Can someone explain why the use year matters?

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

We are looking to buy into DVC through a reseller but don't understand why the use year matters so much. We will likely vacation in late May/ early June or late August. Can someone guide me as to what use year we should select and why it matters?

TIA,

K

 

[thesupersmartguy]

Hi K!

IMHO it does not really matter. Some people like use years in the month their Annual Passes expire, some like it closer to Christmas. I guess it depends on your travel habits. Like yours, Late May early June you might like a May use year or even an April.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I hate my UY, so it would definitely matter to me if I had it to do over again. I posted in this recent post, along with some others with differing opinions.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1972055

Bottom line, I think the more limited you are in your travel plans, the more UY matters. I also find that it matters when it comes to banking. We travel during the summer and have an Aug UY. If I bank points, I have to use them by July 31, or my points expire. We've had to plan trips in July when we really would have chosen to go in early Aug. You can work with anything, but if your travel plans are more locked like ours (Spring Break, June, July and Aug), certain UYs definitely work better than others.

Best of luck!!!

 

[Cruelladeville]

This is why your use year matters: you travel in May, and suppose that you have a June use year. You break your leg May 1, so you cancel your trip to Florida. You just lost all your points in the current use year, because your new use year begins June 1. The points were only good thru May 31, and you cannot save them that close to the end of your use year. That's why you want a use year that comes BEFORE your usual travel times, for example, an April, March, or February use year. If you cancel that May trip, you have until the following April, March, or February to use the points, or to bank them.

My use year is February, and August, so that I always have plenty of time to cancel my reservations and bank those points, or use them later. If a person isn't careful, they can easily lose those points, and points=money.

 

[5forDiz]

For many members Use Year doesn't really matter, but many do give it important consideration when buying their contract.

Mainly the importance would be related to the banking deadline.

For the months you indicate in your post May, June & August probably April would be best Use Year ( there isn't a May use year; or January or July or November)

- on April 1st you receive your allotment of points for your Use Year

- your banking deadline with April Use Year would be November 30
(banking must be done no later than end of 8th month of your UY)

- so if you arrange a trip for Aug 21 2009 & cancelled 31 days or more
before that check in date (ie Jul 21 2009 or earlier) you would still
have until Nov 30 2009 to bank those points into your April 2010 UY

OR you would have until March 31 2010 to utilize them during your
current (2009) UY which began on April 1 2009 and ends on
March 31 2010. This would be especially important with a ~last minute~ cancellation
(less than 31 days but at least 1 day before check-in date)
because then any points used for that
reservation would go into Holding Status and could NOT be banked
and would absolutely need to be utilized by the end of that UY.

- And having until March 31 2010 to utilize points is important as well if the reservation
has banked or borrowed points because those points must be used during that UY.

- April UY works for late May and June travel too - banking deadline & end of UY indicated
above remains same.

One of the problems with determing a Use Year month is that what the member may now decide to pick based on their present vacation habits may not "work" as well in future years because vacation habits often change.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

OK...I think I understand. Since we vacation mostly in late May/ early June and late August I think a February - April use year might be best...right?

Please know I appreciate everyone's guidance tremendously! It's so nice to be guided with those how have "experience."

K

 

[disneynutz]

OK...I think I understand. Since we vacation mostly in late May/ early June and late August I think a February - April use year might be best...right?

Please know I appreciate everyone's guidance tremendously! It's so nice to be guided with those how have "experience."

K

April would be a good choice.

 

[luckywife]

I'm brand new to DVC, we're just starting the whole process, so I'm confused about a lot of things and UY is one of them. Are you assigned a UY after closing or does it all have to do when you sign the final papers? Thanks!

 

[Granny]

I'm brand new to DVC, we're just starting the whole process, so I'm confused about a lot of things and UY is one of them. Are you assigned a UY after closing or does it all have to do when you sign the final papers? Thanks!

You can ask your Guide what UY's are available before you purchase. Then pick the one that works best for you. If you are buying through the resale market, UY will already be assigned and is usually indicated along with the rest of the contract data.

 

[luckywife]

You can ask your Guide what UY's are available before you purchase. Then pick the one that works best for you. If you are buying through the resale market, UY will already be assigned and is usually indicated along with the rest of the contract data.

Ok, that makes sense. Thank you so much for the quick reply.

 

[5forDiz]

I'm brand new to DVC, we're just starting the whole process, so I'm confused about a lot of things and UY is one of them. Are you assigned a UY after closing or does it all have to do when you sign the final papers? Thanks!

When trying to decide on a Use Year
( keeping in mind there aren't January, May, July or November Use Years )

~ pick a Use Year that is the month you are most likely to travel or a month
that comes just before the month you are most likely to travel.

This will give you the most time from your planned trip to your banking dealine and Use Year deadline.

Of course what "complicates" this is when you plan to take more than one trip per year . . .

So if, let's say, you like to travel in December & March picking December for your Use Year gives you from
DEC 1 2008 - NOV 30 2009 & banking deadline of JUL 31 2009.

BUT if you picked March for Use Year instead
its MAR 1 2008 - FEB 28 2009 & banking deadline of OCT 31 2008...if you needed to cancel December 2008 reservation you could very likely be beyond the OCT 31 banking deadline when you do. In this situation December would be the better choice for UY.

Sometimes it is hard to sync your Use Year with your travel habits and this is why many members did not get overly concerned & just took and work with whatever Use Year was available at the time they purchased.

 

[postesf]

I have only played w/ the idea of purchasing but I was looking at it by thinking "if I always vaction in Jan, then a Feb UY would be good because then I book my reservation 11 mo out."

Is the other way a better way to look at it? From the banking perspective?

 

[chalee94]

I have only played w/ the idea of purchasing but I was looking at it by thinking "if I always vaction in Jan, then a Feb UY would be good because then I book my reservation 11 mo out."

no. please read the "understanding UY" thread very carefully. UY has nothing at all to do with when you can book a reservation. zero.

UY month is only a factor in when you can cancel a reservation, so you should ideally pick a dec UY...a feb UY would turn out to be a poor choice if you needed to cancel 2-3 months out.

 

[BelleOfAlaska]

no. please read the "understanding UY" thread very carefully. UY has nothing at all to do with when you can book a reservation. zero.

UY month is only a factor in when you can cancel a reservation, so you should ideally pick a dec UY...a feb UY would turn out to be a poor choice if you needed to cancel 2-3 months out.

Thanks for this info. For us newbies it was very helpful. I now fully understand UY!

 

[wildernessDad]

OK...I think I understand. Since we vacation mostly in late May/ early June and late August I think a February - April use year might be best...right?

Please know I appreciate everyone's guidance tremendously! It's so nice to be guided with those how have "experience."

K

I'd go with April. We wanted to vacation in May so our guide picked the April UY for us.

But like others have said, if your vacations are firm, then UY really doesn't matter much.