Rethinking my Use year (again)-- Advice please

[qv09vvp]

We made an offer for an Oct use year that we lost in ROFR.

Now I'm re-thinking my use year logic.

We plan on travelling in the fall mostly... I would say in this order --- Dec, Oct, Sept and then maybe April/May.

Given these months, what use year would you be going for?

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

Having just added-on resale, my current thinking on use year is not to be concerned so much about when you travel, but how much of each use year is available. Having a common use year I think makes it easier to survive ROFR and easier to add-on later, should you want to.

Choosing use year based on when you will travel I think is extremely speculative. How can one project what time of year they will travel for the next 40-50 years? And in this regard, use-year only matters in the rare event you cancel last minute. How often does that really occur?

Just my 2 cents. And that's about all this advice is worth.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Just realized you were talking times of travel, not UY's.

You are looking at a larger gap. If you'll be traveling in Sept then you wouldn't want an Oct UY - that would be the worst. What will be the main travel time - fall with just a possibility of April/May? If so I'd be looking at Sept UY. But how often might Dec be on the table? If that's the least likely then April would cover the times you want to travel.

 

[jerseyduke]

I have similar travel pattern times as you do. When I actually understood UY, I was buying my second contract, and I went with an August UY.

My original contact is an April UY. December is pretty much my Prime month, so it is the one I need the least 'UY insurance' against.

With an April UY, even travelling in december, and cancellation that would not result in your points going into holding, would be before your banking deadline (nov 30).

based on what you said I would target April or September. Problem with August is May is susceptible to a late cancellation points being lost due to a cancellation in April, as you would be past your banking deadline. a Sept UY, any cancellation in any of the months you mentioned that does not result in holding points would be before your banking deadline.

My prime choice for you would be Septmeber.

 

[supersnoop]

September or April.

 

[BillPA]

If your current plans are to travel April, May and Sept-Dec, I would go with an April UY. If April and May are not going to be on a regular rotation, then Aug or Sept UY.

 

[disneynutz]

It isn't hard to understand the benefits of your UY.
Your UY is just free insurance that allows you time to bank your points.
You can bank during the first 8 months of your UY.
Pick a UY that covers the 8 months that you would most often vacation.

Bill

 

[robinb]

I would go with a September UY with an April 30th banking deadline. It covers everything, including May if you cancel a possible May vacation within your 31 day cancellation window. If you're canceling a May vacation past April 30th your points will still go into holding anyway.

 

[pdude81]

Sept if you think you'll travel more in sept than may. Oct otherwise. But when push comes to shove, they are both pretty good fits and you just have to try not to assume you will have to cancel at the last minute.

 

[Dean]

Sept is best as described, Oct like worst if Sept will be a common trip.

 

[qv09vvp]

Thanks all. sounds like September is the winner!!! Our current plans are for mainly December, then October, then sept..with the occasional april/may.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks all. sounds like September is the winner!!! Our current plans are for mainly December, then October, then sept..with the occasional april/may.

And to give yourself some flexibility when looking at the resale contracts, you could add August in as a good one, with Sept UY being ideal!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Based on our experiences, is worrying about UY very important? Maybe we've just been lucky, but when we bought 15+ years ago, we just bought the UY that DVC offered us. It's never been any kind of issue. And over the years, our typical months of WDW visits has changed. Has UY been an issue with others?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Based on our experiences, is worrying about UY very important? Maybe we've just been lucky, but when we bought 15+ years ago, we just bought the UY that DVC offered us. It's never been any kind of issue. And over the years, our typical months of WDW visits has changed. Has UY been an issue with others?

It's only an issue if you ever have a last minute cancellation. Then, having the best UY makes a big difference in the amount of time you have to use those cancelled points.

For us - we've had family members pass away before 2 different trips. Having the best UY allowed it to not be a worry at the time and to easily use the points later.

 

[Dean]

Based on our experiences, is worrying about UY very important? Maybe we've just been lucky, but when we bought 15+ years ago, we just bought the UY that DVC offered us. It's never been any kind of issue. And over the years, our typical months of WDW visits has changed. Has UY been an issue with others?

It's largely insurance in case you have to change or cancel. The importance/benefit varies from one to another based on the likelihood of issues but over the long haul everyone has risk which is why I feel everyone should at least consider UY. And why those where there isn't a clear cut UY that works for them should realize their taking inherently more risk. But it is something everyone should at least consider going in. IF there isn't a clear UY, getting the contract with the most usable points that's the cheapest is the best choice. Cheapest assigns values to points based on how many months one has to use them and when they get the next points. For example, buying today, getting a UY where you're early in the UY will have the most $$$ value because you'd have time to close, get loaded then use or rent the points during THIS UY. In general were UY seems to matter, I'd put AT LEAST a full years worth of points value at market rates on a good UY vs a bad one and for those at higher risk, up to 2 years worth of points. Obviously if one has too much risk of changing canceling and not rescheduling, they likely shouldn't buy DVC.

 

[ELMC]

It's only an issue if you ever have a last minute cancellation. Then, having the best UY makes a big difference in the amount of time you have to use those cancelled points.

For us - we've had family members pass away before 2 different trips. Having the best UY allowed it to not be a worry at the time and to easily use the points later.

It's also important if you have predictable and consistent vacation patterns. As our kids get older our patterns change, and the UY that was perfect for us when we bought our first contract in 2011 is no longer the "perfect fit". Point is, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It's also important if you have predictable and consistent vacation patterns. As our kids get older our patterns change, and the UY that was perfect for us when we bought our first contract in 2011 is no longer the "perfect fit". Point is, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

All you can do is consider your plans and what you expect will happen in the future and buy for that. While things may change it's also possible that nothing will change and you'll have your "insurance" of the best UY. It's not going to hurt and may save a year or more worth of points. IMO well worth thinking about.

 

[CarolMN]

Based on our experiences, is worrying about UY very important? Maybe we've just been lucky, but when we bought 15+ years ago, we just bought the UY that DVC offered us. It's never been any kind of issue. And over the years, our typical months of WDW visits has changed. Has UY been an issue with others?

It's never been an issue for us in almost 20 years. We go when it's convenient for us and have traveled in every month of the year except for June, July & August. We are comfortable self-insuring domestic trips. (I do buy at least medical insurance when we travel internationally). So far we've been fortunate and have not had to cancel a trip, even though we often travel with others. We did cut a trip short last fall due to the storms that impacted Orlando, MS returned our points for the unused night, even though we didn't ask and were prepared to forfeit them. That was unexpected and much appreciated.

 

[Simba's Mom]

It's only an issue if you ever have a last minute cancellation. Then, having the best UY makes a big difference in the amount of time you have to use those cancelled points.

For us - we've had family members pass away before 2 different trips. Having the best UY allowed it to not be a worry at the time and to easily use the points later.

It sounds like maybe I should count my blessings that it's never been an issue. I'm sorry for your losses.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It sounds like maybe I should count my blessings that it's never been an issue. I'm sorry for your losses.

Thank you Simba's Mom. I would hope that nobody ever has to cancel a reservation for this reason but it's not something that's predictable either. With older relatives with poor health one can be more aware but in our case one was my 58 yo brother so one just can never tell. The other was my mother who was going on the trip with us an she passed away just a little over a week before we were leaving.