Feb use year for Nov Travel

[deanna2426]

We have been looking for a resale at either BW or BC. With our oldest in school now, we will primarily be traveling in Nov (Jersey Week), or possibly late June or late August.

Jason called me with exactly what we are looking for at BW. The only thing is it is for February use year. Will this work for us if we normally would want to stay at either BW or BC in November.?I know these normally book quick due to F&W. Would we still have enough time to make ressies and if we had to cancel would we have to use pts. by February? How far in advance do you need to "bank" points? I think I read somewhere that DVC'ers get discounts on park hoppers. Is this true and if so, how much?

I am supposed to call Jason back this afternoon and I wanted to have as much information as possible before I talked to him!

Thanks for any help!

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by deanna2426
We have been looking for a resale at either BW or BC. With our oldest in school now, we will primarily be traveling in Nov (Jersey Week), or possibly late June or late August.

Jason called me with exactly what we are looking for at BW. The only thing is it is for February use year. Will this work for us if we normally would want to stay at either BW or BC in November.?I know these normally book quick due to F&W. Would we still have enough time to make ressies and if we had to cancel would we have to use pts. by February? How far in advance do you need to "bank" points? I think I read somewhere that DVC'ers get discounts on park hoppers. Is this true and if so, how much?

I am supposed to call Jason back this afternoon and I wanted to have as much information as possible before I talked to him!

Thanks for any help!

First of all, the use year has absolutely nothing to do with making reservations. No matter which use year you have, you can always call 11 months prior to check out to book a reservation at your home resort. So no worries for getting a ressie for November (or any time for that matter, LOL).

With a February use year, you can bank up to :

*100% of your annual allotment if you do it by the end of July
* 50% of your annual allotment if you do it by the end of October
* 25% of your annual allotment if you do it by the end of November.

The percentages of cumulative - so for example, if you have 200 points and bank 100 of them in June, you cannot bank any additional points after August 1.

If you cancel a reservationat least 31 days prior to arrival, the points are returned to your account with the same status they had just before you made the reservation. If you are within the banking deadlines, yo can bank them. If not, the points expire on the following January 31.

A February use year is a good one to have for spring and summertime travel. IMHO, is not perfect for November travel, but it is workable.


The question to ask yourself about this contract is - How often do I think I will need to cancel a November trip? If I do cancel it, how often will the cancellation occur after July 31? If the answer is not that often (or if your November trip uses 50% or less of your total allotment), then don't worry about the use year. (If you do cancel, I assume you will always cancel at least 31 days ahead of arrival and thus you could bank up to 50% of the points). If you cancel with less than 31 days notice, your points go into holding and there are other restrictions on the use of holding points.

DVC members get a 10% discount on UPH passes (Length of Stay). The discount is off the gate price - you cannot buy UPH in advance if you are staying on points. There are no DVC discounts on any other type of park hopper tickets.

HTH. Ask more questions if you need to.

Best wishes -


P.S. If the contract is perfect in every other way, my advice is to take it. You can deal with the February use year. Keep in mind that you will not always want to travel in November. Your membership will last until 2042.

 

[tamu91]

If you plan on Nov visits for the forseeable future, Feb UY is not the most optimal month to get. With that said, I don't think UY is all the important because your travel patterns will change over the years.
As CarolMN mentioned, with Feb UY, you have until end of July to bank your points 100% so if you have a Nov reservation and have to cancel between Aug 1st and 31 days prior to your arrival, you might end up losing some points if you can't fit in a trip before UY comes around again. However, getting a travel insurance will solve that problem.
Anyway, if Jason has a contract that fits your need, I'd say go for it. I was looking for a Feb UY contract when I purchase my VWL resale and I ended up with Dec UY.
Good luck on your purchase

 

[deanna2426]

Thanks so much for your quick replies. We are going to sit down tonight to figure out financing, etc. Hopefully, this will work out!

Thanks again!

 

[Dean]

While I agree Feb is not optimal for Nov, I wouldn't let a contract go by that's otherwise perfect unless you're very likely to have to cancel last minute.

 

[RobDoc]

I agree with Dean's assessment.

IMO, Use Year is meaningless - UNLESS you will need to cancel a reservation on short notice. Otherwise, Use Year is merely the month your points are renewed each year.

If you have to cancel a Nov reservation within 30 days, you may find it difficult to get away again before the end of January (although January is usually a period when availability is there for a reservations on short notice). If you cancel that same reservation in time to bank the points, they may simply be used in the following Use Year.

I would not let an otherwise good contract go because of it's Use Year unless your plans are always in flux and travel plans are likely to change on short notice.

Enjoy!