Can Someone Explain "Use Year" and the "6 mos from that date" issue to me?

[^^^ SnowBunny ^^^]

I'm just curious - what is the importance of the "use year" when thinking of purchasing DVC. I know it's something about a six month deal - but what happens after that six months? What if your plans change? Who can give me the low-down. Thanks.

 

[RobDoc]

Use Year is when your points are renewed each year. It also determines your banking windows. You have 6 months after your use year begins to bank 100% of your points- 8 months to bank up to 50% and 9 months to bank up to 25%.

If you have already banked 50% or more before the end of the 8th month- you won't be able to bank any more. (If you've already banked 25% or more by the end of the 9th month- you won't be able to bank any more.)

 

[BobH]

Use year has significance only if you cancel your plans. For example I have reservations for May 19 to 25 at Hilton Head. My use year is June so if I had to cancel now I would have no time to use the points and it is too late to bank them so I would lose them. The six months refers to the time after the beginning of your use year when you could still bank 100% of your points if you didn't plan to take any vacation that use year. For example I can bank 100% of my points until November 30th of each year. You can bank points into the following year and then you must use them or lose them. You can also borrow points from the coming use year. In other words you can have 3 years worthe of points to use in a single year.
Some people believe a use year that starts just prior to the time you usually vacation is best. I haven't found that it matters to me. Hope this helps you.

Doc you type to fast for me!

 

[PamOKW]

Your Use Year is the start point every year when you get your allotment of points. From that date, you get your "banking" windows. For example, if you have a February Use Year, every February 1 you get your points to use from February-January 31 of the next year. By the end of July, you can bank 100% of your points. October 31 is the cutoff for banking 50% of your points and November 30 is your last opportunity to bank any points. You can bank up to 25% at that point.

If you are taking a vacation late in your Use Year (say December-January for the February Use Year example) and you cancel close to the date, your ability to bank your points is limited. For example again, if you have 200 points, during November you could only bank 50 points and in December-January you can't bank any points. Let's say you have a vacation planned for mid-December using 150 points. In November, you have to cancel. If you do so 31 days before the start of your vacation all your points are returned to you to use. But, you must use them by January 31. You will only be able to bank 50 of them. You have 100 points that must be used.

So, Use Year plays a part when you are cancelling a trip late in your Use Year. Unless you vacation the same time every year and are prone to cancel late in your Use Year, it's not much of a concern.