# Understanding Use Year  - Updated February 10, 2021



## CarolMN

Use year is the month your points are renewed each year. You have one year to use your points before they expire (unless you bank them).

*Use year determines your banking deadline, but it has nothing to do with when you can make a reservation.* You can always call (or book online) 11 months prior to your desired check in day for a reservation at your home resort and 7 months prior to your desired check in day if you want to reserve something at a non-home resort.  *You do NOT have to wait until your use year begins to make a reservation*  - actually all of your points are already in your account.  You just have to have points available that will be valid for your desired stay.

For example:

Let's say you buy 200 points on February 1, 2021 and you get an October use year.

Your 2021 points are valid for stays between 10/1/2021 and 9/30/2022. Those would be considered your current use year points for any stays that occur during that time period.

If you buy directly from Disney before 10/1/2021 and get an October use year, you will also get 2020 use year points with your purchase.   (This may not be the case for a new resort that isn't open for occupancy when you purchase).   Contracts purchased via resale may or may not come with banked and/or current use year points.  The 2020 points would be valid to pay for stays between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2021.  You will be allowed to bank the 2020 points even if you are past the banking deadline.  This is a courtesy Disney has been extending only to those who purchase directly through them.

If you don't plan to take a trip before 9/30/2021, you'll want to bank your 2020 points so that they do not expire. As long as you call before the end of May 2021 (the banking deadline for October 2020 use years), you can bank all 200 of the 2020 points.  You may not bank at all in June, July August or September if you have an October use year.


Your 2020 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2021.
Your 2021 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2021 and 9/30/2022.
Your 2022 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2022 and 9/30/2023.
Your 2023 use year points are good for stays between 10/1/2023 and 9/30/2024.
etc.
You may bank points one use year forward and you may borrow points from one use year ahead.

For example:

Let's say you want to stay in April of 2021 and your stay will cost 500 points.   April 2021 falls within your 2020 use year. (See the chart above). So for an April 2021 vacation, the current use year is 2020.  For that reservation, you may use the current use year points from the 2020 use year, any banked points originally from your 2019 use year and you may borrow points from your 2021 use year.

If you plan to stay at your home resort, you can call to make the reservation for April 2021 in May of 2020 even though your 2020 use year doesn't begin until October 1, 2020.  Again, use year has nothing to do with WHEN you can make the reservation.

*Banking and borrowing are final transactions.* If you cancel a reservation made with banked or borrowed points, the points will not be returned to their original use year.   So they would expire at the end of the current use year unless they were used before then. You may not bank or borrow the same points more than once.

Let's say you do have to cancel that April, 2021 vacation and you call to cancel it at least 31 days prior to arrival.  To make the reservation, you used 200 current use year points (from 2020 use year), 200 banked points (originally from 2019) and borrowed 100 points from 2021.

After you cancel, you would have 300 points to use before 9/30/2021, the end of the current use year (2020) for that vacation  - i.e., the 200 that were banked (from 2019) and the 100 that were borrowed (from 2021).  Remember, banked and borrowed points cannot be returned to their original use year.  If you do not use those points before 9/30/2021, they expire and are lost to you.

If you call MS (or go online) to bank points before May 31, 2021 (the banking deadline for an October 2020 use year),  you could bank all 200 of the 2020 use year points used for that cancelled April 2021 vacation.   After banking, those points will be valid for stays between 10/1/2021 and 9/30/2022.   They will expire on 9/30/2022 if not used before then - remember, you cannot bank the same points more than once.

If you didn't bank the 2020 points before May 31, 2021,  all 500 of the returned points from that April 2021 cancelled vacation would have to be used before 9/30/2021 (the end of your 2020  use year).

*If you cancel any reservation 30 days or less prior to arrival, the points go into the holding account.*   Holding points cannot be banked.  In addition to expiring at the end of the use year, holding points may only be used to make a reservation that will begin no more than 60 days in the future.  Since availability is often very limited 60 days or less prior to arrival, it can be very difficult to use holding points.  It is not unusual for holding points to expire without being used.

*Use year only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled to occur late in your use year * - i.e., during the last three months of your use year.  That's because banking is not allowed during the last four months of your use year and so you don't have much time to reschedule before the points expire.   Many owners never have to cancel a vacation (lucky them) so they don't worry about use year.


