Utterly confused on use year choice

[rnorwo1]

I have read the existing threads about how to choose an use year... it seems like the consensus is to choose one that is a few months before the typical time of travel, but I still don't understand the rational for this. This may be b/c I don't know all of the details about the 8 month window for banking (or whatever that window is for). Can someone please explain this to me? We typically visit Disney at the end of May, beginning of June.

 

[DVCLiz]

I have read the existing threads about how to choose an use year... it seems like the consensus is to choose one that is a few months before the typical time of travel, but I still don't understand the rational for this. This may be b/c I don't know all of the details about the 8 month window for banking (or whatever that window is for). Can someone please explain this to me? We typically visit Disney at the end of May, beginning of June.

February, March, or April would be good Use Years for you - there aren't any January or May Use Years. If you go to WDW in May or June, and had a February, March or April use Year, you could cancel those May/June trips if you needed to, and still have until the end of September to bank the points into your next year's account. If you had an August use Year, for example, and had to cancel the same June trip, you would only have two months left in your Use Year, June and July, and you could not bank those points - it would be past the 8 month banking time.

In real life, if you don't think you will ever run into the need to cancel a trip, your Use Year doesn't matter very much - it's just the point of the year when you get your new allotment of points. Some people feel more comfortable, though, having a Use Year that makes it easier to bank points if you have to change travel plans.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Lets say you have an April use year and travel in May and you have to cancel your trip in February. You would still have until the following March 31 (13 months or if you bank 25 months) to use those canceled points or bank them by the end of November.

Now lets say you have a June use year and travel in May. You have to cancel your trip in February. You only have until the end of May to use the points or lose them (about 3 months instead of up to 25). You've already gone beyond the banking deadline and there is only a few months left in your use year.

But as I always caution. Will your vacation pattern be the same for ever. What is good now may not be that good in 5, 10 or 15 years. I wouldn't worry much about use year but if you can get one that makes you more comfortable, then do it.

The big thing to remember is that use year has nothing to do with when you can make a reservation.

Hope this helps.

HBC

 

[disneyfatherof3]

I have a question about this too. We're in the process of buying a resale (we've already passed ROFR) and we will have a June use year. Now if we play on doing a majority of our trips during the summer (June-August), is June UY good for us??

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks so much for the info, but just want to clarify: you have 8 months from the use year (not the cancellation date) to bank points into the next use year? So if I have an April use year, then I'll have until the last day in October to bank the points, regardless of when I cancel? And then, after banking, when are they available again, the following April?

 

[DVCLiz]

Thanks so much for the info, but just want to clarify: you have 8 months from the use year (not the cancellation date) to bank points into the next use year? So if I have an April use year, then I'll have until the last day in October to bank the points, regardless of when I cancel? And then, after banking, when are they available again, the following April?

Actually, you'll have until November 30 to bank the current year's points into the next year. Your Use Year begins on April 1 and ends on the last day of the 8th month -so April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November. After November 30, you cannot bank any points and will either have to use them by March 31 or lose them (actually I think there are a couple of ways to deposit them into the trading portion of the DVC, but I'm not sure about that!!)

Remember if you pass the banking deadline you still have until the end of your whole Use Year ( in this case March 31) to use your points - you don't lose them entirely, just the option to save them into the next year.

 

[DVCLiz]

I have a question about this too. We're in the process of buying a resale (we've already passed ROFR) and we will have a June use year. Now if we play on doing a majority of our trips during the summer (June-August), is June UY good for us??

Yes, because you would get your new points every year in June, and if you had to change those summer trips, you'd still have until January 31st of the following year to bank the points. And of course, if you had to change a summer trip and you had a June Use Year, you would still have plenty of time to plan another trip for fall or Christmas, or even the following year's Spring Break.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I have a question about this too. We're in the process of buying a resale (we've already passed ROFR) and we will have a June use year. Now if we play on doing a majority of our trips during the summer (June-August), is June UY good for us??

The BEST.

HBC

 

[LisaS]

So if I have an April use year, then I'll have until the last day in October to bank the points, regardless of when I cancel?

Not to throw too much at you at once but... in order for the points to be bankable, you must cancel 31 days or more prior to check in. If you cancel 30 days to 1 day prior, the points go into "holding" and cannot be banked and can only be used to book something 60 days from check in. If you cancel on or after your check-in day, you lose the points.

And then, after banking, when are they available again, the following April?

They are available immediately to book a stay in the Use Year into which you banked them. I think the easiest way to understand this is by making a list like this:

Your April 2007 points are valid for stays from 4/1/07 - 3/31/08
Your April 2008 points are valid for stays from 4/1/08 - 3/31/09
Your April 2009 points are valid for stays from 4/1/09 - 3/31/10
etc.

If you bank your 2007 UY points into your 2008 Use Year, they can be used to book a stay that falls within your 2008 Use Year: 4/1/08 - 3/31/09. You could call to make that reservation using those banked points 11 months prior to your check-out date at your home resort or 7 months prior at another DVC resort.

 

[SSRFred]

One other point about use years. Having a use year that occurs before or during your travel time is convenient when you want to borrow from next year.

For example: you usually travel in June. You have a June use year, so thats when you get new points. It it also when you can borrow next years points for something like a Grand Villa for an anniversary, graduation etc.

