Use year question (looking for veteran advice)...

[Princess Tink]

Okay, the paperwork is already in the mail but, I got to thinking......We currently go on vacation in July becuase this is the only time my husband can take vacation! We looked at a March use year thinkin we would get Magical Beginings for last years points but, after further conversations with our guide......we are losing this years points to magical beginings! That doesn't sound so good to us. So, we decided 'what if' we take a December use year? Would this hurt us in any way?

We are taking a trip to WDW this July, we'd be borrowing Dec 03's points (we already have a cruise planned for 2004 and would not be able to use the points next year anyhow). Looking for advise from all the veteranDVCers out there!

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Princess Tink
Okay, the paperwork is already in the mail but, I got to thinking......We currently go on vacation in July becuase this is the only time my husband can take vacation! We looked at a March use year thinkin we would get Magical Beginings for last years points but, after further conversations with our guide......we are losing this years points to magical beginings! That doesn't sound so good to us. So, we decided 'what if' we take a December use year? Would this hurt us in any way?

Use year only matters if you have to cancel a vacation. As you probably know, use year determines your banking deadlines.

Keep in mind that if you cancel a vacation 30 days or less before arrival, your points go into the holding account and will expire at the end of your use year. Holding account points can be used to make a reservation, but only 60 days or less from check out day.

With a December use year, you have until the end of the following May to bank up to 100% of your points. If you cancelled your July vacation (using current year points) before the end of May (and couldn't reschedule it before the end of November), you could bank all of your points into the next use year. If you cancelled your July vacation after the end of May, but at least 31 days ahead of arrival, you could bank up to 50% of your total allotment into next year.

We are taking a trip to WDW this July, we'd be borrowing Dec 03's points (we already have a cruise planned for 2004 and would not be able to use the points next year anyhow). Looking for advise from all the veteranDVCers out there!

Borrowed points expire at the end of the use year into which they are borrowed. They cannot be returned to their original use year. If you use borrowed points for your July 2003 vacation (which falls within your 2002 use year) and have to cancel it, the points must be used for a stay prior to 11/30/2003 or they will be forfeited.

Your 2002 use year points (which you may use for MB) would be for stays between 12/1/2002 and 11/30/2003.

Your December 2003 use year points are for stays between 12/1/2003 and 11/30/2004. You can borrow these for a July 2003 trip if you like.

Your 2004 use year points are for stays between 12/1/2004 and 11/30/2005.

HTH. Post again if you need more clarification.

 

[Princess Tink]

Wow that was a lot of information...........almost mind boggling! Okay, just need a little more explanation on one thing! Say we borrow December 2003 points for our July 2003 vacation, if something comes up and we're not able to go in July and we have to cancel if we cancel in May what happens to these points since they are borrowed? If we cancel 28 days prior to arrving what happens to these since they are borrowed?

 

[Richyams]

As long as it is more than thirty days before arrival, they return to their prior status. The May 100% banking deadline is meaningless concerning those borrowed points since they can't be banked anyway.....the only points you could bank would be those current use year points used for that vacation.

In short, a March use year would be better....but only marginally...it would only be better for canceling purposes.

We always say that use year is not that important. It really isn't....luckily, because I had no idea what use year meant, we ended up with a September use year and we only vacation Sept-Dec.....accidently, the perfect use year for us.

Upon further consideration, I think that our use year has helped, we have had to cancel twice in ten years, but we never were in any danger of losing points because our use year is so perfect.

I guess use year is pretty important and that March use year should warrant further consideration....unless your travel times are likely to change.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Princess Tink
Wow that was a lot of information...........almost mind boggling! Okay, just need a little more explanation on one thing! Say we borrow December 2003 points for our July 2003 vacation, if something comes up and we're not able to go in July and we have to cancel if we cancel in May what happens to these points since they are borrowed? If we cancel 28 days prior to arrving what happens to these since they are borrowed?

If you borrow December 2003 use year points, they become valid for a stay between 12/1/2002 and 11/30/2003. Once borrowed, they cannot be returned to their original use year. So if you cancel the July vacation more than 30 days in advance, the points must be used for a stay that ends on or before 11/30/2003. If you cannot use them before 11/30/2003, you lose them.

If you cancel 30 days or less before you arrive, the points go into a holding account. They still expire at the end of the use year (which is 11/30/2003) if you do not use them before then. However, you cannot use holding account points to make a reservation more than 60 days in advance. Since availability of DVC rooms is often very limited 60 days or less from arrival, you do not want to let points go into the holding account if you can avoid it.

HTH.

 

[disneyberry]

Princess Tink, do you think you and your family are likely to cancel vacations last minute?
i'm not talking about this year, but in general... if you believe you will always know in advance about your plans, and you will rarely ever cancel a vacation last minute, then which Use Year you get really doesn't make any difference.
however, if you are likely to cancel trips last minute, then Use Year matters.

what other UYs did your guide say were available?
if you always travel in July, then some good Use Years would be:
June, April, March, or February

August and September are the worst Use Years for July travel.
October and December are so-so. a last-minute cancellation is still within the 50% banking window.

actually, IMO, i don't think it's that great an idea to do MB if you need to travel this year.
then you might get stuck on a vicious borrowing cycle.
borrowed points cannot be banked, so that really cuts down on the flexibility of your points.

edited: sorry i just went back and reread your post... noticed you said you'd be skipping a year of DVC 'cause of the 2004 cruise. in that case you won't get stuck in a borrowing cycle, so MB is okay for you after all.

 

[Princess Tink]

I went with the December UY! We don't generally cancel last minute on vacations and we're not going to be in the habit of borrowing since we'll be skipping next year! And I think I would be getting the most for my money this way. Just like I told my husband, I know we generally vacation in July now but that is not necessarily by choice at this time..................so, 20 years from now what difference is it going to make what UY we choose today!

Thanks everyone for helping me make this decision! You all are a GREAT HELP!