*ADVICE*: If you travel about the same time of the year on a regular basis, it's best to choose a use year that falls *no more* than 7 or 8 months prior to that time.   Keep in mind that your travel pattern may change over the course of your ownership. What starts out as a "perfect" use year may end up to be not so perfect.


*Remember, use year has nothing to do with when you may make a reservation.*   All of your points are actually "in your account".  You don't have to wait until your use year begins to have access to your points  - *you just have to match your vacation dates to the use year *(find the use year that will be the current use year for that vacation), and then make sure you have enough points in that use year to make the desired reservation.

​


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## Rileygirl

Thank You Carol  

I am going to print this out, and put it in my file!


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## Tikihula

Rileygirl said:


> Thank You Carol
> 
> I am going to print this out, and put it in my file!



Me too.  This is great information.  Thanks.


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## dalt01

ok, in the one sentence where you mention 2007 use year points it sounds like i would get 200 free points am i reading this correctly?


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## WebmasterDoc

dalt01 said:


> ok, in the one sentence where you mention 2007 use year points it sounds like i would get 200 free points am i reading this correctly?




Yes, at this moment anyone with a Use Year of either October or December (there is no November Use Year) would still be in their 2007 Use Year. A purchase with either of those Use Years would get the current points with their purchase. Currently, MS has been allowing new purchasers to bank current points even if beyond the usual banking deadline - so those buying an October Use Year would get their 2007 allotment of points and then another allotment on October 1, 2008. December Use Year points would work the same way.

There are no January, May, July or November Use Years.


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## dalt01

one more question, i was told the AKV currently on sale is not available for bookings before may. does this affect the answer to my last question? also does the fact that, if i understand it correctly, i can buy in with 100 points change anything. sorry for seeming so dense.


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## Muhlenberg

We just bought 160 pts at AKV, with a December UY.  We received 160 Developer Points, that must be used within one year of signing the contract and they must be used at SSR.  We received, to the best of my knowledge, 160 Dec. '08 points to be used AFTER May 1, 2009.  We haven't received the paperwork yet...but it should be here REALLY soon.  I'll check it to make sure they are '08 points that we are receiving.  Maybe I have misunderstood what we're receiving, and they actually are '07 points.

My DH just verified that we ARE receiving Dec. '08 points...NOT '07 points.


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## square pond

WebmasterDoc said:


> Yes, at this moment anyone with a Use Year of either October or December (there is no November Use Year) would still be in their 2007 Use Year. A purchase with either of those Use Years would get the current points with their purchase. Currently, MS has been allowing new purchasers to bank current points even if beyond the usual banking deadline - so those buying an October Use Year would get their 2007 allotment of points and then another allotment on October 1, 2008. December Use Year points would work the same way.
> 
> There are no January, May, July or November Use Years.



We just purchased 180 pts at AKV and recieved 180 SSR Developer and 180 Dec 2008 points. Are you saying we should also be recieving December 2007 points???


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## Donald is #1

square pond said:


> We just purchased 180 pts at AKV and recieved 180 SSR Developer and 180 Dec 2008 points. Are you saying we should also be recieving December 2007 points???



In the case of AKV since not all of the rooms are available, then no you will not be receiving 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was complete/open/available, prior to December 2008, then you would have received 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was/will be completed after December 1, 2008, then you will not receive 2007 points.


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## square pond

Donald is #1 said:


> In the case of AKV since not all of the rooms are available, then no you will not be receiving 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was complete/open/available, prior to December 2008, then you would have received 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was/will be completed after December 1, 2008, then you will not receive 2007 points.



Thank you


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## lranen

Thanks for that great explanation.   I was worrying that my UseYear was a month too early.   Now, it looks like I lucked out and got the perfect time!


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## Coach P

So If we to buy and we go during Christmas every year we would want an Aug use year?


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## CarolMN

Coach P said:


> So If we to buy and we go during Christmas every year we would want an Aug use year?


August would work for December vacations, but so would several other use years.    You want a use year that gives you enough time to bank points if you can't reschedule before the use year ends.

