Which use year to buy

[SamRoc]

We are still looking at resales and were wondering since for the next 3 years we really can only vacation in April, should we only look at resales with May use years to get the 11 month booking? Thanks!

 

[pmcpmc]

Has never failed us yet ,Look at price and don't be too precise
only a poor Irishman's view.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Use year has nothing to do with when you can book your trip. It only matters when you have to cancel at the last minute. If you are going in April, a February, March or April use year would be best for you. You can still make a reservation 11 months in advance and if you had to cancel your trip for some reason, you would still be able to bank all of your points or have the rest of the year to use them.

HBC

 

[Dean]

As HBC says, the use year has essentially nothing to do with when you can book. May would be the worst for April Travel. I'd buy December, Feb, March or April in your situation. I also wouldn't pass on anything Sept or later if it was the best deal otherwise. I wouldn't buy May to August in your situation.

 

[dianeschlicht]

In explanation...Your use year means nothing to when you can book, but if you have to cancel a ressie close to the time of the ressie, you need to be within your banking window to not lose those points. For example: If you have a March use year and are traveling in January, you would have to cancel long before your trip inorder to bank those points. If you cancel that January trip in December, you could bank up to 25% of your total contract, but the rest would have to be used before the end of February. It is best to have a UY that is at least 6 months from your usualy travel date. That being said, in 7 years, I have never had to cancel a trip, so it really isn't that big a deal. My use year is March, and I usually travel in January, so it is not good, but I don't worry about it. If it ever happens, I will bank those points in II and use it for an exchange.

 

[Granny]

Just my two cents. With resales there are a lot of variables...

DVC Resort
Use Year
# of Points
Availability of current points (banked, borrowed, used)

Personally, I'd look for a contract with the total number of points you want at the DVC resort that you want. I wouldn't use the Use Year as a criteria for finding one, since it's hard enough to find one with the other aspects that fit your needs.

Besides, all the resale contracts are for 38 more years. I wouldn't let the next three years of vacation planning determine your Use Year and restrict your search for resale contracts.


Good luck!

 

[crisi]

There is also insurance available that will cover some of your costs if you have to cancel late in your use year. Won't be enough to book a whole new vacation for cash, but will keep you from being out your dues on those points. Some members will insure trips late in their use year, but they will not insure trips early in their use year knowing they will probably be able to rebook.

But I agree with Granny - buying resale is like buying a used car. If you want something exact you'll have to be patient in your search - so you are better off with a range that will make you happy (i.e. 250-300 points at an Epcot area resort with a fall use year for $70-72 a point and no points borrowed will be MUCH easier to find than 270 points at VWL with an October use year at $70 a point with points banked, points available and no points borrowed.) Don't settle for what you don't want (i.e. don't buy a BWV contract if you REALLY want BCVs) but don't be so picky that the proper contract will never come available.

 

[timC]

As people have stated, there would be a slight advantage for you if you had a Feb-Apr use year..... but....

vacation habits have a way of changing. It's fine that your plans are pretty much fixed for the next 3 years, but what about the next 37 years after that? My point is that long-term you really don't know what will happen, so there's not much point in getting hung up on what use year to choose....

IMO you should just look for the best deal at the resort you want to stay at the most.

Good luck!

 

[WDWorld2003]

We purchased a resale with a March use year as we will be vacationing in late March or early April for the next few years. We thought March would be great because if we had to cancel we had until next March to use those points.

Now that I understand DVC a little better and also, thinking about future vacations in ways I haven't before we would have looked at a different use year. We will probably never go to WDW in the summer months - it's hot & humid enough in Minnesota! I think we would have chosen an October use year as we would have plenty of time to bank 100% of our points at the six month mark no matter when we vacationed in the winter (thinking of the Food & Wine festival in Oct., Christmas as well as spring break). With a March use year if we had to cancel an October or Christmas trip we could only bank 25% to 50% of our points and the rest would have to be used by March 1st.

We're still very happy with our purchase (haven't even been there yet!) but we would look for a contract with a different use year if we had to do it again.

Good luck in your hunt for a resale!