Advice needed - Use Year importance?

[tksbaskets]

As we get much closer to becoming DVC family, I wonder when purchasing a contract, how important is use year?

My family has always vacationed the week between Christmas and New Years (Cha-ching, DH is a public school teacher for another 4 years). We anticipate vacationing at a more value season after the hubby retires.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Teresa

 

[missymouse]

People will tell you different things. Some say December would be the best use year because then you would have a full year (until Nov. 30th) to use the points if something happens and you can't take your trip then. I figured that since we will be traveling usually in June-August that anytime from Feb. to May would be the best. So if that is true I would think anytime from July to Nov. would work for you. I'm not sure it really matters but if you don't want to be constantly borrowing or risk losing your points I would avoid Jan-Feb. UY but that is just my opinion since I am also becoming a new member.

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks Missy. Where are you thinking of owning?
TK

 

[missymouse]

Just signed contract for 100 points at HHI. We chose that because DH is a more laid back kind of guy and we figured HHI would be somewhere we would still want to go back to after the kids are on their own. We might also go to WDW but DH is not a huge Amusement park kind of guy. Plus HHI is within driving distance for us.

 

[dianeschlicht]

It is true that a late in the year use year will mean you have the most flexibility should you have to cancel a trip 1-2 months ahead of that trip. Really, though, how often do you think that would happen? We have been members since 1997, and have never canceled a trip late and had to bank those points. Of course, there is always the chance that something unforseen would happen, but I contend that does not happen very often if at all. Besides that, your travel habits are going to be changing in the not too distant future, so that late in the year use year is not going to be as important.

We find we travel at all different times of the year. While we do have preferences (like January and early December), we do go lots of other times, so use year is not an issue for us. I do think, however, that the folks who have the most difficult time understanding about use year are those with a December use year. That seems to be because of the fact that their use year points are available in the next calendar year.

 

[Dean]

I think use year is important. Maybe up to $10 per point for some people.

 

[ChickieToo]

I've been an owner for five years, and I haven't had any trouble with my use year. I understand the cancellation and banking deadlines, holding accounts and so forth, but I do have a question for those of you who said a late-year UY is better. It was said that late in the year is better for cancellation purposes. I don't know why that would be. You still have a full year regardless of when the UY is. It may not be a calendar year, but it is still 12 months, so what is the advantage of a UY in December for cancelation purposes? The only thing I can think of is if your work vacation schedule was based on the calendar year the would coincide with one another, but then I think that that can't be it.

Can someone enlighten me? Thanks.

 

[thelobstershanty]

I've been an owner for five years, and I haven't had any trouble with my use year. I understand the cancellation and banking deadlines, holding accounts and so forth, but I do have a question for those of you who said a late-year UY is better. It was said that late in the year is better for cancellation purposes. I don't know why that would be. You still have a full year regardless of when the UY is. It may not be a calendar year, but it is still 12 months, so what is the advantage of a UY in December for cancelation purposes? The only thing I can think of is if your work vacation schedule was based on the calendar year the would coincide with one another, but then I think that that can't be it.

Can someone enlighten me? Thanks.

I totally agree. We have an Oct use year for all our contracts, how people manage with various use years amazes me--you guys desire a medal for organization and impeccable planning. Anyway, I consider Oct a fairly late use year, IF you are going by the calendar year. But DVC does not work this way. If you book a trip close to the end of your use year and then have to cancel, you are in the same boat no matter what the calendar month is. It is either use the pts or lose them because it is too late to bank them.
We have only had one time this has happened to us in all our years of membership. We had a trip booked for Sept and then in late Aug something came up--we could not go the reservation days and it was too late to bank our pts. There was no way we were going to lose them and we are not ones to rent our pts. Never were and most likely never will be. We had to do a lot of creative juggling and changing of plans,but we used those pts before they expired.

 

[starbox]

With use year, IMHO, the really important thing is to have at least 90 days between the time that you usually travel and the expiration of your points. There is a 60-day rule that does not allow you to make a new reservation within 60 days of your point expiration - so if you had to cancel a vacation, realistically you need at least three months to re-plan a trip or get really creative to keep from losing the points.

I'm a public school teacher and we have a Feb use year - this works well for us because we do almost all of our travel in the summer. If, for some reason, I had to cancel a summer reservation, I'd still have two weeks I could use during winter break to reschedule something and not lose the points.

 

[Dean]

I've been an owner for five years, and I haven't had any trouble with my use year. I understand the cancellation and banking deadlines, holding accounts and so forth, but I do have a question for those of you who said a late-year UY is better. It was said that late in the year is better for cancellation purposes. I don't know why that would be. You still have a full year regardless of when the UY is. It may not be a calendar year, but it is still 12 months, so what is the advantage of a UY in December for cancelation purposes? The only thing I can think of is if your work vacation schedule was based on the calendar year the would coincide with one another, but then I think that that can't be it.

Can someone enlighten me? Thanks.

It has nothing to do with time of the year but timing of when you travel. The best use year for one who always goes a certain time of the year is as close as they can get prior to their usual travel time.

 

[ILuvDVC2]

I guess use year mattered for some friends of mine who are DVC owners back in 1999, when they wanted to be sure they could secure a 2BR unit for seven of us who planned to be together for the Millenium Celebration. We were there Dec. 27-Jan. 2. Using the 11-month home resort reservation, our friends wound up booking each day of our stay separately because they feared we wouldn't get accommodations if they waited until our check-out date to book the ressie. Member Services wound up linking all the days together so we didn't have to move rooms each day, so it was nice not to have that hassle.

 

[Dean]

I guess use year mattered for some friends of mine who are DVC owners back in 1999, when they wanted to be sure they could secure a 2BR unit for seven of us who planned to be together for the Millenium Celebration. We were there Dec. 27-Jan. 2. Using the 11-month home resort reservation, our friends wound up booking each day of our stay separately because they feared we wouldn't get accommodations if they waited until our check-out date to book the ressie. Member Services wound up linking all the days together so we didn't have to move rooms each day, so it was nice not to have that hassle.

It doesn't really matter much for reservations, it's only an issue of when the points will be available. It's mostly related to changes and cancellations.

 

[ChickieToo]

It has nothing to do with time of the year but timing of when you travel. The best use year for one who always goes a certain time of the year is as close as they can get prior to their usual travel time.

Dean,

I guess I misread what dianeschlicht was saying. I thought she meant that generally speaking it was better to have an end-of-year UY, so I was confused because I knew appropriate UY is an individual choice and should reflect your specific travel patterns. Upon re-reading the OP I see that she was responding to the OP saying that they like to travel over Christmas, so then an later year UY may be appropriate for them, which is absolutely true.