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2017 Destination Club Points Reservations [Using Bank-able Points]

Art

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Has anyone been able to book at 2017 reservations with DC points?

I have looked at a number of resorts for January 2017 and I am seeing no availability with DC points anywhere. While I am interested in Canyon Villas, I have checked low demand areas such as Hilton Head in January as a system check.

I have Executive rating so I do get a message that anything beyond the middle of February 2017 is not in my booking window. And, I have usable points because I can see availability until December 31st of 2016.

Is there some wrinkle about which I have forgotten, or is it a matter of nothing yet being available for 2017? I wasn't able to get any kind of answer on the MVCI chat line.

Art
 
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dioxide45

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Do you have 2017 points elected to use? I don't think the system will look at bankable points when making a reservation, though it will look at points that are available to be borrowed. Fasttr or some other more seasoned DC user can likely confirm.

If that is true and you only have 2016 points but no 2017 points, then you wouldn't' be able to see any 2017 availability.
 

Fasttr

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Do you have 2017 points elected to use? I don't think the system will look at bankable points when making a reservation, though it will look at points that are available to be borrowed. Fasttr or some other more seasoned DC user can likely confirm.

If that is true and you only have 2016 points but no 2017 points, then you wouldn't' be able to see any 2017 availability.

You are correct. The system will not include bankable points as available when viewing ressies in a future Use Year. It will however include borrowable points. My guess is you are right on the money regarding the OP's issue.

OP can always call and have a VOA look at availability without having either banked 2016 points to 2017 or elected 2017 points.

For the record, I recently booked some Hawaii ressies for mid Feb 2017 so I know 2017 ressies are possible.
 
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jimf41

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I don't think I quite understand this. If I try to make a reservation in 2017 with 2016 points are you saying I won't see availability? I know that if I have both 2016 and 2017 points in the account and I make the reservation in 2017 the system will use my 2016 points first unless you tell it otherwise.

It seems improbable that if had booked all my 2017 points and only had 2016 points that the system would check if I had 2018 points too borrow but currently were not converted and make the reservation with those for a 2017 reservation.

Especially improbable because if the 2018 points as yet unconverted were all I had the system would not allow me to make any reservation with out converting those 2018 points first.

2017 reservations are available at MFC currently in the 13 month period.
 

Fasttr

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I know that if I have both 2016 and 2017 points in the account and I make the reservation in 2017 the system will use my 2016 points first unless you tell it otherwise.

Unless they have recently modified things, I don't think the system will bank points as part of a ressie booking process, which I believe is what you are saying it will do.

On the flip side, it will borrow points (if they are available) as part of the ressie booking process.

I agree it makes no sense, but that is how I understand it to work.

Now if you had 2016 points that you had already banked into 2017, and then go to book a 2017 ressie, the system will in that instance suggest using your already banked point before dipping into your pure 2017 points
 
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JIMinNC

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Fasttr's explanation is how I found it to work last year about this time when I did a couple of tests using 2015 and 2016 points. The 2015 points had to be already banked to 2016 for them to be usable for a 2016 reservation. The system would not automatically bank the points for me. The system would, however, automatically borrow 2017 points for a 2016 reservation.
 

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You guys might be right. I'll check next weekend when the 13 month reservations should open up at MFC for a 1/28/17 reservation. The earliest date was Dec 29 for 13 months and 29 Jan for 12 months but the 13 month slots really don't appear until about a week before the 12 month slots open.

After I book a week using my converted 2017 points the only thing I'll have left will be 2016 points or 2017/2018 points that are not converted yet. I think they will use 2016 points for the second reservation. I do not believe they can convert my weeks to points without my permission to fulfill a reservation request. I also believe I will be able to search 2017 with those 2016 points.

I usually always have a mix of points at this time of year so I can't really say I've run into this situation before but I'll try it next week and see what happens.
 

TRAVELING FOOL

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Has anyone been able to book at 2017 reservations with DC points?

I have looked at a number of resorts for January 2017 and I am seeing no availability with DC points anywhere. While I am interested in Canyon Villas, I have checked low demand areas such as Hilton Head in January as a system check.

I have Executive rating so I do get a message that anything beyond the middle of February 2017 is not in my booking window. And, I have usable points because I can see availability until December 31st of 2016.

Is there some wrinkle about which I have forgotten, or is it a matter of nothing yet being available for 2017? I wasn't able to get any kind of answer on the MVCI chat line.

