Problem with use year

[daisy2000]

Oh no! I think we have a BIG problem with our April use year. After doing more research on the DIS, I finally figured this out (I'm a little slow w/ this stuff! )

Our guide was helpful, but I wish I had a better understanding of the cancellation policy as it relates to use year when we put our deposit down. At least for the next 7 years or so, we will probably be travelling during school vacations of Feb and April. With those dates, we should have a use year of perhaps December or January - is that correct?

If our next trip is April 2003, and we have to cancel close to travel dates, we are going to lose our points.

Do you think, since we haven't received our final papers yet, that we could change our use year, or are those use years sold out already? Our guide is on DCL working this week, so I'll have to wait til next week to ask him.

 

[kem330]

Your use year may work fine with your April 2003 trip. You will get your points April 1, 2003 and if your 2002 points are banked, that's when they will become available for stays. It could be more of a problem for Feb trips, however you could always try to rent them if you cancel. That being said, they may let you rewrite the contract since you haven't closed, but they may not be too enthusiastic about it. It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

If your use year is in April and to plan to vacation in April, you'll be fine. Your use year starts at the beginning of the month.

Let's say you have a trip planned for April 2003 that uses points from your 2003 use year. In January, you decide you must cancel - well, you still have until the end of March 2004 to use those points.

Now, if it was February that you were vacationing in, that would be a little different. Because a cancellation for a Feb vacation would only give you 1 to 2 months to use the points, and you'd be past your banking window, so you couldn't bank.

Still, what's the likelyhood that you'll be cancelling a major vacation? I know that can happen with some people, and that they might not actually know they are going until right before, but it doesn't seem to me to be all that common.

 

[CarolMN]

I don't know if it is too late to change your use year - that will be a question for your guide. However, IMHO, the importance of use year has been over-emphasized. My advice is to try not to stress out over this.

First of all, it isn't likely that you will cancel very many February vacations (April vacations should not be a problem with an April use year). Yes, people do get sick and unforseen things do happen, but it seems to me that those situations are much less likely than taking your vacations as planned.

In order to avoid having your points go into the holding account, you will have to cancel at least 31 days ahead of time (sometime in January for your February trip). February (especially President's week) is a busy time at WDW. You have a VERY good chance of being able to rent your reservation if you cannot use it yourself. That's not as good as being able to use the points yourself, but you should not lose any $$ and should AT LEAST recover your annual dues.

If you cancel less than 31 days, your points will go into the holding account. That means you cannot make a ressie using those points until 60 days ahead of your departure date. Again, your best option is to try to rent the original ressie out or make any ressie you can and rent it. That is the most difficult scenario because you would only have until 3/31 to use the points. FWIW, I think having points in a holding account is a pain no matter when your use year happens to fall.

Even though you will most likely be traveling in Februrary and April for the next 7 years, you probably WON'T be for the entire 40 years. When your vacation routines change, your "perfect" use year may not be so perfect anymore.

IMHO, you sound like you are in the "oh no, did I make a mistake??" period. We all went through it. Try not to worry too much or second guess yourself. You're going to love your DVC. Looking forward to welcoming you home very soon.

 

[Laurabearz]

We have a December UY and we like to vacation in May and Oct/Nov.... Our May trips are secure because we are still in our banking window....

For our October/november trips we plan on purchasing Travelers insurance..... just in case!
HTH

 

[chris1gill]

Hi Daisy2000,

I have to agree with you on this one. You would be better off with a January use year. I'd call your guide & ask about January use year availability. It might be sold out, but it's worth asking. With your April dates, you should be okay with your use year, but February could be a little tricky, you might have to rent it out if you have to cancel at the last minute... More than 31 days before you could get the points back from the Feb vacation & bank them forward, I think you're within your 50% banking window (not sure on that though....)

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Unless things have changed, DVD doesn't sell January as a use year.

 

[daisy2000]

Thank you all for the advice. I'm going to stop stressing and just enjoy planning my DVC vacations! I feel better about it now. I think I got a little overwhelmed because DH leaves vacation planning up to me and doesn't want anything to do with figuring all this stuff out! "Whatever you want honey" is sometimes a blessing and a curse

 

[PamOKW]

The April Use Year is actually excellent for a regular April vacation. The February vacation will only be a problem if you cancel close to the date. You have until January 31 to still be able to bank 25% of your points so you won't lose all of them. Also, keep in mind that you want to use the points for a non-DVC trip you must make the reservation no later than January 31 to travel in February or March. You can't make the reservations during the last 60 days of your Use Year.