Example numbers for a June 30, 2008 reservation:

June 2007 UY: 50pts banked
June 2008 UY: 160pts current
June 2009 UY: 160pts borrowed

Total available points for June 2008 reservation 370pts.

 

[CarolMN]

If you're up for a bit of a read/tutorial, here's some help:

Understanding Use Year -

Use year is the month your points are renewed each year. You have 12 months (one year) to use the points before they expire (unless you bank them).

Use year determines your banking deadlines, but it has nothing to do with when you can make a reservation. You can always call 11 months prior to check out for a reservation at your home resort and 7 months prior to check out if you want to reserve something at a non-home resort.

Let's say you get October for your use year. Let's say you decide to buy 200 points.

On October 1, 2008 you get 200 points to use for stays between 10/1/2008 and 9/30/2009. Those would be considered your current use year points for the 2008 use year and any stays that occur during that time period. (If you buy now from Disney and get an October use year, you also get 2007 use year points with your purchase).

If you don't plan to take a trip before 9/30/2009, you'll want to bank your 2008 points so that they do not expire. As long as you call before the end of May 2009 (the banking deadline for 2008 points with October use years), you can bank all 200 points. If you have an October use year, you cannot bank at all during June, July, August or September. (The banking deadline is the end of the 8th month following the start of your use year month. For example, if you have a June use year, the deadline would be the end of the following January. You would not be allowed to bank during February, March, April or May).

Your 2007 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2007 and 9/30/2008.
Your 2008 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2008 and 9/30/2009.
Your 2009 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2009 and 9/30/2010.
Your 2010 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2010 and 9/30/2011.
etc.

You may bank points forward one use year and borrow from one use year ahead. Banking and borrowing are final transactions. If you cancel a reservation made with banked or borrowed points, they cannot be returned to their original use year. So they would expire at the end of the current use year unless they were used before then. You may not bank or borrow the same points more than once.

Let's say you want to stay in May of 2009 and your stay will cost 500 points. May, 2009 falls within your 2008 use year (See the "chart" above). For that reservation, you may use current use year points from the 2008 use year, any banked points originally from your 2007 use year and you may borrow points from your 2009 use year.

Let's assume you banked all 200 of the 2007 use year points. So for the May 2009 vacation, you used all of the banked points, all of the current use year points and borrowed 100 points from your 2009 use year.

Now let's say you have to cancel that May, 2009 vacation. You call to cancel it in March, 2009. Since you called to cancel more than 30 days prior to arrival, all 500 points were returned to your account. But now you have 300 points to use or lose before the end of your current use year (9/30/2008) - the 200 that were banked and the 100 that were borrowed.

If you called Member Services before the end of May, 2009, you could bank all 200 of your 2008 use year points if yo didn't think you would use them before 9/30/2009.. Now those 200 points are good for stays between 10/1/2009 and 9/30/20010. They will expire on 9/30/2010 if not used before then - you cannot bank the same points more than once.

ADVICE: If you travel about the same time of the year on a regular basis, it's best to choose a use year that falls no more than 7 or 8 months prior to that time (less is better - more time to reschedule if you have to cancel).

Use year only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled to occur late in your use year - because banking is limited late in the use year and you wouldn't have much time to reschedule before the points expire).

For example, let's say you wanted to take a 500 point vacation in August of 2009. Again, you use 200 banked points, 200 current use year points and 100 borrowed points for the reservation. Let's say you find out in mid-June that you can't go and call to cancel the reservation. Your account now has 500 points that expire on 9/30/2009 if not used. Since you are past your banking deadline, you can't bank any of the 2008 points (like you could when you were planning to go in May and had to cancel). So because an August vacation occurs late in your use year, you only have about a month to use or lose all of those points if you have to cancel it. YIKES! October is not a good use year for those who regularly travel in July, August or September.

Many owners never have to cancel a vacation (lucky them, LOL) so they don't worry about use year. Remember, use year has nothing to do with when you may call to make a reservation. Again, if you usually travel at the same time of the year, it's best to choose a use year that begins just prior to that time.

Keep in mind that your travel pattern may change over the course of your ownership. What starts out as a "perfect" use year may end up to be not so perfect.

Hope all that helps you understand a little better how use year works.

 

[rnorwo1]

Thank you all so much for your replies... I think I finally understand it all now! I've been looking at resales b/c we usually only go every other year and will not need 160 points, so this will probably be important to us as we will be banking every other year. And we are pretty locked into summer visits with our kids' ages, so I'll keep looking until I find a better use year for us.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

I have a question about this too. We're in the process of buying a resale (we've already passed ROFR) and we will have a June use year. Now if we play on doing a majority of our trips during the summer (June-August), is June UY good for us??

If you travel JUNE-AUGUST, a june UY is safe if you have to cancel on short notice. If you cancel a trip planned for APRIL or MAY you may have a problem.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

Once again on the subject of picking a USER YEAR. REMEMBER We own our resorts for the next 40-50 years. As our lives change over time, our vacation habits will change. Some of us will no longer make our plans around school calenders, some may retire, some may be able to vacation more, some will be able to vacation less. What this all means is that a UY that is perfect for our lives today may become problematic in 5 years, and a UY that presents vacation planning dilemas now will become perfect down the road. Enjoy your memberships. Do not fret about a minor detail that you can not control.