Another whats my best use year question

[SL6827]

Since I will be looking for a very small contract at Hilton Head early next year, I know I will most likely just have to take what I can find regarding use year.

But I am reading more about the use year, and I am beginning to understand just a little. I think .

Since I think our greatest times for travel will be June/July and possibly late March.
So what use year would be most beneficial to me? I'm thinking February or March? (Even though I will most likely just have to take what I can get)

 

[kapicka]

I know some use year jedi masters will weigh in soon on use year but I would say that as long as you don't cancel or change vacations usually it may be less important than getting the contract you want with the number of points you need and a good price.

 

[SL6827]

I am somewhat discouraged right now trying to comprehend all this. . I am now thinking with June, July dates as the most common, a April or June use year might be the best.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Since I will be looking for a very small contract at Hilton Head early next year, I know I will most likely just have to take what I can find regarding use year.

But I am reading more about the use year, and I am beginning to understand just a little. I think .

Since I think our greatest times for travel will be June/July and possibly late March.
So what use year would be most beneficial to me? I'm thinking February or March? (Even though I will most likely just have to take what I can get)

The March UY would give you time to either rebook or bank points if you had a late cancellation of trips during any of your stated travel times.

April would be the worst for a late March trip as you'd literally have only days to use points for a late cancellation of a March trip before the points expired.

The best UY provides a little bit of free insurance against late cancellations by giving you as much time as possible to use the points before they expire. You pretty much had it in your first post. Feb would work fine too and even a Dec UY as July 31st is the banking deadline for that UY but I'd go with a March or Feb UY if one of those UY's were available.

 

[SL6827]

Thanks so much for all the insight. It's gonna take time for me to figure all this out.

 

[kapicka]

Try not to stress too much. From what I've seen prices are flat-ish and may even be a little lower than last year for many resorts*. Take your time to figure out what you want/need and then have fun searching for it if you can. If you don't find it right away you can also rent points in the meantime to take a trip.

Of course who knows where prices will be in a year for example but since they are not shooting to the moon right now it should take some pressure off.

 

[Dean]

Since I will be looking for a very small contract at Hilton Head early next year, I know I will most likely just have to take what I can find regarding use year.

But I am reading more about the use year, and I am beginning to understand just a little. I think .

Since I think our greatest times for travel will be June/July and possibly late March.
So what use year would be most beneficial to me? I'm thinking February or March? (Even though I will most likely just have to take what I can get)

Don't proceed until you completely understand the system & options. The best UY depends on when you'll travel. IMO it's very important and where it's not because you can't target a UY, there's inherently more risk in owning DVC. As posted it really depends on how likely you are to travel in March, if a decent % of time, March is best, otherwise June would be best.

 

[SL6827]

It would be mostly June or July. So a June or perhaps April use year?

 

[SL6827]

A 30 point contract with a June use year would be great!

 

[Dean]

A 30 point contract with a June use year would be great!

Finding that exact option might be difficult. You should likely broaden your options a little or be patient. If you valued the retail perks/discounts (which won't matter for HH), then you should likely see what they would sell you retail. They might do 50 min but it seems they have dipped below that at times. Just be sure you're not cutting it too close and that you don't get stuck if they reallocation. I presume you're looking at a studio every third year for 5 nights or EOY for 4 nights (non weekend) summer. I also assume you have no intention of using them at WDW, at least routinely. For the latter, HH is often a bad choice. For the former, you'd be cutting the numbers too close. In this situation you'd need at least a 10-20% cushion to be protected for reallocations.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It would be mostly June or July. So a June or perhaps April use year?

I'll reiterate, I would not do an April UY since March is on the radar. At least June gives a couple of months to use points from a last minute March cancellation although I personally don't consider it great since there are other UYs that's will cover all your possibilities and you are likely looking at using at least two years worth of points. Even if March is only once in awhile I'd look for March, Feb or even Dec. Next would be June for me assuming March really is just a rare possibility as in once or twice over the contract.

 

[SL6827]

I'll reiterate, I would not do an April UY since March is on the radar. At least June gives a couple of months to use points from a last minute March cancellation although I personally don't consider it great since there are other UYs that's will cover all your possibilities and you are likely looking at using at least two years worth of points. Even if March is only once in awhile I'd look for March, Feb or even Dec. Next would be June for me assuming March really is just a rare possibility as in once or twice over the contract.

I think I will hope for a February use year. But I know I will probably just have to take what I can get. I actually think I might could use a 40 point contract now. But my plan is to go once a year for just a couple of nights in a studio.

 

[Dean]

I'll reiterate, I would not do an April UY since March is on the radar. At least June gives a couple of months to use points from a last minute March cancellation although I personally don't consider it great since there are other UYs that's will cover all your possibilities and you are likely looking at using at least two years worth of points. Even if March is only once in awhile I'd look for March, Feb or even Dec. Next would be June for me assuming March really is just a rare possibility as in once or twice over the contract.

IMO it depends on how frequent March is likely. If it's maybe but no definitely plans, I wouldn't buy for it, I'd just take my chances if it did happen. Even if it were for an occasional thought, June still might be best. It's really just a mathematical issue based on the frequency and number of points for each option. There are other potential variables, esp if planning for family type trips. I'd rather have a rare trip at greater risk and far less risk for the rest of the trips. It seems people try to cover all trips with UY forgetting their taking extra risk with all of the rest of the trips when they do so.

 

[SL6827]

I appreciate everyone's advice and input. Thanks so much.

 

[belleelc77]

I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but I really don't get the UY thing. I normally travel in early December for my daughter's b-day. What would be the best UY for that time of year? TIA

 

[Dean]

I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but I really don't get the UY thing. I normally travel in early December for my daughter's b-day. What would be the best UY for that time of year? TIA

For Dec, a Dec UY is by far the best assuming that's when you'd travel the most and that you wouldn't start in Nov at times. IMO that would be worth roughly a years worth of points compared to a poor UY and would be worth waiting for even if you got a slightly worse deal than something else.