number of points at various resorts, how does that work?

Say you have:

50 pts, BWV
100 pts WVL
150 points total

Do you make the reservation 11 months out for one night at BWV, then wait til 7 months and try to get something at BWV for the remaining 100 points?

Just wondering....sorry if this is obvious...still learning.....

Thanks!

Karen

We bought the initial 50 VB point contract to get our feet wet, and it was what we could afford to buy in cash at the time. We stayed a Sun-Fri in a studio at OKW our 1st DVC trip. The next trip, we used 48 points for 4 nights in a studio at BWV. We fell in love with the place, and bought 60 points cash a couple months later. 60 points, at the time, which was November of '08, was good for a week in October in a studio. Then the point allotment was changed, but that's another thread.
I cannot combine the 50 VB points with the 60 BWV because they aren't in the same use year, so I'm not sure how combining points in the 7 and 11 month window works.
Does any of that make sense?

Nick

[TimK]

I didn't buy a small contract because I didn't understand what good it was either. But I've learned that those owners use the bank and borrow system to vacation every 2 or 3 years. It really makes good sense.

That's exactly what we do.

We have a 40-point BoardWalk Villas contract. That effectively gives us 120 points to use every 3 years. For instance, in 2009 we will be staying at the BW using our 2008 points (banked), 2009 and borrowing some from 2010.

The only downside is that we will then be unable to book BWV again at 11 months until our 2012 Use Year. Then we can use the 2011, 2012 and 2013 points. That's a downer, but we ARE talking about just a 40-point contract.

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

Hey - so a couple of questions not directly on point?

1. If you own only 50 pts at BWV, what do you do, only make a reservation for one night? I don't get it? Then, do you make a cash reservation for the remainder of your stay or move to another resort?

2. If you own a small number of points at various resorts, how does that work?

Say you have:

50 pts, BWV
100 pts WVL
150 points total

Do you make the reservation 11 months out for one night at BWV, then wait til 7 months and try to get something at BWV for the remaining 100 points?

Just wondering....sorry if this is obvious...still learning.....

Thanks!

Karen

As Tim mentioned above, with just one small contract you can book a couple nites a year or bank your 2009 points into 2010, giving you 100 for 2010 and borrowing 2011 points, now giving you 150 points to book a nice trip in 2010. This works for those wanting to visit WDW every few years.

As for your other example, you have a few options. If you want to use all 150 points each year and only stay at one resort, the best way is to book both resorts at 11 mnoth window: say days 1,2, at BWV and days 3,4,5,6,7,8 at VWL. At 7 month window, call MS and request the BWV days be transfered to VWL. Generally, the days you want to move, book them for the weekend. Weekends are usually availible at 7 month window.

You could also bank & borrow your 50 point BWV points as stated earlier for a 150 point stay every 3 years and work your VWL points in a similar manner so as to do two 150 pointers every two years.

[ricesk]

Wow...thanks for the great info!

So, almost like a little hobby...(a fun little hobby!)...managing your points at various resorts (or at just one resort).

Thanks for the responses! I hope to join the club soon!

[doombuggy]

I bought the minimum i was allowed to buy, which is 100 points. It works pretty well for me, but since I live here I don't always stay at WDW (although I am in Sept & Oct). The two big uses of my points ( I bought in march 2006) were staying at VB and at GCH. I used some banked points and points in the current UY. My UY is October, so I have some points that I banked into 10/2009 and I will need to use them sometime. I am planning a trip to the UK and DLP in October 2010, so I was thinking of using some of the points for that UY to stay in London - I will hope to get a cast discount at a hotel at DLP instead, since I don't need tix.

[DisneyGeek]

I own 160 @ BLT & 50 @ VGC. My plan is 6 nights every year at WDW and 5 nights every 3 or 4 years @ DL (bank & borrow @ VGC). I will book @ 11 months for those stays and then eventually try out different resorts if I can get them @ 7 months. Studios are fine for us since we are just 2 adults with no (human) kids. However, I want to try a treehouse on a group trip if I can snag it @ 7 months (hoping for Sept. 2011), and if the points work out I wouldn't mind a 1 bedroom sometimes just for us!

The remaining points will most likely go to family and friends... So far my parents have already "rented" Dev points from me and have 3 nights @ BLT booked in Feb. 2010 while we are also there.

[AFMom]

First, let me say - Hi Frog!!!!
We just bought an add-on for 80 points at VGC - so that's our smallest. We also plan on banking/borrowing, etc to get a longer stay out of it. Well- we actually bought 2-80 points contracts, but one is actually owned by my In-laws, but on our membership so that I can manage it for them.
We're going to use both contracts for family reunions there every 5 years....
I know of a few people who started with 25-50 points and waited a few years to add on, slowly working up as they could pay cash. I think it's a great way to go, especially if you can ge the same use-years. We started with 100 at OKW - didn't take us long to start adding on!

[jlovesee]

This is exactly what my husband and I are doing. Three years ago we started with a 25 point contract at OKW, and last year we added on 25 more points. Right now we have a total of 50 points. In the next month or so we are looking at adding on 50 points, probably at BLT (I was SOOO happy when they lowered the points required down from 100). This will give us 100 points. My goal is to have 130 points, which is a 1-bedroom almost anywhere for five nights in January. We have been adding on with cash which makes us feel better without that added debt to the mouse.

Jennifer