Art

I too have been having difficulty booking for Jan. 2017. I have plenty of points available for 2017. Surely it is not the 35 points from 2016 keeping me from booking? I phoned the advisor number and she said she did not see anything available as well. She suggested calling this Fri. when Marriott deposits the other half of their points. She also mentioned being put on a wait list and said she didn't think I would have a problem. I find this all very strange!:annoyed:
 

Fasttr

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After I book a week using my converted 2017 points the only thing I'll have left will be 2016 points or 2017/2018 points that are not converted yet. I think they will use 2016 points for the second reservation. I do not believe they can convert my weeks to points without my permission to fulfill a reservation request. I also believe I will be able to search 2017 with those 2016 points.

Jim, you are correct about the non elected points not coming into play. It will only pull "borrowable" points, meaning in your case, you would have had to already elected your 2018 week for points for the system to see them and consider them as "borrowable".

I believe you will find, after you have used your pure 2017 points and have no other Use Year points available (meaning elected and in your account) other than your non banked 2016 points, that the system will show you no availability anywhere in 2017 until you actually bank your 2016 points forward.

Let us know how it turns out.
 

Fasttr

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I too have been having difficulty booking for Jan. 2017. I have plenty of points available for 2017. Surely it is not the 35 points from 2016 keeping me from booking? I phoned the advisor number and she said she did not see anything available as well. She suggested calling this Fri. when Marriott deposits the other half of their points. She also mentioned being put on a wait list and said she didn't think I would have a problem. I find this all very strange!:annoyed:

They do seem to release inventory at random dates that do not always follow the 13 and 12 month release calendars exactly. If you have plenty of 2017 points in your account then your issue is clearly an availability issue. I would keep checking daily. Wait Listing is not a bad idea, but even so, I would keep looking on my own (assuming you have enough remaining points to do so).
 

JIMinNC

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Has anyone been able to book at 2017 reservations with DC points?

I have looked at a number of resorts for January 2017 and I am seeing no availability with DC points anywhere. While I am interested in Canyon Villas, I have checked low demand areas such as Hilton Head in January as a system check.

I have Executive rating so I do get a message that anything beyond the middle of February 2017 is not in my booking window. And, I have usable points because I can see availability until December 31st of 2016.

Is there some wrinkle about which I have forgotten, or is it a matter of nothing yet being available for 2017? I wasn't able to get any kind of answer on the MVCI chat line.

Art

I looked using my account (standard lowly Owner, not Executive) and there was Hilton Head availability all of January 2017 and Canyon Villas availability the first half of January. So check to make sure you have enough points actually banked into 2017, native 2017, or borrowable from 2018.
 

dioxide45

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Fasttr's explanation is how I found it to work last year about this time when I did a couple of tests using 2015 and 2016 points. The 2015 points had to be already banked to 2016 for them to be usable for a 2016 reservation. The system would not automatically bank the points for me. The system would, however, automatically borrow 2017 points for a 2016 reservation.

Is this likely because borrowed points are still good through the end of the use year they were borrowed from in the event you cancel the reservation? However, banked points are no longer good in the use year you banked them from.

This is from page 5 of the Exchange Procedure section E;
Borrowed Exchange Points may not be banked for use in a subsequent Use Year; however, borrowed Exchange Points do not expire until the end of the Use Year from which such Exchange Points were borrowed.

Limiting someone from banking points would make sense as someone could have a surprise if they cancel a reservation. This same limitation doesn't exist for borrowed points.
 

Fasttr

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Is this likely because borrowed points are still good through the end of the use year they were borrowed from in the event you cancel the reservation? However, banked points are no longer good in the use year you banked them from.

This is from page 5 of the Exchange Procedure section E;


Limiting someone from banking points would make sense as someone could have a surprise if they cancel a reservation. This same limitation doesn't exist for borrowed points.

I would imagine that is exactly why they treat those buckets the way they do.

That said, it seems as though they could allow bankable points to be included in available points when looking for availability in a future year and they could certainly add an "are you sure...this is irreversible" warning when the system is about to auto bank points in order to secure a ressie.
 
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Art

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Thanks, everyone.

Even though I have been in the DC from the beginning, the pattern of my point use somehow missed out on this bit of education.

Art
 

Art

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Me too Art. Although I will test it out in a week or so as I indicated above. Nice to have Super Guru's like Greg T, Fasttr, Dioxide and Sue to keep us on the path of the straight and narrow.

Also new to me, or kind of murky in comments in the past, but one must push the "Borrow" button before selecting a stay that might require more points than are currently available. Initially it was a little bit disconcerting, but it is a good way to prevent unintentional borrowing.

