Getting ready to purchase--how important is UY?

[MickeyReeds]

We are just about to take the plunge and put in an offer at BLT on the resale market. Does it make a huge difference to you about which UY you find? Are there advantages of one over another? Thanks!

 

[CraigInPA]

Align your use year with when you are planning to go to the World on a regular basis. For example, if you regularly go in February, choose a use year of February or earlier (December, November). The reason you do this is that if you have to cancel, you'll have time to either go later in the year or bank the points into the next year.

 

[Phatscott25]

Use year is when you get your annual allotment of points. For example, all of my contracts have a June use year. Therefore, on June 1 of each year I receive my points for that year. Ideally, you want a use year just before the typical time of year you travel. That way, should things change you have plenty of time to cancel without worry of restricting your points. All use years have a banking deadline 4 months prior to the next use year. So again in my example, if I wanted to bank my 2018 use year points I would have to do it before January 31, 2019. Therefore, with a June use year it is not recommended to book Feb-May in case something should happen causing me to cancel my plans. Because those points would then be stuck in my 2018 use year.

 

[CarolMN]

Understanding Use Year

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Not only should you buy the Use Year that is best for your travel habits, but also if you buy multiple contracts, it is far simpler to buy each contract with the same Use Year. That way, your points can all be in the same account, and you can use them as if it is one big contract at 7 months (at 11 months if all contracts are for the same resort).

 

[kboo]

All of the above. Plus, it may not seem like it as you are looking at listings coming up for sale, but quite a few BLT contracts come up for sale, so it is worth waiting for the "right" UY for you. (If you were looking for VGC (and MAYBE VGF) I might say differently, but the other resorts have plenty of contracts up for sale.

 

[hlhlaw07]

I agree with everything that has been said, but I guess I will offer a different perspective. UY didn’t matter much to me when looking for my first contract as we tend to travel at all times of the year. We aren’t the type to take a vacation the same time every year, so I just went with contracts that everything else looked good to me. So if you aren’t a consistent traveler, UY may not mean that much to you.

 

[lovin'fl]

UY hasn't mattered to us. Really only matters if you will cancel a lot.

 

[disneynutz]

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Your UY is not a calendar year. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

We have used our free UY insurance 3 times, we had a death in the family, a forced job relocation, and our adult daughter lost her vacation time so we canceled a 2 bedroom and booked a 1 bedroom. We were able to bank our points and didn't have to rush a new reservation before the points expired.

Bill

 

[MickeyReeds]

Thanks to everyone that responded! We put in an offer last night and are waiting to hear back from the agent! Then the real waiting game will begin! So excited!!

 

[njmeisje]

I didn't know too much about UY when we first bought. We got August. While our kids were growing, we mostly always went in the summer, and August was never a problem. I suppose if you have UY choice, follow the advice of lining UY to your typical travel habits, but realize that your habits will likely change over the course of your ownership. So, IMHO, don't sweat it. Best of luck and happy vacationing.

 

[jenr812]

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Your UY is not a calendar year. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

We have used our free UY insurance 3 times, we had a death in the family, a forced job relocation, and our adult daughter lost her vacation time so we canceled a 2 bedroom and booked a 1 bedroom. We were able to bank our points and didn't have to rush a new reservation before the points expired.

Bill

What is UY insurance?

 

[disneynutz]

Having the correct UY for your vacation periods gives you insurance because you can bank during the first 8 months should you cancel the reservation for any reason. If you don't have the ability to bank, your points will expire at the end of your UY.

Bill

 

[jarestel]

I think the choice of a "Use Year" is only as important as one wants to make it. I've never assigned a whole lot of significance to it but we travel at many different times of the year so the common wisdom employed in choosing a use year wouldn't apply anyway. One thing to keep in mind is that in the event of a true emergency cancellation, ie within 30 days of a scheduled trip, no use year will save your points. They will go into a status called "holding" which severely restricts how they may be used (can only reserve at 60 days or less) and they won't be eligible for banking regardless of when in the use year the reservation was cancelled. It is true that the more time left in your use year to use the holding points the better your chances will be, but resort availability at 60 days isn't great at many times of the year.

