What use year should i choose

[Jobelly]

I think this might be a complicated question. We're looking to buy at SS with the intention of travelling every couple of years for maybe two weeks at a time so think we will need between 250 and 300 points so we can rent a 2 bed. Our first trip will be next may and generally we would travel between may and end of August but hoping for one December trip at some point so thought a march or April year would be best. If we travel may 2014 and then don't travel until August 2016 again am I right in thinking I'd probably be better with a December use year as any points I bank from 2014 wouldn't be valid if they were a march use year.
Do you feel only travelling every couple of years is difficult using DVC for getting the points balance right between banking and borrowing so as to avoid wasting them. Would love to go every year but air fare too much from uk.

[glamdring269]

Originally Posted by Jobelly

I think this might be a complicated question. We're looking to buy at SS with the intention of travelling every couple of years for maybe two weeks at a time so think we will need between 250 and 300 points so we can rent a 2 bed. Our first trip will be next may and generally we would travel between may and end of August but hoping for one December trip at some point so thought a march or April year would be best. If we travel may 2014 and then don't travel until August 2016 again am I right in thinking I'd probably be better with a December use year as any points I bank from 2014 wouldn't be valid if they were a march use year.
Do you feel only travelling every couple of years is difficult using DVC for getting the points balance right between banking and borrowing so as to avoid wasting them. Would love to go every year but air fare too much from uk.

I've got UY questions too and will look forward to tracking your thread. The only reason I really replied was to comment on how much I love Newcastle. Have been there on business a couple of times and will actually be coming through during our vacation to the UK in a few months. Can't wait to get back to El Torero for some tapas!

[intertile]

Originally Posted by Jobelly

I think this might be a complicated question. We're looking to buy at SS with the intention of travelling every couple of years for maybe two weeks at a time so think we will need between 250 and 300 points so we can rent a 2 bed. Our first trip will be next may and generally we would travel between may and end of August but hoping for one December trip at some point so thought a march or April year would be best. If we travel may 2014 and then don't travel until August 2016 again am I right in thinking I'd probably be better with a December use year as any points I bank from 2014 wouldn't be valid if they were a march use year.
Do you feel only travelling every couple of years is difficult using DVC for getting the points balance right between banking and borrowing so as to avoid wasting them. Would love to go every year but air fare too much from uk.

Ok...so I'm a little confused as to your question, but I'll go over the basics and see if that helps. If you choose March UY(and it looks to me like you should), what that means is your Year starts in March. So in March of 2014 you get 100 points(assuming thats you contract size). You can use these points for booking travel between March 1st, 2014 and February 28th, 2015. Now, if you decide to bank those points, you can now use them between March 1st, 2015 and February 28th, 2016. You should choose your UY so that the days you would typically travel will be within 6 months after. For example for traveling April through September, a March UY is good. This way if something goes wrong you still have time to bank the points.

As far as balancing points for every other year, thats what I do. I cannot go every year at this point, so I use my points to stay every other year...If I have any overflow of points I usually rent them.

Hope this helps.

[disneynutz]

Pick an 8 month period when you plan to vacation at Disney the most, then choose the UY month at the start of the period.

We vacation at WDW between October and May, we have an October UY.

If we have to cancel a vacation, we can bank the points if we don't intend to vacation that year.

This has happened twice, once due to a forced job relocation and once due to a death in the family.

Choosing the best UY is free insurance, nothing more.

Bill

[mlayton14]

I personally think the earlier the use year the better, eg February. This is because you get your allotment of points as early as possible every year

Some will argue that choosing a month right before u typically travel is best just in case u have to cancel allowing u flexibility in rebooking

Personally I think that logic is flawed , I would never want to plan for the rare exception (canceling at last minute) and would instead like having the points for use ASAP every year

[intertile]

Originally Posted by mlayton14

I personally think the earlier the use year the better, eg February. This is because you get your allotment of points as early as possible every year

Some will argue that choosing a month right before u typically travel is best just in case u have to cancel allowing u flexibility in rebooking

Personally I think that logic is flawed , I would never want to plan for the rare exception (canceling at last minute) and would instead like having the points for use ASAP every year

There is no hard fast rule for UY with current banking rules. Go with whatever makes you comfortable, it was important I first purchased....It was an issue to bank back then, and you needed to keep the UY close to your travel time. Now its much easier.

