Hello Cindy!
Welcome Home, and welcome to planDisney! We have been
Disney Vacation Club Members for more than 12 years and it is one of the best things we have done for our family. We just got back from an amazing vacation with our DVC Membership, full of magical memories with our kids.
Understanding your Vacation Points and booking window is important to be sure you get the most from your Membership. I strongly recommend you plan well in advance and book early.
Let’s talk about how to figure out when to book what! Use Year defines when the stay must occur. With a February Use Year, the Vacation Points must be used for stays between February 1 and January 31 (of the following year). This doesn’t mean you have to wait until February 1 to go online or call Member Services and book, it’s not like a cash deposit where the money isn’t there until that actual date. February 1 is just the earliest night you can stay using those Vacation Points.
Let’s go through some examples. It sounds like you used the Vacation Points in your 2021 Use Year to book a stay in January 2022. That works as long as the last day booked on Vacation Points isn’t any later than January 31, 2022.
You still have 150 Vacation Points in your 2022 Use Year. The earliest you can stay with them would be February 1, 2022. Since you can book your Home Resort 11 months in advance, that means you can begin booking your Home Resort as early as March 1, 2021.
You would be able to book non-Home Resorts 7 months before check-in, so beginning July 1, 2021. This means you can use your Vacation Points right now to book your Home Resort between February 1 and May 2022.
If you aren’t going to use some or all of your Vacation Points during your Use Year, then you can and should
bank your Vacation Points into the next Use Year. You may bank your Vacation Points anytime in the first 8 months that Use Year. For February Use Years you must bank your Vacation Points by September 30. Banked Points cannot be unbanked, and cannot be banked a second time, so be sure you are sure! If you only use 100 Vacation Points in 2022 and have 50 remaining, you can bank those into your 2023 Use Year giving you 200 Vacation Points to use between February 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024.
I usually start with, “When do we want to travel?” Then look at how many Vacation Points I have available to travel over those dates. I plan out any banking or borrowing that needs to be done. Then count back 11 months if it’s my Home Resort and 7 if it isn’t so I am prepared to book. I find online booking the fastest and you are more likely to snag those popular room types. I also recommend booking your Home Resort if you are certain you want or need to travel on certain dates. If other resorts are available at the 7-month mark you can always cancel your Home Resort. But if you don’t book anything at all, that 7-month mark could arrive and you may find no availability.
I hope this helped, Cindy. Feel free to send more questions about Vacation Points, booking windows, banking, borrowing, or any other questions you have about your Membership. I love talking about Disney Vacation Club!
-Kate