Disney's policy about returning points due to this virus?

[LoveMickey]

Hello Folks,

What has been Disney's policy about returning points due to the closer of the parks. I'm specifically looking to know about the banked points used for a cancelled trip.

Thanks

 

[heynowirv]

As far as I know the policy has not changed in regards to banked points.

 

[CraigInPA]

The banked points expire at the end of the use year. They cannot be banked again.

 

[dclpluto]

New email from Terri. At the end it sounds like they won’t do anything. Said they will look into it. Wouldn’t count on DVC doing the right thing. But who knows maybe they will.
If dvc doesn’t do the right thing in this it will hurt them in the future. If anyone will ask me if they should buy dvc I will say don’t do it. If they do the right thing in this situation it will change my opinion.

 

[Sandisw]

DVC just sent members a message and they are holding steady that banked points still Expire as usual.

It did say that borrowed points will be returned for any dates that are canceled...that seems new as previously is was only March and April...but since we don’t have an end date, it makes sense,

OTU points are now being returned as is and must be used by end of UY.

They have not changed any rules for those points beyond banking deadline or those expiring March 31st.

 

[houseofduck]

They did leave the door open on the possibility of making a different decision regarding banked and expiring points in the email.

“...At this time, we are evaluating the banking and expiration policy and the use of certain Points impacted by the closures. As a part of our evaluation process, we need to be considerate of the impact any changes could have on future inventory availability for the Membership overall. A decision will be made when we better understand how long COVID-19 will impact our operations.”

 

[Brian Noble]

we need to be considerate of the impact any changes could have on future inventory availability for the Membership overall

This is important. Every week that the resorts remain closed represents 2% of owned points that can never be used. Some of those will be absorbed by the normal breakage process. And, breakage might will increase due to owners who can't afford to travel and can't find a willing renter, allowing their points to expire. But, there is a limit to that, and eventually there will be too many points chasing too few nights. Allowing banked points to be re-banked rather than have them expire is only going to bring that about more quickly.

 

[CarolMN]

This is important. Every week that the resorts remain closed represents 2% of owned points that can never be used. Some of those will be absorbed by the normal breakage process. And, breakage might will increase due to owners who can't afford to travel and can't find a willing renter, allowing their points to expire. But, there is a limit to that, and eventually there will be too many points chasing too few nights. Allowing banked points to be re-banked rather than have them expire is only going to bring that about more quickly.

Apparently, there is a clause in the BVTC agreement that would allow the point charts to be adjusted at the 7 month window without the need to keep the total number of points for the resort for a year the same. Assuming DVC allows points to be banked past the usual deadlines (thus spreading the future "pain" over the entire membership), they could just increase the points required to book something at 7 months to absorb the excess. This could be a temporary situation for one or two years.

Here's the rest of drusba's post on the future use of points for those who may have missed it:

https://disboards.com/threads/future-use-of-points-post-covid-19-closure.3797725/#post-61718939
Food for thought. While this may not be a popular solution, it doesn't require a gift from Disney like most other proposals do.

 

[Anal Annie]

Apparently, there is a clause in the BVTC agreement that would allow the point charts to be adjusted at the 7 month window without the need to keep the total number of points for the resort for a year the same. Assuming DVC allows points to be banked past the usual deadlines (thus spreading the future "pain" over the entire membership), they could just increase the points required to book something at 7 months to absorb the excess. This could be a temporary situation for one or two years.

Here's the rest of drusba's post on the future use of points for those who may have missed it:

https://disboards.com/threads/future-use-of-points-post-covid-19-closure.3797725/#post-61718939
Food for thought. While this may not be a popular solution, it doesn't require a gift from Disney like most other proposals do.

But if they did a temporary raising of points on future use would that not unfairly penalize those of us who didn't have trips booked and weren't affected by this whole mess? That would not be an ideal solution for me. There's no making ANYONE happy in this situation. The simplest answer is probably to deposit the expiring points into RCI for future use somewhere.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

But if they did a temporary raising of points on future use would that not unfairly penalize those of us who didn't have trips booked and weren't affected by this whole mess? That would not be an ideal solution for me. There's no making ANYONE happy in this situation. The simplest answer is probably to deposit the expiring points into RCI for future use somewhere.

