Use year

[Disneyaddictz]

Ok, I have literally lurked for years done numerous tours and we are ready to go! I feel so good about my knowledge but still finding myself tripped up on use year!?
We got many times a year and know it will take years to buy enough points to cover how much we go but for now i really do love going thanksgiving week. Does this mean we need a DEC UY? And what does this mean for banking and such?
So example we get the points on December 2020 and can book at home resort for November the following year 2021?
what If we decided to e wanted to book for October 2021?

 

[lovewdwdvc]

I would suggest that you get a UY close to but before you want to travel. Then if something goes wrong you have the rest of the UY to bank , rent ou do what you need so you don’t lose the points.

 

[Heather07438]

When we were looking to buy we kind of settled on a UY that starts directly after the 4 straight months we're least likely to visit. We like to visit at different times too. But we don't really like summer.
I figured for us an Aug or Sept UY would be a good fit. With the need to bank at least 4 months out, we'd know by April if we wanted to push any unused points into the next year. We generally like to go Oct thru March.

 

[Cony]

Your use year dictates when points are available to you and your deadline for banking into next year. For example, if you have a December use year, you'll get your points on December 1st and you have 8 months from then your banking deadline (July 31st). They say to get a use year closer to the date you're planning on going as in getting a use year to start BEFORE when you're going instead of after. In your case, I think an October use year would be better if you're planning on going in October or Thanksgiving. The purpose of this is that in case you need to cancel your trip, you still have until May 31st to bank your points, whereas if you had a December use year, your October/November trip would've passed the banking period and the points will have to be used by November 30th.

 

[cometdad2010]

When we were looking to buy we kind of settled on a UY that starts directly after the 4 straight months we're least likely to visit. We like to visit at different times too. But we don't really like summer.
I figured for us an Aug or Sept UY would be a good fit. With the need to bank at least 4 months out, we'd know by April if we wanted to push any unused points into the next year. We generally like to go Oct thru March.

We did the same thing and are in ROFR with an October resale contract. We may go in September (inside the 4-month window), but we'll definitely go in May, and can't stand Florida in the summer months. It made the most sense for us.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

When we were looking to buy we kind of settled on a UY that starts directly after the 4 straight months we're least likely to visit. We like to visit at different times too. But we don't really like summer.
I figured for us an Aug or Sept UY would be a good fit. With the need to bank at least 4 months out, we'd know by April if we wanted to push any unused points into the next year. We generally like to go Oct thru March.

This is great info we do not like May-aug and will always avoid

 

[Disneyaddictz]

We did the same thing and are in ROFR with an October resale contract. We may go in September (inside the 4-month window), but we'll definitely go in May, and can't stand Florida in the summer months. It made the most sense for us.

Can you explain the 4 months? I’m not understanding anything outside of knowing we need a dec UY if we know we want November

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Your use year dictates when points are available to you and your deadline for banking into next year. For example, if you have a December use year, you'll get your points on December 1st and you have 8 months from then your banking deadline (July 31st). They say to get a use year closer to the date you're planning on going as in getting a use year to start BEFORE when you're going instead of after. In your case, I think an October use year would be better if you're planning on going in October or Thanksgiving. The purpose of this is that in case you need to cancel your trip, you still have until May 31st to bank your points, whereas if you had a December use year, your October/November trip would've passed the banking period and the points will have to be used by November 30th.

Thank you

 

[3 DD love princesses]

@Disneyaddictz i would get a use year where if you had to cancel you know you would travel before your use year ends. Example feb use year you need to bank points by September. If you had a trip coming up and canceled then you would have till Jan 31 to use those points. I went with feb bc I knew we could always try to do a last minute trip in dec if we had points. Everyone is different though on what use year they want. I also looked for one that had a good contact and feb, aug, dec seemed to have the most. Aug was out for me since I knew we wouldn’t use summer months. Dec would have worked but feb was better.

 

[shaunacb]

Can you explain the 4 months? I’m not understanding anything outside of knowing we need a dec UY if we know we want November

If you travel in November you definitely do NOT want a Dec UY. You want October. The best UY is right before you travel. Ideally you want to avoid traveling late in your UY (esp the last 4 months).

 

[Marionnette]

Can you explain the 4 months? I’m not understanding anything outside of knowing we need a dec UY if we know we want November

Your banking deadline is 8 months into your UY. Ideally, you want to travel during those 8 months because if you decide to cancel, you can still bank those points. Traveling during the last 4 months of your UY puts you in a “use it or lose it” situation if you need to cancel. All points that have not been banked forward are forfeited when a new UY begins. So, it’s best to avoid traveling after your banking deadline on a regular basis.

You absolutely DO NOT WANT a Dec UY if you intend to travel mostly in November. Look at it this way, you do not “receive” your annual allotment of points at the beginning of your UY. You actually have all of your points from the time that you purchase your contract. That date marks the beginning and end of your points’ usefulness. If you have a Dec UY, you can use those points for any reservation that begins no sooner than Dec. 1 or ends no later than the night of Nov. 30. The date that you make the reservation is not what matters. It’s the dates that the reservation will occur that does.

