if the hurricane hits, any recourse to points that expire Nov 30?

[alisonslp]

we have a trip planned for next week. This Hurricane Irma is looking more and more like it is going to continue on a western pattern. I am not yet alarmed but I want a plan in place in case of worst case scenario. Added to that, we are in NC so even if FL doesn't get hit, there is a good chance NC will. We were down in Disney for Matthew last year and we actually had a good time, but then returned home to major flooding that we hadn't expected so far inland.

I have a Dec use year and about 75% of the points I am using for a 5 day split stay were previously banked. Normally we would lose the points if we cancel - well, we could try to book something between now and the end of nov but that is going to be difficult with food and wine. So my question is - has anyone been in a similar position where a weather event forced a cancellation on points that are about to expire? Is there any remedy to this, like an extension on the expiration? I am guess the answer is no, but I figured I would ask before contacting MS

 

[tjkraz]

Here is the formal hurricane policy:

From June 1 to November 30, in the event a hurricane warning is issued by the National Hurricane Center for the Orlando area, Vero Beach area, Hilton Head Island, Oʻahu or for the Member's place of residence within 7 days before the scheduled arrival date, the Member may call Member Services at (800) 800-9800† or (407) 566-3800† prior to Check-In to cancel or reschedule, based upon availability, their Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation without any cancellation or modification penalty.

Just call Member Services at (800) 800-9800† or (407) 566-3800† as indicated above. If you were planning on staying at a Member Getaways destination and a hurricane warning is issued for that destination, please also contact Member Services.

PLEASE NOTE:

• We cannot guarantee availability of similar accommodations for the new travel dates.
• The policy does not apply to certain special events and dining experiences (e.g., the Member Cruise).
• This policy pertains to hurricane warnings only. Other weather advisory levels are handled on a case-by-case basis and Members should contact Member Services.

The normal procedure is to return points to the use year with no penalty, and to even allow banking if past the deadline. However, I don't know how they would handle points that have already been banked and are less than 3 months from expiring. If you're concerned, I'd send an email through the member website and ask...just so you get it in writing. Hope you don't have to cancel!

 

[alisonslp]

Here is the formal hurricane policy:


The normal procedure is to return points to the use year with no penalty, and to even allow banking if past the deadline. However, I don't know how they would handle points that have already been banked and are less than 3 months from expiring. If you're concerned, I'd send an email through the member website and ask...just so you get it in writing. Hope you don't have to cancel!

Great idea! Thanks!! hoping we don't have to cancel either.

 

[Sandisw]

Last year, we ended up having to cancel our trip due to Hurricane Matthew. MS was wonderful. We got all of the points returned to the account and they were put into original status...my borrowed points were "unborrowed" for me. I did not expect that and we figured we would lose them as they were Dec UY points, but because of the warning that had been issued, MS was able to do a lot with the points. So, I think when there is a threat of weather like this, they are pretty good at making the adjustments for people.

 

[alisonslp]

I should have specified in my original post - the points are from Dec 2015, so they were banked in 2016. If they were 2016 points, I am sure MS could just rebank them but I don't know about these points.

I have emailed MS and just waiting for a reply. With the new track of Irma -looking like most models have it going north up through FL - I am sure they will be very busy answering calls regarding it over the next few days. I have tix for a halloween party on the 12th and the AK event on the 13th, both of which will be canceled if the current tracking proves correct. Can't believe this is happening to our vacation 2 years in a row.

 

[amccu18007]

I should have specified in my original post - the points are from Dec 2015, so they were banked in 2016. If they were 2016 points, I am sure MS could just rebank them but I don't know about these points.

I have emailed MS and just waiting for a reply. With the new track of Irma -looking like most models have it going north up through FL - I am sure they will be very busy answering calls regarding it over the next few days. I have tix for a halloween party on the 12th and the AK event on the 13th, both of which will be canceled if the current tracking proves correct. Can't believe this is happening to our vacation 2 years in a row.

