Use Year regret?

[Canchaser143]

Has anyone experienced use year regret? I have a Feb UY for my OKW contract. Originally my plan was to visit WDW in May which works perfect for this UY. However now as time goes on I’ve realized this UY is awful when trying to accommodate a December/January trip. Now if I still lived in CA I would tell myself to get over it, but UT winters can be brutal and I find myself wanting to get away from the cold.

I want to add on another contract but I find myself hesitant to keep adding on to February if it’s a bad idea. Would booking a Dec/Jan really be all that bad?

 

[Stargazer65]

I've booked vacations in May with my June UY contracts, and never had an issue, it's just a little more risky.

I swapped use years for one of my resorts by buying a different UY resale contract, and selling the old one. That is another option - pick a resale contract for OKW with a number of points and UY that you like, and then sell your current one.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I've booked vacations in May with my June UY contracts, and never had an issue, it's just a little more risky.

I swapped use years for one of my resorts by buying a different UY resale contract, and selling the old one. That is another option - pick a resale contract for OKW with a number of points and UY that you like, and then sell your current one.

Just be careful with this strategy, as there's a potential (without knowing all the specifics) the OP could lose DVC 'blue card' benefits doing something like this - if the original contract was direct at OKW.

 

[Canchaser143]

Just be careful with this strategy, as there's a potential (without knowing all the specifics) the OP could lose DVC 'blue card' benefits doing something like this - if the original contract was direct at OKW.

Nah it was a good deal on resale the market

 

[Sandisw]

We did add on a different UY when I found wanting to travel in May on a June UY. It was just too risky if I had to cancel or needed to change a trip, after the banking deadline of January 31st.

While many people have never had to or don't intend to, plenty of people in these exact situations got stuck and lost points when the parks closed in 2020, or when a weather system happened that prevented travel.

Now, we use each of our memberships on their own and very rarely transfer between them...borrowing sometimes on one even though I have points on the others. We will either split stay or just book some nights on one, some on the other, have them noted/linked so we don't have to change rooms, and we never have (even though they will tell you it is a possibility).

 

[sndral]

The one hassle I didn’t think about was booking a trip that crosses your use year. When I bought we traveled in Dec./Jan. & I bought a Dec. use year. Last year & this year our trips started late Nov. & continued into Dec., so I had to call MS to complete my booking & keeping which points were which use year straight in my head was more challenging. Not a deal breaker, but a hassle.

 

[Nursemanit]

Heck yeah - October use year sucks when shopping for a resale add on. December use years get much better and cheaper resale opportunities because it is the most common.

 

[2Lunds]

Kind of? We bought in May and our sales rep "back-dated" us to a December use year because we're Canadian and he assumed we'd want the opportunity to travel in the winter. It was great at the time because we got those points right away and were able to take a second trip that same year.

However, we'll likely be travelling mostly in May and September - MAAAAYBE a winter trip eventually, but that's not on the agenda currently. A Dec UY for a May trip is fine, but for a September trip it's past the banking deadline - so not ideal.

We will purchase a second contract eventually (resale most likely) and we'll wait for a June/August UY to come up. Then we can use Dec to travel in the spring, and Jun/Aug to travel in the fall.

 

[Straulin]

We have a Feb use year on our main contract and travel every October. It was a concern for us so we added on with an August use year. Hopefully it will not cause trouble as we just added on in April. For me the key concern was having enough points on each contract to let it stand along and not try to mix them.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

We have a Feb use year on our main contract and travel every October. It was a concern for us so we added on with an August use year. Hopefully it will not cause trouble as we just added on in April. For me the key concern was having enough points on each contract to let it stand along and not try to mix them.

I also have a Feb UY and travel in Oct. Since we can bank until 9/30, I don't see the need for a different UY since cancelling in Oct prior to a stay a few weeks later puts me inside the 31-day holding period anyway.

 

[Straulin]

I also have a Feb UY and travel in Oct. Since we can bank until 9/30, I don't see the need for a different UY since cancelling in Oct prior to a stay a few weeks later puts me inside the 31-day holding period anyway.

That is a good thought! I didn’t think about that. We did get the extra 2023 year points by taking a later use year so still worked out,

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Has anyone experienced use year regret?

Yup. I started with a Feb UY, but found I mainly wanted to travel late fall/early winter. Ugh. Bc I didn’t want to “trade” my unrestricted resale points for restricted resale points (via selling & buying in a better UY), I decided to just add on in a new UY. Naturally, I chose Aug so I’d be happily covered on any trip… & I had a minimum of 200 points in each membership so that I wouldn’t feel the need to transfer btw them.

I want to add on another contract but I find myself hesitant to keep adding on to February if it’s a bad idea. Would booking a Dec/Jan really be all that bad?

