Use year does matter

[pinnocchiosdad]

There are many questions and opinions on these boards regarding use year. I can tell you that use year does matter, so choose wisely. Due to my families inability to lock in vacation requests at our jobs months before our trips, we have had to cancel many reservations over the years. With our AUGUST UY, to avoid the risk of losing our points, we take our summer DVC trips in August. We would love to take our summer trip when school gets out in June, or to vacation in July. An August trip make the summer rush by with anticipation. After our August trips, it feels like summer is over. A time will come when we will be free to travel whenever we please. But for now, a different UY would be preferable to August. Again, choose wisely.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

For those adding on be aware that if you buy another contract with the same use year and use the same names on the original deed then it will fall under the membership number you currently own. It will simply be an additional contract number under your membership number.

If you add on with a different use year then you will be given an additional membership number.

The Timeshare Store, Inc.® has been getting this question a lot recently so thought would post under this thread.

Jason

 

[Dean]

There are many questions and opinions on these boards regarding use year. I can tell you that use year does matter, so choose wisely. Due to my families inability to lock in vacation requests at our jobs months before our trips, we have had to cancel many reservations over the years. With our AUGUST UY, to avoid the risk of losing our points, we take our summer DVC trips in August. We would love to take our summer trip when school gets out in June, or to vacation in July. An August trip make the summer rush by with anticipation. After our August trips, it feels like summer is over. A time will come when we will be free to travel whenever we please. But for now, a different UY would be preferable to August. Again, choose wisely.

Actually it always has been important, it's just more so now due to the banking changes.

For those adding on be aware that if you buy another contract with the same use year and use the same names on the original deed then it will fall under the membership number you currently own. It will simply be an additional contract number under your membership number.

If you add on with a different use year then you will be given an additional membership number.

The Timeshare Store, Inc.® has been getting this question a lot recently so thought would post under this thread.

Jason

Which is likely a good thing overall. Actually the other side is more important I think to many owners who add on, that if the UY and names do not match up EXACTLY, it will not be added to their master contract and will be totally separate. And that DVC will not combine them later if you change it in almost all cases.

 

[rentayenta]

UY is very important. We seem to travel most in Feb/March and December. Next year we are taking a fluke October trip. Our UY is December.

 

[ToddyLu]

We have a Dec UY becasue my DH does not know his vacation dates until mid- January. He has to pick them out at the beginning of the year and they stick....so it made it easier for me to keep everything together with us getting points at the end of the year right before he picks vacation. We do not have children and have not cancelled a vacation before. We have always known 9-11 months out when we were planning to do Disney for that year.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

Actually it always has been important, it's just more so now due to the banking changes.

I must have missed something. What is the new banking rule that was changed?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I must have missed something. What is the new banking rule that was changed?

It changed a couple years ago. I was more complex, as it let you bank certain percentages at different time intervals.
I believe it was 100% at six months, 75% at eight months, and 50% at nine months... Something close to that anyway.
The tricky thing to figure was the percentages were based on total points, not how many points you had left at the time.

MG

 

[ACDSNY]

Yes, the new banking deadlines convinced us to sell a majority of our Feb UY points and repurchase in an Aug UY due to our Fall travel practices, so choose wisely.

 

[fantasmicfantastic]

If I have a DEC. UY and wanted to make a reservation for the following May at 11 months out would I have to borrow from my DEC. points to make the reservation in the current year's June? Or would MS take my new DEC. points into consideration? I hope this question makes sense.

 

[Dean]

If I have a DEC. UY and wanted to make a reservation for the following May at 11 months out would I have to borrow from my DEC. points to make the reservation in the current year's June? Or would MS take my new DEC. points into consideration? I hope this question makes sense.

You need the points available at the time of the reservations. So a reservations made now for next May in your Dec, 2009 UY would need to be in the Dec, 2009 UY. Points currently in your 08 UY could not be used unless banked. It's not when you make the reservation but when the reservation occurs that is the determining factor.

 

[jarestel]

Actually it always has been important, it's just more so now due to the banking changes.

It's actually never been important to me. We tend to travel at various times of the year and never book "on spec" anyway.

I can see use year being more of an issue for those who can only travel in certain time periods, but for the rest of us, it's pretty much a non-factor.

