Buying 2nd Contract UY question

[FSUSammy]

We currently have AKV with a June UY. The one thing I hate the most about it (especially after last year) was that we have to bank by the end of January and if we use it for a spring break trip or even a Memorial Day trip we are taking a HUGE risk. I have no intentions of selling that contract because we are grandfathered in with a blue card.

We want to get another contract at either PVB or BLT (I'm leaning towards BLT just because we can get 1 bedrooms there). I know if we went with a June UY it would make managing the points that much easier. But then I'll forever have the Spring Break/Memorial Day issues. I see very few June UY contracts available so I'm wondering if maybe for this second contract it might be better to switch to a different UY. If I want to be able to get in a Spring Break/Memorial Day trip am I correct in thinking that I want to aim for an October UY at the earliest?

What about a January UY?? Do those get confusing to use because you have to bank by August the prior year?

What would you experts do in this situation???

 

[thanxfornoticin]

This is always an interesting question. We have August UY, so we do have until March to bank. However, the way we usually looked at it - if we decided to bank 100 points into the next UY (as an example), and then decided on another trip after, we always had the option to borrow the non-banked points from the next year. It's almost the same as pulling points back - not exactly, but it works the same. Of course, Covid restrictions on borrowing change that a bit - but we rarely would do a last-minute trip that requires 100s of points. Just a thought. We've never gone through contracts with different UY's, but many people do it. I just prefer the convenience of a single repository. I also don't know if there is an ideal UY, but if spring break time is your concern, maybe something in Sept/Oct? There are probably pros and cons to any UY. Good luck if you move on to another contract! I agree with BLT over PVB - the lack of anything more than a studio (unless you spend a billion points on a lake villa) is a real negative for us at PVB.

 

[CarolMN]

There are no January use years. (Also no May, July or November use years. We don't know why).

I would only get another use year if you do not ever see yourselves wanting/needing to use both contracts for the same vacation.

How often do you have to cancel a vacation? If it's unlikely, it might be less stressful to just buy travel insurance for the trips that occur in March, April or May. February shouldn't be an issue because if you cancel any trip 30 days or less prior to chck-in, the points go into holding. Holding points expire at the end of the use year if you cannot reuse them before then.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[FSUSammy]

There are no January use years. (Also no May, July or November use years. We don't know why).

I would only get another use year if you do not ever see yourselves wanting/needing to use both contracts for the same vacation.

How often do you have to cancel a vacation? If it's unlikely, it might be less stressful to just buy travel insurance for the trips that occur in March, April or May. February shouldn't be an issue because if you cancel any trip 30 days or less prior to chck-in, the points go into holding. Holding points expire at the end of the use year if you cannot reuse them before then.

Good luck with your decision.

I wrote January but meant February lol I can still see that as being a bit confusing since you have to bank the prior year.

We have had to cancel a vacation around hurricane season. Since we are in Florida it's just a short drive up for us and the only reason why we'd ever cancel then is if there was a real possibility of a hurricane coming through our area or up in Orlando. But I wouldn't say that's often either lol *knock on wood*

 

[CarolMN]

I wrote January but meant February lol I can still see that as being a bit confusing since you have to bank the prior year.

Don't quite understand what you mean, LOL. The banking deadline for February is the following September 30. So for 2021, you would have to bank by September 30, 2021 (the same calendar year).

 

[ValW]

I have 3 UY. While it makes it very easy if you have all the same UY, I haven't had any problems managing/transferring points. Especially in your situation, I would buy in a different UY. That's why I have the 3 - it allows me to book for the different runDisney events (if they ever come back) without worrying about losing points.

 

[FSUSammy]

Don't quite understand what you mean, LOL. The banking deadline for February is the following September 30. So for 2021, you would have to bank by September 30, 2021 (the same calendar year).

For example, points that will expire by the end of February 2022 you would have to bank those by the end of September 2021. I’m putting the year as the actual year not necessarily the year for the points usage. See this is why it’s confusing for me lol

Just like my points for my June UY that expire by the end of May (2021) need to be banked by the end of January (2021) or else they have to be used by the end of May (2021) or I risk losing them.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I am waiting on ROFR for a BWV Aug UY contract because I want to do fall travel and my SSR Dec UY contract is too limiting for what I want. As of now, I have no plans to try and combine the points and only plan on using the BWV contract for travel from Aug to late Nov. I'll be using my SSR points from Dec-May and any leftover (hahahahah) can be banked at the end of July.