So, to make a reservation at your home resort in November, you would most likely make that reservation in the January prior to that. It doesn’t matter whether you have a Feb UY or a Dec UY. You can make a reservation for Nov. in Jan as long as you have the points you need to do it.

I highly suggest reading this thread because it appears that you are confused about what a use year is and what it involves.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-your-use-year.3443000/

 

[CarolMN]

You absolutely DO NOT WANT a Dec UY if you intend to travel mostly in November.

@Disneyaddictz - This is very important!! Spend some time reading the Understanding Use Year thread. ( Link at end of Marionette's post above).

When you can book has nothing to do with the use year.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Your banking deadline is 8 months into your UY. Ideally, you want to travel during those 8 months because if you decide to cancel, you can still bank those points. Traveling during the last 4 months of your UY puts you in a “use it or lose it” situation if you need to cancel. All points that have not been banked forward are forfeited when a new UY begins. So, it’s best to avoid traveling after your banking deadline on a regular basis.

You absolutely DO NOT WANT a Dec UY if you intend to travel mostly in November. Look at it this way, you do not “receive” your annual allotment of points at the beginning of your UY. You actually have all of your points from the time that you purchase your contract. That date marks the beginning and end of your points’ usefulness. If you have a Dec UY, you can use those points for any reservation that begins no sooner than Dec. 1 or ends no later than the night of Nov. 30. The date that you make the reservation is not what matters. It’s the dates that the reservation will occur that does.

So, to make a reservation at your home resort in November, you would most likely make that reservation in the January prior to that. It doesn’t matter whether you have a Feb UY or a Dec UY. You can make a reservation for Nov. in Jan as long as you have the points you need to do it.

I highly suggest reading this thread because it appears that you are confused about what a use year is and what it involves.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-your-use-year.3443000/

I def am, thank you so much!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

As others have said, definitely don't do a December UY if you want to travel in November. Go with an October UY. When you book has nothing to do with UY. You can always book your home resort 11 months before your check-in date. So say you want to book November 2021. You can book it in December 2020 (11 months before). With an October UY, you will use your October 2021 points for the trip. Those points are good for trips from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Any trips during that time range will use October 2021 points. With an October UY, you would need to bank any points you're not using by the following May 31. So that makes travel from June 1 to September 30 risky since you will be beyond your banking deadline. That's why you don't want a December UY. You would have to bank your points by July 31, and any trips from August 1 to November 30 would be risky.

 

[Kickstart]

Great thread!

I have the opposite question on Use Year.

If you don't have a typical or consistent travel time-frame, so the use year isn't as important, is it better to buy a use-year that's more popular at the resort or one of the less common resort use years? Is it easier to resell a contract with a popular use-year or rare use-year?

 

[Lorana]

A popular UY means you’ll have more options to purchase a resale contract and potentially better pricing as a result. It’ll probably be easier to find what you want.

When selling later, it’ll probably be easier to sell because it is a UY - but you may be competing with more contracts. For that purpose a less popular UY may take longer to see, but may command a slightly higher price due to the fact that there are less of them

 

[Disneyaddictz]

As others have said, definitely don't do a December UY if you want to travel in November. Go with an October UY. When you book has nothing to do with UY. You can always book your home resort 11 months before your check-in date. So say you want to book November 2021. You can book it in December 2020 (11 months before). With an October UY, you will use your October 2021 points for the trip. Those points are good for trips from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Any trips during that time range will use October 2021 points. With an October UY, you would need to bank any points you're not using by the following May 31. So that makes travel from June 1 to September 30 risky since you will be beyond your banking deadline. That's why you don't want a December UY. You would have to bank your points by July 31, and any trips from August 1 to November 30 would be risky.

Thank you so much!

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Thanks to everyone for their responses and links, I finally understand!
We ended up with a contract with a February UY!
I realize that might make November/Dec trips risky but as long as I still have a few months to rebook I know I’ll be ok. We are lucky to be moving back to South Florida soon so we can hop over any weekend and i know that will help!

 

[Disneyaddictz]

A popular UY means you’ll have more options to purchase a resale contract and potentially better pricing as a result. It’ll probably be easier to find what you want.

When selling later, it’ll probably be easier to sell because it is a UY - but you may be competing with more contracts. For that purpose a less popular UY may take longer to see, but may command a slightly higher price due to the fact that there are less of them

What are some “popular” UY?

 

[Disneyaddictz]

As others have said, definitely don't do a December UY if you want to travel in November. Go with an October UY. When you book has nothing to do with UY. You can always book your home resort 11 months before your check-in date. So say you want to book November 2021. You can book it in December 2020 (11 months before). With an October UY, you will use your October 2021 points for the trip. Those points are good for trips from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Any trips during that time range will use October 2021 points. With an October UY, you would need to bank any points you're not using by the following May 31. So that makes travel from June 1 to September 30 risky since you will be beyond your banking deadline. That's why you don't want a December UY. You would have to bank your points by July 31, and any trips from August 1 to November 30 would be risky.

Got it so we ended up with Feb, so sept-feb cancelation would mean use or lose correct?