So since the banking deadline is the end of the 8th month after the start of your use year and you plan to vacation in December, the "best" use years for you (in order, best on top) would be:

December
October
September
August
June
and even April (because if you cancel 30 days or less prior to arrival, the returned points go into the holding account and cannot be banked.)

I defined "best" as the use year that would give you the most time to reschedule your December vacation or decide to bank the returned points.

Keep in mind that your vacation pattern may change and what works well for you now may not work so well later.  Also, this only matters if you actually have to cancel a vacation.  That usually doesn't happen very often (we hope).  If you cancel late, it use year won't matter much  - holding points can be tough to use and expire at the end of the use year.

For example - 
If you like to go in the Fall, Winter and early spring months, August & September use years will work well for you.   If you see yourselves going in the late spring months, the Summer months and October - December, April would be better.  (There is no May use year).

A June use year is better for Summer, Fall & early to mid-Winter vacations.


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## vinny&lynn

is your uy strictly a factor of when you join or sign up for dvc or is it something you can chose yourself with guide assistance?

since my family usually vacations something between late august 
to early nov, what would be our best uy?

i apprecaite your help,


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## nocruisecontrol

We're seriously contemplating buying in to DVC.  I believe are most likely times to vacation will be late March and mid/late September (even with the hurricane risk).  

So would my best use year be September?

Barbara


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## Sandisw

nocruisecontrol said:


> We're seriously contemplating buying in to DVC.  I believe are most likely times to vacation will be late March and mid/late September (even with the hurricane risk).
> 
> So would my best use year be September?
> 
> Barbara



Yes, September would be a great UY for you.  You have until April 30th every year to bank points with this UY so both your preferred travel times fall within your 8 month banking window!

Good luck and happy planning!


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## GirlfromTN

I am thinking that September would be a good use year for us, since we would probably like to go in Fall (after labor day), Winter (to see Christmas decorations), and early spring (before spring break crowds). Am I correct? Would another month be even better? We'd probably be likely to avoid the hottest months as well as the school breaks.


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## Sandisw

GirlfromTN said:


> I am thinking that September would be a good use year for us, since we would probably like to go in Fall (after labor day), Winter (to see Christmas decorations), and early spring (before spring break crowds). Am I correct? Would another month be even better? We'd probably be likely to avoid the hottest months as well as the school breaks.



Yes, September is also good for you.  With September, you have until April 30th every year to bank points.  All of the times you want to travel fall in the 8 month banking window for September, so if you had to cancel (at least 31 days out), you would still be able to bank your points!


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## christa112

Bumping this Thread!!! This a good one


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## maminnie

If someone could give me some advice on this one:

If you currently own a contract through DVC and you buy a resale for the same resort and same use year, can you combine the points when making a continuous reservation which requires points from both contracts?

I thought the answer was yes but a few comments on the boards are now confusing me a bit.

Thank you for your help.
maminnie


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## chalee94

maminnie said:


> If you currently own a contract through DVC and you buy a resale for the same resort and same use year, can you combine the points when making a continuous reservation which requires points from both contracts?



it has to be deeded the same and DVC has to put it under the same membership number.  they will do this automatically if they notice it, but you should also communicate it to them in case they miss it.

if it's under the same membership number, then yes, you can pool points from both contracts to book a single night.


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## Silly Little Pixie

Donald is #1 said:


> In the case of AKV since not all of the rooms are available, then no you will not be receiving 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was complete/open/available, prior to December 2008, then you would have received 2007 points.  If the "unit" that you purchased was/will be completed after December 1, 2008, then you will not receive 2007 points.



So to clear my fuzzy head...

If I buy AKV now, with a December UY, I could get Dec. 2008 points, right? Since my unit would be complete/available before my UY begins. 

If that is true that will seal the deal with my DH...


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## Sandisw

Silly Little Pixie said:


> So to clear my fuzzy head...
> 
> If I buy AKV now, with a December UY, I could get Dec. 2008 points, right? Since my unit would be complete/available before my UY begins.
> 
> If that is true that will seal the deal with my DH...



