What is a "Use Year?"

[southlake]

Hi everyone,

We just had the DVC sales pitch at Aulani yesterday (we are here on vacation for a week) .

I was under the impression from the cast member that we could use the points at any time, any where, no blackout. So if we bought 160 points now in August, we still get 160 points for 2013, then another 160 points in 2014 in March (?)

So I'm confused when I see people here talking about "Use Year" - what does that refer to?

 

[chalee94]

Understanding Use Year

in short, UY is when you "use" the pts for stays. your mar 2013 UY pts are valid for stays from mar 1, 2013 to feb 28, 2014.

(to make it easier, throw out notions of calendar year, if you are staying on jan 28, 2014, you are still staying in your mar 2013 UY.)

at most, you could use banking or borrowing to make the pts available for use 1 UY earlier (starting mar 1, 2012) or 1 UY later, staying as late as the night of feb 28, 2015).

if you have not used your 2013 UY pts for a stay that completes by feb 28, 2014, they disappear and you lose all of them. if you bank those 2013 UY pts and do not use them for a stay that completes by feb 28, 2015, they disappear and you lose all of them. if you forget to bank them or wait till the last minute and cannot find availability, you are out of luck.

UY has nothing at all to do with when you can book. if you had wanted to book mar 1, 2012 using nothing but borrowed 2013 UY pts, you still could have called at 11 months out (april 1, 2011) to book your home resort. (i.e. you are not waiting for your UY to start to book anything.)

 

[com_op_2000]

One other point, most on the DIS will recommend that you get a UY in which you will be traveling earlier in your UY rather than later.

IE: March UY
Most travel should be done from March 1 till @mid-Oct.

This way you cancel the trip before 30 days out, not have the points go into holding, and still bank the points to next UY before Oct 31.
If you are traveling later in your UY and you had to cancel, then you have a limited time period (less than 4 months) to use the points, rent them out, or they expire the at the end of your UY.

 

[jerseyduke]

One other point, most on the DIS will recommend that you get a UY in which you will be traveling earlier in your UY rather than later.

IE: March UY
Most travel should be done from March 1 till @mid-Oct.

This way you cancel the trip before 30 days out, not have the points go into holding, and still bank the points to next UY before Oct 31.
If you are traveling later in your UY and you had to cancel, then you have a limited time period (less than 4 months) to use the points, rent them out, or they expire the at the end of your UY.

This is probably the single most important point to know about how UY effects you.

 

[DizBub]

We have a Feb UY which means our banking deadline is Sept 30 every year. They gave us that UY and didn't understand the concept. We typically travel in Sept/Oct every year so that means we do not have an ideal UY for us.

This just means that if we should have to alter or cancel our plans we are past the banking deadline and those points will go into a holding account and can't be used to book anything beyond 60 days. This happened to us last year. If you cannot travel before the end of the deadline you could lose those points.

When you learn about DVC you will find that Oct through Dec is usually booked solid well in advance. Sept, Jan and the first 2 weeks of Dec are the lowest point requirement times for DVC so literally from Sept through Jan is extremely busy. But people who select a UY that works for them now may have a change in travel habits and it won't be ideal in the future. Most people just deal with it.

 

[MoreTravels]

It's silly that there are all these jargons...

In plain English, you buy a DVC timeshare, you own the right to use a resort time. That ownership is measured in "points". You will give given a number of points to use every year. Those points are refilled again every year, on the anniversary date. That anniversary is called a "use-year" by DVC.

If you have 200 points now and the anniversary is December, you will get another set of points on December 1st of every year. So you have to finish those points before that time or try to bank it.

Think of it like a prepaid cell phone plan, you are given a set of minutes you paid for. These minutes expire if you do not use them. You are given a deadline to bank those minutes once every year. And they cannot be carried forward indefinitely. And your account will be added another set of minutes every year on the anniversary date, which they label it as "use year".

Now the next jargon, "right of first refusal"... refuse whom / what? ... well, that's whole different jargon

 

[chalee94]

You will give given a number of points to use every year. Those points are refilled again every year, on the anniversary date. That anniversary is called a "use-year" by DVC.

not exactly, and that's where it confuses people. too many people read what you wrote and think they cannot call to book a stay until their pts "refill" and that's not the case.

the points for my 2025 UY are already in my account...but i can only borrow one UY ahead, so i'm a long way from being able to use them.

 

[southlake]

It's silly that there are all these jargons...

In plain English, you buy a DVC timeshare, you own the right to use a resort time. That ownership is measured in "points". You will give given a number of points to use every year. Those points are refilled again every year, on the anniversary date. That anniversary is called a "use-year" by DVC.

If you have 200 points now and the anniversary is December, you will get another set of points on December 1st of every year. So you have to finish those points before that time or try to bank it.

Think of it like a prepaid cell phone plan, you are given a set of minutes you paid for. These minutes expire if you do not use them. You are given a deadline to bank those minutes once every year. And they cannot be carried forward indefinitely. And your account will be added another set of minutes every year on the anniversary date, which they label it as "use year".

Now the next jargon, "right of first refusal"... refuse whom / what? ... well, that's whole different jargon

This is helpful. Thank you. I'm having a hard time grasping it for some reason (and I am of average-intelligence!) Our Guide the other day never mentioned "Use Year" to us, deadline to bank, etc. I wish he would have now.

Is the deadline to bank 4 months before the end of your UY?

Also, if we buy on Sep 1, for example, our UY then becomes Sep 1-Aug 31? Or does Disney give us the option to choose whatever UY we want regardless of anniversary date?

 

[chalee94]

Is the deadline to bank 4 months before the end of your UY?

Also, if we buy on Sep 1, for example, our UY then becomes Sep 1-Aug 31? Or does Disney give us the option to choose whatever UY we want regardless of anniversary date?

1) Yes. You have to bank pts within 8 months after the start of your UY.

2) UY has nothing to do with when you buy. You can pick your UY so long as DVC has the inventory.