Use Year Importance

[MFMont]

I have had a BWV Contract for 11 years. We have a 150 points and our present use year is August. We are in need to add another 150 points or so and we want to keep with BWV. While I know the ins and out of DVC well, I have never paid much significant attention to use year. Do I need to for my next contract?

For the most part, we will always use studios. Some years we will make 3 or 4 trips, and roughly every other year we will have 1 week where we have 2 studios at the same time for 1 of our trips. ANy opinions are appreciated.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If you're making 3 or 4 trips per year, I think you'd benefit from a second use year, at least 4 months apart from your current use year.

The reason Use Year matters is because you typically want to try to travel within your 8 month banking window, so that if an unexpected cancellation occurs, you can bank those points without scrambling to burn them before your Use Year ends. If you have two different Use Years, you can "blanket" the entire calendar year in banking window. So if you had a February UY, for example, and you planned a trip in July, you would use those points instead of your August points. As it stands, if you had to cancel a July trip that you had booked with August points, you'd be in a tight spot because those points wouldn't be bankable.

Most people disagree with me and say that the hassle of managing two use years isn't worth it. YMMV.

 

[Marionnette]

I have had a BWV Contract for 11 years. We have a 150 points and our present use year is August. We are in need to add another 150 points or so and we want to keep with BWV. While I know the ins and out of DVC well, I have never paid much significant attention to use year. Do I need to for my next contract?

For the most part, we will always use studios. Some years we will make 3 or 4 trips, and roughly every other year we will have 1 week where we have 2 studios at the same time for 1 of our trips. ANy opinions are appreciated.

Ideally, you want the same UY if you intend to regularly combine the points from both contracts to make a reservation. If you travel during different times throughout the year, then having multiple UYs can be beneficial but not essential.

 

[Sandisw]

The key is that a second UY is a new membership. It is like you are two different owners when it comes to using the points.

So, if you want to use points together for a single reservation you have to transfer points and that has rules on which points can be transferred.

I have two UYs but don’t combine them for trips. I book some nights on one and some on the other. I also use points from the UY that is most advantageous. My Aug UY points go toward my Aug to March trips and my Dec UY points do Dec to July trips.

This way, I have the flexibility if I have to change or cancel. I has meant that I have borrowed on one when I had some in the other, but I am not a fan of dealing with transfers so it works.

 

[RoseGold]

I'd value getting the right deal over UY.

It's not that hard to manage it, especially with multiple trips and contracts big enough to stand alone, so you don't have stray points you can't use.

 

[MFMont]

Thanks everyone. For us, different use years will actually give us some additional flexibility. It is unlikely that we will need to combine points for an accommodation as we will generally only book studios for never more than a week to 10 days. Made a couple of offers on some loaded contracts already. I forgot how much fun this was.

 

[perchy]

I'm considering a second use year for that period of time when I worry about missing my banking deadline.

For example, I have an August UY and I have to bank points by end of March. If I get an April or March UY, I can safely bank my August points and use the points with plenty of room to bank.