Importance of Use Year

[tx2tn]

Can someone tell me why some UY are better or worse than others? I just don't get it.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I'll give you an example. My UY is Sept. Last summer we went in August. IF we had to cancel, we would have lost those points because we were beyond the banking window for Sept. UY and there wouldn't have been time to reschedule the trip. This time we're going in June, so if we have to cancel, we have the rest of the summer to try and use the points. HTH

 

[tx2tn]

Ok, so if we normally want to go in September, when would a good UY be? Sometime around FEB or MAR?

 

[Claire L]

I would say June or August, I think both those months have UY's. That means if you have to cancel in September you have until the beginning of the following year before you need to consider banking.

Claire

 

[CarolMN]

Use year only matters when/if you have to cancel a trip.

That's because use year determines your banking deadline - 8 months following the start of your use year. If you regularly travel at the same time of the year, it's best to have a use year that begins no more than 6 or 7 months prior to your vacation time. That's because if you have to cancel a trip, you'll want the option to bank the points if you can't use them before they expire.

For example, if your use year is August, you have to use or bank your points before the end of the following March. If you schedule your vacation for June, you would only have about a month to use the points before they expire. Since you are past your banking deadline, you do not have that option.

If you scheduled your vacation for December and had to cancel, you'd have until the end of July to schedule another trip or until the end of March to bank the points into the next use year. That extends the life of those points.

Over the course of your membership, your travel habits may change. What starts out to be a "perfect" use year may turn out to be not so perfect. Also some members travel several times a year ans there isn't a "perfect" use year that covers all of their trips. Other members are fortunate in that they have not had to cancel a vacation and so for them use year doesn't matter.

 

[alldiz]

I would think the best use year is a month that is
at LEAST....4 months before you usually travel....this way you can still
bank your points if you cancel.
Kerri

 

[DVC Mike]

Picking the "perfect" Use Year is only possible if your vacation habits aren't expected to change over the life of your contract. Do you think you will always go to WDW the same time for the next 30-50 years?

 

[Caskbill]

If you are able to plan in such a way that you never have to cancel a reservation, and that you make reservations well in advance, and banking points you know you don't need, then use year means absolutely nothing.

Any use year will work and you manage your points accordingly.

 

[jarestel]

Use year is of little consequence to us since we don't travel at the same time each year. For those who are locked into a fairly rigid vacation schedule, use year selection would carry more weight. In that case you would want to select a use year that would allow flexibility in regards to banking windows. In other words, in case you had to cancel your vacation your banking windows would still be "open".

Note that in the event of a last-minute cancellation (within 30 days of arrival) no use year exists that will be able to save your points from being condemned to the dreaded "holding" account.

 

[Grandbuddy]

I thought the points just expired.

 

[jarestel]

I thought the points just expired.

No, they don't expire unless you can't use them by the end of your use year. Holding account points are points where the conditions under which you can use them are restricted. So you may still be able to use them if you can meet the booking restrictions (within 60 days, I believe). If not, they can't be banked and will expire at the end of the use year.