Great Use Year resource, except...

[RWeThereYetJJ]

https://dvcfan.com/ posted a link to this blog yesterday: https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blo...atter/?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=dvcfan

I believe a very similar article was posted a few years ago when I was researching DVC. I found that one to be a valuable resource when educating myself about Use Years. I read this article and found it just as educational except for the bolded sentence in this paragraph. I believe the bolded sentence is a misleading.

"Whether the “Use Year” matters for someone new joining DVC will depend on how they travel. If you are someone that travels at different times throughout the year then it is unlikely one “Use Year” will be better than another. However, if you are someone that consistently travels the same time of year, which “Use Year” you choose could matter. One of the most important things to consider with “Use Year” is DVC’s short term reservation cancellation policy. That policy states that if you cancel a reservation within 30 days of check-in date (excluding the day of check-in as it results in automatic loss of points) then the points will get placed into a “holding account” and cannot be banked and the points can only be used to book a reservation that is no more than 60 days in advance of the date the reservation is made. So for example, if you consistently travel in November, a December “Use Year” would not be an ideal choice, because if you were to cancel a November trip within 30 days of checking in and had a December “Use Year” those points would have to be used by that December 1st. However, an October “Use Year” for someone that consistently travels in November would be ideal because if they cancel that November trip within 30 days of checking in they still have until October 1st of the following year to use those points."

One "Use Year" will always be better than another depending on your risk tolerance for losing points if you have to cancel a reservation within the 30-day window or outside the banking deadline. The later into your Use Year you book your reservation, the more risk you have of losing your points if you have to cancel. Rebooking a reservation becomes much harder the closer you are to your planned check-in date towards the end of your Use Year. Example: If you have a Feb Use Year and book a Christmas reservation, the risk of losing your points goes way up if you have to cancel that reservation in October, outside the banking window. You now have only 4 months to use the points or lose them. Being the holiday season, there will be very few options available. You will have to be ultra flexible with your travel plans.

I think if you travel throughout the year, it may be beneficial for you to have 2 Use Years. If the 2nd Use Year you own has a banking window that covers the last 4 months of the 1st Use Year, you reduce the risk of losing points due to a cancelation.

 

[Sandisw]

No one UY will cover all times of the year, but I agree that even someone who travels more than once a year can be strategic in choosing a UY.

We started with June UY because, as a teacher, I knew that I would travel during summer, and school breaks, with the Spring break being the one we would be least likely to do. It worked well until I decided to go in May for Memorial Day...then we added on a Dec UY so we had the entire year pretty much covered.

So, if someone is a fall/winter traveler, than a Fall UY is going to be better than a Spring UY, and if one is Spring/ Summer, then a Winter/Spring UY might work better as well!

 

[juliebee]

Recently while looking to get a contract, I was told repeatedly to select a use year that is the same month or just before you would typically travel. We plan to mostly travel in December or spring. So by that advice I selected a December use year contract. Then found out that will have a downside- I can't walk a reservation into December if I have a December use year. I know walking a reservation is frowned on, and since I don't even have that contract yet I haven't done it. But now I won't be able to because it would cross use years. It looks like I should have selected that Oct use year instead just to give me options. I haven't heard that advice in any article yet

 

[intamin]

Recently while looking to get a contract, I was told repeatedly to select a use year that is the same month or just before you would typically travel. We plan to mostly travel in December or spring. So by that advice I selected a December use year contract. Then found out that will have a downside- I can't walk a reservation into December if I have a December use year. I know walking a reservation is frowned on, and since I don't even have that contract yet I haven't done it. But now I won't be able to because it would cross use years. It looks like I should have selected that Oct use year instead just to give me options. I haven't heard that advice in any article yet

Yeahhh a lot of people recommend a December use year for December travel but IMO it's a pretty terrible UY to have if you're trying to book the first 2 weeks just because you can't walk it up to that point if you're trying to book a resort that's competitive like CCV or VGF. If you haven't started walking by November you likely have little to no chance of grabbing a studio at CCV/standard VGF studio.

 

[D-Trick]

Your thinking is too far down the road for anyone looking into DVC.

Anyone new to joining DVC will not be looking into multiple UYs-- at least not yet. That makes the bolded sentence correct.

