Best use year

[haamos]

Looking at purchasing DVC. We would be using Studio Oct thru Nov & April thru June. Will plan out 11 months but occasionally 7 months. Trying to determine what use year would be best to get. Also question- if the use year is March does that make Sept the 7 month & Jan the 11 month. Thanks

 

[Lumpy1106]

You can book 11 months from your TRIP DATE at your home resort and 7 months from your trip date at other resorts (if there are vacancies). Use year is when you can start using the points for the current year. If you are going to bank the points into the next year, you have to do that 4 months prior to your use year.

 

[davper]

The best use year depends on you.
If you like to visit in October, Then best use years are Oct, Sep, & Aug. That way, if you have to cancel, you will be able to reschedule at a later time or bank your points.

 

[Marionnette]

Looking at purchasing DVC. We would be using Studio Oct thru Nov & April thru June. Will plan out 11 months but occasionally 7 months. Trying to determine what use year would be best to get. Also question- if the use year is March does that make Sept the 7 month & Jan the 11 month. Thanks

UY has nothing to do with your 11-month or 7-month booking window. If you have a March UY and you want to book a reservation for October, the 11-month booking window is in November for home resort and March for non-home resorts. If you have a Dec UY, it’s still November for home resort and March for non-home resorts.

When you choose a home resort, you want a UY that falls close to when you would typically travel. For someone who typically travels Oct. & Nov, you would want an August, September or October UY, with October being the most preferable. For someone who travels mostly in March - June, a Feb, March, or April UY would be best with March being the first choice.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single best UY when someone wants to travel routinely in both the Fall and Spring. Choosing an October UY would give you the opportunity to cancel any March - June reservation with 31 or more days remaining until your scheduled arrival and still be able to bank current UY points. Choosing a March UY would enable you to cancel an October or November trip 31 days before your scheduled arrival and still be able to bank points before your October 31 banking deadline.

 

[CarolynFH]

If you are going to bank the points into the next year, you have to do that 4 months prior to your use year.

To clarify, if you want to bank points, you have to do that 4 months before the end of your UY (not 4 months before the UY begins). For example, my UY is September. If I want to bank my 2020 points into 2021, I can do that as early as September 1, 2020, when my UY begins, or as late as April 30, 2021.

 

[peabody58]

Sept UY works best for us. We like to travel in the Fall, Jan and May. If we need to cancel a May trip, we can usually do it in time to bank the points. YMMMV

 

[haamos]

Thank you all for your quick responses.

 

[i<3riviera]

͏

 

[Lumpy1106]

To clarify, if you want to bank points, you have to do that 4 months before the end of your UY (not 4 months before the UY begins). For example, my UY is September. If I want to bank my 2020 points into 2021, I can do that as early as September 1, 2020, when my UY begins, or as late as April 30, 2021.

Thanks for the assist

 

[suebeelin]

April use year is probably best for you— if you cancel in October, you can still bank your pointszzzx

 

[DebbieB]

My trips are typically around that same time. I bought April almost 21 years ago and it has never been a problem. Case in point - I had last April booked at Riviera, which of course was cancelled. I was able to bank.

 

[Dean]

Looking at purchasing DVC. We would be using Studio Oct thru Nov & April thru June. Will plan out 11 months but occasionally 7 months. Trying to determine what use year would be best to get. Also question- if the use year is March does that make Sept the 7 month & Jan the 11 month. Thanks

If you're trips are evenly divided between those 2 times frames April and Oct are about the same. If you're more likely to travel one over the other or one is more important, target the best UY for that situation. If a large % of your trips are in June, then April is better than Oct all else being equal. What this gives you is the opportunity to look at the best contract that comes available for either April or Oct but it tends to make all other UY a relatively poor choice if you expect to cont to travel at those times.