Need some advice/assistance on picking a use year

[jaysue]

Given the following parameters how do I pick a use year start date (assuming I have a choice):

DW is a Teacher so generally have off:

Mar - usually 2nd Friday to 4th Monday (appx 10 days)
Dec 22nd (appx) to Jan 5th (appx)
July 1st to Labour Day

Long weekends etc. do not count as the airfare would generally be too high for us to travel from Toronto.

We prefer to travel South during March when possible

Thanks in advance for your advice and input

Cheers
JaySue

 

[robinb]

I think a December, February or March use year would be perfect for you. You can plan for your regular March trip and if that gets cancelled you still have time to use your points within your time contraints (until September) or bank them into the next year.

Whatever you do, avoid the use years just after March. We have freinds who always travel over Christmas and have a Febraury Use Year. They have lost points more than once .

 

[ArnyVee]

Just an FYI....when I spoke with Judy at DVC on Friday, she stated that the use years if you were to buy through Disney directly are currently December. So, that might work for you right now.

Just throwin' that in there

 

[disneyberry]

hi jaysue.
try to remember that Use Year will only matter if you are likely to need to cancel your ressies last minute and still want to bank your points.
otherwise, it really shouldn't matter which Use Year you get.

if you know you are likely to cancel your trips last minute, then you need to ask yourself:
of the 3 times your DW gets vacations, which 2 are most likely to be used for WDW trips?

if you like to escape the cold, then a December UY is best.
that should cover your Dec and Mar trips best. you'll be able to bank 100% of your points up until the end of May, 50% of your points up until the end of Aug, and 25% of your points up until the end of Sep. you'll only have 50% banking coverage for your Summer trips here.

if Spring and Summer trips are more important, then a March UY is best.
that should cover your Mar, Jul, & Aug trips best. you'll be able to bank 100% of your points up until the end of Aug, 50% of your points up until the end of Nov, and 25% of your points up until the end of Dec. you'll only have 50% banking coverage for your Xmas trips here... and possibly only 25% coverage for early January dates, it depends on if your Xmas ressie is one continuous ressie.

if Summer and Xmas are the preferred WDW times, then a June UY is best.
that should cover your Jul, Aug, & Dec trips best. you'll be able to bank 100% of your points up until the end of Nov, 50% of your points up until the end of Feb, and 25% of your points up until the end of Mar. you'll only have 50% banking coverage for your Mar trips here, and possibly only 50% coverage as well for any Jan dates at the end of your Xmas trips, it depends on if your Xmas ressie is one continuous ressie.

please also remember, to take advantage of banking even if you make a last minute cancellation, you must cancel outside of the 31day window before your check-in, otherwise you won't be able to bank those points.

HTH!

 

[Dean]

I agree, December, February or March. DVC will change the selling use year if needed even if December is the usual one selling right now. I think it's important enough to make a difference so since you can pick, do so. What's truly best depends on how likely you are to travel in December. If not, I'd go for March and not do the MB.

 

[FredS]

If March is your most likely time to travel, then I would strongly suggest that you NOT get a February use year. One of our contracts is a June use year and we most often travel in late May. I always use the other contract for that reservation. It would make me nuts to think that there might be a reason to reschedule that trip "last minute" and I would lose those points.

Save yourself that added worry by avoiding a February use year.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by FredS
If March is your most likely time to travel, then I would strongly suggest that you NOT get a February use year. One of our contracts is a June use year and we most often travel in late May. I always use the other contract for that reservation. It would make me nuts to think that there might be a reason to reschedule that trip "last minute" and I would lose those points.

Save yourself that added worry by avoiding a February use year.

Fred, I think you have it backwards. A Feb use year would be great for March as any cancellations would give 10-11 months to reuse the points and any bankable points could be banked if necessary. The problem you have with traveling in May with a June use year would be avoided. This is the reason many of us strongly favor a careful choice of use years. Of course it's more important with some than others based on their usage.

 

[disneyberry]

yup, Fred you probably meant to say to avoid an APRIL use year, right?

you should always try to avoid travelling towards the END of your use year (i.e. 1mo or 2mos before your UY starts).

so, if you have an April Use Year, travelling in Feb & Mar is a bad idea if you might need to cancel last minute.
and, similarly, if you have a June Use Year, travelling in Apr & May is a bad idea for last minute cancellations.

(for current members: there is a little chart on pg23 of the Member Guidebook that makes it easy to remember this. the months under the 0% column are generally bad months to travel for your corresponding UY.)