Which is a better use year?

[DisneyKidds]

We are trying to decide between 2 WL resales. One has a Dec use year (150 points) and one has an Aug use year (200 points).

We plan on making trips to the WL late Nov/Early Dec for the next 4 years. After that we will make trips in the summer (July or late Aug). I know use year is an important consideration. For the next 4 years I think an Aug use year may make more sense (if we had to cancel we could do anywhere from 30 to 120 days in advance and still bank the points). However, after that I'm not sure which would be better. I guess if our trips were always in Aug the Aug use year would be best. If they were going to be July Dec would be better. Does that sound right?

Financially the deals are pretty similar (price per point, banked and available points). We'd probably prefer 200 points. Should that be more important than use year? We could make do with 150.

Thanks for any help.

 

[drusba]

Use year is irrelevant except for one event -- cancellation. This has to do with banking deadlines. You can bank all of your points from one use year to the next as long as you do it before the end of the sixth month of your use year. Thus, a Dec use year gives you a May 31 date to bank all of your points. Thus, if you have a Dec use year, schedule for a Nov trip which is at the end of that use year and have to cancel in Sep, you will not be able to bank all those points that were on the canceled reservation. If you have an Aug use year and schedule a Nov trip and cancel in Sep, you will still have plenty of time to bank all your points.

As a result, many recommend that you try to get a use year that is within six months before the time you usually go each year in the event you have to cancel and bank the the points. Your inquiry demonstrates the possible problem with that strategy, i.e., what happens when you later change the usual time of year you go? That strategy employed at time of purchase may no longer work. In your case, June would be the ideal use year. As you do not have that resale choice, I would probably take August simply because it has more points.

 

[EROS]

Disneykidds, I'll take the contrarian view and say that use year is irrelevant UNLESS you're certain that you'll always be vacationing at the same time each year. We have an April use year but have variously used points(WDW and exchanges) in Feb, April,May,Sept and October. If you're uncertain longer term if you'll be there in July or August, then you'd indeed be better off with the December resale...............but what if you decided to go over Thanksgiving some year?????? I wouldn't sweat it unless you know your vacation plans for the next 40 years .

Good Luck,

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by drusba
Use year is irrelevant except for one event -- cancellation.

True, but this can be a very important reason for some. The risk of losing points will vary with the family and work situation. So it really depends on what your assessment of the risk is for cancelling on relatively short notice. Of the 2, I'd say that the August 200 points fits better your stated situation. Probably a late spring or earlier summer use year would be ideal but I don't think they have May or July so June or August would be my first thoughts. If there is real savings compared to buying through DVC, I'd consider the August 200 points first. If the savings is marginal compared to DVC (less than $1000), I'd likely go with a June use year, work out the number of points you think you'll need over the next 10 years or so, add in a few extra (say 10%). I would NOT consider buying extra points for none DVC use like DCL, DC, CC, etc. If you have the points and want to use them for these options, your choice, but it's not reasonable to buy extra points with those uses in mine.

 

[DebbieB]

Use year can also come into play if you like to borrow points. I have a friend with an August use year who likes to vacation in June. She has already borrowed all her August 2002 points and had to rent points from another member to complete her June 2002 reservation (she only needed a few more). Borrowing points can be risky because if she had to cancel that June 2002 trip, they would have to be used by July 31, 2002. April or June would have suited her better (there is no May). She got into the borrowing cycle by taking a cruise last year that used a ton of points for her family of 4.

 

[Dumbo]

Since you are interested in the Villas at Wilderness Lodge you might be better off buying directly from Disney and choosing a June use year. A June use year would satisfy both your vacation habit requests.


Dumbo

 

[DVCajun]

I have an August use year and I love it. Not for cancellation or when I travel, but because the deadline for banking points that you don't use is January. This may confuse you, but here's how I look at it: I consider my "use year" January through December. That means that I borrow from the coming year January through July and am using current year points August through December. Looking at it this way keeps it very easy to understand for me. I feel that I lucked out by getting an August use year, as I certainly didn't plan it that way.