A question about use years

[tc]

I have done a search, but I can't find anything regarding use years. My question is this (and I hope I can make sense). What difference does your use year make. I know you can book 11 months out, but is that 11 months from your use year, or the time you want a ressie? Say my use year is December, can I make ressies for Christmas in January (11 months before my ressie), or can I only make it for November (11 months from my use year)? Is your use year important at all? Please help a soon to be (I hope) DVC owner. DH is asking too many questions.

 

[wdwnut]

hi: your 11 month home resort priority is for 11 months from your checkout day. some people call at the 11 month mark day by day for busy times of the year or a grand villa. your use year is the month that you get your next year's point allotment. hope this helps.

 

[RobDoc]

Except for determining your banking deadlines, Use Year is simply the month your points are renewed each year. There are some implications if you must cancel a reservation close to the end of your use year (and thus might not be able to reuse the points before they would expire), but otherwise it is just the date when you get more points.

Reservations may be made without regard to use year. The 11 month priority is determined from checkout date (as wdwnut explained) and is not influenced by use year at all.

Enjoy! (Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!)

 

[Granny]

Originally posted by tc
Please help a soon to be (I hope) DVC owner. DH is asking too many questions.

I don't think you can really ask too many questions. You are considering a major purchase with a lot of rules and options. It is important to know what you are getting into to avoid "buyer's remorse".

I think it is also important to get your DH fully aware of the great parts and any limitations of DVC. You don't want to spend the next 41 years hearing "You never told me THAT !".

Come on back and ask questions as often as you'd like. You've tapped in to the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable DVC folks you will ever find.

 

[Caskbill]

As Doc stated, use year is simply the date you receive your new year's allotment of points. The use year month has two impacts:

1. Banking deadlines are based on your use year month, so the months you can bank 100% of points, 50% of points etc will relate directly to your use year.

2. Reservations can be made at the 11-month (or 7-month) windows. The only requirement is that you will have the points in your account at the time of the actual date of the trip. (They don't have to be in your account at the time of the reservation). Thus your use year is important in knowing on what dates points are actually added to your account in relation to your reservation request. This in turn can affect your banking and borrowing requirements.

For example, suppose you have no 2001 points left, and all your 2002 points will be available, and your use year is July. If you want to make a reservation for June, then you would need to borrow from your July 2002 points to make the reservation. Once borrowed, those points could not be returned so if you cancelled your trip those points could become distressed (in danger of losing them).

On the other hand, if you made a ressie for August, you would simply be using your July points, so if you cancelled that trip, the points remain in your 2002 year allotment.

Hope this hasn't confused you. Basically, it's probably better if your use year begins slightly before the timeframe you would be taking most of your vacations. Then banking and borrowing are not so critical in instances where you have to cancel.

Final Note: If you would never wind up cancelling a reservation, then use year has absolutely no impact.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Good job, Caskbill!

 

[tc]

Thank you all so much for your thourough replies. DH is also impressed. He said you could not have answered his question any better. I'll be sure to post any other questions he has, and I know he'll have more.

Thank you again.