If you are buying AKL direct from Disney, and they still have December UY points available, then yes, you would receive a set of points for December 08 since that is the UY we are in right now (Dec 08 points are good from Dec. 1, 2008 - Nov. 30, 2009).  

I don't believe they can be used until May 1st, when Kidini opens, but you would get your full set of points immediately, plus the incentives, and then another set of points come Dec 1st of this year.

It was the same for BLT purchasers.  Some got points for the Feb 09 UY, but can't use them until the resort opens in August.

Good luck!!


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## disneytraveler

I am thinking of DVC resales for either SSR or OKW. I usually go in September after Labor Day. I was thinking 100.00 per point would be good. Alot of the contracts have August or other months. How would this work for me. I did see a 50.0 per contract but not many.


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## Sandisw

disneytraveler said:


> I am thinking of DVC resales for either SSR or OKW. I usually go in September after Labor Day. I was thinking 100.00 per point would be good. Alot of the contracts have August or other months. How would this work for me. I did see a 50.0 per contract but not many.



Yes, August would be a great UY for you if you travel around Labor Day.  I think you mean you are looking at 100 point contracts, not paying $100.00 for each point.

SSR and OKW resales are passing ROFR around the high 60's, low 70's so I would not pay more than that for each point.  SSR has lower MF"s than OKW and it's contract is longer (goes to 2054 vs. 2042--unless the OKW contract you are looking at is the extended version-then that will go to 2057--make sure you know which version it is).

You can find 50 point contract, but they do not come up that often and usually are picked up pretty quickly.

Good luck!


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## disneytraveler

Thats right 100.00 point contracts.


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## Silly Little Pixie

Do you get a choice in UY? I talked with a guide today, and he told me I can't get the current incentives if I choose December. He keeps pushing February UY even after I told him I think January is a very likely time for us to go in the future...

Can I ask what other UY are available? I am looking at AKV. I also mentioned October as a UY, but he skimmed over that. How firm do you have to be?  I explained my thought about January but he kept saying I can just borrow from February, and if I don't have a trip booked for January then I can bank it, then borrow the next year's allotment if I change my mind and want a January trip. 

Not sure I'm having the best luck with guides... I'm really not trying to be difficult, I'm just very thorough before I make a big purchase like this...


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## Sandisw

Silly Little Pixie said:


> Do you get a choice in UY? I talked with a guide today, and he told me I can't get the current incentives if I choose December. He keeps pushing February UY even after I told him I think January is a very likely time for us to go in the future...
> 
> Can I ask what other UY are available? I am looking at AKV. I also mentioned October as a UY, but he skimmed over that. How firm do you have to be?  I explained my thought about January but he kept saying I can just borrow from February, and if I don't have a trip booked for January then I can bank it, then borrow the next year's allotment if I change my mind and want a January trip.
> 
> Not sure I'm having the best luck with guides... I'm really not trying to be difficult, I'm just very thorough before I make a big purchase like this...



I would really push for the UY that you want.  Borrowing points is difficult since once you borrow them, they can't go back.  And, with a Feb UY, you would not have much time to use points from a January trip.

If they really won't let you have Dec, then I would at least say you want one of the fall ones (Sept or Oct).  If your guide won't give you what you want, ask if you can talk to a manager to see if why you can't have the UY you want--unless it is sold out (and it doesn't sound like that is what you were told), I would really push for a UY that works for your travels.  

DVC is expensive and being in a borrowing situation every year, to me, would not be a good thing.


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## Silly Little Pixie

Sandisw said:


> I would really push for the UY that you want.  Borrowing points is difficult since once you borrow them, they can't go back.  And, with a Feb UY, you would not have much time to use points from a January trip.
> 
> If they really won't let you have Dec, then I would at least say you want one of the fall ones (Sept or Oct).  If your guide won't give you what you want, ask if you can talk to a manager to see if why you can't have the UY you want--unless it is sold out (and it doesn't sound like that is what you were told), I would really push for a UY that works for your travels.
> 
> DVC is expensive and being in a borrowing situation every year, to me, would not be a good thing.



Thanks. I don't want to be stressed about keeping track of points, if I can pinpoint the months I think I am most likely to visit WDW (due to kids' school schedules) and keep it simple!