I hope that you are able to get an extension, even if it is only for a few months to get you out of hurricane season. We were at Disney last year, were the last flight into an already closed Orlando airport(talk about apocalyptic!) and the only ones on the road to Disney due to the driving ban. We ended up having a strange but wonderful trip. Disney was amazing to work with and understand that no one can fight mother nature.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Don't feel bad, mine expire September 30 Also banked. Second year in a row for us too, and LAST hurricane season trip. No wonder points are so low in September.....not worth it.

 

[murcor]

I have a reservation for this weekend using Sept 2016 points too

I was talking to MS this morning and
Basically:
If I cancel between now and one day prior to arrival I will get my Vacation Points back BUT they must be used for travel by September 30, 2017 or they expire.

**** She did mention a couple times that there is 'NO' hurricane warning yet. If there is a hurricane warning issued I will call back and see if I have any other options.

 

[alisonslp]

Don't feel bad, mine expire September 30 Also banked. Second year in a row for us too, and LAST hurricane season trip. No wonder points are so low in September.....not worth it.

We have gone several times in sept-nov and have never had problems, aside from last year and this year. If I had known about use year (and really understood is) I would never have done a Dec one b/c we tend to take our trips in sept. ;-(

I have a reservation for this weekend using Sept 2016 points too

I was talking to MS this morning and
Basically:
If I cancel between now and one day prior to arrival I will get my Vacation Points back BUT they must be used for travel by September 30, 2017 or they expire.

**** She did mention a couple times that there is 'NO' hurricane warning yet. If there is a hurricane warning issued I will call back and see if I have any other options.

FL declared a state of emergency and evacuation. I think that qualifies. but they will be declaring a hurricane warning in the next 3 days so you may just want to wait, depending on your arrival date. If you have sept '16 use year, didn't you bank this year? If so, and there is a H warning, they will put your points back into the bank, where you could use them all the way to sept '18, right? Mine were banked in 2016 (2015 points) so their is no where to put them unless MS extends their date.

Honestly, I am just hoping that even if it hits the coast, we will still be able to get down there and enjoy the rest of the week. So really hoping I don't have to cancel. Of course, if it is a direct hit on Orlando, they may be canceling those reservations but as of right now there is nothing on their site. I recall with Matthew that they had a message around 4 days out.

 

[murcor]

We have gone several times in sept-nov and have never had problems, aside from last year and this year. If I had known about use year (and really understood is) I would never have done a Dec one b/c we tend to take our trips in sept. ;-(

FL declared a state of emergency and evacuation. I think that qualifies. but they will be declaring a hurricane warning in the next 3 days so you may just want to wait, depending on your arrival date. If you have sept '16 use year, didn't you bank this year? If so, and there is a H warning, they will put your points back into the bank, where you could use them all the way to sept '18, right? Mine were banked in 2016 (2015 points) so their is no where to put them unless MS extends their date.

Honestly, I am just hoping that even if it hits the coast, we will still be able to get down there and enjoy the rest of the week. So really hoping I don't have to cancel. Of course, if it is a direct hit on Orlando, they may be canceling those reservations but as of right now there is nothing on their site. I recall with Matthew that they had a message around 4 days out.

Appreciate you taking the time to post.
You answered many questions I had.
Example: when would a hurricane warning be issued if they were going to do so.

I might just wait another day or 2 before I cancel to see if a warning is issued.

 

[alisonslp]

This is what I received today - and I did not use as many banked points (totally expires dec 2017) as I thought I had so that's the good news, but bad news is that I will lose those 70 points b/c there is no availability between now and dec 1 other than a day here/there. I don't think I could even put together split stays. If we were to try, we would need to stay at least 4 days to be worth the trip and I don't want to stay in 4 different places.

from MS:
We appreciate your interest in your Vacation Points and we will be happy
to answer your question! Between both reservations, you are using 70
Banked Vacation Points and 133 Vacation Points. The 70 Banked Vacation
Points would have to be used toward a reservation as long as you
complete your travel by December 1, 2017 or they will expire. If a
Hurricane Warning is issued for the Orlando Area or in your area, we can
bank the 133 Vacation Points to your December 2017 Use Year for you.

