Question for UY

[Nick305]

I’m a newbie to the DVC scene and had a question on UY. If I normally travel end of June-mid July, what would be the best UY for me to be looking at? Mostly for home resort stays. Wasn’t sure on when the “best” time to get the points would be. 11 months from travel time or something else? Thoughts and ideas?

 

[LadybugsMum]

June or April would be best so you are using your points early in your UY.

 

[Nick305]

June or April would be best so you are using your points early in your UY.

Do the points come off at book time or actual travel date?

 

[kanerf]

When you book.

 

[Nick305]

When you book.

Ok, so please correct my flawed thinking. If I don’t have any points now and want to buy. Would I want to buy in say, August. Which is 11 months out from my actual travel time? That way I can book as early as I can for my home resort for July?

 

[CarolynFH]

Do the points come off at book time or actual travel date?

The points come out of your account when you book, but UY determines which points you can use. For instance, a June UY means those points are good for reservations that occur from June 1 of one year through May 31 of the following year. So in August 2022 you could book a reservation that would take place in July 2023, and that reservation would be in your 2023 UY and could use banked points from 2022, current 2023 points, and borrowed 2024 points (up to 50%, currently). Learn more about UY here in the Understanding Use Year thread.

Edited to add - if you buy direct and choose a June UY anytime from now through May 31 of this year, you will still be in your 2021 UY and will get a full set of points for that year. Then on June 1, 2022, you’d get another full set of points. If you buy resale, that won’t necessarily be true; the points you get will depend on whether the owner has used them or not.

 

[Nick305]

Thank you for the great explanation and linked post. It really helped a lot, I get it now! Quite the process.

Also, thank you to the others who responded. I knew this was the right place to ask.

 

[SteveMouse]

To clarify: points are assigned to a specific reservation when you book. They are permanently deducted from your account when you actually travel. The “Use” part of the use year is actual consumption, not booking.

You have to commit to banking points well before the end of your use year. If you do not bank them you are in a “use (consume by actual travel, not just making a reservation) it or lose it” situation.

it’s kind of like Southwest’s travel funds on a cancelled “wannagetaway” reservation. The funds have to be used with a year of when you made the first ticket purchase. not within a year of the travel date of the first purchase.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Here's a great explanation of UY and banking deadlines: https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/what-is-a-dvc-use-year-and-does-it-matter/