[Sandisw]

Originally Posted by mlayton14

I personally think the earlier the use year the better, eg February. This is because you get your allotment of points as early as possible every year

Some will argue that choosing a month right before u typically travel is best just in case u have to cancel allowing u flexibility in rebooking

Personally I think that logic is flawed , I would never want to plan for the rare exception (canceling at last minute) and would instead like having the points for use ASAP every year

I'm not sure what you mean by not having points for travel at the beginning of the year. I have both a June and Dec UY and it doesn't inhibit me from traveling at any time during the year. UY simply determines when points go from next years to current year. Unless someone is buying a resale contract that is void of points for current and next UY, all will allow for immediate booking and traveling.

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by mlayton14

I personally think the earlier the use year the better, eg February. This is because you get your allotment of points as early as possible every year

I have an Oct UY and have made a few trips to WDW in January. If I wanted to stay there in Jan 2014, I would use my Oct 2013 UY points and/or banked Oct 2012 UY points and/or borrowed Oct 2014 UY points and I would book that trip 11 months out if staying at a home resort. How would a Feb UY make this easier? It doesn't. In fact, if I had a Feb UY, that January trip would be in the last month of my UY and I would be at risk if I had to cancel, and I have had to reschedule a couple of trips due to my DH's work schedule.

Some will argue that choosing a month right before u typically travel is best just in case u have to cancel allowing u flexibility in rebooking

Personally I think that logic is flawed , I would never want to plan for the rare exception (canceling at last minute) and would instead like having the points for use ASAP every year

Another time when UY makes a difference is if you waitlist for a less expensive room. Some people book something more expensive when they cannot get what they want and set up a wait list for their preferred room. For example, someone might book a 1BR and waitlist for a studio or book a Pool/Garden view at BWV and waitlist for a Standard View. If the wait list comes through, points are returned to the members' account. If your trip is within the first 8 months of your UY, you can bank any current UY points returned to your account. If you are traveling late in your UY, you would have to cancel the waitlist long before the 30-day expiration due to your banking window, making it less likely that your wait list would come through.

ETA: Your points do not drop into your account at the start of each UY, they are already there. Each annual allotment has a set of "Use by" dates associated with them. Your Feb 2013 points can be used for stays from Feb 1, 2013 to Jan 31, 2014. Your Feb 2014 points can be used for stays from Feb 1, 2014 to Jan 31, 2015 and so on until the end of your contract. The members' website only shows you the points you can use now. You don't see all of the annual allotments you bought with your contract but they are there.

[Jobelly]

Sorry I don't think I explained very well.

If I buy with 250 with march UY and get points for 2013 I can bank those and use those for my may 2014 trip. The balance I need for my trip (say 200) I would use from my 2014 points and I would then bank the remaining 50. These 50 points I banked from 2014 would then have to be used by end of feb 2016 (I think) so if I go August 2016 I would not be able to use them and they would be wasted. (I don't know if there is a minimum you have to have to rent through a site like David's?)
If however I had a December UY my points banked from 2014 would have to be used by end of November 2016 and so still valid for August 2016, have I got that right?
I don't know if I'm over thinking it trying to plan how my points would work over the years. Good to know other people manage with using every couple of years.

Glamdring, I'll swop Nashville must be warmer than uk!

[intertile]

Davids minimum is 95 points.

I wouldn't set my UY based on 1 trip, but ultimately your choice

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Jobelly

I think this might be a complicated question. We're looking to buy at SS with the intention of travelling every couple of years for maybe two weeks at a time so think we will need between 250 and 300 points so we can rent a 2 bed. Our first trip will be next may and generally we would travel between may and end of August but hoping for one December trip at some point so thought a march or April year would be best. If we travel may 2014 and then don't travel until August 2016 again am I right in thinking I'd probably be better with a December use year as any points I bank from 2014 wouldn't be valid if they were a march use year.
Do you feel only travelling every couple of years is difficult using DVC for getting the points balance right between banking and borrowing so as to avoid wasting them. Would love to go every year but air fare too much from uk.

