Totally confused - help!

[Davids-Coco]

Maybe my brain is on overload... we almost always go in September. If we buy a resale, should it be an October UY? Or does it really matter?

 

[LisaS]

Having a UY that starts just before your usual travel dates gives you the most flexibility if you ever have to cancel a trip. You would have 11 months left in your UY in which to use the points for something else. You would still be within your 100% banking deadline so you could bank all of your points if you had no other plans for those points during that UY. So if you will "almost always" go in September, then a Sep (or Aug) UY would work great for you.

Compare that with having an Oct UY. Say you cancel one of your September trips at the beginning of August. You cannot bank any points in the last 2 months of your UY so with an Oct UY, you cannot bank anything during Aug or Sep, so banking is not an option. Your UY ends on Sep 30 so you would have just a few weeks to use the points for something else before they expired. (Also be aware that if you cancel a trip 30 days or less before check in, your points go into holding and cannot be banked.)

One other point that often causes confusion: you can book your home resort 11 months prior to your check-out date (and non-home resorts 7 months prior to check-out) regardless of your Use Year. Use Year has nothing whatsoever to do with when you can make a reservation.

 

[Didney Daddy]

Or just plan 11 months ahead and not worry about it...

 

[dianeschlicht]

I really doubt use year is THAT important. It really only makes a difference if you have to cancel late before a trip. How often is that likely to happen? In 10 years and 20-30 trips, it has NEVER happened to us, and we have what most would consider to be a bad use year for us, since it is a couple months AFTER our usual travel dates.

 

[Granny]

Maybe my brain is on overload... we almost always go in September.

You are looking at 35 more years (or 47 if SSR) of DVC vacations. You might always go in September now but do you think that won't change at all over the next few decades?

I think UY is a "it'd be nice" kind of thing with resale, but not a deal breaker. I'd hate to see you pass up good resale contracts looking for the perfect UY.

Still, if you can snag an August UY, that would be the best of all worlds for your current vacation schedule. Good luck!

 

[DebbieB]

Or just plan 11 months ahead and not worry about it...

Use year has nothing to do with planning a trip. The main concern is a situation where you need to cancel. If you had an October use year and cancelled a September trip last minute, those points would have to be used by September 30, the last day of the use year. It would also be too late to bank. If you had an August or September use year, you would still have several months to bank the points (assuming you cancelled more than 30 days before).

 

[DeeCee735]

I'd plan for what meets my needs now, not looking 20-30 years into the future, things change, even when we don't want them to.
If you usually travel in September, than that's what I'd plan on before purchasing. If cancelling trips last minute is something that might happen more often than usual (i.e. - a person in their own business like my DH may have to cancel last minute, or having young school age kiddies that like to bring home a "last minute" virus, like mine have done with just about EVERY vacation we've ever taken!!!!) than you may want to look for a use year that keeps the options open for pushing up a vacation or banking points. Just MHO. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Davids-Coco]

ok... I guess I am confusing UY and 11 mo... You can reserve 11 months out regardless of your UY? And, can you book using points that you don't have at the moment of booking, but will have when you check in?

 

[Granny]

ok... I guess I am confusing UY and 11 mo... You can reserve 11 months out regardless of your UY? And, can you book using points that you don't have at the moment of booking, but will have when you check in?

Yes, that's correct. A common newbie mistake is thinking that you have to wait for your UY to start before you can book a reservation.

UY has nothing to do with booking timelines. You just have to have the points available for the time period of the reservation in order to make the reservation at 11 months out.

 

[Delaware Mike]

UY has nothing to do with booking timelines. You just have to have the points available for the time period of the reservation in order to make the reservation at 11 months out.

Hey Granny, I have to admit, I've never fully understood this singular point.

Does this mean I only have to have the points available to cover the ressie, at the time of the ressie's check-in? Or, do I have to have the points in my account at the time I'm making the ressie telephone call to MS?

 

[LisaS]

ok... I guess I am confusing UY and 11 mo... You can reserve 11 months out regardless of your UY? And, can you book using points that you don't have at the moment of booking, but will have when you check in?

To add to what Granny said, your points work like this (assuming a Sep UY for this example):

Your 2006 points are valid for stays from Sep 1, 2006 through Aug 31, 2007
Your 2007 points are valid for stays from Sep 1, 2007 through Aug 31, 2008
Your 2008 points are valid for stays from Sep 1, 2008 through Aug 31, 2009
Your 2009 points are valid for stays from Sep 1, 2009 through Aug 31, 2010
etc.

If you wanted to book a 5-night stay for Sep 14-19, 2008 at your home resort, you could call to make the reservation on Oct 19, 2007 (11 months in advance of your check-out date). You could use any of the following points for that stay: 2008 UY points, 2007 UY points which you have banked into your 2008 UY, 2009 UY points which have been borrowed into our 2008 UY.

 

[LisaS]

Does this mean I only have to have the points available to cover the ressie, at the time of the ressie's check-in? Or, do I have to have the points in my account at the time I'm making the ressie telephone call to MS?

At the time you call to make the reservation, you must have enough points available in the same Use Year as the dates of stay. So let's say you had a Jun UY and wanted to make a reservation for Oct '08. That vacation falls within your 2008 UY. You could call in Nov 2007 (11 months prior to your check-out date) to make the reservation at your home resort. You must have enough points available in your 2008 UY at the time you make the call to cover that reservation. Those points could come from your 2008 point allotment and/or banked 2007 points and/or points that you borrow from your 2009 UY allotment.

Just to make things more interesting, imagine you had a Sep UY and wanted to book a stay for the end of Aug '08, extending into the beginning of Sep '08. In this case, you would have to use points from different Use Years for this stay. The dates in Aug '08 would be in your 2007 UY so you would have to use 2007 points (and/or banked '06 points and/or borrowed '08 points) for those nights. The nights in September fall within your 2008 UY so you would need to use 2008 UY (and/or banked '07 and/or borrowed '09) points for those nights.

 

[Delaware Mike]

At the time you call to make the reservation, you must have enough points available in the same Use Year as the dates of stay.

Thanks for that explanation, LisaS! I fully understand it now.

 

[Deb & Bill]

LisaS does good explanations. Very thorough.

 

[DebbieB]

Another way to look at it is to look at your online statement. They show points in there up to the 2009 use year. Some new members think that points do not "deposit" into your account until the use year starts, which isn't the case.

 

[Davids-Coco]

Well that makes my life easier... I am starting to believe that this is "disney's best kept secret" because it is so hard to wrap your mind around!