Use month ?'s

[glewis1123]

Hi

Hope yall don't mind another question.

Is your use month the month you sign the dotted line or when escrow closes if it crosses over into another month?

Is one month better to have than another?

We've been doing WDW in May and DL in the fall.

Thanks again

 

[Cruelladeville]

Your use year is the month during the year when you will get your new allotment of points, and has nothing to do with much of anything. For example, My one contract's sue year is March, so I will receive my next year's points on March 1, 2003. When I decided to purchase that contract I was given the option of June, October, and December as my other choices for use year, but I liked March because I always vacation in April and July.

 

[Lew]

Your use year is the month you receive your annual allotment of points. It has nothing to do with when you signed or closed your contract.

The general feeling is that you should get a use year that occurs just prior to when you usually visit WDW. We like to visit in March / April...our use year is February.

The theory is if you have to cancel within the break period you have nearly an entire year in which you can use those points. Reservations cancelled with the 31 days prior to your scheduled arrival require that the points involved go into a special holding account. They cannot be banked and must be used during the current use year or they are lost.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Sorry! I posted twice

 

[drusba]

As to what use year month you get, when you buy from Disney it is usually one that starts 4 to 5 months before the date you agree to purchase. As a result, when you buy you get a full allotment of points and then 7 to 8 months later you get your second allotment.

Use year month has nothing to do with when you can go (which is anytime of year) or when you can call to make ressies (always 11 months in advance at home resort 7 at others). What it does determine is when you get your annual allotment of points (the first day of the use year) and by when you need to bank points if you intend to bank them from one use year to another. If you actually do usually go only one time of the year and intend to follow that pattern for a long time, then you should consider making your use year month 5 to 6 months or less before you usually go. For example if you usually go in May, you should consider a month from December or after but not past May. The only reason for that is a hedge against the risk of having to cancel a trip. You have until the 6th month of your use year to bank all points into the next use year. If, for example, you have a Feb use year, trip scheduled in May using points issued Feb, and cancel end of March, you will still have 10 months to use those points or 4 months to bank them into next use year. If instead you have a June use year, make a ressie for May using points issued the prior June, and cancel in March, you are faced with having to use points by end of May and you are beyond that 6 month banking date and cannot bank all your points.

Note, the cancellation issue is essentially the only resaon to have any care whatsoever about when your use year month is and if you actually go different times of year then it is not even worth the bother thinking about that issue.

 

[Shontell_Crawford]

I agree with what has already been said....use year should not matter at all. Most people travel at different times and who knows what will occur in your life over the next 40 years.

However, if you KNOW you will travel at the same time of the year all the time, I would try to get a use year just prior to that time of year.
Because you can bank 100% of your annual allocation within the first six months of your use year, should you need to cancel you have left your options wide open.

Best regards,
Shontell