Buy Month

[disneydynamicduo]

I have wanting to become a DVC member for about a year now, my husband and I went and stayed at POP Century this April and luckily he fell in love with Disney and cant wait to go back. Of course we had to get the Harley this summer so it may be another year or so...

But anyway could someone explain to me in very plain english the importance of your buy month...and does it really matter?

 

[tjkraz]

It's actually called your Use Year. It serves two purposes:

1. You get your annual allotment of points at the start of each Use Year. I have a February UY, so every February 1st I get a new set of points to use for bookings in the 12 months after that date.

2. It determines your point banking window. Points can be banked up to one year forward, meaning that if I weren't going to use my 2005 points, I could bank them and they would become 2006 points valid for use between 2/1/06 and 1/31/07.

But, points can only be banked within certain guidelines. For the first 6 months of my UY (February to July), I can bank 100% of my points. For the next 3 months (Aug to Oct) I can bank 50% of my total ownership. Then, for one more month (Nov), I can bank 25% of my points. After 11/30, I can no longer bank any of my points.

Banking windows can be important if you anticipate having to change travel dates or cancel trips altogether due to changing personal (or business) schedules. Generally speaking, you want your normal WDW travel dates to immediatly follow the start of your Use Year. We like to go to WDW in April / May, so our February UY works out well. I'm scheduling a trip now for May 2005. If I find out in March that I need to cancel my May trip--no problem. I still have until July to decide what to do with my points for that year and bank them if necessary.

But, if I find out in November that I have to cancel a January trip, I'm in trouble. By November I can only bank 1/4 of my total points. The rest either need to be used somehow by 1/31, or they are simply forfeit.

If you travel during different times of the year, then your Use Year really doesn't matter. Sometimes it will work in your favor, other times it will not. But if you plan to often travel at the same time (summer months or around the Christmas holiday, for example), it's best to specifically get a UY that immediately PRECEEDS your travel dates.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

IMHO the single biggest mistake that new and/or potential members make is thinking that it has something to do with when you can make a reservation. It has nothing to do with that at all. You can always make a reservation up to 11 months in advance.

A lot can change over the course of 38 or 50 years in terms of vacation patterns so unless you plan on always going at the same time of year, I wouldn't worry about it very much.

HBC

 

[disneydynamicduo]

Does it really matter then what resort you buy your points at? The way I see it is you could buy time at one and potentially never stay there...

or am I way out in left field...

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by disneydynamicduo
Does it really matter then what resort you buy your points at? The way I see it is you could buy time at one and potentially never stay there...

or am I way out in left field...

That is true!! I have friends who own at Vero Beach, and have never been there....they always use those points for WDW.

Here's the catch....there are busy DVC times, such as early Dec, Easter, and Oct & Nov. To book at those times, you have to book early. The "going knowledge" right now seems to be that you have a pretty good chance of staying anywhere if you call RIGHT at the 7 month mark...but that is just right now!!!

DVC is a fast growing group....while it might be easy for people to get into the different resorts right now. The difference in the numbers of people they can accomodate has led many on this board (including me) to conclude that may not always be the case!

Look at the sizes of the resorts:

Hilton Head - 102 accomodations
VWL - 136
VB - 175
BCV - 208
BWV - 383
OKW - 531
SSR - (I don't know exactly...but, somewhere around 850)

If you consider that (this it TOTALLY hypothetical here) 50% of the owners at each resort want to stay somewhere else, or do not book before 7 months...well, that is a LOT more people trying to book at a non-home resort from SSR than from VWL or BCV. Right now, that is not an issue...SSR is FAR from completed, so we really aren't seeing any problems with this. Whether or not this will actually happen has been a long-standing debate on this board!! Some people feel that if you call right at the 7 month window...you will always be able to get what you want (with the exception of standard view or boardwalk view rooms at BWV). Others feel that things will start to "change" when SSR is completed. Who really knows for sure!!!

The "unofficial" motto of this board is "Buy where you want to stay." The resale market is booming, and you can get ownership at ANY resort via the resale market. Why would you NOT buy where you want? My personal motto is this: DVC is a WONDERFUL bargain if you love where you own....it is a REALLY expensive timeshare if you don't!!!



Beca

 

[disneydynamicduo]

by seven month mark you mean the seventh month of your own personal use year correct...

The reason I ask about where to buy is you can buy a lot more points on some of the resales for alot less. Then I would have more points to use throughout the year. I just want to make the most of my money Id love to get through SSR but of buyong a OKW is more bang for your buck and I could still get to stay at SSR than that seems better...Do the people who own at say SSR get first dibs?

AHHHH...I think I am making this way more confusing than it has to be

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by disneydynamicduo
by seven month mark you mean the seventh month of your own personal use year correct...

Nope. This is exactly what HBC alluded to in his post. Your Use Year has NOTHING to do with when you can book. As long as the points will be available at the check-in date, you ALWAYS have the ability to book your Home resort 11 months ahead of your trip.

All other resorts (those at which you do not own points) can be booked 7 months ahead.

