Use Year Confusion.

[nikknyc]

I think I'll be confused about the use year until my 77th birthday.......

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED. I bought my membership in April on a DCL cruise with the incentive of their gift of 160 points for the UY 2011, so really we started with 320. We went ahead and booked an AKV stay in January 2013 with 63 of our points. Banked the rest of the 160 and are planning on borrowing 20-something points for a June trip to Aulani, and still be able to go to WDW for Food and Wine in October 2013.

On DVCMember.Com, it says "This Use Year's remaining Vacation Points for Member ID number will expire on the last business day of November 2012."

I have 257 points remaining for UY 2012. Can we use these points toward a vacation in June 2013 to Aulani? SUPER CONFUSED!

How many times in a row can you bank?

 

[nikknyc]

also, DVCMember says that our dues are due in July. Is that really true?

Why am I suddenly so confused?

 

[Missyrose]

I think I'll be confused about the use year until my 77th birthday.......

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED. I bought my membership in April on a DCL cruise with the incentive of their gift of 160 points for the UY 2011, so really we started with 320. We went ahead and booked an AKV stay in January 2013 with 63 of our points. Banked the rest of the 160 and are planning on borrowing 20-something points for a June trip to Aulani, and still be able to go to WDW for Food and Wine in October 2013.

On DVCMember.Com, it says "This Use Year's remaining Vacation Points for Member ID number will expire on the last business day of November 2012."

I have 257 points remaining for UY 2012. Can we use these points toward a vacation in June 2013 to Aulani? SUPER CONFUSED!

How many times in a row can you bank?

Okay, I'll take a crack at this...

You have a December UY, yes?

So you banked your 160 2011 points into 2012, giving you 320 for 2012.

You made a reservation for Jan. 2013 (which is in your 2012 UY) that uses 63 points, that leaves you with 257 2012 points.

97 of those points (the remainder of the banked 2011 points) must be used by the last day of November 2013. The 2012 points (160) can be banked into your 2013 UY.

A June 2013 trip would fall in your 2012 UY, so you could use the banked 2011, current 2012 and borrowed 2013 UY points for that trip.

I think I've covered everything, feel free to ask questions.

Oh, and your dues will be due in January, you'll get the bill for them in late fall.

 

[Disneycouple99]

Sounds like you have a Dec. UY. Your 2011 points are good from 12-1-2011 to 11-30-2012. These points can be banked into 2012 UY meaning they are good from 12-1-2012 to 11-30-2013. You can only bank points for one year.

 

[nikknyc]

Sounds like you have a Dec. UY. Your 2011 points are good from 12-1-2011 to 11-30-2012. These points can be banked into 2012 UY meaning they are good from 12-1-2012 to 11-30-2013. You can only bank points for one year.

the way i taught myself is this....

160 for 2011, 160 for 2012...

upon purchase, i automatically banked my 2011, leaving me with 320 for UY December 2012-November 2013.

63 points booked in January 2013, leaving us with 257.

June 2013 trip will cost 182 points, leaving us with 75.

we're going to bank the 75 when we get home from Aulani next June and then have 160+75 (235) for December 2013-November 2014.

 

[vicki_c]

You sound like you have it - just make sure they use up all your banked 2011 points for your trips first. If they use your actual 2012 points and those 75 that are left are the banked 2011 ones, you wouldn't be able to bank them again and they would expire at the end of your 2012 use year.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think I'll be confused about the use year until my 77th birthday.......

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED. I bought my membership in April on a DCL cruise with the incentive of their gift of 160 points for the UY 2011, so really we started with 320. ...

You really didn't get any incentive. You were in your Dec 2011 UY when you bought. You haven't even gotten to your Dec 2012 UY yet (not until Dec 1, 2012). So there wasn't any gift on the part of DVC. They just gave you what they owed you.

If you didn't pay dues for 2012 when you closed, they would be due very soon. In January you'll pay your dues for 2013 (and it doesn't matter when your UY is). Everyone's dues are paid in January (unless they debit your US bank account throughout the year at no extra fee).

 

[AWiggins]

We had a similar situation, but I think I may have it figured out. We bought in May and they backed us up to December 2011 UY. We were under the impression (and it sounds like you were too) that we would have an "extra" set of points that would need to be used or banked by the banking window in 2012 (still 2011 UY). What we've since determined is that there really isn't any extra points given - you're just given them earlier than you would have normally. Essentially (as far as I can understand) we have points from December 2011 that must be used or banked before December 2012 at which point we will receive our first official set of points. So, instead of having 2 sets of points for this first year you just gained an extra 6 months or so of having points available to use. As I understand, If we'd not gotten the "incentive" then we would have just received our 2012 UY points at the purchase time, instead of gettting 2011 UY points now and then 2012 points later in the year. Confusing?? Absolutely!!! We're new around here and too and are trying our best to figure it all out. If I've made it worse, or gotten something completely wrong I'm sorry and hope that someone who is wiser can help both of us understand!

