Banking and Borrowing DVC Points
One aspect of Disney Vacation Club that makes it so flexible is that you are able to bank and borrow your annual allotment of points. In other words, you don’t have to use your points to travel every year. If you need more points this year, you can borrow them from the next year, or you can bank them and save them for the next year. Read on to learn more details on how banking and borrowing DVC points work!
Banking Your DVC Points
If you don’t plan to use all your points this year, there’s no need for them to go to waste! You will simply need to bank them before your banking deadline to save them for the next use year. Banking deadlines depend on your DVC contract’s use year:
Use Year
February
March
April
June
August
September
October
December
Banking Deadline
September 30
October 31
November 30
January 31
March 31
April 30
May 31
July 31
To bank points for future trips, you can go to the My DVC tab on the DVC website and go to the Bank My Vacation Points section. From there, you will see the option to bank points. Keep in mind that banking is a final transaction. This means that once you move your points to the next use year, you can’t move them back to the current one if you suddenly decide you would like to use those points this year.
Borrowing Your Points
Whether you would like to book a longer trip this year or you would like to book larger accommodations, sometimes you need some extra points. This is where borrowing is helpful. Currently, DVC is allowing members to borrow 100% of their points from the next use year, which is next year’s allotment of points. Note that DVC can change this policy at any time. For example, DVC members were restricted to borrowing no more than 50% of their points during the pandemic.
To borrow points for a trip, there is just an extra step to go through when booking the reservation online. Before confirming your trip, the site will recognize that you do not have enough points in the current use year and will ask you to input the number of points you would like to borrow from the next use year. Like banking, borrowing is a final transaction. Once you borrow and move your points from the next use year to the current one, you cannot move them back to the next use year even if you cancel your trip.
Combining 3 Years’ Worth of Points by Banking and Borrowing
If you are taking a longer trip or one that requires larger accommodations, or you have a small contract and do not travel every year, sometimes it is advantageous to bank and borrow points at the same time. For example, if you have a 50-point contract, 50 points may not get you more than a couple of nights in a studio each year. However, if you were to bank and borrow to use three year’s worth of points at once (banked points from the last use year, current points, and borrowed points from the next use year), you would have 150 points to use for a trip. Depending on the travel period and resort,150 points can get you a week-long trip in many Deluxe Studios or a few nights in a One Bedroom Villa.
What If You Miss Your Banking Deadline or Don’t Have Enough Points After Borrowing?
Sometimes life gets hectic, and you can easily forget to bank your points if you don’t set a reminder. If this happens, you can try to book another trip before your use year ends and the points expire. You can either enjoy the trip yourself or even try to rent it out as a confirmed reservation with the DVC Rental Store if you are unable to travel. Renting points can also be helpful if you don’t have enough points even after borrowing from the next use year.
There’s a lot to learn about DVC! If you are interested in learning more about DVC, rent DVC points to try before you buy, or contact our friends at the DVC Resale Market where former DVC cast members can answer all your questions about the DVC resorts.