 

[FSUSammy]

I am waiting on ROFR for a BWV Aug UY contract because I want to do fall travel and my SSR Dec UY contract is too limiting for what I want. As of now, I have no plans to try and combine the points and only plan on using the BWV contract for travel from Aug to late Nov. I'll be using my SSR points from Dec-May and any leftover (hahahahah) can be banked at the end of July.

Yeah I'm not sure we would be combining points either. Our reasons to get another contract is to 1) be able to travel with grandparents more while they are around and able to come along and 2) be able to get at least 1 bedrooms so that we can save a bit of money by not always having to eat out and having the kitchen right there.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We currently have AKV with a June UY. The one thing I hate the most about it (especially after last year) was that we have to bank by the end of January and if we use it for a spring break trip or even a Memorial Day trip we are taking a HUGE risk. I have no intentions of selling that contract because we are grandfathered in with a blue card.

We want to get another contract at either PVB or BLT (I'm leaning towards BLT just because we can get 1 bedrooms there). I know if we went with a June UY it would make managing the points that much easier. But then I'll forever have the Spring Break/Memorial Day issues. I see very few June UY contracts available so I'm wondering if maybe for this second contract it might be better to switch to a different UY. If I want to be able to get in a Spring Break/Memorial Day trip am I correct in thinking that I want to aim for an October UY at the earliest?

What about a January UY?? Do those get confusing to use because you have to bank by August the prior year?

What would you experts do in this situation???

Every UY has a banking deadline and I don't think any are more confusing than another. You just need to mark the deadline on your calendar. Having 2 UY's is certainly doable especially if you would plan to use them separately. For getting some free insurance against last minute cancellations for Spring travel you want something that starts just before your travel. February would probably be ideal as long as you didn't plan to travel in January or planned to use your existing contract in the June UY for January travel. December would also be fine. FWIW I wouldn't drop back to October and also it's one of the scarcest UY's for BLT anyway. February is a great BLT UY - they sold the most contracts with that UY as I recall.

 

[FSUSammy]

Every UY has a banking deadline and I don't think any are more confusing than another. You just need to mark the deadline on your calendar. Having 2 UY's is certainly doable especially if you would plan to use them separately. For getting some free insurance against last minute cancellations for Spring travel you want something that starts just before your travel. February would probably be ideal as long as you didn't plan to travel in January or planned to use your existing contract in the June UY for January travel. December would also be fine. FWIW I wouldn't drop back to October and also it's one of the scarcest UY's for BLT anyway. February is a great BLT UY - they sold the most contracts with that UY as I recall.

Thanks that's great info!!!! Just curious why is October one of the scariest UY for BLT?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks that's great info!!!! Just curious why is October one of the scariest UY for BLT?

They just didn't sell it much to new buyers. Starting with AKV and then followed by BLT they got very stuck on certain UY's that they sold to new buyers for some unknown reason. Instead of having a monthly or even bi-monthly switch to the next UY to offer they hung up for a long time on Dec for AKV and Feb was the choice for BLT. It was notable at the time and rather odd and nobody knew why that I ever read. This chart on DVC news has info on the UY distribution for most resorts up until CCV. You'll note that at AKV over 30% of the points were Dec and it approaches 40% for Feb BLT. https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/own...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

 

[Nabas]

We prefer having multiple Use Years.

We go to WDW throughout the year and I dislike booking a room when it's within a banking period. By staggering our Use Years by at least 4 months, we can book any month and not have to worry about it being within the 4-month window.

 

[robinb]

I had two UYs, August and September, and I hated it. I ended up selling my OKW contract and bought an AKV contract to match up with my BWV contact. Life is so much better being able to mix resort points in the 7-month window and only having one banking date to worry about.

How long will Spring Break and Memorial Day really be important to you? When my DD21 was in school, Spring Break and Christmas were important to me. We had to work around her school and athletics schedule and those times worked the best. They both lost their importance once she graduated from High School and we have not been back to WDW for either time in over 4 years. We have transitioned to Oct/Nov as our favorite time to go, which works great for our August UY. But ... I also just booked a trip for May 2022 at AKV (Concierge baby!) even though I have to bank by April 1 if we change our minds on that trip.

My point is that your needs and date requirements will change as your family changes. If your kids are older, I would suggest sticking with the June UY even though it really sucks for May trips.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I had two UYs, August and September, and I hated it. I ended up selling my OKW contract and bought an AKV contract to match up with my BWV contact. Life is so much better being able to mix resort points in the 7-month window and only having one banking date to worry about.

