Use Year

[cookiemonster]

Forgive me for being thick, but I guess I don't understand the use year concept and why it is so important to get in by the end of march.

And what is magical beginnings?

 

[drusba]

Use year has little importance. This month they are selling October which means next month they will be selling December (there is no November use year). It has no impact on when you can go (which is any time of year) or when you can make ressies (always 11 months in advance at home resort 7 at others). A post mentioned a rumor on another board that Magical Beginnings, under which Disney buys back half your first year's points for $10 per and applies that to your down payment, will end for VWL on March 31. I have no idea where that rumor actually started, have not heard it anywhere else, and have seen nothing to confirm it.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Your use year is important mainly for banking and borrowing purposes. For example, I have a Feb. use year, and I want to go to Florida in March by borrowing points from next year--well, that's pretty impossible to do, because I can't borrow those points until after Feb.1 rolls around and so I can't make ressies, either. Since the points I want to borrow come from 2002, I have to wait till Feb. 2001 to gain access to those points. If I were using points from 2001 I wouldn't have to worry about my use year at all. You also can't make ressies till 11 months ahead at your home resort, so if I wanted those March ressies, I have to wait till April 2001 and make ressies for March 2002. I found the use year to be the hardest part to understand when I became a member, so you aren't alone in being confused.

 

[Tigger1]

I find the use year to be vrey important. Lets say you have a Sept use year and you usually go to Disney in August. Then you make a ressie for August but something happens 3 weeks before the trip. You would have to change your vacation time. You would lose all your points if you do not go by Aug 31. The one thing you could do is buy trip insurance, but I have heard that they only give $5 to $6 back per point.

In this case had you purchased a use year in August, you could have still use the points until July of the next year.

Tigger

 

[drusba]

The post above is not correct. If you have a Feb use year, want to go in March 2001 using points to be borrowed that will be issued in Feb 2002, you can call for that reservation 11 months in advance at home resort, in April 2000, and set up that ressie with the borrowed points--whether you can borrow is determined by the time you will be there not the time you call to make a ressie.

The cancellation issue is also a minor point. If you actually do have a regular time of year that you go then it might have an effect but that is completely eliminated by having any use year that begins 6 months or less before the time of year you usually go because even if you cancel you will still be in the 6 month banking window to bank all of your points.c

 

[DebbieB]

If you have a set month that you plan to always go, then you should try to get a use year that is the month you go or right before to have maximum flexibility. If you go all different times, then it really doesn't matter. It can have an effect on borrowing. I have a friend with an August use year and she wants to go on a cruise in July 2002. She is already borrowed ahead and can't borrow August 2003 points unless her trip is after August 1, 2002. She likes to go in the summer months, so a June use year would have suited her better. If she cancels a June trip at the last minute, she only has until July 31 to use the points. She would also be able to borrow more for a June or July trip, now she has to plan trip dates after August 1 to borrow the next year (she has already used or made reservations for all her August 2001 points).

[This message was edited by DebbieB on 03-18-01 at 11:30 AM.]