First post on DVC board....use year question

[Mattsmom]

Hi,

This is my first post on the DVC board. I 've been lurking for awhile. Read the FAQ thread ect...

DH & I are considering buying into DVC either at BCV or BWV(resale). What I would like to know is if there a "better" month to have your use year in? We think we will vacation in Oct. and/or at Xmas initially.

 

[Dean]

I think the use year is far more important than most people realize. The importance varies significantly with the owner. In general, you want a use year that's 6 months or less before you usually vacation. That way if you must cancel, you can bank the points if they are current use years points. It also gives you more time to reschedule a trip. Remember your travel plans may change, especially if you have children.

 

[EROS]

Mattsmom, if DVC reservations are cancelled 1-30 days before your visit, the points are put into a "holding account" which must be used by the end of your Use year (BTW, you can only use such "holding" points for DVC reservations made 60 days or less before arrival).

Thus, if you KNEW that you'd always vacation between October and December, it would be wise to have a Use Year of September. Then, if you had to unexpectedly cancel reservations, you'd have until September of the following year to use the points.

We paid little attention to our Use year because we anticipate vacationing at WDW at VARIOUS times of the year over the next 40 years.

 

[PKK/MJK]

I agree with the above "posters." We have two use years--June (we usually vacation in July or August) and December (frequently have a holiday or January trip). We had no idea about use years when we bought DVC, and were just lucky that we got the use years that we did. All use years would work, of course, but this does give us a bit of a cushion if we need to cancel. For example, if our use year was August--and we used those points for a ressie the following July--then had to cancel that ressie in April or May, it would be trickier to use our points as we would be past the 100% banking date. I think September or October points would be good for your situation. Good Luck!!

 

[Doctor P]

We chose a June use year. We typically vacation in December and thus have until November 30 to cancel and bank all our points (if we cancelled later than that the points would going into a holding account anyway and we wouldn't be able to bank them).

 

[eva]

We never really thought about how important use year is when we bought either. We have a February use year and usually travel in May or June. The use year normally works fine for us since we have until July 30th to bank. But we have gone twice during the holidays and had to pray that nothing happened to make us cancel our trips because we would be past our full banking window and would need to use our points before January 31st. A use year just a month before you plan to do most of your traveling is a good idea. If you have a September use year you will have until February 28th to bank 100% of your points for the year.

 

[Mattsmom]

Thanks to everyone who replied! We have the video and book the DVC sends, but there is no info. on banking & borrowing. (Have only talked to a guide briefly)

What all of you have said makes sense. We would want our use month as close as possible to the times we usually travel! Wouldn't want to lose any points due to unforseen circumstances!

We are waiting on more BCV sale info. to be released to make a decision on which "home".