How much does use year matter?

[Jen D]

This is the only detail that makes my brain hurt a little. I've read some people that say it really doesn't matter what use year you get and others say it can matter.

Right now they are selling June although I seem to remember hearing a couple people report they were able to get August. If we buy we don't necessarily have a specific time of year we will visit every year but best estimate for at least the next few years will be either late August or President's Week in February. Does it matter what use year I get? Right nowit seems prudent to try to get August because I'm anxious about when I'm going to spend those first year's banked points (our accomodations for our Feb/2006 trip are already paid for)-- and I wouldn't mind having the extra two months. But in the big picture... does it matter?

Also, just to clarify... with a June UY, points become available on June 1, and any expiring points must be used by May 31?

 

[mydogdrew]

Yes, June UY points are available June 1st. If your travel dates are consistently during the summer then June is better than August. For example, if you always travel in July with an August UY, you are traveling in the last month of your UY with no banking options if you need to cancel. Of course, most can't predict exactly when they travel or, even if they can, it is unlikely that this will remain constant over the long-term. If travel pattern is not a concern then I would always go with the latest UY possible (December being best). If you want to add points through Disney in the future you may find that you get an extra year of points for the same dues. For example, if you add-on next June with a June UY (or earlier UY) you will get 2006 points with six months of dues for 2006. If you had a December UY (or any UY after June), you would get 2005 and 2006 points with only 6 months of 2006 dues. Of course your banking options for these 2005 points would be limited but DVC usually makes exceptions to banking rules for new purchases.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I have an August use year. I wanted to travel in late July 2006, but then realized that if I have to cancel, I'm in big trouble (since my use year is August). So I made my trip for August. Now if I have to cancel, I have a lot more time to use up my points. Does that make sense?

If you typically travel in June or July, you want the June use year. If you typically travel in August, September, August might be better. If you can travel whenever, I don't think it matters.

 

[pouncingpluto]

It seems to me that earlier is always better than later, but maybe I'm oversimplifying. It just seems that like, for the first year, at least, you are effectively getting 17% more "bonus" points.

By bonus I mean the 2005 points we get for time that is actually from before we bought.

 

[RobDoc]

Simply stated, Use Year is the date each year when your points are renewed in your account. That time does determine your banking schedule, but plays no role in when you may make a reservation, amount of annual maintenance fees or any other aspect of membership.

As noted above, the only effect regarding Use Year would be the available time remaining to re-use points from a cancelled reservation. With an August Use Year, a reservation made for July and later cancelled would find those points needing to be banked or used by July 31 of that year. If you cancel far enough in advance, they could possibly still be banked with no negative effects on their later use. If banking deadlines have already expired, they will expire on July 31. If cancelled within 30 days, the points could not be banked and would have to be used by July 31.

If you will usually travel in August and/or February, an August UY would work well. Regardless, the issue would only come into play when cancelling a reservation. If you don't cancel the July reservation- the August UY wil lwork just as well as any other UY.

Enjoy!

 

[Jen D]

Thanks all. Sounds like August is a good bet but either would be fine for my needs.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We have a December UY, and usually travel in December, January, March, May, or July. So that works out very well for us!