UY Question

[samandbailey]

I am new to this board and have a few use year questions. I am having a tough time wrapping my head around which use year (or years) would be best for us. We like to vacation in August and in December for Christmas and New Year. What we usually do is book a Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral and fly down a few days ahead of time to spend time at WDW. For example, this year we rented points and are staying at OKW from 12/25 to 12/28. We follow the same general plan for August. It is just DH and myself so room size is not a concern. We are fine in a studio. We are looking into buying resale. Which UYs should I target? By the way our schedule allows us the ability to plan in advance. It actually works better for us that way. Thank you in advance for any suggestions/advice.

 

[CarolMN]

June, August or December use years would work well for your stated vacation plans.

Understanding Use Year

 

[dmunsil]

A December use year seems problematic because if they had to cancel an August trip at the last minute, they'd be past their banking deadline. Right? Isn't the banking deadline for a December use year July 31?

But clearly June and August are both good. If you're not super worried about last-minute cancellations, December and April would also work. And if you're not worried about cancellation at all, any use year will work.

One other use year consideration is how common that use year is for your desired resort(s). If you choose a use year with lots of points available, contracts will come up more often and you'll have more to choose from. If you plan to add on later, you'd prefer to have a use year that is common at your add-on resort.

In general, June is more common than August for the whole of DVC, but they're not distributed evenly. For example, at VWL August is much more common. If there's a specific resort you want, you might want to look over these charts on DVC News:

http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/owning-dvc/2014-updated-points-distribution-by-use-year

 

[CarolMN]

A December use year seems problematic because if they had to cancel an August trip at the last minute, they'd be past their banking deadline. Right? Isn't the banking deadline for a December use year July 31?

Don - If you do not cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival, the returned points go into holding status. Holding points cannot be banked and can only be used to book something no more than 60 days in advance. Holding points expire at the end of the use year.

So a December use year (with a July 31 banking deadline) will work just fine for August vacations because if an August reservation gets cancelled in August, banking is moot.

 

[dmunsil]

Don - If you do not cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival, the returned points go into holding status. Holding points cannot be banked and can only be used to book something no more than 60 days in advance. Holding points expire at the end of the use year.

So a December use year (with a July 31 banking deadline) will work just fine for August vacations because if an August reservation gets cancelled in August, banking is moot.

Oh, of course. Thanks - I forgot about the holding issue. So really, it's only trips in the last 3 months of your use year that are especially problematic. I see.

So then April would be fine as well for the same reason? Or did I re-confuse myself?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Don - If you do not cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival, the returned points go into holding status. Holding points cannot be banked and can only be used to book something no more than 60 days in advance. Holding points expire at the end of the use year.

So a December use year (with a July 31 banking deadline) will work just fine for August vacations because if an August reservation gets cancelled in August, banking is moot.

I also look at UY's from a 9 month perspective because of the fact that if there is a cancellation that is less than 31 days out then the points are in holding.

However the main reason to consider UY is because of the "insurance" it provides for last minute cancellations which makes the Dec UY in this case the least desirable of the ones that could be considered. It's not as good as having one that is just before the August travel because if the points do go into holding you have less time to try and use them. If they had an Aug UY and cancelled the Aug reservation at less than 31 days out they'd have virtually a full year to use the points. However if it was the Dec UY and they cancelled at less than 31 days out then they'd only have 4 months to use the points. And it would be including one of the busiest DVC times that it's more difficult to get a late reservation.

If I were looking for a UY for this travel I'd prefer to get an Aug UY. June would be second on my list and then April or Dec.

OP - you mentioned about being able to plan in advance but realize that UY does not affect when you can book. In that regard any UY would work for you.

 

[CarolMN]

Oh, of course. Thanks - I forgot about the holding issue. So really, it's only trips in the last 3 months of your use year that are especially problematic. I see.

So then April would be fine as well for the same reason? Or did I re-confuse myself?

Correct. April would work, too. (I forgot that one, lol).

 

[samandbailey]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have my eye on an April contract that would suit our point needs. Just one last question, would a September UY be a totally bad idea? I saw a resort that we love at a price we can afford, but it is a September UY. The April contract is for a resort that we like, but not as much as much as the September one.

 

[deb010305]

Just remember that your time traveling may change over the years. We have a March UY, and we used to always travel in August. As we got older, and so did our sons, we now travel in mid April, and early October.

 

[chalee94]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have my eye on an April contract that would suit our point needs. Just one last question, would a September UY be a totally bad idea?

can you explain what happens if you need to cancel an august reservation at 5 days out and at 60 days out assuming you have a sept UY? compare that to what would happen with an april UY.

if you travel in aug on a regular basis, sept is a very risky UY.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have my eye on an April contract that would suit our point needs. Just one last question, would a September UY be a totally bad idea? I saw a resort that we love at a price we can afford, but it is a September UY. The April contract is for a resort that we like, but not as much as much as the September one.

You might be best off waiting for another contract to become available. Otherwise weigh the preference for the resort with the Sept UY vs how you would feel if you ever did have a late cancellation of an Aug trip that resulted in you losing all the points from it because you didn't have time to reschedule a trip or to rent out the points. You can purchase travel insurance on the points too but it probably would be optimal to wait for a different contract if the April one really isn't what you'd prefer the most.

 

[Dean]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have my eye on an April contract that would suit our point needs. Just one last question, would a September UY be a totally bad idea? I saw a resort that we love at a price we can afford, but it is a September UY. The April contract is for a resort that we like, but not as much as much as the September one.

One issue with UY is giving you as much time as possible IF you have to cancel or change your plans. Assuming an even split August and Dec, August is by far the best choice. Dec is likely the second best (good for Dec Trips, less so for August). Sept, Oct, Feb and March the Worst for you. June and April are decent. Within those choices the better contract (loaded, price) may be the more important issue.

 

[samandbailey]

Thank you so much everyone for your patience in explaining this to me. We just put an offer in for an April contract as that seemed to a month that everyone agreed would be okay. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the seller accepts and we get to move on to ROFR (which also is a bit scary). We'll just have to see if it is meant to be or not...

 

[cmrdgrs]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have my eye on an April contract that would suit our point needs. Just one last question, would a September UY be a totally bad idea? I saw a resort that we love at a price we can afford, but it is a September UY. The April contract is for a resort that we like, but not as much as much as the September one.

Hi SamandBailey,

I travel at the exact same times you do. We travel every Dec and every June to a Disney resort. I also have an August UY. A September UY in my opinion could still work for you. Your banking window for Sept would close April 30th.

Overall my UY works great, except for those June vacations. The last day of your banking window with an Aug UY for a June trip would be March 31 (4 month prior to your UY starting). So, if you have June plans you have to decide how married you are to them by March 31. If you cancel or try to adjust those dates you won't be able to bank those points forward. You would need to find a way to use them or rent them.

For the rest of the year, I am very happy with what I have and I just work with it.

My suggestion is if you found something with a Sept UY and it seems like a good deal don't let a UY stop you. Any UY is workable. You also don't know how your life will change and travel habits might change too in future years. You might find out in the future a different UY would be better for you. Believe me... whatever UY you have you will find a way to work with it.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[samandbailey]

Thank you for the good wishes. We currently have two contracts in ROFR - one is for an April contract and another for a September contract that is at our favorite resort. We took into account that our travel times may change over the next few years. The price was right and we are just hoping to make it through ROFR. Eventually we will probably add on,but for now we are just getting our feet wet.