Hello Pamela!
Welcome to planDisney! Traveling certainly has become more complex in the past two years, hasn’t it? We were able to use our
Disney Vacation Club Membership this past summer for a rescheduled trip to Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, Ko Olina, Hawai’i. Since all twelve of us on the trip had to complete a test for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours before our departure, I was very concerned about having to cancel if someone tested positive! It was nerve-wracking! It was a huge sense of relief when all twelve tests came back negative!
Pamela, there are no longer special cancelation policies for COVID-19. Those ended in May of 2021.
The usual rules for cancelation would apply. Members who cancel a reservation less than 30 days before check-in will have their Vacation Points put into a
Holding Account. Vacation Points in a Holding Account can be used to book a stay within a 60-day timeframe. Members who cancel on the day of check-in will have all Vacation Points forfeited. Now, having gone through the official rules, if something like this occurred, I would absolutely recommend calling Member Services to see if there would be any different options given the situation.
A few other things to consider before your trip. If you haven’t already, speak with your primary care provider to discuss vaccination. As a nurse, I felt less anxious before our Hawaii trip knowing that all eligible members of our group were vaccinated. As a family, we also conducted our own kind of quarantine in the two weeks leading up to our trip. We stayed home as much as possible and wore our masks if we had to go out. I remember feeling a little funny when I had to attend a meeting for my son’s high school marching band when I sat as far away from everyone else as possible. But I simply said, “We are going to Hawaii next week, and I can’t take any chances of getting sick and having to cancel this vacation for a second time!” Everyone understood my concerns. (And expressed jealousy of our trip!)
You could also consider purchasing travel insurance. You can purchase your own, or look into the
insurance available through Disney Vacation Club, which is available to Members from Canada. While a cancellation doesn’t return all of your Vacation Points to your account, it does assist with airfare cancellation, other expenses, and it refunds a portion of your annual dues based on how many Vacation Points were used for the booking. If you are interested in travel protection I would read through the contract in detail. You could also call Member Services or the insurance company with more specific questions about what the policy does and does not cover. It might offer you a bit more peace of mind. While I don’t typically purchase travel protection, we have a trip to Disneyland coming up next month, and with the concerns of COVID-19, I did purchase insurance for this trip.
I hope some of these ideas may be helpful to you, Pamela. Sending you pixie dust for good health, and all negative tests before your trip!
Wishing you
Membership Magic!- Kate