What should be my use year?

[supersnoop]

OK let me start over. I am assuming most of our travel will be in summer, july or August since it very difficult to get vacation time over spring break. So if I don't find out if my vacation is approved until December and would need to Bank points what would my best UY be. Our vacat on request at work go by first choice and if denied we get second choice so could I in theory make two reservations, borrowing points from the next year and then bank those points if I cancel?

Thanks again!

You're facing two problems:
1: you can't plan more than 7 months out. This alone makes DVC a poor choice. Making speculative reservations won't work unless you have a high probability of getting your requested time off.

2. You don't really know when you're going to travel or if you'll have to cancel. I tend to take the approach: "what are the three consecutive months when you are least likely to travel?" Choose a use year immediately filling that.

I hate to say it, but with your circumstances, DVC might be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Dean]

OK let me start over. I am assuming most of our travel will be in summer, july or August since it very difficult to get vacation time over spring break. So if I don't find out if my vacation is approved until December and would need to Bank points what would my best UY be. Our vacat on request at work go by first choice and if denied we get second choice so could I in theory make two reservations, borrowing points from the next year and then bank those points if I cancel?

Thanks again!

You're still going to need to reserve ahead of time. Waiting until you're approved then trying to reserve is going to make DVC an unreasonable option for you IMO. If there's any chance you'll want to go spring break, that'll be your best option either March or April depending and that'll work well for summer as well. You may want to consider enough points to make reservations for both options or close to it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

OK let me start over. I am assuming most of our travel will be in summer, july or August since it very difficult to get vacation time over spring break. So if I don't find out if my vacation is approved until December and would need to Bank points what would my best UY be. Our vacat on request at work go by first choice and if denied we get second choice so could I in theory make two reservations, borrowing points from the next year and then bank those points if I cancel?

Thanks again!

Your best UY is one that starts just prior to your planned travel. Since you can bank anytime in the first 8 months of the UY it means that you also have a little wiggle room to book over any of those months and still be able to bank should you have to cancel.

If you'll only travel in the summer (June, July, August) then buy a June UY. If spring is another option get a Feb or March UY as a June UY is the worst for spring travel and last minute cancellations. Either of those will also cover last minute cancellations of trips from Feb-Sept or March thru Oct.

But really, because you'll know in December if you get the vacation you've booked you have more than enough time to cancel and aren't actually even hitting the "last minute" cancellation that getting the best UY provides some insurance against.

In reserving 2 options I can see making that work but it would come with some risk and I don't think that would be your best option. The nice thing is that most of the summer is not a real busy DVC time so if you were going to switch your booking in Dec once you knew you had to you would likely still have options available, especially since for an August booking you'd still be in the home priority booking period. I'd just reserve the first option and wait to change of necessary unless the change was to spring. If so I might reserve the spring backup and book the summer after you got that time if it happened.

 

[huskerfanatic7]

can you make a reservation before you get your points for the year?

 

[supersnoop]

can you make a reservation before you get your points for the year?

All of your points from now until the end of the contract are yours and in your account. There's no such thing as "getting your points for the year."

The reservation schedule has absolutely nothing to do with use year. Use year only determines which points are allocated to the reservation.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

can you make a reservation before you get your points for the year?

When you can make your reservation is only dependent on the 11 month and 7 month booking window so for example every UY can book a June reservation at their home resort the previous July. When that reservation is determines what points can be used for it. There is no real receiving of points. When you buy you've "received" all your points thru the end of the contact, you just are limited in what you can use because of the rules that allow you to only bank any point once and to only borrow one year ahead.