Does Use Year REALLY matter?

[tommygunn]

Hi nerds,

Everyone tells me that you should get all contracts under one use year, but does that really matter. I have two contracts now under separate use years and have not had any issues whatsoever. Thinking about getting a third and wondering if I should try to align it with one of my two use years or just go for the best deal that I can get. What say ye?

 

[wilkydelts]

There are many threads about this already. The search bar can help you find many of them and the experiences of others.

 

[BamaGuy44]

I think you can work around 2, it but it's not ideal. Having 3 different ones sounds like a headache to manage unless you wouldn't be trying to combine the points.. Again I'm sure it can be done and people are doing it now. I wouldn't want my DVC life to be that complicated, but that's me

 

[vacationaward]

If your contracts under the same use year, they can be in the same account, making things easier to organize.

Also UY does matter depending on when you like to vacation. If you like to vacation in the summer, but your UY isn't until September, you could run into issues, unless you're constantly borrowing from the next year.

 

[Stargazer65]

It depends on how you vacation and use the contracts. I had two use years for a while and it was no big deal. I just decided this summer to consolidate to one UY because I wanted to combine all the points for bigger rooms and/or longer stays in one shot.

 

[Sandisw]

If your plan is to use the contracts on their own without worrying about using them for a single reservation, then different UYs can be managed, assuming it’s not too small of a contract.

We do have three, and simply book different trips with each…to maximize traveling as close to beginning as possible to for each one.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

As long as each contract is large enough on its own to book a whole trip and you don't need to combine your multiple contracts every time you want to book a single stay, I think it's fine.

 

[sethschroeder]

When seperate use years it means they can not be combined for an extended stay. It also means different banking dates to keep in mind.

 

[kandlsutton]

Are you adding on at the same resort you currently own? If so, I would probably stick to the same UY. If adding a different resort, then a 3rd UY may be ok depending on your travel times.

I book our trips with the points/UY that give me flexibility if I have to cancel the trip. Our fall trips use our AUG UY, spring trips use our DEC UY, and winter trips can use either UY or we use. both for a split stay.

I have 5 home resorts/contracts in 2 UY under 3 memberships (different owners on 1). I am a planner and typically book right at 11-months and sometimes I have to borrow to get my home resort(s) booked. Because I book early, combining points hasn't been necessary unless I find somewhere else we want to stay and switch at 7-months, and that reservation requires more points than the original reservation.

When add-on-itis hits again (Poly tower), I will likely add on direct to one our resale memberships unless I can convince our adult kids that I am not crazy and our direct membership needs more points!

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I bought a less-than-ideal UY with our first 2 contracts. With our 3rd contract, I purposefully bought a different UY & ended up loving it!! Then, our travel patterns changed & I was very happy to have both of our UY (AUG & FEB).

So, when the “perfect” resale contract came up with yet another UY (APR)- I thought it was no biggie! Boy, was I wrong. I can work with it, sure, but I hate when I can’t do things on my own & have to call MS (which will happen if/when you need to transfer points, when you want to use those pts during home priority, and any mods during that time). Even though I do my best to use my contracts separately, I do occasionally mix points together… and it just felt soooo much easier with only 2 UY.

It’s enough of an ordeal that I often consider how I can easily sell that one off & replace it with one in FEB or AUG (without costing a ton!).

 

[macman123]

I have 35 contracts and 3,500 points.

All with same UY....

Makes sense to manage as one membership for me.......

 

[RichVIII]

I wouldn’t get two UYs that are very close in months. The benefit (as others have shared) is to use them strategically on booking. That said, we have one UY and man have our needs changed from what we thought we would be perfect every year, so also account for that.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Imagine you have planned your trip 11 months out, only to, let's say break your leg a month before you go. If you have a UY that is too much before your trip date, you won't be able to bank the points and buy yourself some time to heal.

Another example, crazy as it may sound - a pandemic shuts down WDW. Ask anyone that had a June 2020 trip date. Yeah, UY matters.

 

[lauramg]

Hi nerds,

Everyone tells me that you should get all contracts under one use year, but does that really matter. I have two contracts now under separate use years and have not had any issues whatsoever. Thinking about getting a third and wondering if I should try to align it with one of my two use years or just go for the best deal that I can get. What say ye?

I asked this question a year ago (should be searchable) and based on the responses I kept my use year the same. I’m very glad I did so now as having to transfer points to make reservations would have been a headache.