Use Year

[sleepyone]

I'm confused about use year and when I should buy. If we want to mostly go to WDW in May, what use year would best suite us? How do I get the use year I want? Does it have anything to do with when I purchase? TIA!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Always remember that use year has nothing to do with when you can make a reservation.

For the most part, use year means nothing unless you cancel your reservation at the last minute. If you usually travel in May and have a June use year, you could lose your points if you canceled at the last minute. This is because you would only be able to use your points through June because you are too late for any of the banking deadlines. If you had an April use year and had to cancel a May trip, you would have through the following March to use your points, 10 months more time. So an April year would be best for you now. But will you always travel in May? Your travel pattern may be a lot different in 10 or 20 years than it is today. So I say to usually not worry about use year.

If you REALLY want a particluar use year, tell your Guide or buy one resale.

HBC

 

[PamOKW]

Another thing to keep in mind is that your vacation habits may change as the years go by. Right now, an April Use Year for May vacations is ideal for those instances where you might have to cancel your May trip in the Feb-Apr window. But, 10 years from now you may find that you really prefer to vacation in March -- and the April Use Year is no longer ideal for cancelling on short notice.

Like you, I almost always went in May when I first bought DVC. I soon found myself vacationing in just about every month except June-August -- almost impossible to determine the best Use Year in that circumstance.

If you can get April, that's fine. But if you can't, I wouldn't stress about it.