Need your opinion on a question regarding combining use years.

[kfalsey]

what do you think if you have an april use year and a october use year. The october would have to be banked at the 100% date in april, but if you intended to use it in the summer anyway, then when you get your points for the april uy you could combine them and have more points for the summer and also allow you to travel during christmas once the kids do not believe in santa. What do you think?

 

[RobDoc]

If you have different Use Years, you will have separate Master Contracts and they cannot be combined in the same contract as with an add-on.

I don't see any advantage unless you plan to use the October contract for reservations during the fall and winter. I would not purchase an October Use Year if you plan to travel in the summer - unless you know you will not cancel reservations - since the same issues exist if the reservation needs to be cancelled and you will have less opportunity to reuse the points.

If you want good flexibility to travel throughout the year, then multiple Use Years can certainly be a benefit when changes need to be made to those reservations.

 

[kfalsey]

If you buy it to have for travel in dec and january if you want to, but dont use it until summer that would be fine. You dont have to schedule a vacation during the first 8 months do you? you can let it set and combine the points with the summer vacation, Meaning the april contract cant you? what did you mean about them being separate contracts. I thought it would allow you to travel during any time of year. since most people as the years go on may change there travel. what disadvantages and advantages do you see for an april and and oct contract. thanks for being so helpful, I am glad you can help with your knowledge, greatly appreciated.

 

[DVC Mike]

I think you're making a bigger deal out of Use Year than you should.

Use Year month has nothing to do with when you can travel or even make a reservation. You can always reserve 11 months ahead of travel for your home resort. The reservation date determines which Use Year the points are deducted from.

 

[RobDoc]

If you buy it to have for travel in dec and january if you want to, but dont use it until summer that would be fine. You dont have to schedule a vacation during the first 8 months do you? you can let it set and combine the points with the summer vacation, Meaning the april contract cant you? what did you mean about them being separate contracts. I thought it would allow you to travel during any time of year. since most people as the years go on may change there travel. what disadvantages and advantages do you see for an april and and oct contract. thanks for being so helpful, I am glad you can help with your knowledge, greatly appreciated.

Unless you plan to travel from October - March, I don't see any benefit in buying an October Use Year - especially if you will mainly use those points in the last few months of that Use Year. Again, if you don't ever cancel a reservation, it won't matter what your Use Year may be - but if cancelling is a concern, then an October Use Year gives no advantage for summer trips - a June Use Year would be better for trips in June, July, August and September than an October UY.

No Use Year is better or worse than another - UNLESS you need to cancel reservations. Without cancelling, Use Year is just when your points are renewed each year. Having multiple Use Years does add a little need for more organization to keep track of banking deadlines and points previously banked and about to expire. It can certainly be done, but will require more attention than having one Use Year to deal with.

 

[kfalsey]

thank you for the great info!

 

[Dean]

I've always thought UY was more important than most and it's even more so with the new banking rules. Owning different UY can be a great option for those that usually travel at least 2 trips a year at different times. But unless that's the situation, I think it's best to have one UY where possible and within a few months of when you normally travel.