 

[Matty B13]

Just an example from our situation, which is having young childern who are school age who only have a February and April vacation, besides the summer break.

If we have a February UY, say we book a week during our kids February or April vacation and have to cancel at the last minute which would put the points into holding, we would still have the chance to book something during the summer break or in the fall or winter.

If we have a June UY or later UY, our points would expire in June or the later UY with little time to make a booking.

I think if you have school age children, UY is a really big consideration.

 

[Bing Showei]

If we have a February UY, say we book a week during our kids February or April vacation and have to cancel at the last minute which would put the points into holding, we would still have the chance to book something during the summer break or in the fall or winter.

My understanding was that if cancelled within 30 days of check-in, the points in holding are only good for booking either within 60 days of cancellation, or end of UY, whichever is less. So in this case, if you canceled a February break trip, you would only have until April to rebook. Is that not the case?

ETA: Found this on Disney site. You can book until end of year, but it has to be within 60 days of check-in, not from cancellation. Makes sense now.
https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/faq/holding-account/definition/

 

[Matty B13]

From DVC website:

Q.
What is a Holding Account?
A.
A Holding Account is a "parking space" for Vacation Points from a Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation that has been modified or canceled 30 days to 1 day before your scheduled Check-In date.

Sometimes a Member makes a change to a reservation 30 days to 1 day before the Check-In date using fewer Vacation Points than the original reservation. The Vacation Points’ difference goes into a Holding Account. Any change is considered a cancel and rebook.

Vacation Points in your Holding Account will be good until the end of your Use Year when they will expire. You can use them like you would your regular Vacation Points, except that reservations must be made within 60 days of your Check-In. Vacation Points in a Holding Account also cannot be banked or borrowed.

Here are some guidelines regarding usage of Holding Account Vacation Points.

• These Vacation Points can be used for a new Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation during your current Use Year as long as the reservation is booked 60 or less days before the new Check-In date.
• These Vacation Points can also be used for a new reservation during your current Use Year in 2 ways:
  • For the Disney Collection* (except Disneyland Resort in California and Tokyo Disney Resort hotels), or Concierge Collection*, you can make the reservation more than 4 months before the end of your Use Year for a Check-In date that is 60 or less days before the new Check-In date.
  • For Disney Collection reservations at Disneyland Resort in California and Tokyo Disney Resort hotels, or the World Collection, as long as the reservation is booked 60 or less days before the new Check-In date.
• These Vacation Points cannot be banked or borrowed.
• These Vacation Points must be used by the end of the Use Year or they expire.

If your plans change, the policies of Disney Vacation Club are accommodating: if you change or cancel a reservation at least 31 days before your Check-In date, you will incur no penalties. All your Vacation Points will be returned to your account. Banked or borrowed Vacation Points are not returned to their original Use Year. They will remain as banked or borrowed Vacation Points and stay in the Use Year of the canceled reservation.

*Available when you purchase directly from Disney.

 

[chalee94]

One thing to keep in mind is that in the event of a true emergency cancellation, ie within 30 days of a scheduled trip, no use year will save your points. They will go into a status called "holding" which severely restricts how they may be used (can only reserve at 60 days or less) and they won't be eligible for banking regardless of when in the use year the reservation was cancelled. It is true that the more time left in your use year to use the holding points the better your chances will be, but resort availability at 60 days isn't great at many times of the year.

If you are traveling during the fall, this is true. But holding pts have a better chance of use from Feb to August, and don't forget that even if the owner doesn't want to stay from February to August, they can still try to rent the reservation or give it to friends or family.

Having a good UY isn't a guarantee of saving points, but it definitely gives you more options.