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## Mtnman44

Tell him due to your travel plans you need a Dec use year and if they don't have it you'll buy resale, end of discussion. Oh, and you deserve any incentives as well. I'm guessing that they'll find you the right UY. You're the customer, the boss. Don't let them talk you into something you don't really want.

Good Luck


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## rmonty02

I'm going to be getting information in the mail about DVC(VGC-Villas Grand California-not sure the abrreviation-very new) at GCH. When speaking with the "guide" (I think that's what they're called-again, very new) he mentioned I would have a June UY. Now, does that fall under receiving 08 and 09 points? or would I receive only 09 points in June?


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## Misty89

If a family was traveling for Spring Break ( for us it's late march) or for Christmas/NYE ( we will always arrive after the 27th) Am i correct if December or February YU would be great? 
 Some years it might be NYE trip, some years it might be spring break - and once the children are grown, it would be Sept/Oct trips ( fall is my favorite time to go to WDW)
Can anyone expand on the when we would have to bank, or travel by dates for me? ~ I plan to print this post and keep it on file to refer to later this year. 
 I am really having a hard time getting the "deadlines" straight - i understand there is a timeframe to cancel and i want to be clear on that so we do not end up losing points ( spur of the moment trips to quickly use up left over
 points is not an option for us) 
 thank you

Tina


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## christa112

Tina,

I completely understand.  I am having a very hard time getting it too.  I have had several people explain it to me and I still feel "DUH" about the whole thing. 

We have been given a Feb YU, so I hope this is ok for us.



Misty89 said:


> If a family was traveling for Spring Break ( for us it's late march) or for Christmas/NYE ( we will always arrive after the 27th) Am i correct if December or February YU would be great?
> Some years it might be NYE trip, some years it might be spring break - and once the children are grown, it would be Sept/Oct trips ( fall is my favorite time to go to WDW)
> Can anyone expand on the when we would have to bank, or travel by dates for me? ~ I plan to print this post and keep it on file to refer to later this year.
> I am really having a hard time getting the "deadlines" straight - i understand there is a timeframe to cancel and i want to be clear on that so we do not end up losing points ( spur of the moment trips to quickly use up left over
> points is not an option for us)
> thank you
> 
> Tina


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## chalee94

rmonty02 said:


> I'm going to be getting information in the mail about DVC(VGC-Villas Grand California-not sure the abrreviation-very new) at GCH. When speaking with the "guide" (I think that's what they're called-again, very new) he mentioned I would have a June UY. Now, does that fall under receiving 08 and 09 points? or would I receive only 09 points in June?



VGC is not open yet - which means that 2008 UY points most likely don't even exist.


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## Misty89

Lets see if i've got this right now ( bound and determined to understand this YU stuff LOL)
trying to tie down if Feb YU is best for us.
assuming we are buying in in December this year ( 2009) 
i would like our first trip home to be from December 28th, 2010 until 
January 2, 2011. always staying at our home resort, BLT. 
we will either buy 175 pts or 200 points, to make sure we have enough  points every other year.

if my family had a Feb YU, 
my current points are good from then ( purchase day) until 1/31/2010. 
 I would bank the 09 points, and then 3 months later, ( 2/1/2010) we would get current points.  the banked points and the current points would then be in our acct, we would call on January 28th, 2010 to make our resservation ( exactly 11 mths) 
 *** when is the last date to bank points with a feb YU? 

Edited: looking at the point charts on DVC news, we would use 317 points ( 3 weeknights in premier season, 1 weekend night in premier, and 1 weekeknd night in adventure season) So the minimum buy in, 160 points would be right on target. ( we would stay week long stays in March, 297 pts for a LV room - again right on target for every other year stay with 320 points allowance) 

if we traveled in March, we would do the same, except we would be close on the cancellation window if something were to come up. ( expected travel dates of the last week of March )


so, have i got the jist of it? 

Tina


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## The Red Head

rmonty02 said:


> I'm going to be getting information in the mail about DVC(VGC-Villas Grand California-not sure the abrreviation-very new) at GCH. When speaking with the "guide" (I think that's what they're called-again, very new) he mentioned I would have a June UY. Now, does that fall under receiving 08 and 09 points? or would I receive only 09 points in June?



