if i vacation during August mostly, what is my ideal UY?

[disguy1]

yes..which user month would be most ideal in my situation. I mean, I will likely not want to stay at SSR due to its tremendous size. I will likely want BWV, BC or WL. what month would work best? thanks

 

[Slakk]

yes..which user month would be most ideal in my situation. I mean, I will likely not want to stay at SSR due to its tremendous size. I will likely want BWV, BC or WL. what month would work best? thanks

If you have already decided that you do not like SSR then you should not buy at SSR.

I would suggest you buy resale at a resort you do want to stay at and look for a June UY.

 

[senecabeach]

UY is "ONLY" important in banking and borrowing and has "NOTHING" to do with when you vacation.

To help understand use year and making reservations, make your self a chart like this:

This is a scenerio with a Feb UY:

2006 use year points are good for stays between 2/1/2006 and 1/31/2007.
2007 use year points are good for stays between 2/1/2007 and 1/31/2008
2008 use year points are good for stays between 2/1/2008 and 1/31/2009
etc.

All the points are actually already in your account - you don't have to wait until the start of your use year to make reservations using points from that use year. You can always make reservations at your home resort "11 months prior to your desired check out date "and "7 months prior to your check out date for a non-home resort".

Once you decide on the dates, see what use year those dates are in. To pay for the vaction, you can use current use year points (that's the use year your vacation dates in), points banked into the current use year from the previous use year, or you can borrow points from the next use year.

If you didn't have enough points to make the reservation, you could borrow points from your next use year. You can't "unborrow" or "unbank" points.

 

[BillM]

Some members say that UY does not make any difference. In our personal case it makes a big difference. We bought in 1998 and had a Dec UY. Then we found out later that 90% of our use was in October. WE were continually sweating out the possiblity of a late cancellation because of health or other personal reasons. A late cancellation, say in early September, would leave us no banking room. We sold our Dec points and acquired an August package. Works much better for us.

 

[Mtnman44]

Yes. Pick a UY that is prior but near the month that you anticipate most of your travel will be in. Remember to think out a few years. June or Aug would be a good month for someone that normally travels in Aug. This way, if plans change or you need to cancel, you will have most of your year to use or bank those points.

 

[goofymax]

I agree with most everyone that has written. We go every August and have a June use year. It works well and you have another ten months to figure out points for another trip, or four more months to bank them. So yes, for primarily August trips, June of July would be best.

 

[TinkTatoo]

I agree with most everyone that has written. We go every August and have a June use year. It works well and you have another ten months to figure out points for another trip, or four more months to bank them. So yes, for primarily August trips, June of July would be best.

We always travel in August and our June use year works really well for us

 

[CarolMN]

Some members say that UY does not make any difference. In our personal case it makes a big difference. We bought in 1998 and had a Dec UY. Then we found out later that 90% of our use was in October. WE were continually sweating out the possiblity of a late cancellation because of health or other personal reasons. A late cancellation, say in early September, would leave us no banking room. We sold our Dec points and acquired an August package. Works much better for us.

That is certainly true - use year matters if you have to cancel a vacation that is schedule to occur late in your use year.

However, use year is irrelevant to the fact that the OP is buying SSR and wants to stay elsewhere. No matter what use year he or she may have, reservations for anywhere but SSR cannot be made until 7 months prior to the desired check out date.

Thus the advice to buy a resort other than SSR and seneca's explanation that use year doesn't matter as far as making reservations goes.

Of course, it does matter (to your point) if you regularly travel at a certain time of the year and that time of the year falls late within your use year. That said, people's travel schedules may change over the course of time and what starts out as "perfect" may not end up "perfect".

If the OP will always plan to travel in August, then he/she will want a use year of February, March, April, June or August.

 

[JodyTG]

Well, my family almost always goes to WDW over Christmas so we have a December use year. That way, if a trip needs to be cancelled we have an entire year to use the points or we can bank 100% of our points by May 31.

So, I would pick a use year that was either the month before or the month that you travel the most.

 

[starbox]

yes..which user month would be most ideal in my situation. I mean, I will likely not want to stay at SSR due to its tremendous size. I will likely want BWV, BC or WL. what month would work best? thanks

You keep mentioning that SSR has a "tremendous size" - but make sure you don't confuse size with occupancy. If you don't like the fact that the SSR units are spread out over a large resort, then that's a valid issue. If you are concerned about the physical number of people staying in a resort - remember that OKW and SSR are the only two DVC resorts that are not attched to and sharing facilities with deluxe hotels. The buildings look large - but they house 1, 2 bedroom villas and grand villas - the physical occupancy of one of those "tremendous" buildings is actually not very large - which is why you often hear people say how quiet OKW and SSR are.

The other "smaller" DVC's are attached to deluxe hotels - hotels made up of small hotel rooms that each hold up to 4 guests. When you figure in 2-4 to a room hotel occupancy, the number of people staying at Beach Club, Yacht Club and Beach Club Villas at any given time is actually quite large & probably exceeds the occupancy at OKW or SSR.

So the size issue is more complex that simply "whoa - that resorts looks big - there must be a ton of people".

 

[Firebug]

Ok, I just bought in. our travel most likely will be in the summer months. My guide told me that in that case the Dec UY would be best. I am guessing from the posts that I am seeing here that he told me that cause he had Dec UY's to be sold and not because that would be the best for me.

FB

 

[CarolMN]

Ok, I just bought in. our travel most likely will be in the summer months. My guide told me that in that case the Dec UY would be best. I am guessing from the posts that I am seeing here that he told me that cause he had Dec UY's to be sold and not because that would be the best for me.

FB

While December probably isn't the best use year for summer vacations, it isn't horrible, either. With a December use year, you have until the end of May to bank up to 100% of your annual allotment and until the end of August to bank up to 50%.

Remember it will ony matter if you have to cancel a reservation and if you cancel less than 31 days prior to arrival, points go into holding and expire at the end of your use year anyway.

So let's hope that you never have to cancel your DVC vacation plans.