As stated, May to August with 1 Dec trip, April is the best month, March second. If you'll travel routinely in May, June is the worst. If you want a full 2 weeks EOY, 250 yearly points likely isn't enough and 300 is cutting it close. You likely need 325 to 350 to do this as a routine if you stay at other resorts than SSR. However, there are ways to stretch the points. You may want to look at a smaller contract, maybe around 200 and see how things go then look at an add on of a different home resort to give yourself options later. However, a larger single contract will save you some money long term but will limit your choices somewhat. Buying a loaded contract just to be able to use those extra points for a single trip would be a mistake in your situation as I see it.

[CarolMN]

Originally Posted by Jobelly

....(snip)......Do you feel only travelling every couple of years is difficult using DVC for getting the points balance right between banking and borrowing so as to avoid wasting them. Would love to go every year but air fare too much from uk.

IMO, the every other year aspect of your plan is more of a problem than the "right" use year in the event of a trip cancellation.

No matter what your use year, be prepared to have a problem if you have to cancel one of the every other year trips. The banked or borrowed points would be "in danger" since they expire at the end of the use year for your cancelled vacation. If you couldn't reschedule the trip for that same use year, the points would expire.

To get value out of those points, you would have to rent a reservation to someone else or you could possibly deposit them into RCI for a future exchange - there are various rules/restrictions around late deposits to RCI.

Banked and borrowed points cannot be transferred to another member and resale points can't be used for any of the options in the Disney Collection, the Adventurer's Collection or the Concierge Collection.

The problem isn't in surmountable, but it will take effort on your part to resolve. Since you are in the UK, it may take more effort than you expect to rent, although perhaps the RCI option wouldn't be all that bad. There are several European options available in RCI.

There's a lot to think about, isn't there? Good luck!

[Jobelly]

Thank you all.

I'm not too concerned about cancelling as we always have to book so far ahead and have that risk with our regular holidays, whether our travel insurance would pay out I'm unsure.
If we went for a feb/march/April UY we would need a contract with no points for 2013 on or we would need to sell them I think as by may 2014 they would have run out. I suppose a contract with no points on for 2013 would be best as then we wouldn't have to pay MF. We would then always be borrowing on our year ahead for our two yearly trip rather than banking.
I hope that makes sense.

[maburke]

Originally Posted by Jobelly

Thank you all.

I'm not too concerned about cancelling as we always have to book so far ahead and have that risk with our regular holidays, whether our travel insurance would pay out I'm unsure.
If we went for a feb/march/April UY we would need a contract with no points for 2013 on or we would need to sell them I think as by may 2014 they would have run out. I suppose a contract with no points on for 2013 would be best as then we wouldn't have to pay MF. We would then always be borrowing on our year ahead for our two yearly trip rather than banking.
I hope that makes sense.

More than makes sense, you've hit on something important. If you are reliably traveling only every other year, then you're better to be in a borrowing mode than a banking mode. We do this with our VGC points -- I know that we will only go to California every other year, so I book enough nights to use up all current and borrow a bit into the next year. That way, I'm never losing banked points. It is a bit risky in terms of cancelling, because the borrowed points stay in the current year, but that's okay with us. Since we travel early in the use year, if we had to change our dates, we'd be okay. (Also, I recommend you look into the DVC insurance -- I think it's a good deal, and with international flights, it might be a very good deal.)

But don't worry too much about finding a contract without 2013 points -- you can splurge and take a longer first trip! Or, you could consider buying a slightly smaller contract to start. You will gradually borrow more and more out of the following UY, and when it comes close to running out, you can skip a year, or rent what you need, or do an add-on.

[mlayton14]

If I have a February use year my points are available on February 1, if I have a December UY they are available 12/1 of that same year ... 10 month difference it's really not that complicated. Of course you can be creative with borrow/banking , but that is available to everyone.

As I said before I would never choose a use year on cancellation scenarios which are the exception. Personally I don't know which months I will want to travel in 20-30years ....