Did you have a strategy for your second use year?

[perchy]

Addonitis, folks.

My use year is August and I have no funds to be buying anymore contracts. But...

I have some points to bank by the end of March. I don't think we'd use them between April and August.

My question, tho, is does anyone pick their second use year based on when they can no longer bank their other points? I know I can USE my points anytime. But I'm wondering if looking at an April use year for other options throughout the year could have some benefits....

I probably sound insane.... addonitis is a sickness. But the extra opportunities for travel without fear of putting points in jeopardy is piquing my interest.

Someone set me straight? lol. Or convince me to by a direct contract for moonlight magic, even? I'm open. lol

 

[Sandisw]

I have both Aug and Dec UY and use the points in each for specific trips so I am always traveling in my banking window.

I do not mix my points so I have borrowed from one UY even though I have points in the other I could transfer..

I own the same resorts in each. RIV and SSR. I will be adding VGF soon to my Dec UY as I want to slowly work that membership to being qualified for perks but I’ll be using the points in December anyway.

 

[kanerf]

Most of my points are in a June UY, but I found a small resale at BLT for a Feb UY that was at such a low cost I had to buy it. Now I have two UY, but not really a problem as long as you keep up with banking dates.

 

[Ruttangel]

It sounds like you are inventing a reason to buy another contract
Sounds like Addonitis has evolved a new variant with you, stay away from these boards for 10 days please

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I've considered getting a second UY in order to have "safe" bankable points year-round (i.e., SEP UY for reservations from September through April, and another for reservations between May through August). But whenever I think about the heat and crowds during the summer, I usually just decide that I'm unlikely to travel then anyway and would rather add more points to my SEP UY that can all be combined easily.

 

[Lorana]

I have two UY, which wasn’t what I wanted, but I found a unicorn of small VGC contract at a great price in 2020, so I ended up with a second UY. In this case, my strategy is more that my second UY are VGC contracts I use only for VGC. All my other points are for my Sep UY for all other trips.

I have at times debated picking up some points in either Feb, Mar or Apr UY so that I have some points to use May through Aug without worrying about losing points if I cancel. But then I think that I don’t usually want to go in the summer, and that I really should know by end of April if I’m taking a trip in May, and managing two UYs is a little bit of a pain because I can’t easily use all my points in a single booking. Which is why I have not yet gotten a new UY.

 

[Shellyred8]

We started with an April UY and then added on an August UY. We didn't intentionally do this, the Aug UY contract was just such a good price that we went for it. Since having it though, I've discovered I'm glad we have those two different UY's. I like using our points early on in the UY, so if something comes up with those travel plans and we have to cancel/reschedule, we still have time to do that without running in to banking issues. So, we use our April UY points for our May trips and our Aug UY points for our fall/christmas trips.

 

[EYL]

We did consider our second UY based on banking dates. We started with a February UY at PVB to cover my son's mid-winter break (typically President's Week in February) through the summer. These points must be banked on or before September 30th, so Halloween or other Holiday trips are risky. We decided for a second UY in June at RIV. These points will cover us for the summer/fall and the Holidays until banking on or before January 31st.

 

[hhisc16]

We have one UY (Oct) for stays at WDW and one UY (Dec) for our stays at DHHIR.
We wanted both UY as close as possible.
We also use both UY to purchase cash reservations and OTU points if needed.

 

[perchy]

It sounds like you are inventing a reason to buy another contract
Sounds like Addonitis has evolved a new variant with you, stay away from these boards for 10 days please

But.... but.... but....

 

[perchy]

We did consider our second UY based on banking dates. We started with a February UY at PVB to cover my son's mid-winter break (typically President's Week in February) through the summer. These points must be banked on or before September 30th, so Halloween or other Holiday trips are risky. We decided for a second UY in June at RIV. These points will cover us for the summer/fall and the Holidays until banking on or before January 31st.

See? I'm not completely off the rails. lol

 

[sjdrr1313]

See? I'm not completely off the rails. lol

What did you end up doing? I have the same thoughts... We have a March use year (200 points SSR) which is perfect for our spring and summer trips, and even halloween... But I'm thinking of a nice little 60-75 point Aug/Sept/October use year to use for a couple of nights in November/December for the holidays. I guess my alternative would be to just add on to my March use year and still book in November/December knowing I would still have all of January and February to use them or sell them if for some reason we ended up cancelling or deciding not to go... But I'm selfish and I don't want to sell my points, I'd rather bank them and hoard them and then book a bigger room the next year, ya know? The disadvantage to wanting a smaller "fall" contract is I can't buy that direct, it would have to be resale, and I'm eyeing up those GF add on rates... Vs if I add on a smaller amount in March I can do it direct.

 

[bwvBound]

My question, tho, is does anyone pick their second use year based on when they can no longer bank their other points? I know I can USE my points anytime. But I'm wondering if looking at an April use year for other options throughout the year could have some benefits....

I probably sound insane.... addonitis is a sickness. But the extra opportunities for travel without fear of putting points in jeopardy is piquing my interest.

I totally understand the quoted phrase in bold!

Our present UY is mostly-perfect for WDW travel ... but a complete misfit for CA/HI travel. We seriously thought about buying a second UY to properly fit west-coast/pacific destinations -- but didn't follow through. (This might be my one DVC-regret. LOL) This UY we've enjoyed 5 stays at the Grand Cal using DVC and will have points left over to bank. This seems odd to me: on one hand, I'd like to snag an additional reservation before our Disneyland Magic Keys (aka APs) expire; on the other hand, I'm afraid to book a reservation beyond our banking date and refuse to borrow. So, we'll bank. Sure hope I don't regret this decision ... ah, um, sigh.

 

[badeacon]

I have Feb. and June use years to be able to book all year round and not be in final 4 months and risk points.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

After having years of multiple UY I consolidated my purchases into one UY. I do have a fixed week that is for December although those points fall into my Sept UY. That is the only deviation that I would suggest for something other than one UY.