 

[Sandisw]

Yeahhh a lot of people recommend a December use year for December travel but IMO it's a pretty terrible UY to have if you're trying to book the first 2 weeks just because you can't walk it up to that point if you're trying to book a resort that's competitive like CCV or VGF. If you haven't started walking by November you likely have little to no chance of grabbing a studio at CCV/standard VGF studio.

We have a Dec UY and while not easy, we have been able to get it for the few nights we needed without walking. Now, we did have to be flexible with dates to pair with RIV.

But, if that is the only time one is traveling, a Sept or Oct UY might help for walking purposes.

 

[Tatebeck]

In general the bolded statement is mostly true, but there are a few things I have found through my research and buying that can make one use year better than another in some cases, especially for WDW resorts.

1. Travel times
   • As noted above, some times of the year are harder to book than others and may require more stalking and walking. Low point season/Food and wine season in the fall, early December before Christmas, and Christmas time being prime examples. A use year a bit before these times may make sense even for an owner with irregular travel times because a use year that is better for the harder bookings just makes sense. You don't want your hardest reservations to be in the danger zone at the end of a use year. For this example I think that August and September would be the best, with June, October, and December the next best.
2. Resale market availability
   • Not every month has a use year, only 8 of them do. Because of that, not every use year has the same number of contracts out there. Some of the months that border the months with no use year have more contracts out in the wild and so they typically have more contracts out there on the resale market as well. If you are planning on continuing to add on many times in the future in the same use year via resale contracts only, then it can make sense to pick a use year that typically has more contracts available. For this example right now June, August, December, and February seem to have the most contracts typically available.
3. Hybrid membership planning
   • If you are buying resale contracts now with the idea of adding direct points in the future for a hybrid membership with direct benefits or unrestricted points, either at a future unannounced resort or whenever they have a good sale, then later use years have different kind of advantage. When you buy resale contracts usually you pay the full amount for the dues of the current year which would make sense. But when buying direct points the dues are always pro-rated for the calendar year. Many people wait until just before their use year to buy direct because they get the previous year's points (unless a resort has just opened and didn't have points the previous year) and then get new points when their use year comes in the next month or two. If you do this and your use year falls later in the year, you can get the first year's worth of points for a very reduced dues rate (like 10%-33% of the dues compared to a normal year). This is what many people mean when they talk about getting "double points" when buying direct. If you time future direct purchases right, A later use year is basically able to get a small discount on any future direct points. In this example, use years of September, October, and December are the best.

Due to all of these reasons I personally consider August and September to be the best single use years for someone to buy to cover low points seasons and holiday seasons. August if you want more resale contracts available and may want to travel at the end of summer, and September if you want a slightly better discount when buying direct in the future and always want to avoid WDW in the summer heat.

Spring and summer use years I feel are better for the beach resorts and sometimes Disneyland resorts (unless you want to always go during the holiday seasons). I personally chose September as our use year for all of our WDW points to have good booking strategies for Halloween through Christmas and later added a Feb use year at VGC for some possible summer trips to DL and not WDW.

 

[D-Trick]

Those are all completely valid points, but don't forget the article is an advertisement for the site that posted it. They're not going to promote or discourage one UY over another for those without a specific use case.

 

[Tatebeck]

True, they would just want to sell as many contracts as possible.

 

[skier_pete]

I would agree with that bolded statement - if you don't have a specific time of year you like to travel it certainly isn't as important, and picking the "right" UY now might end up being the "wrong" UY in 10 years. When we bought I didn't think the December UY was the best for when we travelled at present, but my thoughts were eventually we would primarily travel in the winter time frame so at a future point it would be a good choice. So far it has been no real problem, even though we sometimes travel in the fall.

One bit I find interesting is it's always stated that "avoid the last 4 months of your UY because you can no longer bank the points", but I've always thought that really should be the last 3 months. The reason is you need to cancel 30-days before your trip to prevent holding, so for instance I have a February UY for my Boardwalk points for Food and Wine trip usually in October. I can't bank after September 30th, but if I have an October trip and I haven't cancelled that trip by September 30th, the points would go into holding anyways even if I cancel before the banking date. So since I have to cancel that October trip before September 30th anyways, the February UY doesn't hamper my banking ability and so it's only trips in Nov/Dec/Jan that could really lead to an issue.

Truth be told, I've been a member for 10 years and my UY has never really come into play in terms of threatening the loss of points, and I've been able to use or rent every point I've ever paid dues on. Though I've been lucky to never need to cancel a trip last minute.