Use year and reservations

[DisneyDictator]

I am a bit confused on booking strategy. I'm currently in the market for points at the Grand Californian. I'd like to make the best use of my points and use them during the Adventure Season. According to the chart, Adventure Season is Jan 8—Feb 25 & Sep 3—Oct 5. So, let's say I bought resale with an anniversary month of February and I receive my points for the first time in February 2018. I'd like to use them during Adventure Season, so I could possibly use them Sept 2 - Oct. 5th of 2018. Considering that is only 7 months out, I doubt there would be 2 bedroom availability. Most likely, I'd have to try and use them Jan 8—Feb 25 of 2019. January 8th would be 11 months out. I assume I could book those dates with a lot better chances of getting the room I want...but the dates I would want would be in February 2019...So, my question is this:

Do I simply wait an extra month (March) to book my dates 11 months out to get the room I want in February 2019? What about Maintenance Fees? Plus, I'd accrue my 2019 points in February so how does that work...am I always a year behind?

Just confused on what's the best strategy.

Thanks!
DD

 

[supersnoop]

Use year has absolutely nothing to do when when you can book a reservation. You don’t “get” points at that time; you get all your point for the entire future when you purchase the contact. Use year determines which points can be used for the reservation.

 

[hlhlaw07]

It seems you are a bit confused on how use years actually work. You don’t have to have the points when you make the reservation, you only need to have the points when you travel. So if you have a FEB UY, you don’t have to wait until FEB to book your travel. So if you want to travel in sep or oct just count 11 Months back and that’s when you need to book. Dont count months from your UY.

 

[DisneyDictator]

Thanks you two! The light just went on. So, if I want to go for 5 nights on February 8th EVERY year, I need to try and book 11 months prior on March 8th every year. The system recognizes that I get my points for use every February and realizes that I have the points. Correct?

 

[hlhlaw07]

Thanks you two! The light just went on. So, if I want to go for 5 nights on February 8th EVERY year, I need to try and book 11 months prior on March 8th every year. The system recognizes that I get my points for use every February and realizes that I have the points. Correct?

Yep, you got it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks you two! The light just went on. So, if I want to go for 5 nights on February 8th EVERY year, I need to try and book 11 months prior on March 8th every year. The system recognizes that I get my points for use every February and realizes that I have the points. Correct?

That's part of it but there's more. You also have the option to bank points forward 1 time to the next UY - ie, the 2018 points could be booked into your 2019 UY and used for that Feb 2019 stay. Once banked those points stay in that next UY and have to be used for a stay that starts sometime between Feb 1,2019 and Jan 31, 2020 or they would expire. The other option is to borrow points from the next UY to use on a stay if you don't otherwise have enough points in the current UY or from banking points from the previous UY.

When you go to book you select your contract to use points from it. If you had banked points it would automatically use them first and then move on to the current UY points. If you did not have enough points and needed to borrow you would be asked to check a box to authorize the borrowing.

 

[CarolMN]

Spend some time with this thread:

Understanding Use Year

It will help you feel more comfortable with booking and use years.

 

[DisneyDictator]

Thank you all for the great advice!

 

[SL6827]

It has taken me a good bit to finally get the use year thing down. I almost gave up, so I just ask for a final time which would be best for me and I got October, September and August in that order for an answer. So I went with it. I have an contract going through ROFR now with a September use year. So within the last few weeks, it finally clicked, I got it. And I am really hoping that I get my contract with a September use year because I can see with clarity now. If Disney does take it, I probably won't bid on another one without one of those three months as a use year with it.

I am now thinking about adding on 25 direct points with Disney if I get this contract and I know I would love to have another September use year, but I would take an October or August use year as well.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I am now thinking about adding on 25 direct points with Disney if I get this contract and I know I would love to have another September use year, but I would take an October or August use year as well.

I'm not sure they will let you add 25 without matching UY.

 

[SL6827]

I'm not sure they will let you add 25 without matching UY.

Oh, ok. Didn't know that. Still learning.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks you two! The light just went on. So, if I want to go for 5 nights on February 8th EVERY year, I need to try and book 11 months prior on March 8th every year. The system recognizes that I get my points for use every February and realizes that I have the points. Correct?

Yes.

I have a feb UY and my cousin and I do the Princess runs in feb. So March of 2015, 2016, and 2017 so far I’ve been online getting us reservations for the following February.

March 2017 I had no 2017 points left at all, but the system could easily see that my 2018 points were sitting right there ready for me to book in their “native” UY.

It has taken me a good bit to finally get the use year thing down. I almost gave up, so I just ask for a final time which would be best for me and I got October, September and August in that order for an answer.

Yes, but you’ve been mainly focused on a totally different subset of UY questions, which has been “what’s the best UY in case I have to cancel”.

Which is a decent question to understand if you have only a narrow band of vacation time to use (though I don’t care one teensy little bit about it for my own life, because if something has going so awry that I’m cancelling a vacation planned 11 months out I doubt I’ll care about that vacation or the money and points at that point), but imo it’s not related to the question the OP had, which is a question of how to use the points when booking for the UY ahead. Different parts of the UY discussion.

 

[cjbcam]

Can someone help me out with use year I read quit a bit of the linked page but still want clarification. We are buying a contract use year December. Points for 2017 are gone. We want to go February 2019 will I be able to use 2018&19 points at that time?

 

[hlhlaw07]

Can someone help me out with use year I read quit a bit of the linked page but still want clarification. We are buying a contract use year December. Points for 2017 are gone. We want to go February 2019 will I be able to use 2018&19 points at that time?

In Feb 2019, you will be in your 2018 use year so you can use your current 2018 points and borrow your 2019 points.

 

[CarolynFH]

Can someone help me out with use year I read quit a bit of the linked page but still want clarification. We are buying a contract use year December. Points for 2017 are gone. We want to go February 2019 will I be able to use 2018&19 points at that time?

Yes. With a December UY, a February 2019 trip is in your 2018 UY, and you can use 2018 points and borrow 2019 points for that reservation. (If you had any 2017 points, you could have banked them into 2018 and used them too.)