Lost DVC points

[Elephantay]

Trying to make sense of this...We have a trip planned for June. Our banking window is April 30th, so we could keep this years points. But we borrowed 180 points and were just told today that if we don't use them by Aug 31st, we will lose them! Even if the hotels are open and its safe to travel, there isn't any availability to book where we want by then. And we likely cannot travel then anyway. Last week we were told we could return banked points, and just called about it and were told no. We had to go. To closed hotels with no availability!
What can we do??

 

[aokeefe]

Trying to make sense of this...We have a trip planned for June. Our banking window is April 30th, so we could keep this years points. But we borrowed 180 points and were just told today that if we don't use them by Aug 31st, we will lose them! Even if the hotels are open and its safe to travel, there isn't any availability to book where we want by then. And we likely cannot travel then anyway. Last week we were told we could return banked points, and just called about it and were told no. We had to go. To closed hotels with no availability!
What can we do??

I understand if you can't travel in that time frame but you mention there isn't any availability to book where you want. I think in this case, you should just book wherever you can. Unfortunately there are times when you just have to take what you can get in regards to resorts.

 

[Sandisw]

Trying to make sense of this...We have a trip planned for June. Our banking window is April 30th, so we could keep this years points. But we borrowed 180 points and were just told today that if we don't use them by Aug 31st, we will lose them! Even if the hotels are open and its safe to travel, there isn't any availability to book where we want by then. And we likely cannot travel then anyway. Last week we were told we could return banked points, and just called about it and were told no. We had to go. To closed hotels with no availability!
What can we do??

Last week, they were pretty firm on not allowing people to bank points that were already banked. But, they were allowing people to bank beyond deadline, but it may have only been for people with reservations during the closing or pretty close to it.

Unfortunately, they reversed the decision and decided to only waive holding status...sounds like that is even only for reservations during the closing. The good news is that you really have some time to wait out and see what happens because I truly believe that the things will open back up the beginning of May. Worst case, you either try to go and stay at a resort that isn't your favorite...better than losing points maybe????...or see if you can rent them out to someone who wouldn't mind staying in one that is still available

 

[GoofyCoaster]

Trying to make sense of this...We have a trip planned for June. Our banking window is April 30th, so we could keep this years points. But we borrowed 180 points and were just told today that if we don't use them by Aug 31st, we will lose them! Even if the hotels are open and its safe to travel, there isn't any availability to book where we want by then. And we likely cannot travel then anyway. Last week we were told we could return banked points, and just called about it and were told no. We had to go. To closed hotels with no availability!
What can we do??

Agree with Aokeefe and Sandi. There’s still decent availability in June and July in one bedrooms at multiple resorts. I’d book something and try to travel or gift the reservation to family or friends before I’d let 180 borrowed points expire.

 

[10CJ]

We have a lot of banked points from 2019 in our 2020 use year. We have cancelled our Spring Break trip. We can potentially plan something for the fall. Will we even want to travel then? Will they be open? If we can not use or rent out points in the fall/early winter we will be out a lot of points.

That being said, I am happy that they did not put the points into holding. Not really sure what I expect them to do with the banked points. I can understand why they don't want to bank them again. Not sure what the solution is for those losing banked points.

 

[RaymOOOnd]

I admittedly haven't read the whole thread but those of us with trips booked for April, with a Sept use year, have a real gamble.

Would you:
1. Cancel now and have points placed into holding account, and then use to book a trip in September while availability still allows for it (we would do HHI most likely), or
2. Hold out in the hope that they'll extend the offer to put points back into the account normally, so that they could be banked into the following year and give us more flexibility. If we lose the gamble and they don't extend the leniency, our Sept options may by that time be all booked up and we'll lose the points.

A Sept trip is not what we'd naturally do but we don't want to lose the points.

 

[poofyo101]

Maybe give people with expiring points the ability to save them and redeem on a Disney cruise once normal again at a reasonable rate instead of the normal trading rate which makes no sense?
That may help relieve some of the point backlog too.
IF possible to extend the contract that isn't a bad idea either....

 

[10CJ]

I admittedly haven't read the whole thread but those of us with trips booked for April, with a Sept use year, have a real gamble.

Would you:
1. Cancel now and have points placed into holding account, and then use to book a trip in September while availability still allows for it (we would do HHI most likely), or
2. Hold out in the hope that they'll extend the offer to put points back into the account normally, so that they could be banked into the following year and give us more flexibility. If we lose the gamble and they don't extend the leniency, our Sept options may by that time be all booked up and we'll lose the points.

A Sept trip is not what we'd naturally do but we don't want to lose the points.