 

[dmask]

This is what I received today - and I did not use as many banked points (totally expires dec 2017) as I thought I had so that's the good news, but bad news is that I will lose those 70 points b/c there is no availability between now and dec 1 other than a day here/there. I don't think I could even put together split stays. If we were to try, we would need to stay at least 4 days to be worth the trip and I don't want to stay in 4 different places.

from MS:
We appreciate your interest in your Vacation Points and we will be happy
to answer your question! Between both reservations, you are using 70
Banked Vacation Points and 133 Vacation Points. The 70 Banked Vacation
Points would have to be used toward a reservation as long as you
complete your travel by December 1, 2017 or they will expire. If a
Hurricane Warning is issued for the Orlando Area or in your area, we can
bank the 133 Vacation Points to your December 2017 Use Year for you.

Might not be the best use of points, but if they are going to expire maybe a resort reservation - one of the moderates.

 

[alisonslp]

we decided to go through with our vacation. It looks like IRMA will graze the coast. I am sure Disney will get effects, like with Matthew but not what they initially were expecting. I am ok to stay locked in my room for the 12 hours of the storm and then enjoy the rest of the trip.

ETA - I was able to add on a day on the front end and merge it with my reservation so I have a place to stay Saturday and don't have to worry about moving hotels/resorts. I am still a little worried about OKW with the lake (flooded parking lots?) but we have a full kitchen this time and we are bringing down food supplies just in case they do what they did last year and closed everything down.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Appreciate you taking the time to post.
You answered many questions I had.
Example: when would a hurricane warning be issued if they were going to do so.

I might just wait another day or 2 before I cancel to see if a warning is issued.

Any update? I have the exact situation. Our points expire 9/30, I have 235 points on this trip. Even if they put them back, they will expire. I really knew before I sit on hold for hours if it's even possible for them to move these for me. These are banked September 2015 points.

 

[thegales]

Any update? I have the exact situation. Our points expire 9/30, I have 235 points on this trip. Even if they put them back, they will expire. I really knew before I sit on hold for hours if it's even possible for them to move these for me. These are banked September 2015 points.

Based on my contact with MS this morning, they will make an exception, and allow you to bank any current year points. They will not allow you to re-bank points from the prior year. So our trip used 17 points that were banked from last year, and the rest were current year points. If we do not use them, we will lose the 17 points on November 30. Since yours are banked from prior year, I think you will be out of luck. However, I also recommend you explaining the situation, and hopefully getting a different result.

I also recommend using the Chat feature on the Contact Us page, if you keep getting the busy signal when calling MS. I was able to take care of everything with Chat.

 

[zavandor]

Is it possible to deposit points into RCI for a possible future use?

 

[alisonslp]

we decided to go through with our vacation. It looks like IRMA will graze the coast. I am sure Disney will get effects, like with Matthew but not what they initially were expecting. I am ok to stay locked in my room for the 12 hours of the storm and then enjoy the rest of the trip.

ETA - I was able to add on a day on the front end and merge it with my reservation so I have a place to stay Saturday and don't have to worry about moving hotels/resorts. I am still a little worried about OKW with the lake (flooded parking lots?) but we have a full kitchen this time and we are bringing down food supplies just in case they do what they did last year and closed everything down.

So, with the westward tracking change, we decided to cancel the front part of our trip. I still wanted to go down but the lack of gas really worried me. We are going to keep watching the news reports and decide on Monday whether to make the trip on Tues. We have to use I95 to get down there so if there is flooding or downed trees on it in SC, GA or top portion of FL, we can't drive down.

Any update? I have the exact situation. Our points expire 9/30, I have 235 points on this trip. Even if they put them back, they will expire. I really knew before I sit on hold for hours if it's even possible for them to move these for me. These are banked September 2015 points.

Based on my contact with MS this morning, they will make an exception, and allow you to bank any current year points. They will not allow you to re-bank points from the prior year. So our trip used 17 points that were banked from last year, and the rest were current year points. If we do not use them, we will lose the 17 points on November 30. Since yours are banked from prior year, I think you will be out of luck. However, I also recommend you explaining the situation, and hopefully getting a different result.

