Yet another UY at different resort? Considering an add-on

[GettinReadyforDisney]

I think that I now understand the pros and cons of having different Use Years. Unfortunately, when I bought my initial contract, I didn't understand Use Years at all!!

We are considering an add-on and would love some input from those with experience.

Here's the situation:

We ended up with an August UY for our initial BLT contract. We sometimes travel to WDW in June -- and an August UY is NOT good for those trips (didn't know this when we bought our initial contract) -- but, then again, we've never had to cancel a trip before.

We haven't yet, but would also like to travel to WDW in October, November or December, on occasion. August is fine for those trips.

We mostly travel to WDW over our Mardi Gras break -- which is in either February or March. The August UY works fine for those trips, as well.

So -- here's the dilemma: We want an add-on at a different resort. We currently own at BLT but would like to have some AKV points to have access to value and concierge rooms at 11 months.

Should we wait for the right add-on with an August UY, for ease of use -- OR, does it make sense to have a different UY, which we could use for June trips without as much worry?

There are a couple of possibilities out there right now -- the better deal (both in terms of price and having the exact number of points we want) is NOT an August UY.

So -- that's the dilemma . . . Same use year, better deal in terms of price and number of points OR -- wait and hope for same use year AND better deal, even if it's after March 20!

 

[drusba]

If the resale gives you what you want at price you want go for it. Note that through resale is the way to get a new use year because add-ons through DVD are for exisiting use year. We have two use years and that allows us to avoid the cancellation/banking risk when going toward end of use year. Other than that advantage, there are no others to having different use years. You do have to keep track of two use years but it is no big deal -- banking dates are different, you have two annual dues bills and two separate withdrawals from your account if you are on monthly withdrawal for dues, and you cannot mix the contracts for reserving a single night, instead if you want to use both for one trip, you reserve some nights with one use year and the rest with the other and link the two.

 

[GettinReadyforDisney]

If the resale gives you what you want at price you want go for it. Note that through resale is the way to get a new use year because add-ons through DVD are for exisiting use year. We have two use years and that allows us to avoid the cancellation/banking risk when going toward end of use year. Other than that advantage, there are no others to having different use years. You do have to keep track of two use years but it is no big deal -- banking dates are different, you have two annual dues bills and two separate withdrawals from your account if you are on monthly withdrawal for dues, and you cannot mix the contracts for reserving a single night, instead if you want to use both for one trip, you reserve some nights with one use year and the rest with the other and link the two.

Thank you, drusba, for sharing your views. I'm thinking -- the right contract, at the right price, even if it's not the same UY, especially since a different use year would benefit us for those summer trips. Your thoughts make me feel better about that!!

 

[Sandisw]

My only suggestion is to make sure you know what you can book with those pionts at 11 months. Since you can't combine the points from the BLT contract and the new resort at 7 months for a single night without a transfer, you just want to be sure you buy a big enough accomplish to do what you want with it.

We had two UY for a short time, with two different resorts. The problem for us was that our VWL contract was only 50 points and the BLT contract was only 130. At 11 months, I could not book my entire 5 night stay without borrowing points because BLT was big enough to do only 3 nights and VWL for 1 night (one bedrooms in the summer).

As long as that AKV contract has enough points to cover your June trip--or at least enough whole nights that you want--then I say it might work out not to wait.

I didn't like having the two UY so we sold, took the loss on the VWL contract, and just added on more BLT points.

Good luck!

 

[GettinReadyforDisney]

Ugh -- this is such a roller coaster ride . . and not in a fun way.

Sandisw, you bring up great points, things that I have considered as potential problems.

Neither contract is big enough to book a 1 br per year, which does mean that each will have to "straddle years" with banking and borrowing to work at 11 months. That could definitely be more complicated.

This is all I've got --

I, nevertheless, appreciate your insight!!

 

[Sandisw]

Ugh -- this is such a roller coaster ride . . and not in a fun way.

Sandisw, you bring up great points, things that I have considered as potential problems.

Neither contract is big enough to book a 1 br per year, which does mean that each will have to "straddle years" with banking and borrowing to work at 11 months. That could definitely be more complicated.

This is all I've got --

I, nevertheless, appreciate your insight!!

As long as you understand and are comfortable with it, I think it will be okay and managable. We just simply did not want to borrow points on a regular basis. Plus, we are summer travelers and the Oct UY really wasn't good for that anyway.