ProsCons of different Use Years

[RoseGold]

I have two UYs. I use them to travel summer-ish and fall-ish. I don't think it's that big of a deal if you are going enough. If you aren't going more than once a year, I agree it's too much.

 

[GeneralLeia003]

We have three contracts at two resorts, all with the same use year - and I have a hard enough time keeping track. I don’t think I could add a different use year without adding a lot of reminders to my calendar.

 

[SrBlonde]

Sooo. If I have say 2 contracts with the same use year each a different home resort… would I be able to use points from each contract to book a stay at X resort without transferring points between contracts?

 

[KTownRaider]

Sooo. If I have say 2 contracts with the same use year each a different home resort… would I be able to use points from each contract to book a stay at X resort without transferring points between contracts?

Yes, two contracts with different home resorts can be combined to book another DVC property at 7 months without point transfers. Currently, the exception would be if you were using resale points (outside of Riviera resale) to book Riviera (which has restrictions- a whole other topic discussed at length in other threads).

 

[VdoesDisney]

The complexities have been discussed so I’ll speak to my experience, we have 2 contracts, 2 home resorts, and 2 different UYs, both memberships are under the same login so I find it very easy to switch back and forth for booking and reviewing purposes. I didn’t intent to have 2 different UYs but a good deal came up and here we are.

To be honest I really don’t mind it, mostly because we are FL residents and travel to WDW about 5-6 times a year on multiple long weekends and 1 longer trip, the multiple use years give me more flexibility with banking windows and since we use the contracts separate from each other it’s not really a problem that the points don’t pool together.

So, if you need to pool all your points together multiple UYs seem like a headache, but if you can use them independently there may actually be some strategic benefits to having 2 different banking deadlines.

 

[mattw0640]

The biggest thing to understand is that a different UY is an entirely new membership. It’s like being two different owners.

Points in one membership can’t be used with points in another membership to make a single reservation, even if they are at the same resort, unless you transfer points from one to the other,

Transferred points have rules (etc.)...

Quick question: what if you have two contracts with the same use year? Can those points be combined to make a single reservation?

Thank you!

 

[CarolynFH]

Quick question: what if you have two contracts with the same use year? Can those points be combined to make a single reservation?

Thank you!

Same UY, same resort, can combine at 11 months. Same UY, different resorts, can combine at 7 months.

 

[robinb]

Same UY, same resort, can combine at 11 months. Same UY, different resorts, can combine at 7 months.

We had two UYs for a few years before I sold my OKW contract. It was a PITB to not be able to combine points for a reservation in the 7 month window. I could make a reservation at 7 months with both contracts, but had to book whole days with each contract. I hated it.

 

[Dina]

We just signed a contract to add on (waiting to see if Disney passes on it)which will give us a new use year at the same resort (SSR) . Both contracts are same amount of points. We usually go twice a year, so thought Id use the December UY on our Spring Trip, and the April UY on our fall trips. Hopefully I didn't make a mistake. It was a good contract, and I couldn't find anything comparable with our old december UY.

 

[sjdrr1313]

We currently have a 200 point SSR contract with a March use year. My kids are in school so we tend to do our longer disney trips over spring break or in the summer, and we like a 1BR for those stays so I feel like I need all 200 points for those trips.

But we also like to do a long weekend here and there in the fall or winter. So I've been thinking about adding a smaller contract with maybe an august, september, or october use year, just enough for a couple of nights in a studio somewhere in the fall or winter months...

 

[CarolynFH]

We currently have a 200 point SSR contract with a March use year. My kids are in school so we tend to do our longer disney trips over spring break or in the summer, and we like a 1BR for those stays so I feel like I need all 200 points for those trips.

But we also like to do a long weekend here and there in the fall or winter. So I've been thinking about adding a smaller contract with maybe an august, september, or october use year, just enough for a couple of nights in a studio somewhere in the fall or winter months...

That plan makes sense to me. Booking fall/winter with a March UY could be tricky if you had to cancel after that banking deadline closed.

 

[MFMont]

I presently have two offers down on a August use year and a Dec. Use year. both have accepted my price if I move forward. Technically the december use year would have 1 additional year of points as there are double points already there and 2022 point will be loaded in December. The Aug. has double points but then next point wont be until August 2023. As I say it, the additional points is a big deal. I am so on the fence of what to do. They are virtually the same in every way but UY is different. I see the advantages of both.

