newbie questions

[redmonster]

On our recent trip we bought at ssr. Our use year is Feb which is when we usually go. I have to make reservations for next year now however my question is should we have picked a different use year or is the time you usually go the best time to have your points available considering banking and borrow restraints.

Any help appreciated.

Linda

PS-making reservations to go back in april can't wait

 

[MrShiny]

Hell - I recently bught with a Feb use year too (mainly because we bought in Feb - didn't think too much at the time!)

Anyway, yes your points would be expiring in Feb (is that the beginning or end of the month? I think it's the beginning and hten you get new pints Feb 1).

Also, you can't book and travel within 60 days of the end of your use year. You can travel then, but you'd need to book frther than 60 days out. So if you were going for Christmas, you'd need to book before Dec 1. Anythig you book after Dec 1 would need to be for Feb 1 or later (those who aren't novices please correct me if I got it wrong!)

We weren't too concerned with it as we tend to plan things out. I think the best option might be getting a use year a few months before or after when you tend to go.

 

[tjkraz]

Whether the February Use Year is most appropriate for you or not is a moot point now. The UY is stated in your contract and cannot be changed on a whim. So that's water under the bridge.

If you do typically travel in April, February is really a pretty good Use Year. Ideally you want your UY to fall just BEFORE the dates you normally stay at DVC. The reasoning is that if you ever have to cancel scheduled trip on fairly short notice, you still have pleanty of time to bank your points rather than risk losing them.

The deadline for being able to bank 100% of your points is 6 months into your Use Year. Therefore, you have until July 31st of every year to bank all of your February points if you will not use them. There are later deadlines for being able to bank part of your points.

If you do not intend on returning to WDW before 1/31/05, then you definitely need to contact DVC by 7/31/04 and bank all of your 2004 points. You will then have twice as many points to use in 2005. When making a reservation for 2005, make sure that Member Services applies your banked points first. Points can only be banked forward one year. If you bank your '04 points, you have until the end of your '05 Use Year to use them, otherwise they are forfeit.

 

[DebbieB]

Also, you can't book and travel within 60 days of the end of your use year. You can travel then, but you'd need to book frther than 60 days out. So if you were going for Christmas, you'd need to book before Dec 1. Anythig you book after Dec 1 would need to be for Feb 1 or later (those who aren't novices please correct me if I got it wrong!)

This only applies to non-DVC resorts. DVC resorts you can book anytime.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

You got very lucky. If you travel to WDW in February, a February use year should be ideal for you. If you end up canceling a trip, you still have five more months to bank those points or the rest of the year to use them.

HBC