Hate my UY...

[Buckeye Fan]

and would like your thoughts. I know this is pretty drastic, but I'm just weighing options.

How bad will I get burned if I sell my points and re-purchase with a different UY? I would probably only consider re-purchasing at either SSR or OKW. I would prefer a 2057 expiration date, but I haven't seen these via resale yet and would have no clue the price per point. Our original contracts were purchased via resale for $84 per point, and I paid no closing costs or fees, only MFs.

DH is a teacher and we will vacation June, July or Aug for the next 20+ years. With that said, even though I read up on UYs, I wished I had understood more than I did.

Here's where I am...what if I sell and re-purchase with a Dec UY? Will I lose my skin on xxx points (a xxx pt and a xxx pt contract)? The only times we will travel: Dec (Christmas break), March/April (spring break) and June/July/Aug. A Dec UY would allow me to bank until the end of July. Most importantly, I could reserve the last week in July and first week of Aug without thinking twice. I can't do that now, as I'm always traveling on banked points that will expire on 7/31. Even if I book a high point vacation and get rid of all my banked points, if I borrow current UY points to make a July reservation, if I ever have to cancel, I couldn't return them to the UY I borrowed from AND I wouldn't have time to re-book.

How I wished I could just trade someone or pay Dis to change my UY. I know...not possible! Thanks for your wonderful insight, suggestions and thoughts.

 

[Chuck S]

I edited your post to remove the current resort you own, and the number of points, so it would not be contrued as a "for sale" post.

Why not sell only one of your contracts, not both, and repurchase December. You could use you your July use year contract for your December trips, and your December contract for your Spring Break and summer trips.

Of course, it would mean two membership numbers, two banking deadlines, and could put you in a bind with transfers from one contract to another if you need to combine the points for any reason.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Why not sell only one of your contracts, not both, and repurchase December. You could use you your July use year contract for your December trips, and your December contract for your Spring Break and summer trips.

Of course, it would mean two membership numbers, two banking deadlines, and could put you in a bind with transfers from one contract to another if you need to combine the points for any reason.

I think that's very good suggestion.

We're just purchasing and I put a lot of thought into what UY we should look for - it's tough to figure out when you don't have any experience and I'm hoping that I picked the correct one for us! If we do an add on I've already considered getting a different use year for slightly different reasons, but it all has to do with not losing points. That being said I know that you're concerned about what you would lose selling a current contract and then buying a new one but all it would take is one or two cancellations of a reservation that you couldn't rebook or sell the reservation and I would think you would more than make up any difference in the costs of the transaction to change UY.

On another thread yesterday somebody mentioned that they did see an OKW with the extended contract . Don't recall the UY or points but maybe you could check for it.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

What your UY now?

 

[bookwormde]

If you sell through a broker the big hit is going to be the sales commission on the selling side, I think about 10%. On the buying side there is going to be between $350 to $700 in settlement costs and fees if you have a 100-200 point contract. That is a big hit (about 1 years worth of points). My suggestion would be to try to find another member who wants to swap (have never heard how Disney handles ROFR in these cases but they would have a “look”). As a package deal of 2 closings I am sure it would be possible to get one of the reputable closing companies to do it for about $300 per side.

bookwormde

 

[Jaaron2]

I have two UY at two different resorts and it works out great for me. So you might want to consider keeping one of the contracts. That being said I would do what works best for your vacation habits.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

What your UY now?

August. Love the thoughts and suggestions. Thanks for helping me think through whether it's worth $3K +/- to me!

 

[dwelty]

I think you should do it. We bought with an October use year. We had no understanding of the importance of the use year at the time we purchased. We lucked out since we cannot stand Florida's Sweltering summers. This allows us to book at SSR in the fall and winter without a second thought. We also take a spring trip, so when we bought an AKL add on we got a feb use year. The use year is one of the most important decision you can make when buying. Unfortunately Disney does not usually give you a choice when buying new.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Well, usage/vacations will change, and for us the new banking rules ruined what we thought was a great plan. With the March UY we could still bank if something happened and our December trip was cancelled. Well, not now. Also, DDiL has asked, and of course we agreed, if we could all join her for the '10 marathon! Well, we're not joining her in the running sense, we'll cheer her on. So, no UY would be better for us than the March...we have our "likes and must dos" using our DVC points, and there's something in each season.