The other thing about the VGC, you can't start making reservations for VGC till June when your use year starts and you can't book at your home resort until after Nov 30th when they are set to be complete. That is not how it normally works when you buy into DVC, it is just that this property is not done being built yet.


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## CarolMN

Misty89 said:


> If a family was traveling for Spring Break ( for us it's late march) or for Christmas/NYE ( we will always arrive after the 27th) Am i correct if December or February YU would be great?
> Some years it might be NYE trip, some years it might be spring break - and once the children are grown, it would be Sept/Oct trips ( fall is my favorite time to go to WDW)
> Can anyone expand on the when we would have to bank, or travel by dates for me? ~ I plan to print this post and keep it on file to refer to later this year.
> I am really having a hard time getting the "deadlines" straight - i understand there is a timeframe to cancel and i want to be clear on that so we do not end up losing points ( spur of the moment trips to quickly use up left over
> points is not an option for us)
> thank you
> 
> Tina


Misty  - A February use year would *not* work very well for your December trips.  With a February use year, your banking deadline is the following September 30.  So if you canceled the December trip after Sept 30, you could not bank the points.  They would have to be used by January 31 or they would expire.

Ideally, you want a use year that begins up to 6 or 7 months before your usual travel schedule.

Given what you have described, February, December and Sept/Oct trips, I would choose either August or September for your use year.  June would also work.  There is no July use year.

For example, with an August use year, your banking deadline is the following March 31.  So with an August use year:

1. Your 2009 use year points are for trips between 8/1/2009 and 7/31/2010.  Let's say you scheduled trips for September 2009, October 2009, December 2009 and February 2010.  Assuming you have enough points for all that, LOL, all of the trips would be booked with points from your 2009 use year.

2. If you had to cancel any of those trips (assuming canceled at least 31 days prior to arrival), the points from the canceled reservation just go back into your account.  Since the banking deadline for your 2009 points would be March 31, 2010, there is no problem if you wanted to bank them after the cancellation.

3. If you bank 2009 use year points, they go into the 2010 use year.   2010 use year goes from 8/1/2010 - 7/31/2011.  If you don't use the banked points before 7/31/2011, they expire.

Hope that helps a bit.  Ask another question if you need more help.


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## Sandisw

CarolMN said:


> Misty  - A February use year would *not* work very well for your December trips.  With a February use year, your banking deadline is the following September 30.  So if you canceled the December trip after Sept 30, you could not bank the points.  They would have to be used by January 31 or they would expire.
> 
> Ideally, you want a use year that begins up to 6 or 7 months before your usual travel schedule.
> 
> Given what you have described, February, December and Sept/Oct trips, I would choose either August or September for your use year.  June would also work.  There is no July use year.
> 
> For example, with an August use year, your banking deadline is the following March 31.  So with an August use year:
> 
> 1. Your 2009 use year points are for trips between 8/1/2009 and 7/31/2010.  Let's say you scheduled trips for September 2009, October 2009, December 2009 and February 2010.  Assuming you have enough points for all that, LOL, all of the trips would be booked with points from your 2009 use year.
> 
> 2. If you had to cancel any of those trips (assuming canceled at least 31 days prior to arrival), the points from the canceled reservation just go back into your account.  Since the banking deadline for your 2009 points would be March 31, 2010, there is no problem if you wanted to bank them after the cancellation.
> 
> 3. If you bank 2009 use year points, they go into the 2010 use year.   2010 use year goes from 8/1/2010 - 7/31/2011.  If you don't use the banked points before 7/31/2011, they expire.
> 
> Hope that helps a bit.  Ask another question if you need more help.



Misty...I was just getting ready to post this same advice and agree with Carol.  Given you travel dates, August would work very well for you in terms of UY.  All of your prospective travel dates fall in the 8 month banking window.  

Any cancellations you have to do at least 31 days in advance would happen in time so that you can still bank and not lose those points!

Good luck!!!