You'd feel differently if was the end of your UY and you had a lot of points tied up in a reservation that ain't gonna happen and that you currently can't cancel and bank.

Good on you, but the point is it is nothing but the luck of the draw that it's not you. You could have just as easily been sitting in this chair. And still may be.

I don't want RCI points. I don't need RCI points. I don't wanna use'em and I don't want to pay a booking fee to use them. I Want to use my points in FL. At WDW. Like I paid to.

 

[CarolMN]

But if they did a temporary raising of points on future use would that not unfairly penalize those of us who didn't have trips booked and weren't affected by this whole mess? That would not be an ideal solution for me. There's no making ANYONE happy in this situation. The simplest answer is probably to deposit the expiring points into RCI for future use somewhere.

I don't think so as it wouldn't affect home resort bookings, just those made in the 7 month window at a non home resort. No one should ever count on moving to a non home resort.

 

[McCrae]

If they shut down for an extended period they may consider extending the life of the contracts.

 

[Anal Annie]

You'd feel differently if was the end of your UY and you had a lot of points tied up in a reservation that ain't gonna happen and that you currently can't cancel and bank.

Good on you, but the point is it is nothing but the luck of the draw that it's not you. You could have just as easily been sitting in this chair. And still may be.

I don't want RCI points. I don't need RCI points. I don't wanna use'em and I don't want to pay a booking fee to use them. I Want to use my points in FL. At WDW. Like I paid to.

Yes, you're right, I'm sure I would feel differently if I was being affected by a current trip that had to be canceled. And who the h**l knows, by the time this mess is over I MAY BE affected (next trip is booked for Oct with a Dec UY so I have a July 31 banking deadline). I don't see an end to this dreary tunnel anytime soon. But I still don't think raising the points across the board (even just temporarily) is going to be a very popular decision either. There's a lot of owners out there that barely have enough points for a trip as it is as they bought a minimum amount of points. Those owners may not be able to afford to go at all with increased point charts. That's certainly not helping the situation. That's helping those who have rather than the have nots.

Perhaps they could waive the RCI fee in this case. No need for a temper tantrum. I've heard that you can sometimes book SSR or OKW with RCI points...those may not be everyone's resorts of choice (I happen to own at SSR and LIKE SSR) so I would be OK with it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

<snip> There's a lot of owners out there that barely have enough points for a trip as it is as they bought a minimum amount of points. <snip>

Then you ought to understand why my 181 are so precious to me.

Nobody is having a temper tantrum. That's personal and insulting.

 

[Anal Annie]

<snip> There's a lot of owners out there that barely have enough points for a trip as it is as they bought a minimum amount of points. <snip>

Then you ought to understand why my 181 are so precious to me.

Nobody is having a temper tantrum. That's personal and insulting.

I'm Sorry. I apologize. BUT when you said:

"I don't want RCI points. I don't need RCI points. I don't wanna use'em and I don't want to pay a booking fee to use them. I Want to use my points in FL. At WDW. Like I paid to. "

that sounded to ME like you were stomping your feet as you said it and were having a tantrum.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I was stating facts.

 

[Sandisw]

Yes, you're right, I'm sure I would feel differently if I was being affected by a current trip that had to be canceled. And who the h**l knows, by the time this mess is over I MAY BE affected (next trip is booked for Oct with a Dec UY so I have a July 31 banking deadline). I don't see an end to this dreary tunnel anytime soon. But I still don't think raising the points across the board (even just temporarily) is going to be a very popular decision either. There's a lot of owners out there that barely have enough points for a trip as it is as they bought a minimum amount of points. Those owners may not be able to afford to go at all with increased point charts. That's certainly not helping the situation. That's helping those who have rather than the have nots.