How long will Spring Break and Memorial Day really be important to you? When my DD21 was in school, Spring Break and Christmas were important to me. We had to work around her school and athletics schedule and those times worked the best. They both lost their importance once she graduated from High School and we have not been back to WDW for either time in over 4 years. We have transitioned to Oct/Nov as our favorite time to go, which works great for our August UY. But ... I also just booked a trip for May 2022 at AKV (Concierge baby!) even though I have to bank by April 1 if we change our minds on that trip.

My point is that your needs and date requirements will change as your family changes. If your kids are older, I would suggest sticking with the June UY even though it really sucks for May trips.

I wouldn't want them side by side like that either. You get little or none of the benefit of a second UY. Our UY's are 6 months apart and work pretty well. My only gripe is the location we own that we have a contract in both of them for. It would be better to have the resort all in one.

 

[FSUSammy]

I had two UYs, August and September, and I hated it. I ended up selling my OKW contract and bought an AKV contract to match up with my BWV contact. Life is so much better being able to mix resort points in the 7-month window and only having one banking date to worry about.

How long will Spring Break and Memorial Day really be important to you? When my DD21 was in school, Spring Break and Christmas were important to me. We had to work around her school and athletics schedule and those times worked the best. They both lost their importance once she graduated from High School and we have not been back to WDW for either time in over 4 years. We have transitioned to Oct/Nov as our favorite time to go, which works great for our August UY. But ... I also just booked a trip for May 2022 at AKV (Concierge baby!) even though I have to bank by April 1 if we change our minds on that trip.

My point is that your needs and date requirements will change as your family changes. If your kids are older, I would suggest sticking with the June UY even though it really sucks for May trips.

Given that we have an almost 3 year old and a 14 year old Spring Break and Memorial Day will be important to us for quite some time still.

 

[KTownRaider]

FWIW I wouldn't drop back to October and also it's one of the scarcest UY's for BLT anyway.

When considering DVC, I had been looking at Poly and BLT. I eventually settled on BLT for its ability to accommodate both larger (2BR) and smaller (studio) family vacations. It also had the most forgiving point chart on the monorail loop. October UY was really ideal as never visit during summer months. I soon discovered OCT UY for BLT was a bit of unicorn on resale (~5% of all BLT contracts), but I decided to stay patient/keep searching. For a year, I only saw a couple and none were in the number of points I was seeking. I considered a Feb UY (the most popular for BLT), but having a UY that put at risk points intended for the holidays didn't sit well with me. It was a key factor to go direct and will be my blue card contract to the end.

For OP, having a different UY makes complete sense in my opinion. The idea of booking a Memorial Day vacation 7-11 months in advance with a June UY is tempting fate. Even with the best planning, life happens sometimes, and I would ideally build in some flexibility for such a sizeable financial outlay. From the info provided, December UY would seem ideal (polar opposite from June UY to allow AKV to work in tandem for calendar coverage) and have healthy UY distributions for BLT (~11%) and Poly (~28%) when shopping resale.

 

[Lexxiefern]

If you are going to use your June use year for one trip and these new points for a separate trip, I would get a different use year. I have the bulk of my points in 2 use years, December and June. I use December points for any trips December thru May. I use my June points for fall trips. I have no problem keeping track of them, banking them or using them. I prefer it this way so I don’t have to worry about canceling and banking issues.

I would say December or possibly February would be your best bet for a second use year.

 

[princesscinderella]

February UY has a ton of BLT contracts, if pick that one if you really want to do spring break and memorial weekend trips. I hate the December is almost always a year behind in points and at the end of the contract it will be interesting when they only have two months to use up their last year’s points.

 

[Sandisw]

I was in the same position as you with a June UY and then started traveling in the spring. I just didn't want the risk so I added on using a Dec UY. Since the contract I bought was 150 points, I knew it was big enough to just use on its own and not worry about transferring between the two UYs.

That did sometimes mean I might borrow points on one when I had points in the other, but I liked doing that better than the other options. Of course, these were both Boardwalk contracts so it was pretty easy to manage.

I ended up adding on a third UY after that but last year, sold off the last of my June UY. Now I have just Aug UY (475 points) and Dec UY (325 points). I never combine the points and for some trips, I simply book some nights on one and some on the other and just ask they be linked so we hopefully don't have to change rooms. We do a lot of split stays so that makes it even easier.

But, having both allows me to travel all 12 months of the year and keep the trips within the banking window. I use my Aug UY for trips Aug through March and then my Dec UY for January through July trips!