Art
 

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Well I tested it out. This is what I found. Booking a 2017 reservation with both 2016 and 2017 points available the system took them from my 2017 points and did not give me the option of selecting 2016 prior to clicking the confirm tab.

Having enough 2017 points left for a midweek stay but not enough for a FRI-SAT stay the system showed me availability midweek but not on the days where 2016 points would have been required.

I went back in and banked those 2016 points and rechecked and the previous weekend dates that showed no availability. They were now magically available.

The only thing I didn't confirm was if the system would have looked at elected/converted 2018 points to make a 2017 reservation. I don't like to elect that far in advance.

Just when you're felling cocky about how well you know the system something comes up to humble you once again.

My next bit of fun will be to find out if the VOA's know this.
 

JIMinNC

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Well I tested it out. This is what I found. Booking a 2017 reservation with both 2016 and 2017 points available the system took them from my 2017 points and did not give me the option of selecting 2016 prior to clicking the confirm tab.

Having enough 2017 points left for a midweek stay but not enough for a FRI-SAT stay the system showed me availability midweek but not on the days where 2016 points would have been required.

I went back in and banked those 2016 points and rechecked and the previous weekend dates that showed no availability. They were now magically available.

The only thing I didn't confirm was if the system would have looked at elected/converted 2018 points to make a 2017 reservation. I don't like to elect that far in advance.

Just when you're felling cocky about how well you know the system something comes up to humble you once again.

My next bit of fun will be to find out if the VOA's know this.

That's the same basic test I did last year about this time, using Maui Ocean Club. Just as you found, there was no availability showing for late Jan - Feb 2016 - until I actually banked my 2015 points into 2016 - then the availability suddenly appeared as it did for you. I'm not sure why the system works that way, but that's what they do - they will automatically borrow points from a future year, but the owner must manually bank points for them to be used in a search.
 

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I found another glitch in the online booking system when making a reservation for 2016. I had about 10,000 enrolled points for the current year (2016) that had not yet been banked, in addition to 5000 points from 2015 that were banked with 2 yr expiration (2017). When I made the reservation, I was only offered the option to use the 2016 points. I had to call to get MVC to apply my banked points, since I plan to either rent out or bank my current year points.

I think most of us would prefer to use the points that expire first (banked points) vs current year points. Therefore, they need to reprogram the reservation tool to accommodate the extended banking period for executive + members.
 

SueDonJ

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I found another glitch in the online booking system when making a reservation for 2016. I had about 10,000 enrolled points for the current year (2016) that had not yet been banked, in addition to 5000 points from 2015 that were banked with 2 yr expiration (2017). When I made the reservation, I was only offered the option to use the 2016 points. I had to call to get MVC to apply my banked points, since I plan to either rent out or bank my current year points.

I think most of us would prefer to use the points that expire first (banked points) vs current year points. Therefore, they need to reprogram the reservation tool to accommodate the extended banking period for executive + members.

Your 2016 Points expire 12/31/16 and your banked Points expire 12/31/17. Considering that the system doesn't pull bank-able Points, I'd say it did pull correctly based on the expiration dates? If your 2016 Points were already banked they'd have a 12/31/18 expiration date, in which case then I'd expect it to first pull the 2017-expiring Points.

I agree with others that it would be nice if the system could pull both bank-able and borrow-able Points, but Dioxide's explanation above makes sense of why bank-able is not an automatic pull.
 

Superchief

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Your 2016 Points expire 12/31/16 and your banked Points expire 12/31/17. Considering that the system doesn't pull bank-able Points, I'd say it did pull correctly based on the expiration dates? If your 2016 Points were already banked they'd have a 12/31/18 expiration date, in which case then I'd expect it to first pull the 2017-expiring Points.

I agree with others that it would be nice if the system could pull both bank-able and borrow-able Points, but Dioxide's explanation above makes sense of why bank-able is not an automatic pull.

I think I should be able to make an online reservation with any point that is available for that use year. This would include current year points, as well as banked points. Banked points that expire at the end of 2017 are still qualified to be used in 2016. I should be able to choose to use them rather than the unbanked points.

I always use my least valuable points first. Those that are banked for up to two years are less valuable to me than my current unbanked points. I can either rent out the current year points, or I can bank them for up to two years (2018). Effectively, they expire after my currently banked points. The extended banking option obviously created a new problem for the reservation system that MVC hasn't yet solved. This requires phone calls rather than self-service online reservations, and is a contributing factor to the decline in customer service due to added call volume.
 
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