Do you think DVC should be a little more open to people moving dates without penalty because of corona?

[Canadian Girl]

I am supposed to travel within a couple of weeks and my young teenaged daughter is afraid to travel because she has asthma when she is sick. My points would go into holding and then 60 days out from my end of use year which is October and November. These already have low availability and some dates already gone at our home resort. They are also outside our school breaks. I understand why, but wish this was an option.

 

[quandrea]

Yes. We are in the same boat. Dh has high blood pressure and asthma—two comorbidities that lead to serious complications with Covid 19. We are booked for both April and June. Lots of points tied up. I’m not sure we are quite at the point that dvc should be more flexible, but we are getting there.

 

[lovin'fl]

They have been good about giving folks a one time exception with canceling/changing in general. We once got it when MIL was in hospital with heart issue the day before the trip (we booked a 2BR BWV for her and FIL and us and called on drive there to have it broken down to a 1BR and the remaining points went into holding which I then asked for a 1 time exception to have them returned to normal points and they were kind enough to do so but were clear that it was a one time thing due to the medical situation with MIL, and not an every time/any reason thing).

But with this situation they may have an excessive amount of folks all wanting help with this. So they may have their hands tied a bit more than average. It never hurts to ask. Tough you have to be sure this is the one time chip you want to cash in.

We have a trip the end of May we are keeping watch about. The points used for 5 nights are Aug UY and will expire July 31 so we need to use them (many are banked or borrowed, very few bankable). I could swap to Hilton Head between now and then. Next week is wide open in 2BR there. I also have 2 nights in AKV Club level studio that I may try to rent out. That's if we decide to bail out on the trip. My DDs (21) are also going with a couple friends and I booked them the Poly for 2 nights. Not sure what to do with that. Those points are bankable at least. We have until March 29th to buy tix (or renew APs that expire in March) and book FP for the trip (the 29th is our 60 day window). So one month to mull it over. BUt it's tricky if I want to switch to HHI, the closer to warmer weather the less availability.

 

[TikiRob]

I'm not sure if there is a waiting period, you could look into the $99 travel insurance for DVC members. It would cover you for a whole year if you are worried about COVID 19 being an issue for your family. Hope all works out for you!

 

[quandrea]

I'm not sure if there is a waiting period, you could look into the $99 travel insurance for DVC members. It would cover you for a whole year if you are worried about COVID 19 being an issue for your family. Hope all works out for you!

That insurance is not available to Canadians if I recall correctly.

 

[Sandisw]

I think it doesn’t hurt to ask if they are willing to waive the holding penalty.

My DD 27 and her friends were slated to go to Japan on Sunday and canceled when the CDC raised the warning level. Delta was great and refunded all their money with no fee, which wasn’t what was supposed to happen based on ticket they had.

Explain the health concerns and see what they will do. This is a unique situation and I can’t imagine they won’t be open to help on a case by case basis.

 

[espov]

Same boat I have a trip on borrow points for May 24-29th June UY. I called just to see if they are offering anything and as this point nothing will be offered. And no further information will be given as to if this gets to pandemic stage. S

 

[AnnaS]

We are all booked and paid for flights for our trip end of next month. Still plan on going but I am starting to wonder if we should drive......

DVC has given back members points into original status before due to hurricanes. I know we were given our points back without penalties when they closed Vero resort. Who knows if this gets worse what they will/will not do..

 

[Canadian Girl]

I called yesterday as we are to check in in 13 days. I was told they are not offering any waivers for any reason as there has been nothing official advising against travel. I will essentially lose a year and a half's worth of points. (I borrowed)

 

[jo-jo]

We have a trip in mid May. Aside from the virus, not too worry about cancelling and reusing before Nov 30. But we also have a trip in Nov. From two use years. We are going to buy the insurance...again aside from the virus.....if we need to cancel due to something simple heath issue, no way will we find rooms the last two weeks in Nov to use those points.

 

[Sandisw]

I called yesterday as we are to check in in 13 days. I was told they are not offering any waivers for any reason as there has been nothing official advising against travel. I will essentially lose a year and a half's worth of points. (I borrowed)

Sorry to hear that, I will add that my DD was slated to go from Japan to Australia before coming back to the states, and they did charge her the $300 cancel fee for that led..but refunded the rest,,,because there is not warning from Australia.

Maybe try to offer the reservation for rent to see if you can at least get something for it? At this point, you would at least have until the day or two before since You are already in the penalty window.

 

[minthorne]

I fly down Monday for a week and my concern level is low.

 

[TraderSamWDW]

Hopefully it will not come to this.

I do not think DIsney can do much right now.

When a hurricane hits it affects a short time frame (IE, less than a week really) but DVC can absorb that with their points that are in their own inventory. They refund the points.

Unless I am seeing it wrong, if they start making all kinds of exceptions now, they could end up with a an amount of refunded points and rooms going unused that they literally can not offer the needed availability over the next year.

I am not so sure they can be flexible here without short term consequences that affect the entire system. It is a touch position to be in.

But it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Brianstl]

I'm not sure if there is a waiting period, you could look into the $99 travel insurance for DVC members. It would cover you for a whole year if you are worried about COVID 19 being an issue for your family. Hope all works out for you!

I think I have read somewhere that travel insurance will not cover epidemics and pandemics.

 

[minthorne]

I think I have read somewhere that travel insurance will not cover epidemics and pandemics.

That's right - only a Cancel for Any Reason trip insurance policy will cover you.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/canc...spuZ5MIw0Akk1C3NAP-YGlAxdSjw0vrimPzrmMzhphiGe

 

[zavandor]

It didn't happen to me, but for hurricanes I've read they do waive the holding penalty and also allow to bank points later in the UY, but they do not allow to bank the points again.
Not sure if they'd do it for the Coronavirus at this stage in the US. The is no forced closure by the authorities, no alarm. I understand your concern, though, my friends have just cancelled a short break to Lisbon because of many issues, Coronavirus included. I'm going anyway.

 

[nightwing12]

That insurance is not available to Canadians if I recall correctly.

you can purchase it as a canadian.

 

[quandrea]

you can purchase it as a canadian.

Thanks for this.

 

[quandrea]

you can purchase it as a canadian.

So would something like cancelling because of covid 19 be covered?

 

[TraderSamWDW]

It didn't happen to me, but for hurricanes I've read they do waive the holding penalty and also allow to bank points later in the UY, but they do not allow to bank the points again.
Not sure if they'd do it for the Coronavirus at this stage in the US. The is no forced closure by the authorities, no alarm. I understand your concern, though, my friends have just cancelled a short break to Lisbon because of many issues, Coronavirus included. I'm going anyway.

This is true. I had to leave early because of a hurricane (only a day) and did get my points back, but it did take a while and a few calls to MS (ALMOST positive that I did bank the points into the next UY - they were current UY points). So it behaved as though I modified the reservation more than 31 days out (with the exception of having to call them a few times over the next 6 weeks or so and ask 'where are my points?')

Well technically I did not HAVE to leave, but it was the wise thing to do and Disney knew that evacuating was not the worst idea in the world.