We had an early April trip planned and were able to cancel now without points going into holding.

 

[n2mm]

A lot of great ideas here. You guys make it easier to vent about this without feeling bad about myself. While I’ll get over losing my wdw trip and my cruise with just the two of us, I’m still trying to salvage a trip with the grandkids.... I hate posting on the dvc FB site because I don’t need someone telling me rules are rules for a reason. I believe when the rules were written no one considered something like this happening, so maybe they need to come up with some options.

 

[starry_solo]

I admittedly haven't read the whole thread but those of us with trips booked for April, with a Sept use year, have a real gamble.

Would you:
1. Cancel now and have points placed into holding account, and then use to book a trip in September while availability still allows for it (we would do HHI most likely), or
2. Hold out in the hope that they'll extend the offer to put points back into the account normally, so that they could be banked into the following year and give us more flexibility. If we lose the gamble and they don't extend the leniency, our Sept options may by that time be all booked up and we'll lose the points.

A Sept trip is not what we'd naturally do but we don't want to lose the points.

It is unlikely the resorts will open in April but I wouldn't also hold out hope that they would let you put the borrowed points back into the original use year. I think DVC management figured out that there was no way it could be sustained.

 

[Marionnette]

Maybe give people with expiring points the ability to save them and redeem on a Disney cruise once normal again at a reasonable rate instead of the normal trading rate which makes no sense?
That may help relieve some of the point backlog too.
IF possible to extend the contract that isn't a bad idea either....

In order to trade DVC points into DCL cabins, DVC has to have inventory to offer to CRO to sell. The money from that sale pays for the cruise. Giving owners back points that are expiring/expired does not free up inventory to do this.

 

[kkbutterfly]

Hey everyone - question. I'm looking to lose 140 from a current reservation that need to be used by July 31. To be honest, I'm not really pro Disney right this minute. Since these points are not going into holding, could I use them to travel with RCI before July 31? I'd love to try something else over the summer vs return to Disney.

 

[Chuck S]

Hey everyone - question. I'm looking to lose 140 from a current reservation that need to be used by July 31. To be honest, I'm not really pro Disney right this minute. Since these points are not going into holding, could I use them to travel with RCI before July 31? I'd love to try something else over the summer vs return to Disney.

I haven't used RCI, but, I think the points have to be transferred to RCI 4 months prior to the end of your use, so I'm guessing the end of March. But, I don't think your RCI Travel has to be completed prior to the end of your use year.

 

[Sandisw]

Hey everyone - question. I'm looking to lose 140 from a current reservation that need to be used by July 31. To be honest, I'm not really pro Disney right this minute. Since these points are not going into holding, could I use them to travel with RCI before July 31? I'd love to try something else over the summer vs return to Disney.

From my understanding you can deposit them to RCI and once there, you get 2 years to use them up. I think there is a lot on the website.

 

[kkbutterfly]

From my understanding you can deposit them to RCI and once there, you get 2 years to use them up. I think there is a lot on the website.

Thanks! I will do some more reading! If I'm going to lose the points, I'd love to do some different travel.

 

[quandrea]

I’m considering eco too as I don’t want to fly. Not too much choice here in Canada, but it’s something.

 

[Marc A.]

It is unlikely the resorts will open in April but I wouldn't also hold out hope that they would let you put the borrowed points back into the original use year. I think DVC management figured out that there was no way it could be sustained.

I agree with you but the fact that they allowed borrowed points to go back to original UY for some and then just stopped it arbitrarily is troubling.

 

[CarolMN]

From Page 8 of the RCI disclosure guide on the DVC Members' Website:

Deposits of Vacation Time received by DVC Member Services from 45 days and until 14 days before the commencement date of the Vacation Time being deposited also are accepted; provided, however, that such deposits can only be used for an exchange that will occur from 44 days and until 24 hours in advance of the desired Vacation Time.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

We got really lucky with this. We rented points for a trip and our member was kind enough to reschedule us. We are squeezing in our trip and ending 2 days before their points expire. I totally understand the frustration, but won't returning all those banked points mess up inventory going forward?

Same here! Their points expire June-- our new booking is May 29th-June 1st. Hopefully it is open by then...

 

[Blumanchu]

They can compensate us for those lost banked points in other ways without compromising the inventory system. I'm advocating that they include us with the other incentives they will open to the general public to get them back into the parks like free tickets, meal plans, etc. We DVC members never get those considerations because they have us locked in. But hey we get to go swim at the Saratoga Springs pool and get a 10% discount at never-heard-of-it restaurant! Not doing this while we paid taxes and fees on those points is wrong. Sorry I'm fired up I'm losing over 270 banked points.