Perhaps they could waive the RCI fee in this case. No need for a temper tantrum. I've heard that you can sometimes book SSR or OKW with RCI points...those may not be everyone's resorts of choice (I happen to own at SSR and LIKE SSR) so I would be OK with it.

Nothing they do will be popular for some group of members, However, creating a 7 month window points chart might be the only way to effectively balancing the abandoned points from the closure against the actual rooms there.

I think it’s a better option than to suspend banking and/or borrowing which is another option they have,

Of course, we still don’t know what other options could be known to them and not the membership since they have all the data in terms of how many points we are talking about, how many could be absorbed through what is owned by Disney already, and how can be moved forward and still keep things from collapsing later.

Just like the rest of us, I bet no one ever thought about resort closures beyond the typical hurricane or weather related damage.

I can’t imagine how hard it is to try and figure this out when you are talking 15 resorts worth of points. Thats a LOT.

 

[Anal Annie]

Nothing they do will be popular for some group of members, However, creating a 7 month window points chart might be the only way to effectively balancing the abandoned points from the closure against the actual rooms there.

I think it’s a better option than to suspend banking and/or borrowing which is another option they have,

Of course, we still don’t know what other options could be known to them and not the membership since they have all the data in terms of how many points we are talking about, how many could be absorbed through what is owned by Disney already, and how can be moved forward and still keep things from collapsing later.

Just like the rest of us, I bet no one ever thought about resort closures beyond the typical hurricane or weather related damage.

I can’t imagine how hard it is to try and figure this out when you are talking 15 resorts worth of points. Thats a LOT.

A company this size SHOULD already have some sort of a Disaster Relief Team or Major Disaster Plan in place. Most likely in the event of a major hurricane hitting FL or a major earthquake hitting CA which could potentially create a similar closure. They MUST HAVE considered what chaos an extended closure could create. There must be back-up plans known only to a certain few in a secret vault somewhere.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

A company this size SHOULD already have some sort of a Disaster Relief Team or Major Disaster Plan in place. Most likely in the event of a major hurricane hitting FL or a major earthquake hitting CA which could potentially create a similar closure. They MUST HAVE considered what chaos an extended closure could create. There must be back-up plans known only to a certain few in a secret vault somewhere.

All of my clients have DR plans. And plans for exactly like what's going on too. That's part of what they pay me to do, and expect me to do.

Outside the obvious insurance on the resorts for weather, etc., you're exactly right. If there is no formal DR plan in place for something as definable as this, everybody in DVD management ought to fired. In front of an appropriate squad. And every manager that's left or retired ought to be fired retroactively the day they left.

They shouldn't be having to "figure out" a solution. There ought to already be one. In writing. And we ought to have known what it was.

 

[CarolMN]

Yes, you're right, I'm sure I would feel differently if I was being affected by a current trip that had to be canceled. And who the h**l knows, by the time this mess is over I MAY BE affected (next trip is booked for Oct with a Dec UY so I have a July 31 banking deadline). I don't see an end to this dreary tunnel anytime soon. But I still don't think raising the points across the board (even just temporarily) is going to be a very popular decision either. There's a lot of owners out there that barely have enough points for a trip as it is as they bought a minimum amount of points. Those owners may not be able to afford to go at all with increased point charts. That's certainly not helping the situation. That's helping those who have rather than the have nots.

Not suggesting raising points across the board. Only talking about temporarily increasing points to book a non home resort at 7 months. Points to book your home resort would not change. Owners who bought minimums are probably used to booking at their home resort during the home resort booking priority period.

Perhaps they could waive the RCI fee in this case. No need for a temper tantrum. I've heard that you can sometimes book SSR or OKW with RCI points...those may not be everyone's resorts of choice (I happen to own at SSR and LIKE SSR) so I would be OK with it.

RCI fee has been waived since well before the closures.

I'm sorry you are negatively impacted by the closures, and hope DVC can come up with a way to mitigate your loss.