I have had a BWV Contract for 11 years. We have a 150 points and our present use year is August. We are in need to add another 150 points or so and we want to keep with BWV.

For the most part, we will always use studios. Some years we will make 3 or 4 trips, and roughly every other year we will have 1 week where we have 2 studios at the same time for 1 of our trips.

on the fence here.

 

[CarolynFH]

I presently have two offers down on a August use year and a Dec. Use year. both have accepted my price if I move forward. Technically the december use year would have 1 additional year of points as there are double points already there and 2022 point will be loaded in December. The Aug. has double points but then next point wont be until August 2023. As I say it, the additional points is a big deal. I am so on the fence of what to do. They are virtually the same in every way but UY is different. I see the advantages of both.

I have had a BWV Contract for 11 years. We have a 150 points and our present use year is August. We are in need to add another 150 points or so and we want to keep with BWV.

For the most part, we will always use studios. Some years we will make 3 or 4 trips, and roughly every other year we will have 1 week where we have 2 studios at the same time for 1 of our trips.

on the fence here.

Personally, I would rather have all my points in the same UY, if they were the same home resort, so that if at some point, for example, I needed 200 points for a reservation I wouldn't have to transfer points from one membership to another. I could just check both contracts when booking and take 150 points from one and 50 from the other. Remember, a different UY = a different membership, as if you were two different people. And transferring points requires a call to MS, which at some times of year could be the difference between booking a highly desired villa at 8 AM and having it disappear between 8 and 9 when MS opened.

 

[TCRAIG]

I have 15 contracts and 4 UYs…I do not have the same resort in multiple UYs…At the 11 month window, I use my April UY for May ressies (VGF) June for the fall (split between BLT and BC)…Oct for Dec visits (split between BWV and WLV/BR) and Dec UY strictly for Hilton Head…it’s really not been a problem…in 12 yrs of owning - I’ve only had 2 points I couldn’t use. One thing I really like about having multiple UYs is being able to have multiple Waitlists and buy lots of OTU points…Which has been very handy when making a number of trips to WDW to take advantage of special offerings like Remy preview and this years’ MM event at the less than 7 month mark or family who ask me to book summer trips for them - I end up using a mish-mosh of leftover points across UYs and OTU points and having MS combine/link so we don’t need to change rooms.

 

[kandlsutton]

I presently have two offers down on a August use year and a Dec. Use year. both have accepted my price if I move forward. Technically the december use year would have 1 additional year of points as there are double points already there and 2022 point will be loaded in December. The Aug. has double points but then next point wont be until August 2023. As I say it, the additional points is a big deal. I am so on the fence of what to do. They are virtually the same in every way but UY is different. I see the advantages of both.

I have had a BWV Contract for 11 years. We have a 150 points and our present use year is August. We are in need to add another 150 points or so and we want to keep with BWV.

For the most part, we will always use studios. Some years we will make 3 or 4 trips, and roughly every other year we will have 1 week where we have 2 studios at the same time for 1 of our trips.

on the fence here.

I have both Aug and Dec UYs and the benefit is that I can take trips the entire year and still stay within my banking window if I have to cancel. But, I have to use the memberships separately or stay on hold for a transfer.

I don’t have the same home resorts in both UYs. During home resort booking window, you could combine points at 11 months if in a single UY for the same home resort and not have to link reservations.

If you go with a second UY, you could bank points in alternate years and use the memberships separately.

So, it all depends on how you intend to use the points and how many you need to book. I think it would be easier to stay with 1 UY, but 2 UYs minimizes the potential for points going into holding.

I will also say that Dec UY is hard to wrap your head around since most of your UY doesn‘t match the calendar year. And, you only have 2 months to use your last allocation of points before the resort‘s January 20XX expiration. Aug UY is marginally easier for me.

 

[amee]

We have 1 contract (OKW) with a June UY. We have had it for nearly 20 years and as west coasters with a once per year trip, it has been fine. We typically go in late fall-March. We never go in the summer. We are thinking of adding on at VGF for a specific kind of trip....early December for a long weekend. I have never really paid a lot of attention to UY. What would be the ideal UY for that kind of trip? Thank you for your help in advance!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Could you flip them?

June UY would be pretty decent for a December trip, but it's pretty bad for a March trip.