Use Year - Does it matter?

[OnceUponADreaminTX]

I'm considering DVC and was wondering how much the UY matters? The current SSR through Disney are Sept UY. Most of my anticipated vacations would be school holidays March - August. I think ideally I would like a March or April UY to take advantage of 11 month window reservation without borrowing and yet still allow time to bank current UY points in case of >31 day cancellation. What do you think? Newbie to the board so bear with me.

- Dreaming in Texas

 

[gilld]

We have an October UY but as we like to take our holiday in September that's about the worst we could have - nothing can be done to change it though! Try and ask for a UY as near as possible BEFORE your expected holiday time.

 

[wingkng]

We have an October UY but as we like to take our holiday in September that's about the worst we could have - nothing can be done to change it though! Try and ask for a UY as near as possible BEFORE your expected holiday time.

I agree. Your Use Year should be before your anticipated vacation time, so that if you do have unexpected cancellation, you can still have time to use the points the rest of the year, bank them, or rent them.

For me, I chose a December UY, because I have a Christmas or New Years week every year off, so that would be a likely time to go. Also, my vacation schedule comes out in December, before the new year starts. So, if I had made advanced reservations months ahead, and I find out that my requested vacation week didn't get approved, I can still have time to change my plans and use the points later.

So, you really have to think about your own vacation plans.

 

[OnceUponADreaminTX]

Thanks! Now that you mention Christmas, I'm analyzing that option as well. I'm looking at >300 points. I could break it into 2 different master contracts. Any issues with multiple UYs to take advantage of the different vacation seasons? Any big downsides?

 

[Caskbill]

Thanks! Now that you mention Christmas, I'm analyzing that option as well. I'm looking at >300 points. I could break it into 2 different master contracts. Any issues with multiple UYs to take advantage of the different vacation seasons? Any big downsides?

If you create two master contracts, having different use years, both contracts have to be managed totally separately. You cannot combine points together to make a single reservation, nor can you combine points together to determine banking percentages. Each contract is totally separate.

Having Add-on contracts is different. Add-On contracts will have the same use year, although they can be different resorts. If you had a 150 point master contract plus a 150 point add on, that's treated as a single 300 point contract. If they were different resorts, then at 7-months you can use all 300 points for a single reservation. If you use for example 150 points, then at the 50% banking level, you can still bank all remaining 150 points, because that's 50% of 300.

Separate Master Contracts bank differently. If you had two master contracts of 150 points each, and use all the points in one contract and none in the other, then at the 50% banking window you can only bank 75 points which is 50% of 150.

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you buy from Disney, they will not give you multiple use years. They will give you both contracts with the same use year.

 

[Caskbill]

If you buy from Disney, they will not give you multiple use years. They will give you both contracts with the same use year.

While they will discourage it, you can buy two different contracts with two different use years, as long as each contract meets the minimum 150 points.

 

[OnceUponADreaminTX]

If I have two master contracts, can I transfer points to one in order to make a single reservation? The rule being you can only transfer in or out during a UY? So for example - if I have 200 BCV Mar UY and 150 SSR Sept UY and wanted a SSR GV Adventure Season for a week Dec 1-7 (356 pts) can I transfer the BCV to the SSR contract and reserve at the 7 month window? If I have to cancel would the transferred BCV points still have the Mar UY? I've read some threads about transfer point rules regarding transferred points maintaining UY and home resort, but can't recall exactly.