Use Year and Travel Patterns

[tj4ua]

I see in multiple threads "we got UY/looking for UY XXXX because it matches up with our travel patterns best. Can someone explain to me what this means/why it matters. Ive never really thought about UY mattering. I just assumed X number of points a year to use etc....

Just dont want to miss something important when making a decision.

 

[FireflyTrance]

UY is just the time of the year you get new points. It makes sense to pick your UY based on when you travel. If there is a certain time of year you like to travel, pick a UY that is right before that time. For example I most often like to go to WDW in Feb or the Spring, so I picked Feb as my UY. If I plan a trip in Feb and then have to cancel it, I still have Sept of that year to bank my points into the next year. I also have from Feb – Jan to plan a different vacation without having to bank my points. If I planned a trip in Jan and then had to cancel it I wouldn’t be left with many options. I would have to use my points by the end of Jan or I would lose them. Since my banking deadline is Sept it would be too late to bank my points.

 

[disneynutz]

The correct UY is free point insurance. If you ever cancel a reservation, per DVC rules you can only bank the points during the first 8 months of your UY. We have an Oct UY because we will only go to WDW between Oct and May, we hate the heat and crowds. Twice we had to cancel, once due to a death in the family and once due to a forced job relocation. Both times we just banked the points and used them the following year.

Bill

 

[jerseyduke]

The simple:

It is probably in your best interest to travel in the beginning of your UY (within the first 4 months or so), and NOT in your best interest to travel in the last 4 months or so of your UY. This is based on the idea that you have somewhat typical travel patterns.

The longer explanation:
You can bank your points at any time in the first 8 months of your UY. You CAN NOT bank points in the last 4 months of your UY.
Let us, for example, say you plan on going almost every Thanksgiving. Not knowing any better you buy a December UY.
September 1st hits, and for reason X, you are going to have to cancel your Thanksgiving trip. It is passed your banking dead line for a December UY, so you can not bank your points. They expire November 30th. You now have 3 months to use them or lose them.
Same thing, but cancel November 1st - Your points are now holding points, and expire in 30 days.

Now let's say you were "in the know" about UY, so, since you plan on going almost every Thanksgiving, you bought an October UY.
Back to Scenario 1, cancel on Sept 1st. Points go back into you account, and you now have 9 months until your banking dead line to use them or bank them.
Scenario 2, cancelling on Nov. 1st. Your points still go into holding just like before, so they can not be banked, and holding points can only be used 60 days out. You have until September 30th to find a time to use them (the last day of your UY)

Hopefully this clarifies it some, and illustrates the idea that it is extra insurance for your points, to vacation earlier in your UY.

When points expire they are Broken (go into Breakage). If you travel late in your UY, the chance of breaking points due to a cancellation rises. If you cancel a reservation early in your UY, your have more wiggle room with what you can still do with those points.

The 'IF' being if you tend to travel during a certain time frame. If you are going to make reservations all over the place, then it really does not matter

 

[tj4ua]

Thank you all, this makes so much more sense now, and is pretty important as we like to travel around certain times. Im glad I did not blindly purchase.

 

[schoen]

Really and truly, when you are buying a 30-50 plus year timeshare, your "ideal" use year today is a fallacy. For the past twelve years we have traveled in the fall on our parents points. When we got our own points we just kept our June use year. It is probably NOT ideal for our current travel patterns.

But, we want to have kids, so I expect our travel patterns will eventually change, and I honestly can't even begin to predict how they'll change. My parents bought their points in 1994 and took mostly spring break and Christmas trips. Lives change, and so do travel patterns and the way you use your points. I am guessing my parents would not have assumed when they bought their points that eventually they would only be used by their oldest kid and his spouse. An ideal use year today could be terrible in 20 years. You are buying a 30-50 year timeshare. Your travel patterns will most likely change.

For this reason I really don't think use year is really worth stressing over. My family has owned since 1994 and fortunately we have never had to cancel a trip at the last minute (knock on wood). Is it something to keep in mind? Sure. Not worth fretting and hand-ringing though.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Really and truly, when you are buying a 30-50 plus year timeshare, your "ideal" use year today is a fallacy. For the past twelve years we have traveled in the fall on our parents points. When we got our own points we just kept our June use year. It is probably NOT ideal for our current travel patterns.

But, we want to have kids, so I expect our travel patterns will eventually change, and I honestly can't even begin to predict how they'll change. My parents bought their points in 1994 and took mostly spring break and Christmas trips. Lives change, and so do travel patterns and the way you use your points. I am guessing my parents would not have assumed when they bought their points that eventually they would only be used by their oldest kid and his spouse. An ideal use year today could be terrible in 20 years. You are buying a 30-50 year timeshare. Your travel patterns will most likely change.

For this reason I really don't think use year is really worth stressing over. My family has owned since 1994 and fortunately we have never had to cancel a trip at the last minute (knock on wood). Is it something to keep in mind? Sure. Not worth fretting and hand-ringing though.

It still doesn't mean it's prudent to just disregard if you do have certain plans in mind. Yes, they may shift 20 years from now but then that's where you decide if it matters or not. For us - summer isn't happening. If it did then the odd trip or two would be fine outside of our ideal use range. But if you are are ever a person who actually experiences a required last minute change or cancellation you quickly recognize how much simpler it is if you did consider the best UY before buying.

 

[keishashadow]

Never gave much thought when initially buying in as to UY. Rule of 4 was not in place yet. Started out with October just via dumb luck.

Our expected dates of usage changed dramatically once my kids were were grown and we've started to take GD on vacation. Rule of grandparents is you can't necessarily drag grandchild out of school to go on vacations as you would with your own kids. I have discovered the joy of summer tripsbig happy smiles makes the heat & humidity all worth it lol. I jumped on a Dec UY contract several years back to not have to worry about cancelling trip/banking points if something did come up.

OP JMHO but if buying resale, I'd honestly be more concerned with what resort/price per point/loaded contract vs focusing on a specific month; as your travel patterns can easily change. With an APH burning a hole in your pocket, you may very well want to visit more often but for shorter time periods.

Good luck

 

[com_op_2000]

Really and truly, when you are buying a 30-50 plus year timeshare, your "ideal" use year today is a fallacy. For the past twelve years we have traveled in the fall on our parents points. When we got our own points we just kept our June use year. It is probably NOT ideal for our current travel patterns.

But, we want to have kids, so I expect our travel patterns will eventually change, and I honestly can't even begin to predict how they'll change. My parents bought their points in 1994 and took mostly spring break and Christmas trips. Lives change, and so do travel patterns and the way you use your points. I am guessing my parents would not have assumed when they bought their points that eventually they would only be used by their oldest kid and his spouse. An ideal use year today could be terrible in 20 years. You are buying a 30-50 year timeshare. Your travel patterns will most likely change.

For this reason I really don't think use year is really worth stressing over. My family has owned since 1994 and fortunately we have never had to cancel a trip at the last minute (knock on wood). Is it something to keep in mind? Sure. Not worth fretting and hand-ringing though.

This is why I have two different UYs cause my travel patterns have changed over the years.
I use the points from the contact that allows me the greatest chance of banking in case of cancellation.