Tell me again why UY is so important?

[XYSRUS]

And go slow! Maybe give examples of why you picked your UY.

 

[CarolMN]

Use year determines your banking deadlines.

It comes into play if you have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled towards the end of your use year.

If you normally travel at approximately the same time of the year (many people do not so use year is not as important to them), a favorable use year will allow you to bank the current use year points that are returned to your account if you cannot reschedule the vacation before the end of your use year.

Check out this thread for a detailed explanation:

Understanding Use Year

 

[dcfromva]

Another consideration is "The Rule of Four":

"What is the Rule of Four?
You cannot book and travel on The Disney Collection (excluding Disneyland® Resort Hotels in California), Concierge Collection and Adventurer Collection vacations within the last 4 months of your Use Year. However, you can travel in the last 4 months of your Use Year as long as you've booked your stay more than 4 months before the end of your Use Year."

 

[Sandisw]

We always travel in the summer because I am a teacher. We chose a June UY for our late July/August trips.

We will get our points right before we travel each year so we won't be in a borrowing situation. Since we can bank points up until January 31st, the points from any trips that I would have to cancel would go back into my account with no restrictions. And, the other times I MIGHT travel would be Xmas break or February break so this UY would also work for them.

Having a UY right before you travel gives you a lot of flexibility, IMO. Now, travel habits do change so if you are not someone who forsees going at specific times, then UY becomes less important. But I know this will be my habit for at least the next 11 years, until retirement, it works for me!

Good luck!

 

[DisneyWalker44]

And go slow! Maybe give examples of why you picked your UY.

It's not. There are some very complicated examples when one use is better than another - but in the real world it's just not that big a deal most of the time. You are going to own DVC for a long time - what may be a somewhat good use-year for one trip will be a somewhat bad use-year in the future. I wouldn't worry about it. Or, if you don't want to completely ignore use year, focus on avoiding the absolute worst (the month just after your most common travel month) rather than trying to get an ideal one.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Example:

We have a February UY and often travel to Hilton Head over Thanksgiving. (That goes directly against UY philosophy)

Anyway...we had our nice little trip planned for late November, and then my Dad got sick. He was in and out of the hospital from the first of October, so we kept our fingers crossed. At that point, nothing had been so serious to keep us from going to Hilton Head. (6 hour drive)

So by the week of our trip...Dad was at death's door, and had to have emergency heart surgery. The hospital had to bring in the surgical staff on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The doctors were using words like IF he comes out of the surgery.

Needless to say...no Hilton Head.

We rescheduled for MLK weekend in January. That week wasn't good either. It went to 13 degrees in Hilton Head. We knew it was going to be cold, and went anyway. "A bad day at Disney is better than a good day at home." By this time, we had no choice...use it or lose it.

Long story short...things happen. Sure, on occassion plan something at the end of your UY, BUT if you want to go every July 4th only -- please don't choose an August UY.

PS, Dad is doing much better.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

We've fortunately never had to cancel a vacation.

 

[maburke]

PS, Dad is doing much better.

Really glad to hear that!

 

[Buckeye Fan]

UY probably won't mean much to you, unless you travel once per year. I'll give an example based on the OP who is a teacher (DH is a teacher, too! ).

If OP traveled once per year and had to cancel a vacation, it would give him/her a lot of flexibility in the event they had to cancel. However, let's say OP decided to do something else one summer and bank the points. Let's say they use those points for travel the following summer, but end up with 50 banked points left over. Those points cannot be banked again, and will expire May 31. That's where we were getting into some trouble. Our points were expiring before we really wanted to travel.

We are unique (with DH teaching and being limited, and sometimes only traveling once per year), so I only bring it up so that you can play with scenarios and make the best decision for you. At the end of the day, now that we're traveling more than once per year, it hasn't been as big of an issue.

Best of luck!!!

 

[momof3poohlovers]

It's funny, we have just found out how important Use Year really is. I am a teacher and have children who are 17, 13, and 11 so we go to Disney every year during Thanksgiving because we can't miss school. It's never been a problem and we were actually scheduled to stay at the BLT in a MK view 2 bedroom for my 40th birthday which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Well on Monday, I just found out I am pregnant (although we are excited about the new baby!)and will be about 8 1/2 close to 9 months pregnant and there is no way I can travel to Florida from California to Disneyworld. We have a March UY and unfortunately have 2 nights booked at the GF using points(166 reservation points) and also borrowed 98 points from next year for our BLT stay. Now I am trying to scramble around to see how I can use those points before I am too far along to travel. We thought about going to Disney for Spring Break next year with the baby but it's after our UY starts over so that doesn't use up the 264 points we need to use up before Feb 28 and we already have a huge trip planned for this summer so this summer is really out.

If I could do it over, I would definitely gone with an October UY as we will most likely always go over Thanksgiving. Oh well, at least this time we are able to know pretty far in advance although is doesn't help us use the Reservation and borrowed points up.

 

[melanie18]

Honestly, it's not important to us at all. We've owned since 2001.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Well on Monday, I just found out I am pregnant

That's GREAT news! Congratulations!

Nothing like taking a little one to Disney. We took our daughter to Disney right after she turned 1 (our son was 7), and it's one of the best trips we've ever taken. We just knew we'd have some limitations.

Wishing you the very best with your pregnancy, and figuring out your vacation plans!

 

[Dean]

UY is variably important, to some it's very important, to others it means little and for others it should be important but they don't figure it out until something happens. However, for anyone who tends to go specific times of the year it can be very important. A good UY for that person may be worth as much as $5-6 a point of more compared to a bad UY. While it's important for banking deadlines, it's likely even more important to allowing you time to rebook for points that cannot be banked (already banked or borrowed points). IMO, UY can be important enough that owning multiple UY is often worth it given the current rules.

 

[Sammie]

our use year meant nothing until as Dean said, we had a problem. Now I mine is really beginning to bother me. The Rule of Four drives me crazy, I dislike mine when I have to bank or cancel.

As long as I was borrowing and never canceling, it did not matter.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Really glad to hear that!

Thanks!

 

[stuartsong]

For simplicity, I think February use year is the easiest to remember because it's the closest to the actual calander year. I have both February and December UY points. I find the dates for February easier than December. I also feels like I'm not paying ahead for maintenance fee for the February use year versus the December use year.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

For simplicity, I think February use year is the easiest to remember because it's the closest to the actual calander year. I have both February and December UY points. I find the dates for February easier than December. I also feels like I'm not paying ahead for maintenance fee for the February use year versus the December use year.

I agree.

We our Feb. UY. Of course it doesn't fit our T'giving trips to HH.

 

[ACDSNY]

As other have said, it can depend on your individual situations. We originally purchased before the new Rule of 4 with a Feb UY. Our trips are typically in the Fall which is now after our banking deadline so it puts us at risk of loosing points if we need to cancel. We typically travel with extended family & friends so our trips use up quite a few points. We've since sold most of our Feb points and now have a majority of points in an Aug UY which works better for us. It was a costly change for us so I wish I would have known more about UY before our original purchase.

It's great you're gaining knowledge before your purchase.