Hypothetical buying question: UY

[disny45]

I have been saving for about a year now about buying into DVC as I do not want to finance and trying to save up enough money to buy a contract.I know I have a good 6 months until I get where I want to be before making offers, BUT:

I am still a little confused about buying a contract witht he UY though and banked points. If someone could help me- it would be much appreciated.

I really like to travel during the Flower and garden festival timeframe ( Mostly after Feb 25th). But a long labor day 5 day week(end) might also be in the picture for my family and I because of school issues in the forseeable future.

-If I am buying/offering to buy in the Sept/October of this year ( 2012) and would not travel until after Feb. 28th in 2013, what kind of use year and banked points would I be on the lookout for?

I hope I am making sense to someone. My husband is lost too-lol.

A.Say if I see a Dec. contract with 2011 points banked does that mean I need to use all 2011 points by the end of Nov. 2013, right?So I could use all banked 2011 and current 2012 points for a Labor Day2013 weekend trip?

B.Or if I see a Feb UY contract for sale- I would want the 2012 points banked and I can use them after Feb. 1st 2013 and I would have ( for example only at 150 pts banked and 150 point contract)
300 points to use Feb1st 2013-Jan. 31st 2014?

I think I am making this a lot harder than it really is- but I do know I want to buy in and when I want to buy in and where and for how many points- but for some reason the UY timeframe keeps throwing me for a loop for the times I would like to try and travel.

I just really want to grasp all of this before making a mistake on buying the wrong type of contract for us or misunderstanding the whole use year thing and losing a bunch of points right after making a purchase.

Thanks bunches ahead of time for any responses!

 

[chalee94]

I really like to travel during the Flower and garden festival timeframe ( Mostly after Feb 25th). But a long labor day 5 day week(end) might also be in the picture for my family and I because of school issues in the forseeable future.

stay away from a march - jun UY...and also probably sept - dec UYs.

A.Say if I see a Dec. contract with 2011 points banked does that mean I need to use all 2011 points by the end of Nov. 2013, right?So I could use all banked 2011 and current 2012 points for a Labor Day2013 weekend trip?

dec 2011 pts are valid for stays from dec 1, 2011 to nov 30, 2012.

if you bank those pts, they are valid for stays from dec 1, 2012 to nov 30, 2013.

so yes, labor day 2013 will work.

the issue with dec UYs and labor day trips is that your banking window closes on july 31, so that puts any current year 2012 pts at risk if you need to cancel after that point. banked 2011 pts will expire on nov 30, 2013 regardless, so you'd have to act fast to use or rent them before they expired.

B.Or if I see a Feb UY contract for sale- I would want the 2012 points banked and I can use them after Feb. 1st 2013 and I would have ( for example only at 150 pts banked and 150 point contract) 300 points to use Feb1st 2013-Jan. 31st 2014?

yes. this is correct and a better choice for spring and labor day trips than a dec UY. (but still, if you decide to visit in nov/dec to see the holiday decorations...then a feb UY would be less flexible if you need to cancel.)

 

[disny45]

it is greatly appreciated to know I was pretty much going in the right direction of understanding how it all works.
I've got a notebook folder filled with tons of information I have researched and so happy that you have straightened me out a little on the UY I do want.

Thanks again

 

[ELMC]

I think I am making this a lot harder than it really is- but I do know I want to buy in and when I want to buy in and where and for how many points- but for some reason the UY timeframe keeps throwing me for a loop for the times I would like to try and travel.

I think I am in the minority with this, but I would not pay too much attention to UY unless you think there is a good chance that you will cancel your reservations. I would focus on buying the contract you want and the price you want, regardless of UY.

I just really want to grasp all of this before making a mistake on buying the wrong type of contract for us or misunderstanding the whole use year thing and losing a bunch of points right after making a purchase.

In my opinion (and like I said, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority), this is the most important thing to pay attention to. When you buy the contract, you should pay attention to when the points are going to expire so that you can bank, transfer or rent out the points as needed so they don't go to waste.

The fact of the matter is that UY doesn't affect when you can make a reservation, and you can always borrow from a future year if your trip comes before your new allotment of points is available for that year.

Hope this answers your question. Oh, and by the way, I think your strategy of saving not financing to buy DVC is a great one.

 

[cc_nike]

I think I am in the minority with this, but I would not pay too much attention to UY unless you think there is a good chance that you will cancel your reservations. I would focus on buying the contract you want and the price you want, regardless of UY.



In my opinion (and like I said, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority), this is the most important thing to pay attention to. When you buy the contract, you should pay attention to when the points are going to expire so that you can bank, transfer or rent out the points as needed so they don't go to waste.

The fact of the matter is that UY doesn't affect when you can make a reservation, and you can always borrow from a future year if your trip comes before your new allotment of points is available for that year.

Hope this answers your question. Oh, and by the way, I think your strategy of saving not financing to buy DVC is a great one.

I totally agree!!!

 

[disneynutz]

I totally agree!!!

I don't agree. There will be times when UY will allow you to bank your canceled vacation points to save them. No one expects to cancel a vacation but it has happened to us several times for the following reasons that were beyond our control:

The Flu
Death in the family
Forced job relocation
Airline strike

You won't be out anything if you buy the correct UY but you may forfeit your points if you don't.

Bill

 

[DougEMG]

If you plan to go to Disney the same month all the time, then UY is important in order to not lose points if you have to cancel a reservation.

But if you like to go at different times of the year or think the time you go will change, then it doesn't really matter what UY you buy. I currently have to go during school breaks in Mar, Aug and Dec. Once I retire I'll be able to go anytime. So for me, I didn't care about UY (bought DEC originally and now in the porcess of buying a AUG and SEPT) and just bought the contracts that had the best price regardless of UY.

 

[disny45]

all the input is greatly appreciated.

 

[gray52]

I might or might not be in the minority here... but i pretty much agree with all the posts.
IF you always plan to vacation during a certain time frame, then yes, your UY is pretty important. We plan to only ever vacation in Florida during the winter months (Dec - Feb)... so we would only ever consider October or December UY (we have one of each)... because like DisneyNutz said, things can (and over the life of your contract WILL) happen. Being able to cancel and bank your points within your banking window is very important. VERY.
As someone else said, however, if you think your vacationing habits will change at some point to where you're visiting Disney at different times, then maybe your UY isn't as important.

Honestly... I don't ever plan to book a DVC vacation that wasn't within our banking window. Not saying it would never happen, but i would never plan it that way.

Since you seem like a patient person... I think you'll find that by keeping tabs on the major resale sites, the perfect (or close to it) contract for you will come up more often than you think. Shouldn't have much trouble getting number of points w/ UY you want at a price you like.