 

[DVCGeek]

UY can get complicated, and I think it's importance varies a lot based on your habits. I also think finding an ideal one can be difficult. Here's my story-

I usually try and buy cheap airfare (and thus non-refundable and severe penalties for changes) as soon as I find a good rate after I book my trip @ 11 months. Therefore, I treat my DVC reservation as more or less non-cancelable as well. In the end, the banking deadline and thus my UY doesn't matter too much to me since I have my trip planned out over a year in advanced and booked 11 mo.'s out.

But I can certainly see how people who don't / can't book that far out and stick with it could be more impacted by their UY choice!

In the end, I chose Aug. because my dad's BD is in mid Aug. and they usually visit the World then (and my intent was for them to use my "extra" points when I had some), our aniversery is in Sept., my BD is in Oct., we knew we wanted to see Christmas decorations from time to time, and DW's BD is in Feb. and my parents also like to take a WDW trip in Jan/Feb each year. Granted I have NOWHERE near enough points, money, or vacation time to do more than 1 or two trips in a singal year, but all those fit fine into the "new rules" banking window. There are also several Disney races during the year that I'm becoming more interested in, but all of them also fall between Aug. and the end of March. The only times my UY isn't so good is Flower & Garden or Star Wars Weekends, which I also want to try. But with my desired travel dates spread out so much I think I picked the best option for us.

 

[Dean]

It's actually never been important to me. We tend to travel at various times of the year and never book "on spec" anyway.

I can see use year being more of an issue for those who can only travel in certain time periods, but for the rest of us, it's pretty much a non-factor.

Certainly if you truly vacation all throughout the year, the protections of the UY can go away. Still you have an increased risk compared to someone who is more stable in their trip time OR who owns multiple contracts with different UY.

 

[jarestel]

Still you have an increased risk compared to someone who is more stable in their trip time OR who owns multiple contracts with different UY.

Unstable, that explains it! LOL!

 

[Dean]

Unstable, that explains it! LOL!

If you want to expand the application to your situation, go for it.

 

[jarestel]

If you want to expand the application to your situation, go for it.

Bottom line is, when I book, I go. 9 years, and I haven't lost a point using this approach. Of course, I'm not afraid to lose a point if a true emergency (not simply a change of plans) should arise. Thankfully, true emergencies are few & far between.

As always, one should do what works best for them. In my case, worrying over use years amounts to much ado about nothing. But, as I said, I can see individual situations where it becomes a factor worth considering.

 

[Dean]

Bottom line is, when I book, I go. 9 years, and I haven't lost a point using this approach. Of course, I'm not afraid to lose a point if a true emergency (not simply a change of plans) should arise. Thankfully, true emergencies are few & far between.

As always, one should do what works best for them. In my case, worrying over use years amounts to much ado about nothing. But, as I said, I can see individual situations where it becomes a factor worth considering.

I was joshing you about the unstable issue. I would disagree in that I feel it is applicable to most people and that the rest are taking on additional risk.

 

[kkbeaton2]

I've never had a cause for concern as to when my UY is. Maybe it is because of the amount of points we have or the fact that we normally vacation at DL (and can go there pretty much any time we want to), but I've always been able to book what I want, when I want, and my UY has never been a factor. In fact, all of my contracts have the same UY, and it hasn't ever made a difference.

 

[Dean]

I've never had a cause for concern as to when my UY is. Maybe it is because of the amount of points we have or the fact that we normally vacation at DL (and can go there pretty much any time we want to), but I've always been able to book what I want, when I want, and my UY has never been a factor. In fact, all of my contracts have the same UY, and it hasn't ever made a difference.

Unfortunately we've seen a few posts over the past couple of years from people who had never had a problem and all of a sudden something happened and they were looking at losing a bunch of points. There's no way to totally take the inherent risk away but UY does give a certain amount of protection in many cases, not so much in others.

 

[mom2threets]

I am reading these boards and researching before I commit to buy a DVC membership.

I don't understand UY. If I usually go to Disney in July or August - should I purchase an August UY. I think my guide said something about points being added in Feb. Does that mean I would have a Feb UY. Would it matter if I usually go in July or Aug?