I also recommend using the Chat feature on the Contact Us page, if you keep getting the busy signal when calling MS. I was able to take care of everything with Chat.

I can confirm with what thegales said. CMs would not budge on doing anything for my 2015 points. It is one of the reasons we decided to modify the res instead of canceling all together. I still have 20 in holding but I plan to add days to the backend of the trip, only, there isn't much availability for next weekend. As far as the chat feature goes, I tried using that 2 days ago and the person told me to call b/c we were dealing with points that were expiring without the possibility of re-banking. When I called both times, it was roughly 30 min wait.

 

[wdw4rfam]

So, with the westward tracking change, we decided to cancel the front part of our trip. I still wanted to go down but the lack of gas really worried me. We are going to keep watching the news reports and decide on Monday whether to make the trip on Tues. We have to use I95 to get down there so if there is flooding or downed trees on it in SC, GA or top portion of FL, we can't drive down.




I can confirm with what thegales said. CMs would not budge on doing anything for my 2015 points. It is one of the reasons we decided to modify the res instead of canceling all together. I still have 20 in holding but I plan to add days to the backend of the trip, only, there isn't much availability for next weekend. As far as the chat feature goes, I tried using that 2 days ago and the person told me to call b/c we were dealing with points that were expiring without the possibility of re-banking. When I called both times, it was roughly 30 min wait.

I figured, that's why I didn't even call. I have 160 2015 points, so we're going. We're booked 16-22 at kidani and 22-28 at poly. So even if we lose a couple days and go late, we're going. I can't just say oh well to losing that many points. If it was 20 or so that would be different. We go 95 too, but we could also go 75. We also have family that evacuated from Tampa so they are going to give us a heads up on roads going back before we leave.

 

[Kath816]

We also were traveling to DW last year during Matthew, when we had to cancel due to flights being cancelled. I spoke to several representatives and a manager. They would not extend use of the banked points. They did say we could transfer them to RCI. Originally they said they would be extended, but when points were not moved and I called several weeks later, I found out that this was not so.

 

[Nojoydisney]

Based on my contact with MS this morning, they will make an exception, and allow you to bank any current year points. They will not allow you to re-bank points from the prior year. So our trip used 17 points that were banked from last year, and the rest were current year points. If we do not use them, we will lose the 17 points on November 30. Since yours are banked from prior year, I think you will be out of luck. However, I also recommend you explaining the situation, and hopefully getting a different result.

I also recommend using the Chat feature on the Contact Us page, if you keep getting the busy signal when calling MS. I was able to take care of everything with Chat.

So, with the westward tracking change, we decided to cancel the front part of our trip. I still wanted to go down but the lack of gas really worried me. We are going to keep watching the news reports and decide on Monday whether to make the trip on Tues. We have to use I95 to get down there so if there is flooding or downed trees on it in SC, GA or top portion of FL, we can't drive down.




I can confirm with what thegales said. CMs would not budge on doing anything for my 2015 points. It is one of the reasons we decided to modify the res instead of canceling all together. I still have 20 in holding but I plan to add days to the backend of the trip, only, there isn't much availability for next weekend. As far as the chat feature goes, I tried using that 2 days ago and the person told me to call b/c we were dealing with points that were expiring without the possibility of re-banking. When I called both times, it was roughly 30 min wait.

My wife and I had a long planned trip to DW that was scheduled to begin today (sept 9) for a full week at Boardwalk Villas, but was cancelled because of Irma. We used 90 banked points for part of the reservation. We are now told we will loose all 90 points because we can't rebook before Dec 1. Even if we could, there are not 7 consecutive days available anywhere. The so called DVC supervisor was uncaring and continued to only quote their corporate policy. We were given the option of using them towards a RCI property...my response was that we are DVC members, not RCI members. Disney, it seems, has decided to forsake its members at the hands of Mother Nature. Poorly done Disney, poorly done.