Use Year Questions

[Disney Fanatic]

Can someone please help me understand your use year.

We are looking for our first purchase and will most likely be travelling Mid March or end of April.

We may also spend a week in October or November.

What do you recommend we buy to ensure we are guaranteed our mid March trip each year. This is the important trip to us because it is our March break and more difficult to get reservations.

The Oct and November dates are more flexible.

My question...
What use month should we buy???

Should we be buying 2 contracts? One for the spring trip and one for the fall trip?

Help, I am confused..

Thanks

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Use year is the date on which your points are renewed to your account. Use year really only matters if you have to cancel close to your date of travel. You can ALWAYS make a reservation 11 months in advance for your trips.

For an October trip you could always make the reservation in November for the following October and for a March trip you will always be able to make the reservation in April for the following March.

Now for cancelling a trip. If you have an October use year and an October trip and you had to cancel it, you would still have the whole year to use the points or even to bank them. But if you had a December use year and an October trip, you would only have two months left to use the points and no time to bank them either.

Rememeber too that the trip you take today, may not be the same time of year as the trip you take in 10 years.

HBC

 

[DebbieB]

Use year has nothing to do with when you can book. The points you use on a reservation are based on the points available on your date of stay, not when you book. You can book 11 months in advance at your home resort and 7 months at other resorts, regardless of use year.

I would go with October. With an October use year, you can bank 100% of your points by March 31 if you have a cancellation. You would also have until 9/30 if you have to cancel a trip with points that can't be banked.