It’s not bad to book it… it’s just bad if you have to cancel it. I had a trip booked that ended on 2/1 my first year (using Feb UY). I was (suddenly) going to be physically unable to make the trip; so I added an older sibling to help with the younger, rented a wheelchair, and we were able to make it work. No harm was done… but I absolutely would’ve lost those points! Holding or no- there was just no time left in the UY!!

I did the same thing the following year (booked a trip ending on 1/26), and it worked out again, but I was basically gambling with my points every time I made a reservation late in my UY. That’s when I added on the Aug UY.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

That is a good thought! I didn’t think about that. We did get the extra 2023 year points by taking a later use year so still worked out,

Extra points is always good!

 

[Curiousporpoise]

I have a February use year and feel your pain! I just added another contract, and thought about changing use years, but my DVC agent recommended keeping the same use year to make things easier.

Well we’re friends with our DVC agent, and scheduled a trip with her starting January 30, and it makes me nervous! I think I will add on another direct contract that allows me to visit VDH in October-January. Maybe next year I’ll purchase October UY (in September 2024) get 2023 points, pay prorated dues, and be eligible for 2 more waitlists. I better start saving now!

 

[Sunnyore]

Has anyone experienced use year regret? I have a Feb UY for my OKW contract. Originally my plan was to visit WDW in May which works perfect for this UY. However now as time goes on I’ve realized this UY is awful when trying to accommodate a December/January trip. Now if I still lived in CA I would tell myself to get over it, but UT winters can be brutal and I find myself wanting to get away from the cold.

I want to add on another contract but I find myself hesitant to keep adding on to February if it’s a bad idea. Would booking a Dec/Jan really be all that bad?

If you never had to cancel a trip last minute, then the uy isn’t a big deal at all. It’s just nice to have that flexibility. One of my usual wdw trip falls in May when I have an August uy and it doesn’t really change anything for me. I am a planner though and DVC works better for people that plan ahead. I also don’t have kids or other common factors why people may need to cancel last minute. This would a good reason to consider 2 different uys. But no, it’s not bad to travel Dec/Jan if that’s what you want to do.

 

[Canchaser143]

If you never had to cancel a trip last minute, then the uy isn’t a big deal at all. It’s just nice to have that flexibility. One of my usual wdw trip falls in May when I have an August uy and it doesn’t really change anything for me. I am a planner though and DVC works better for people that plan ahead. I also don’t have kids or other common factors why people may need to cancel last minute. This would a good reason to consider 2 different uys. But no, it’s not bad to travel Dec/Jan if that’s what you want to do.

My main concern is that air travel during those months can be somewhat dicey due to snow storms

 

[Cupcake232]

Has anyone experienced use year regret? I have a Feb UY for my OKW contract. Originally my plan was to visit WDW in May which works perfect for this UY. However now as time goes on I’ve realized this UY is awful when trying to accommodate a December/January trip. Now if I still lived in CA I would tell myself to get over it, but UT winters can be brutal and I find myself wanting to get away from the cold.

I want to add on another contract but I find myself hesitant to keep adding on to February if it’s a bad idea. Would booking a Dec/Jan really be all that bad?

I just added a September UY. My other contracts are February. I like the idea of having more than one way to stay! I will book by contract depending on the time of year. I feel I will have more flexibility this way! The dashboard reflects the two different contracts and overall doesn’t seem too difficult to navigate! It’s kind of new so hard to say if I will have any problems but I’m hoping I won’t!

 

[Sandisw]

I just added a September UY. My other contracts are February. I like the idea of having more than one way to stay! I will book by contract depending on the time of year. I feel I will have more flexibility this way! The dashboard reflects the two different contracts and overall doesn’t seem too difficult to navigate! It’s kind of new so hard to say if I will have any problems but I’m hoping I won’t!

Be sure when you go to book, you use the Plan Vacation at the top and not the one near the bottoms of the front page.

When you use the top Plan a Vacation and get to the calendars, it will allow you to choose between the membership before searching.

The front page option defaults to the first listed membership only.

 

[Cupcake232]

Be sure when you go to book, you use the Plan Vacation at the top and not the one near the bottoms of the front page.

When you use the top Plan a Vacation and get to the calendars, it will allow you to choose between the membership before searching.

The front page option defaults to the first listed membership only.

Thank you for telling me that! I really appreciate it!!! I always start on my dashboard so I will make sure to utilize plan a vacation now. Thanks again!

 

[AdamsMum]

Heck yeah - October use year sucks when shopping for a resale add on. December use years get much better and cheaper resale opportunities because it is the most common.

Likewise April. I only wanted small contracts, as I like to pay cash and waiting to save for a large contract...well you know, I'm always thinking I could be using those points earlier. When I bought, we usually travelled in May, now I go January, October, November, December. My life and my job were relatively stable and only once was I unable to go on my October trip but my son (27) was happy to take it off my hands.
On the other hand, I just picked up a 25 pt resale at BC with my UY. I was just about ready to capitulate and go direct.