Someone please expalin why it is important to....

[noahandcjsmom]

Pick the right month? If we are looking at purchasing a contract somewhere why does it matter when the points get put into your account. Is that Use year? I dont even think I know how to ask the question in fact. Can anyone explain the banking process and what that has to do with the month?

Thanks!

 

[sesame_123]

I'm new to this too but the way I understand it is..... If your use year is June but your family tends to go in may and you use all your points on a reservation in may then if for whatever reason you can't go those points would still have to get used before your use year. In this case by June so you have no security but if your use year was in October you would have June,July,august,September to use those previously booked points. (I think)

 

[vicki_c]

It's really about cancellations. It's best to have a use year right before the time you would normally travel, so if you have to cancel, you have the longest possible time to use those points or will still be able to bank them within your banking window (which ends 4 months before the end of your use year).

In 40-50 years of ownership, though, your "normal" vacation time may change numerous times. We are running into that already after only 3 years of membership. We used to go in the January/February time frame most often, now as our kids are getting older, we are looking at 2 years worth of Easter trips in the near future.

 

[disneyfam27]

Use Year is the month and year that you get your annual points allocation. Those points are good for 1 year unless they are banked. Then they are goog for two years. Your banking window is anytime after you get your points allocated up until the end of the 7 month mark of your use year.

For example my UY is December:

• Dec 1, 2010 I received 150 SSR points. Any vacations that I take between Dec 1, 2010 and Nov 30, 2011 are within my 2010 UY. Any unused points I have as of Nov 30 will expire unless they are banked.
• I have until Jul 31, 2011 to bank any unused 2010 points.
• Any banked points become part of my 2011 UY and expire on Nov 2012 and cannot be banked again.
• If I schedule a 2010 vacation after my banking window (i.e. Aug-Nov) and for some reason cancel that vacation AFTER my banking window, the vacation points must be used before the end of my UY or they will expire. (Also if you cancel any vacation less than 31 days prior to check-in, these points go into a holding account and cannot be banked either, but that is another topic)

The reason it becomes important is that you do not want to end up in a situation where you are stuck with points that you can't use because you didn't bank them before the end of your banking window and/or you can't reschedule before the end of your UY.

 

[vicki_c]

It's 8 months not 7 months for banking.

 

[chalee94]

yep, use year month is only an issue if you need to cancel.

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window closed on jan 31, 2012 so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation before they expire on may 31, 2012.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window won't close until jan 31, 2013 so you'd have until then to decide whether to use current year (2012) pts for a reservation in that UY or else bank them to the next year. (you'd still need to use banked and borrowed pts by may 31, 2013.)

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but that won't matter since they expire on may 31.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but at least you'd have 12 months before they expire on may 31, 2013 to decide what to do with them.

 

[disneyfam27]

Yes, you are right it is 8 months. I a typo on my part, please forgive

 

[noahandcjsmom]

Wow I am more confused now if its possible. So you have to bank points into the next year months before they actually expire?? That kind of seems like crap, to me?

What if I bank the points and then decide I do infact want to take a vacation a month later before they actually expire but have already been banked? What do I do then?

Just trying to get all of the info so I am not making an uninformed decision and trying to sell for pennies in a few months/years.


Thanks!

 

[LauraLea]

then you borrow next year's pts.

but don't cancel once you borrowed. borrowed points cannot be unborrowed and must be used in the UY you borrowed them into.

Laura

 

[Sandisw]

Wow I am more confused now if its possible. So you have to bank points into the next year months before they actually expire?? That kind of seems like crap, to me?

What if I bank the points and then decide I do infact want to take a vacation a month later before they actually expire but have already been banked? What do I do then?

Just trying to get all of the info so I am not making an uninformed decision and trying to sell for pennies in a few months/years.


Thanks!

Yes, you have to bank points 4 months before they expire. It seems like a long time but in reality it is not. Remember, DVC is about planning and the farther out you plan the better.

Most make reservations at the 11 month mark. In reality, that means you will have your points booked and accounted for well over a year before that banking deadline. Even at my 7 month window (which was in January), it was a year before the deadline for those points.

For example, I have a June UY. We are traveling in Aug 2011 and I booked my trip in Sept 2010 with June 2011 UY points. Those points have a banking deadline of Jan 31st, 2012. So, in reality, my June 2011 UY points (even though I have not even started that UY) were already booked into trips almost 17 months before my banking deadline.

Now, as others have said, if you decide to travel last minute, you can always borrow the next UY's points.

Picking a UY that falls before you will probably travel is the most flexible, IMO.

We started with Oct UY but I teach so we must travel in the summer or on school breaks (which we won't do due to the high airfare). With an Oct UY, if I ever had to cancel an Aug trip after May 30th (the banking deadline for Oct), I would be stuck with points since I can not travel in September.

Now, I have June UY. If I did have to cancel or just needed to change or adust a trip, I have plenty of time to do it because any borrowed or banked points I am using for an August trip will not expire until the following May. And, I can make those changes right up until day 31 without worry since I am traveling in the first few months of my UY.

As others have said, UY only plays a role if you want to change or cancel and most do not. But, if you have the ability to choose a UY that will give you a bit more wiggle room, then I would do that. At the very least, just try not to choose the worst UY for your travel. For example, if you know you will travel in the Oct/Nov timeframe every year, don't choose a Dec UY.