The reason I ask about where to buy is you can buy a lot more points on some of the resales for alot less. Then I would have more points to use throughout the year.

Yes and no. Search the boards and you'll find a lot of info on resales. The quick and dirty version is this: You'll probably have to offer between $73-74 per point in order to pass DVC's Right of First Refusal on a resale. The buyer also typically pays current year's maintenance (about $4 per point) and closing costs ($3-4 per point on a smaller contract). That gets you to about $80 per point. So, resales really aren't that far off of DVC's current promotional price of $85 per point for SSR.

If you can find a resale with banked points, it will certainly add to the value.

On the other hand, SSR contracts last 11-12 years longer than all of the other resorts. SSR ends in 2054 while OKW, BWV, etc....they all end in 2042.

So, there are pros and cons to both scenario.

I just want to make the most of my money Id love to get through SSR but of buyong a OKW is more bang for your buck and I could still get to stay at SSR than that seems better...Do the people who own at say SSR get first dibs?

SSR owners get "first dibs" to the extent that they can book 11 months ahead while others can only book 7 months ahead. However, SSR is going to be such a large resort that it really won't matter. Simply by virtue of its size, SSR will probably be the last resort to reach 100% occupancy year-round.

That said, there is the possibility that one factor could influence the decision to own points at SSR. There has been talk of creating separate booking categories at SSR. For example, about 1/5th of the rooms at SSR overlook Downtown Disney. If DVC makes these rooms a separate class, they will almost certainly receive high demand and will be some of the most difficult rooms at SSR to book outside of the 11-month window.

There is also the possibility that DVC could create a separate category of rooms with less-desirable views that would cost fewer points per night.

Both of the above have occurred at the Boardwalk resort. The Preferred Boardwalk View rooms (actually overlook the Boardwalk itself) and Standard View rooms (cost fewer points) are much more difficult to book unless you are an owner at BWV.

 

[Beca]

tjkraz is right!!!

Also, remember....the cost of your original points is really not going to cost you as much over the life of your contract as the maintenance fees are...and SSR has some of the LOWEST fees!!! Yes, OKW are cheaper...but, with the new slide coming into OKW...their fees may go up some.

The current incentives on SSR via DVC are WONDERFUL!!! Although you can find SSR on the resale market...going thru DVC would probably be cheaper...and their financing is really good!!!

If you want SSR...you're SOOO in luck!!! It is a GREAT time to buy it via DVC.

And, on the booking windows...do NOT be confused. Your UY does NOT have anything to do with when you can book. Here's some examples:

EVERY SSR owner can book Dec 25, 2005 on Jan 26th, 2004...REGARDLESS of when their UY is!!! If your points do not get allocated until your UY month of, say...Aug, then DVC understands this, and will grab your Aug 2005 points and allocate them to your ressie when you call in Jan 2005. You do NOT have to have the points "in your account" when you make the ressie....DVC knows they are coming, and will use them accordingly. Does that make sense??

And, every NON-SSR owner can make Dec 25, 2005 ressies on May 26, 2004 for SSR ( they get the Jan booking at their home resort), no matter what their UY is.

If this does not make sense...please post, and I will try to re-phrase this.



Beca

 

[Caskbill]

Sometimes it helps to put things into a table to see the big picture. Let's consider two different use years, June and December. Here's the charts for each.

<b>June Use Year
Use Year.....Vacation Dates</b>
2003.....June 1, 2003 through May 31, 2004
2004.....June 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005
2005.....June 1, 2005 through May 31, 2006
2006.....June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007

<b>December Use Year
Use Year.....Vacation Dates</b>
2003.....December 1, 2003 through November 30, 2004
2004.....December 1, 2004 through November 30, 2005
2005.....December 1, 2005 through November 30, 2006
2006.....December 1, 2006 through November 30, 2007


Suppose these are two separate owners, each wanting to take a vacation in September, 2005. The June UY owner would use some of his 2005 use year points for that vacation. However the December UY owner would be using his 2004 points for that vacation.

If booking at a home resort, BOTH of these owners could make their reservation at 11 months prior to check-out date. If their checkout was going to be September 15, 2005, then BOTH could make reservations for that trip, by calling on October 15, 2004 (11-months prior). If it was a non-home resort they wanted, then the case is 7-months prior, or in this example they could call on February 15th, 2005 for that September 2005 vacation.

Again, as others have said, UY has nothing to do with when you can reserve the vacation. It only affects which year's points are used for the vacation.

Finally, banking and borrowing. You can bank points from any UY into the following UY, or you can borrow points from a later UY into the proceeding UY.

In our example, if neither owner had enough points for that September 2005 reservation, then the June owner could borrow some of his 2006 points, while the December owner could borrow some of his 2005 points. (Remember a Dec UY owner gets new points on Dec 1st, so for a September 1st 2005 vacation, he is borrowing points he normally wouldn't have received until Dec 1st, 2005)

On the other hand the June owner received his 2005 points on June 1st, 2005. If that wasn't enough points for his September trip, he would borrow from his 2006 UY.

Hope this helps.