UY Question

[tracylovesdisney]

We are thinking about buying DVC resale and are confused about the UY. Right now we travel in mid March (our spring break) or summer because we have an 11 year old. When he leaves the nest, I can see DH and I wanting to travel in October or maybe February. Should we go with a Feb. or March UY or just find the best value and not worry about UY?

Tracy

 

[browniemtb]

If your a planner UY really plays no role. But many say the rule of thumb is getting a UY just prior to your normal travel time. Since you mentioned that your travel habits may change in a few years then worrying about UY may be a mute point.

 

[kristenrice]

A February UY would mean that your banking deadline is September 30. Based on the times you would travel, this would be ideal for you. Even an October trip would be OK if you canceled 31 days in advance.

Say you plan a trip for October 16. Then, you need to cancel it MORE than 30 days out. You would still be able to bank those points and extend them for another year (assuming they weren't banked points to begin with). Also, if you had to cancel LESS than 30 days out, the points would go into holding and you would still have until January 31 to use them. The downside of that is you have some "peak" DVC time (Nov-Jan) to try and find a room on short notice.

UY really only comes into play if you have to cancel a reservation. Otherwise, it simply determines when your points renew each year and when your banking deadline is. For most people, it is relatively irrelevant.

We have a Feb UY since we plan on travelling in April and June for at least the next 15 years (while the kids are in school). Once we're empty-nesters, our preferred vacation times are February and October so it works out perfect. We bought resale and we were more interested in the home resort, cost per point and size of contract than we were with UY. It turned out that February is exactly what we needed.

 

[5forDiz]

ita with Kristen that Feb UY looks to fit what you've said best. March UY carries much more risk because with February travel yol will be in last month of UY, you'd already be past banking deadline & so cancelling a Feb. trip in Jan. or even during Feb. will leave you little if any time to reutilize your points before that UY ends.

Best wishes on your planning

 

[CarolMN]

Chiming in - Based on what you posted, kristenrice is right on. ITA with 5forDiz, too.

Good luck with your resale.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

just find the best value and not worry about UY?

Exactly!

People way over-think use-years. Unless you are going to travel the same time of year for the next 30 years, and plan to cancel a lot of trips, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

That said, while I'd never worry about getting the "best" use-year, I might consider avoiding the worst use-year. All things being equal, I'd avoid an August or September use-year if I were you. But even then, that would only be if all things were equal. If there was a killer deal on an August contract, I'd take it.