I would not sell and then buy. Maybe I would add on with a different UY (but probably not), but life situations change. For now, I would begin my vacations August 1st.

Bobbi

 

[CarolMN]

How many times have you actually cancelled a vacation? Is it possible that you are just letting the "maybes" overwhelm you?

Consider getting trip insurance for the times you are up against an expiration date - it's a lot cheaper than selling and buying right back in again.

FWIW, I think this is a poor time to sell due to the economy. You may wait a long time to find a buyer.

 

[Dean]

You'll likely lose somewhere around $20-25 per point depending on which resort you own, which resort you buy in, whether you go retail or resale and the contract sizes. IMO, that's more than the difference in value from the best to worst contract for someone with a set vacation time. I put that value difference somewhere in the $10 per point range. Certainly keeping one and selling another could be an in between option but even then I'd only do it if I wanted to downsize and/or get a specific high demand resort; it seems you don't plan to do either. The advantage a better UY would give you is more protection on banking if you have to cancel or change and more time to reuse the points if you have to cancel or change. Thus whether you usually have banked/borrowed points is probably the biggest variable to the equation. And one that vacations all throughout the year gets even less benefit from UY. IMO it would be a poor choice to do as you are thinking. You might take the dollar difference and buy a different UY contract (? smallish) for say Feb to June then you'd have the best off all worlds and more points to boot.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Well, usage/vacations will change, and for us the new banking rules ruined what we thought was a great plan.

Ahhhhh. Though I should have, didn't consider DVC changing the rules of the game, again. Boy, would I be ticked if I sold and repurchased only to have some major change significantly impact things. That really puts a new perspective on it for me. Hmmmm....

How many times have you actually cancelled a vacation? Is it possible that you are just letting the "maybes" overwhelm you? Consider getting trip insurance for the times you are up against an expiration date - it's a lot cheaper than selling and buying right back in again. FWIW, I think this is a poor time to sell due to the economy. You may wait a long time to find a buyer.

I'm sure this isn't the greatest time in the world to sell and thanks for mentioning that. As for the vacations, we've never cancelled in the 17 years we've been married. My biggest issue is that 2 years in a row I've wanted to book a trip in August and haven't been able to because my banked points expire on 7/31. It's just very fresh right now because I feel like we're not vacationing how we would "choose" to because of this UY complication. I know...wah, wah, wah!

Thus whether you usually have banked/borrowed points is probably the biggest variable to the equation. And one that vacations all throughout the year gets even less benefit from UY. IMO it would be a poor choice to do as you are thinking. You might take the dollar difference and buy a different UY contract (? smallish) for say Feb to June then you'd have the best off all worlds and more points to boot.

Makes sense, Dean. What it boils down to is that we always have banked points. I guess I could remedy the situation by taking a cruise and getting rid of all my banked points!!!

Thanks, everyone, for your very insightful comments. As I said, I know selling and re-purchasing seems drastic. Now I can think through whether I REALLY HATE an Aug UY $3K worth!!! Darn those school teachers. If he didn't teach, we could go down during F&W Festival and have the PERFECT UY!!!

Again, thanks to all!

 

[snowbunny]

I wouldn't sell, it's going to cost you money to do that. If you know now what months you can travel, you know enough to plan.

I'd rather have a spring or summer use year (we travel in summer right now) instead of October like I have, but the contract I wanted came up at the right price, and that was the UY on it, so I bought it. With a bit of planning it's fine.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I've got an August use year and though I'm not a teacher, we're in the same boat. I can only travel when my son is out of school (Spring Break, JUN,JUL, & AUG). I've never had a problem booking any vacation. As soon as I get the school year calendar I make my plans and reservations. For me and IMO, between borrowing, banking and using I always come out O.K.

 

[marynvince]

If you travel every year or ever other year and take reasonable care in booking when and where you want to go, UY is of no consequence.

 

[castleri]

Ii have two contracts with Aug UY and it has been great for our travel plans which are for Sept, Christmas/NY and either March or April. In the beginning I was banking points also but then took a couple of expensive(point wise) Christmas trips and am now in the current/borrowed state most of the time. I would just plan to travel in August once you use up those banked points and it will take care of itself. If you plan to buy additional points and want a different UY you will have to buy a new contract with 160 points through Disney or a resale. Anything less than the 160 through Disney would be an add on and thus have your same UY.