UPDATE 3/28/2020 12:30 pm – This article has been updated with new information provided in an email update to members from Disney Vacation Club Senior Vice President Terri Schultz.
On Friday, Marth 27th, 2020, Disney Vacation Club provided an operations update for members regarding the ongoing closures of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and all other Disney Vacation Club Resort properties – including Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, and Aulani – A Disney Resort & Spa.
As announced earlier, all theme parks and resorts will remain closed until further notice to best protect the safety and well-being of members, guests, and cast members.
As a part of these continued closures, Disney Vacation Club issued the following updates to their cancellation policies:
- Any reservation scheduled during the closure of the resort will automatically be canceled on a week-by-week basis. Disney Vacation Club notes that these reservations do not need to be canceled online, or via Member Services.
- All holding account cancellation restrictions have been removed, with vacation points returning to regular vacation point accounts. Vacation Points returned due to a cancellation of a resort reservation will not be placed in a holding account and will be returned to the current Use Year. This applies to all reservations checking in within the next 30 days.
- Borrowed points affected by these cancellations will also automatically return to the use year from which they were borrowed. This applies to all reservations regardless of arrival date. Please allow up to 15 business days for this process to be completed.
- Banking rules and expiration policies remain in effect at this time due to the impact these points could have on future inventory. An email sent by Disney Vacation Club Senior Vice President Terri Schultz it was stated the following: “In addition, some Members may have questions about reservation cancellations involving Points that are set to expire soon. 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.”
In order for us to best track these cancellation policies, we ask that you share your story in the comments below, or join in the conversation over on the DVC Fan Facebook Group. This will continue to allow us to provide the most updated information to our DVC Fan Community.
When evaluating the current cancellation policies in place, our best advice would be to wait as long as possible, or until DVC cancels your reservation, in order to ensure the best options for preserving your vacation points.
Stay tuned to DVC Fan, and The DIS for more information as it becomes available!
Source: Disney Vacation Club
Thank you for the information. I have reservations to come in August and I’m so hopeful that we will get to keep them. Their is nothing better than coming home!
Anybody have any experience with OTU points? I purchased some for a September trip and my UY is October. I certainly hope this is over by then, but just wondering if they are refunding the purchase of OTU points not needed.
I wouldn’t be too concerned with a September trip just yet… but there have been reports of OTU points being refunded fully if affected by the closure.
So I have a reservation for early May renting a member’s points which expire 6/1. Problem is if I can’t go in the dates I originally was slated to go, then I can’t go at all before 6/1, just the reality of approval pto for a nurse. Problem is, what happens to those points, if Disney opens mid May and the member says “well, you have 2 more weeks to come”? That’s kind of where I’m at in terms of my situation. Worried about losing out on that money for the technicality of the points expiring especially when it’s neither mine nor the member’s fault…it seems like one of us gets shafted in this situation according to Disney unless they do decide on a different policy for expiring points. This up-in-the-air situation is what has me nervous. Hoping some sort of agreement can be figured out. Any suggestions?
If you rented points, did you take any type of travel insurance which would cover the money you paid for the points??? I would call or get in contact with the company that rented points to you to find out what your options are
In most cases that I’ve read, unless the “ultimate” travel insurance was purchased (not what is offered by DVC), this circumstance was unfortunately not covered.
Thanks for sharing Paul!
I have a mid-May reservation with one time use points which expire September 1st. Hopeful that maybe some thoughts would be given to extending to the points for at least the amount of time the parks are closed. I’m not sure how that could be accomplished on their side though.
I have a trip scheduled for mid-May, and my banking deadline is March 31st….. So if I wait it out, and cannot go, the points have to be used by August 1! I have not attempted a June or July trip since I’ve been a DVC member! I keep going back and forth. the big plan b though is to roll them over into RCI, where I could use them potentially up through December 2022.
Renting could be another option… and might be better than RCI.
Had 100 points to use before March 31st,had stay booked for March 24th thru 27th using those points and being a annual pass holder would benefit with that. Obviously, wasn’t able to use due to covid 19. As is now I’m loosing those points and I understand the dilemma facing Disney but doesn’t seem fair. Maybe, to help points lost a canceled stay at end of use year can be spread over an extended period of time even several years.
I dont have an answer but rather a similar situation. Had a trip planned for March/April but “modified” dates to May 2020. May end up losing points due to banking date passed and expiration of points at end of May. Not my fault but seems that we may lose ~125 points over this. Just like park tickets, I hope DVC extends their use the same number of days that the parks and resorts stay closed.
I booked a trip in December 2019 using 2019 “use year points” for the end of April 2020, which in all probability will be automatically cancelled. My window to bank points was January 31, 2020. What will happen to those ponts?
At the moment, those points are lost as of your use year date. Unless DVC comes up with a plan that does something else for you and me and others who will lose points. Perhaps some other extra – a discount or something. Or something more drastic such as I posted.
I will lose 413 points for a May vacation that is based mostly on this year’s points expiring August 1, and 133 points banked from last year. Although many debates are taking place in online forums, we know DVC can’t simply retain points. My idea is this: Calculate the % of days lost this year and take the same % from every contract – current use year or next use year, and for those who lost more points than that put them back in the next use year. Overall that should rebalance points to inventory. And it spreads the pain out – just a little for everyone, instead of an entire year or more for some.