Paying premium for personal "best" Use Year?

[msjprincess]

Good point.

ETA: though, still, if the 4th month is your preferred travel month, then that's probably not the best use year.

Personally, I think this use year stuff is too speculative. I have no idea, over the next 40 years, when my preferred travel time will be and I suspect it will change throughout the stages of my life.

I agree. We bought September because our favorite tie to go is in the Fall. However I now have 3 kids in HS/MS and I can't take them out of school for vacations anymore. So we've had to book our trips for the end of August. It's not ideal, but in more than 20 years of going to WDW I've never had to cancel a trip. Hopefully I'll stay lucky.

 

[supersnoop]

ETA: though, still, if the 4th month is your preferred travel month, then that's probably not the best use year.

I agree. We bought September because our favorite tie to go is in the Fall. However I now have 3 kids in HS/MS and I can't take them out of school for vacations anymore. So we've had to book our trips for the end of August. It's not ideal, but in more than 20 years of going to WDW I've never had to cancel a trip. Hopefully I'll stay lucky.

Yes, but...

When someone says they don't know when they'll likely travel, or that their travel will be spread across the year, then the last-three-month concept is likely the best measure. If someone knows exactly in which one, two, or three months they'll always travel, then they should focus on those months.

The last-three-month idea is based on the ability to bank your points. If you'll always travel on banked or borrowed points, then it won't help much. But, then, the concept of buying to support the most frequent month carries its own liability, since you'd need to plan to rebook later in the year, which would be during the time when you were least likely to travel.

In the end, everyone's perceived situation is going to be different, and each individual should evaluate the risks and benefits of any given use year. If you're focused on the ability to bank points from a canceled reservation, then I think the last-three-month method is the most appropriate.

 

[Smilelea]

Thanks for all of your input. As has been stated by many, it's hard to predict way out into the future. But I would say that our most likely times to visit right now would be anytime Nov-Feb, or May. I wouldn't completely rule out Sep, Oct, March, or April, but those would be far less likely. And as I said earlier, I have no desire to go June-August; with the summer heat combined with summer crowds. It seems to me based on that (assuming I understand UY correctly) that September would be the best option for me.

 

[Dean]

Lots of people focus on the last four months, but I think the last three are more appropriate. If you have a reservation in the fourth month, you'd have to cancel it 30 days in advance or points go into holding. And if you cancel it in time, you're still ahead of your banking deadline.

IMO there's more than just being able to bank the points, there's the ability to reuse or rent the points if not bankable. Thus I feel that every month one can get that's after the usual trip time is important. Obviously this fits more for some than others but there is almost always a best or couple of best UY for a given person.

Thanks for all of your input. As has been stated by many, it's hard to predict way out into the future. But I would say that our most likely times to visit right now would be anytime Nov-Feb, or May. I wouldn't completely rule out Sep, Oct, March, or April, but those would be far less likely. And as I said earlier, I have no desire to go June-August; with the summer heat combined with summer crowds. It seems to me based on that (assuming I understand UY correctly) that September would be the best option for me.

Oct is likely best if yo'll normally travel Nov to Feb plus May. Ultimately you listed 9 months you might travel. For Sept vs Oct it depends on how likely you will travel in Sept. IF you have no future plans but just "might" I'd ignore it for this purpose.

 

[Billy4akvt]

I don't think that you understand UY. You have the same 11-month home booking advantage as all of the other owners at your DVC resort. Having a Feb. UY does not give you an advantage over them. However, booking in the last 3 months of your UY can be problematic if you should have to cancel after your banking deadline has passed or end up with points in holding. The last 3 months of a Feb. UY would be Nov.-Dec.-Jan.

Thank you Marionnette for pointing this out to me, I never considered the banking aspect that basically gives all owners a level playing field at their home resort in any 11 month window. Thanks everyone else for your comments too concerning my questions about UY. They helped clear up for me something I never gave much thought to before last night, and I must've been tired because I wasn't thinking to clearly now was I? LOL I guess I never thought of that, because we love vacationing in Disney World every year and basically run a point deficit every year and even have to borrow , so I never really considered the banking aspect. Now I know that some people may want to point out that maybe we should've bought more points instead of just 200, but let me just say now, that at the time we made our (wonderful) purchase, anymore than 200 wasn't an option for us financially. I'm sure that even if we bought twice that amount, we would still find a way to run up a point deficit each year, because a Disney World vacation for me is very special to me because of certain events in my childhood, and I like that my daughter gets to enjoy the trip often when she is still young and not yet a teenager, which is right around the corner, and she probably won't enjoy it as much after that. But I still don't see us ever banking more than a point or two anytime soon. Thanks everyone!
P.S. I guess February is as good a use year as any for us then because we never really had any problems with it.

 

[bradykp]

I bought resale and ended up with an October UY. I will almost always go in November (for "jersey week") - I'm not sure I understand what would make any given month a "better UY" for me?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I bought resale and ended up with an October UY. I will almost always go in November (for "jersey week") - I'm not sure I understand what would make any given month a "better UY" for me?

A "good" UY is one that gives you time to use or bank points (if they are bankable) or rebook if you have a late cancellation. With an Oct UY and your travels in November you would still be well within your banking window if you had to cancel the reservation and could find time to go for another year. Or - if it was really a last minute cancellation of 30 days or less prior to check in and the points went into holding - or they were already banked or borrowed so they had to stay in that UY, you would have 11 months +/- to rebook and use the points or rent them out before they expired on Sept 30th of the following year.

But consider if you had a Dec UY and had a last minute cancellation of a November trip? You'd be past the July 31st banking deadline and the points would have to be used by Nov 30th or they would expire - so it might even be less than 30 days that you had to figure out how to use them.

The "best" UY essentially provides some free insurance against last minute cancellations in that it gives you the most time to use the points from that cancellation or to bank them.