Particular use year question

[Bjaiken77]

I apologize for the ignorance, but I have a use year question. So I’ve gone down the path of establishing an October use year with 2 contracts. I mostly want to go in the winter/spring to get out of the cold. I figured the banking deadline wasn’t until June, so it’s work out great.

However, we’ve since learned that we may want to travel for a long weekend in September. Not only are the point charts cheap, but it’s my significant other’s birthday. So here’s the question: Can I safely make that work with an October use year, or would I be better of buying a separate use year knowing that’s what it’s for? In other words, if I haven’t banked my prior use year points and something happens (illness, life event, etc) in September, it’ll be tough to spend them before they expire in October. And I won’t have my current year use points until October, right?


I can always purchase a different use year, but I prefer the uniformity of one. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Sandisw]

The points with an October UY expire September 30th, so it pretty much needs to be considered a loss if you have to travel in September and something happens.

UY plays no role in when you can book. Points are there from the start. The UY is just when the year that set of points can be used for trips,


For example, with an October UY, you could go on today and book a trip using October 2021 UY points for any date from Oct 1st, 2021 on.

I would not use an October UY for a September trip. I’d go for a better one that covers all of them, An Aug UY has a banking deadline of March 31st, It means all trips through April are protected if you had to cancel at least 31 days out.

 

[princesscinderella]

Your points will expire Sept 30th for your October UY. So a September trip would be in jeopardy if you had to cancel. We have a Feb UY and haven’t lost points yet and travel in January. If you plan to take yearly September trips you may want a separate use year, especially if you are using a large amount of points for that September reservation.

 

[D-Trick]

I have an Oct UY, and have a trip planned in September. I am not worried.

It's clear the risks we take by using October points in September. With that said, I say to just stick with your Oct UY, but only if you're confident in your travel habits. You know yourself and your family best. Does someone in your traveling party often get sick? Ever have regrets and cancel a trip altogether?

If something unfortunate were to happen-- you said it'd be a long weekend, so you won't be losing too many points (would still suck though). On the other hand, if you were planning a week long 2-3 bdrm villa stay in September... I would obviously advise against it using Oct UY.

 

[ColonialMouse]

We have a September UY, and I think over the last 10 years we’ve gone to WDW in most months of the year. Honestly, if your life is subject to last-minute changes that would shuffle your vacation plans, DVC isn’t for you. You need to be a bit more aware of an August or September trip, but unless it’s a truly last minute change you will likely be able to find something at SSR that would work for you.

The other options are to never go for 5 months of the year, which I think is unlikely to be what you want over the years, or to have two different UYs, where you can avoid this headache but now need to manage the points more carefully to try to avoid the situation and would wind up dictating your vacation plans.

The worst that’s ever happened to us is we had an unplanned split stay with one night at OKW before our THV reservation.

Bruce

 

[Sandisw]

I have an Oct UY, and have a trip planned in September. I am not worried.

It's clear the risks we take by using October points in September. With that said, I say to just stick with your Oct UY, but only if you're confident in your travel habits. You know yourself and your family best. Does someone in your traveling party often get sick? Ever have regrets and cancel a trip altogether?

If something unfortunate were to happen-- you said it'd be a long weekend, so you won't be losing too many points (would still suck though). On the other hand, if you were planning a week long 2-3 bdrm villa stay in September... I would obviously advise against it using Oct UY.

Just want to add that many owners found out the hard way during Covid how risky it was traveling so late when something happened to cancel the trip out of their control.

While DVC did make some exceptions, they don’t have to so always go in with a good understanding that the reason for the cancel could be something not related only to you..travel restrictions, closures, etc.

 

[Bjaiken77]

Just want to add that many owners found out the hard way during Covid how risky it was traveling so late when something happened to cancel the trip out of their control.

While DVC did make some exceptions, they don’t have to so always go in with a good understanding that the reason for the cancel could be something not related only to you..travel restrictions, closures, etc.

Yeah, this tends to be my way of thinking. I’d rather push the birthday celebration out to October and use the higher point charts or balance two use years. It just seems like it’s tempting fate to buy points and plan an annual trip 3 weeks before points expire. I know everyone has different comfort levels, but that makes me too nervous.

 

[Sandisw]

Yeah, this tends to be my way of thinking. I’d rather push the birthday celebration out to October and use the higher point charts or balance two use years. It just seems like it’s tempting fate to buy points and plan an annual trip 3 weeks before points expire. I know everyone has different comfort levels, but that makes me too nervous.

One of the reasons I ended up with 2 UYs was because I wanted to start going in May and had a June UY. Way too risky for me.

Two will work if you buy with the intent to use differently. Other than last year when I did a transfer, I always use them for different trips or book some nights on one and some on the other. It has meant borrowing when I had points in the other one, but I like keeping it clean and it works!!

 

[Bjaiken77]

One of the reasons I ended up with 2 UYs was because I wanted to start going in May and had a June UY. Way too risky for me.

Two will work if you buy with the intent to use differently. Other than last year when I did a transfer, I always use them for different trips or book some nights on one and some on the other. It has meant borrowing when I had points in the other one, but I like keeping it clean and it works!!

yeah, especially how we are looking to do it. We are considering adding on a relatively small contract at VGF just for a 3 day studio weekend stay. If things go bad, I’d rather bank those more valuable points and have double next year. It’d be one thing if it were a one off trip, but again, it’s too risky for me to have it as an annual plan. I have a tendency to be cautious and risk adverse, though. That’s just me.