use year confusion

[DISNEMOM]

I don't know why I am having such a difficult time understanding use year. If you like to go in october, I think october is a good use year, right? But I am being told that april would be best, don't know why. Am also told that anything after october would not be the way to go. Any suggestions? TIA!

 

[CarolMN]

Have you checked out my Use Year Tutorial?

Understanding Use Year - Updated 1/31/2010

Briefly, it's best to have a use year that begins just prior to the usual times you travel. That's to give you the maximum flexibility to reschedule if you have to cancel that trip.

Take a look at the tutorial for more detailed explanations and examples. Fortunately for you, I used October as the example use year in the tutorial.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I don't know why I am having such a difficult time understanding use year. If you like to go in october, I think october is a good use year, right? But I am being told that april would be best, don't know why. Am also told that anything after october would not be the way to go. Any suggestions? TIA!

Do you also have young children so people think your travel will change to follow the school year? Or do you have other times of the year that you think you might go? If Oct is it then a Sept or Oct UY is probably best. April will work but won't be the most optimum if you always travel in Oct. But an April UY will cover summer breaks and Oct.

 

[DISNEMOM]

kat4disney - yes we do have 3 children. As they get older, we do think more about taking them out of school. However, I do not want to go in the summer months! The months I like best are may and oct., but april would not cover may, I guess the months I like best are too far apart to cover both.

 

[RobDoc]

kat4disney - yes we do have 3 children. As they get older, we do think more about taking them out of school. However, I do not want to go in the summer months! The months I like best are may and oct., but april would not cover may, I guess the months I like best are too far apart to cover both.

Yes, April would cover May (as Carol noted, it starts just before when you would travel).

If you plan to travel only in October, an October Use Year would work well - but when you also plan to travel in May, an April Use Year would work better.

All of this is based on IF you are likely to cancel reservations and in that case having a Use Year just prior to your travel dates affords the best opportunity to reuse or bank any points returned to your account by the cancellation.

 

[DebbieB]

When I bought DVC, I planned to travel in May, October and early December. I got an April use year. It's been over 10 years and never has been an issue. My banking deadline is November 30, which works since you would have to cancel an early December trip by early November.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ahhhhh - ok. Now I know why April is being recommend - because May and Oct are your preferred months. An April UY will cover May and Oct. April UY's go from Apr-Mar. You can bank your points up until Nov 30th. An optimum UY is one that you could either bank your points or have several months to use your points should you ever need to cancel. If you were to schedule a vacation in May and then needed to cancel as long as you cancelled more than 31 days you you would still be able to bank your points. The same things with an Oct reservation. Now, if your cancellation was last minute and less then 30 days then the points go into holding and are stuck in that UY. Or, maybe you were using banked or borrowed points that also will stay in that UY. If you have an April UY and cancel a May reservation then you would have 11 months to reschedule to use those points. And if it was an Oct UY you'd still have 5-6 months to reschedule.

I'm sure people also are thinking you may have to go during school breaks and even if you don't plan on it now an April UY will work for that very well.

So yes, if May and Oct are the preferred times then April will work. BUT, Oct UY would as well. The Oct UY banking deadline is May 31st so any cancellations of either an Oct or May reservation would still have you in the banking period.

I have both Oct and April UY's. My reason for the April is for a specifical travel but what I like is that both UY's cover my preferred travel periods of....May and Oct!

Since either would work for you I'd try and decide what are other times of the year you might consider going. If Dec/Jan/Feb is one then go with the Oct UY. Also if you think that 90% of the time you'll go is Oct then get that UY. If you think early June or Late Aug might end up happening b/c of the childrens schedules then go with April.

 

[dmoore22]

We have two use years, December and February. Never had an problems. We travel at Christmas and in the late spring/early summer.

 

[Sandisw]

I don't know why I am having such a difficult time understanding use year. If you like to go in october, I think october is a good use year, right? But I am being told that april would be best, don't know why. Am also told that anything after october would not be the way to go. Any suggestions? TIA!

Ideally, you want a UY that starts just prior to your typical travel. If October was the only time you planned to travel, then yes, Oct UY is perfect. However, if you have a second travel time in mind--and it sounds like you do--May, then you need to consider if something else would be better.

April UY, covers both May and Oct travel in terms of still being within your banking window if you have to cancel or change your plans at least 31 days out--that is the real reason to have a UY just prior to travel.

However, if you really never plan to travel in the summer, and are more likely to travel in the winter months (in addition to Oct and May), I would stay with the Oct UY. With that, you have until May 31st to bank your points. Even those May trips would be covered since you have to cancel at least 31 days out to avoid holding points.

Oct UY is more flexible for trips October through June. April UY is more flexible for trips April through Dec.

Good luck!