No one UY will be good for travel every month and if you really have no set pattern on when you want to travel now or in the next 10 years or so, then don't stress over it.


Good luck!

 

[staceymay00]

UY really does not matter if you never have to cancel, but many (including me) like to protect themselves as best as possible from losing points just in case.

We have October UY because we see ourselves traveling to WDW between October and May. I think this will be true while our kids are in school and after our kids are adults. We currently have a reservation for November made with mostly 2011 points and some borrowed 2012 points. Should we have to cancel, we have until May 31 to bank the 2011 points if we don't think we'll use them, and until end of Sept next year to use the borrowed points which can not be banked.

 

[noahandcjsmom]

OK I think I got it. We have two little guys one will start Kindergarten next fall so we will be attempting travel during school breaks from here on out...

But, my husband has to bid for time off one year in advance and is one of the newer hires so gets slim pickens on summer vacations.

It may be tough to pick a month that we will use consistently. Probably summer though. So it would be best to pick ........???

I confused myself again. If I want to travel in June I need a March April or May UY or July, Aug, Sept?

Maybe I need more coffee...

 

[vicki_c]

For travel in June, you want April or May (not sure if they have those 2 as use years or not). You want a use year immediately before you think you will be traveling.

There is no July use year I don't think and August or September would be bad for a June trip because you have to bank August & September points by the end of March and April, respectively.

 

[drusba]

Simplified, if you have a usual time of year you go, your ideal use year is one that begins the same month you usually go or shortly before. The reason for that is to avoid any issue of having to cancel and then not being able to bank points. It has nothing to do with when you can actually go (any time of year) or when you can call to reserve (always 11 months in advance at home resort, 7 for others)

 

[Mtnman44]

The points represent actual real estate, segmented into time chunks. Obviously, when members bank or borrow points, this doesn't create more or less usuable real estate in those years. The amount of available usage is the same every year. When you Bank, you tell DVC that your amount of usage is available for someone else. Someone else who does not have available usage in that year, but needs it, could then "borrow" points from their next year and use them, but they are really using the real estate that you freed up when you "banked".

Next year, when you use your banked points, you will essentially be using the real estate that the other people freed up when they "borrowed" points from that year, essentially telling DVC that they wouldn't be using that time.

It might get a bit confusing, but you can see how a banking deadline is really important to help get everything balanced and used.

 

[DebbieB]

For travel in June, you want April or May (not sure if they have those 2 as use years or not). You want a use year immediately before you think you will be traveling.

There is no July use year I don't think and August or September would be bad for a June trip because you have to bank August & September points by the end of March and April, respectively.

There is no May either. It's February, March, April, June, August, September, October, December.

I have an April use year and typically travel in April, May, October, December. It's worked well for me. One time I did bank my points early and then decided to take a December trip, I just borrowed.

 

[noahandcjsmom]

The points represent actual real estate, segmented into time chunks. Obviously, when members bank or borrow points, this doesn't create more or less usuable real estate in those years. The amount of available usage is the same every year. When you Bank, you tell DVC that your amount of usage is available for someone else. Someone else who does not have available usage in that year, but needs it, could then "borrow" points from their next year and use them, but they are really using the real estate that you freed up when you "banked".

Next year, when you use your banked points, you will essentially be using the real estate that the other people freed up when they "borrowed" points from that year, essentially telling DVC that they wouldn't be using that time.

It might get a bit confusing, but you can see how a banking deadline is really important to help get everything balanced and used.

THANK YOU!! This made so much sense to me! I think I finally got it!

 

[Mtnman44]

My explanation was sort of unecessary to address you original question. Folks have already laid out the main considerations with Use Year. It does have to do with cancelling. If you have to cancel a trip (at least 31 days prior to checkin), points are returned to your account. They are much more useful if they will not be expiring soon and/or can still be banked. Therefore, in general it is nice to have your trips fall within the first 8 months of your Use year (aka, the banking window)

However, as pointed out, over the course of decades, most people's travel habits will change so it is really just chance as to whether a good UY for your today will be a good one ten or twenty years from now.

UY has no bearing on when you can make reservations, so in the long run it is not really much to stress over. Make a educated judgement on what time of the year you are most likely to want to travel and pick a UY where the highest number of your potential travel dates fall within the first 8 months of that UY.

THANK YOU!! This made so much sense to me! I think I finally got it!

 

[bytheblood]

It all depends on when you plan to travel the most. We have an Oct use-year. It works best for us because we do not go in the summer. So, we know that our points will either be used or banked by May. If there is a block of 4 months (around) that you know you will not travel to WDW, then you can use that as your guide to select your use-year.

 

[DenLo]

We travel in so many different months that UY is sort of a mute point. We just hope we won't have to cancel after the banking has ended.

Also keep in mind that it's pretty rare for a DVC member to regularly make reservations after the banking period ends for that use year. DVC members usually make reservations 11 months out for our home resort or 7 months out for all of the other resorts. Any reservations at 4 months or less is just a matter of pure luck or it means traveling in off season from every other DVC member. And I'm not sure there really is an off season, it's more of a less busy season.