 

[AWiggins]

Nevermind, I do think you've got it figured out for your situation. Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We had a similar situation, but I think I may have it figured out. We bought in May and they backed us up to December 2011 UY. We were under the impression (and it sounds like you were too) that we would have an "extra" set of points that would need to be used or banked by the banking window in 2012 (still 2011 UY). What we've since determined is that there really isn't any extra points given - you're just given them earlier than you would have normally. Essentially (as far as I can understand) we have points from December 2011 that must be used or banked before December 2012 at which point we will receive our first official set of points. So, instead of having 2 sets of points for this first year you just gained an extra 6 months or so of having points available to use. As I understand, If we'd not gotten the "incentive" then we would have just received our 2012 UY points at the purchase time, instead of gettting 2011 UY points now and then 2012 points later in the year. Confusing?? Absolutely!!! We're new around here and too and are trying our best to figure it all out. If I've made it worse, or gotten something completely wrong I'm sorry and hope that someone who is wiser can help both of us understand!

If you bought in May 2012 and you have a Dec UY, your first official set of points was your Dec 2011 points because you were in your Dec 2011 UY at the time. You only had a half year to use them, but you got only what you were entitled to get. If they didn't give them to you, you should be very upset.

 

[chalee94]

We bought in May and they backed us up to December 2011 UY...What we've since determined is that there really isn't any extra points given - you're just given them earlier than you would have normally.

i think you mean "later than you would have normally."

had you been an owner in january 2010, you could have called then to book a december 2010 stay with those dec 2011 pts if you borrowed them into your 2010 UY.

but you do save a little on annual dues, as they are charged on a calendar year basis and not a use-year basis...

 

[nikknyc]

thanks for the info, everyone. we're not upset that they didn't "give" us the 2011 points (we bought in April) because of a few reasons.

a.) we were only 4 months into the UY
b.) we bought DVC on a 7 night cruise. we weren't planning on doing another vacation this year anyway.
c.) we wanted to only start with 160 points and banking another 160 would get us through a WDW/member cruise in January AND Aulani in June 2013.

We are planning to pay our dues by the July due date and then be regular in this coming January.

 

[GOOFY D]

If you bought in May 2012 and you have a Dec UY, your first official set of points was your Dec 2011 points because you were in your Dec 2011 UY at the time. You only had a half year to use them, but you got only what you were entitled to get. If they didn't give them to you, you should be very upset.

That is not the way they explain it in the presentation at all. They specifically stated that normally you would not get your points until the beginning of the next UY and they even went on to calculate the "value" of getting these "extra points." It is a shame if they were actually lying in their presentation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

That is not the way they explain it in the presentation at all. They specifically stated that normally you would not get your points until the beginning of the next UY and they even went on to calculate the "value" of getting these "extra points." It is a shame if they were actually lying in their presentation.

Like they say, how can you tell if a timeshare salesman is lying? His/her lips are moving.

 

[maburke]

also, DVCMember says that our dues are due in July. Is that really true?

Why am I suddenly so confused?

Your first dues are due after closing, and the timing of that is not as obvious with direct sale as resale, since they let you make reservations immediately. However, as a PP said, dues are prorated on calendar, not UY basis, so the one good deal you got is full 2011 points but only about 50% dues.

 

[GOOFY D]

When buying direct, do you have any ability to negotiate your UY? The one offered to us on the DCL last week was specifically for AKV with a Feb UY. We like to travel around Thanksgiving, so if I understand some of the things I have read, a Feb UY may not be a good thing for us.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When buying direct, do you have any ability to negotiate your UY? The one offered to us on the DCL last week was specifically for AKV with a Feb UY. We like to travel around Thanksgiving, so if I understand some of the things I have read, a Feb UY may not be a good thing for us.

It's possible, but they might not have the points you want to buy in the UY you want to buy as they start to sell out.

 

[mjc2003]

That is not the way they explain it in the presentation at all. They specifically stated that normally you would not get your points until the beginning of the next UY and they even went on to calculate the "value" of getting these "extra points." It is a shame if they were actually lying in their presentation.

Yes, they were lying. If you buy direct from DVC, you get the points available for the current UY. The best way to distinguish and clarify with the salesperson is to buy a UY that's already expired for 2011, like say April, and ask them for the 2011 points. Suddenly they won't be giving them to you b/c they don't exist.
There are a set number of points per year per resort. They can't magically "create" points, only work with what's available. So the points they "give" have to be a current, active UY. Since we are in the December UY until Nov 30th, they can give these as "old, 2011" points; sounds good b/c we are in the 2012 calendar year.

If they said that you would not normally get the points until the beginning of the next UY, then why not just wait until then to buy? Why shell out thousands of dollars you can't use until December?

Sadly, it's a constant theme here reading people say that they bought in b/c they were "given bonus points!", or led to believe they were getting some special deal. It's not the buyers fault, it's Disney and people want to believe they would never be lied to by a guy with a mouse on his name tag.

As Deb said, your first clue that they are lying is when their lips start moving.

 

[GOOFY D]

It's possible, but they might not have the points you want to buy in the UY you want to buy as they start to sell out.

Am I understanding the rules correctly? It seems that since we like to travel around Thanksgiving, a February UY is not ideal.

 

[chalee94]

Am I understanding the rules correctly? It seems that since we like to travel around Thanksgiving, a February UY is not ideal.

that is correct.

you can book 11 months out at your home resort regardless of UY month, but if you need to cancel, your banking window for a feb UY closes on sept 30. so deciding to cancel a late november reservation after sept 30 will put you at greater risk of losing those pts if you can't rebook a stay that is completed before the next jan 31...

there's a ton of info on UY in this thread if you need it:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668