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## chalee94

Misty89 said:


> Lets see if i've got this right now ( bound and determined to understand this YU stuff LOL)
> trying to tie down if Feb YU is best for us.



i think what we have here is failure to communicate...

here is the sentence from the first page that i think you still need to let sink in:

"*Remember, use year has nothing to do with when you may call to make a reservation.*"

even if you buy a resale with a dec UY and no points coming until dec 2011, you can book dec 2010 by calling in jan 2010 and borrowing the 2011 pts.  there is just no relationship between UY month and when you can call to book... 

i'm sorry that i'm not explaining this better, but let me say this again:

if you would be traveling over christmas vacation through spring break and summer (i.e. virtually never traveling sept through november), just tell the guide you want a december UY. that's probably best for your situation.

(a feb UY would be a poor choice if you plan on regularly traveling in late dec through january).


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## CarolMN

chalee94 said:


> ....(snip).....if you would be traveling over christmas vacation through spring break and summer (i.e. virtually never traveling sept through november), just tell the guide you want a december UY. that's probably best for your situation........(snip)...




Charles  - I know from your posts that you absolutely get use year.  

But Misty said in her post that later on, she plans to travel in the fall, specifically in September and October. (She didn't say she wanted to travel during the summer).   December would NOT be a good choice for fall travel.  She's much better off with an earlier use year  - July, August or September.  As already posted, those use years would cover all her projected travel times.

You're absolutely right about making the reservations.  Use year doesn't matter at all for that. 

Carol


----------



## chalee94

CarolMN said:


> But Misty said in her post that later on, she plans to travel in the fall, specifically in September and October. (She didn't say she wanted to travel during the summer).



sorry, it was a previous discussion that mentioned being limited by the school calendar.  i missed the sept/oct comment above.  you are correct.


----------



## Misty89

It's me 
I understand now about that, did not mean to make it seem like i was still confused over reservations and UY, not related at all.  i got it 

Thank you for the info, thats why i wanted to ask the fine people here, i knew you could help me out   we will ask for a August or September UY. I agree, that would work best for our travel dates ( with time to cancel if need be)

 on a side note, we will not go anywhere near FL in Summer, ever been there, done that. 

have a great evening all

Tina


----------



## brattosa

We're looking to book our first trip "home" in July, 2010 and I'd appreciate a helpful hand on use year.

We picked up a 160-point contract in June, 2008 with a December UT, starting us out with 160 points from 2007.  We banked those points but since we haven't been able travel yet, we've submitted to loosing those "free" 2007 points.  A bummer, but the way it goes sometimes.

So the way my math works, our 2010 trip will be using our 2008 and 2009 UY points, right?  Also, are the points withdrawn from our accounts when the ressies are made or when we check in?  In other words, should I bank the 2008 points so they are available when we check in during July, 2010 or will they be yanked from our account when we book and no banking of them is required?

<whew>  Thanks for the assist, gang!


----------



## Sandisw

brattosa said:


> We're looking to book our first trip "home" in July, 2010 and I'd appreciate a helpful hand on use year.
> 
> We picked up a 160-point contract in June, 2008 with a December UT, starting us out with 160 points from 2007.  We banked those points but since we haven't been able travel yet, we've submitted to loosing those "free" 2007 points.  A bummer, but the way it goes sometimes.
> 
> So the way my math works, our 2010 trip will be using our 2008 and 2009 UY points, right?  Also, are the points withdrawn from our accounts when the ressies are made or when we check in?  In other words, should I bank the 2008 points so they are available when we check in during July, 2010 or will they be yanked from our account when we book and no banking of them is required?
> 
> <whew>  Thanks for the assist, gang!




Your July 2010 will use both your 08 and 09 points, but you must BANK the 08 points in order for them to be available for that trip--it does not automatically happen.

I believe you have until July 31st to do that. If you know you are not going to use them this year, then call MS and have them banked as soon as possible.  

When you call to make the reservation in August (I am assuming you will be booking at the 11 month mark),  just mention to MS that you want to be sure that all the banked points are used first.  They should automatically do it this way, but it doesn't hurt to mention it during the call.

Good luck!!!


----------



## rmonty02

chalee94 said:


> VGC is not open yet - which means that 2008 UY points most likely don't even exist.



"You're good you."  Thanks for info. 

Rebecca M.


----------



## Litigbearohmy

Sorry to ask for my particular scenario -- thought I understood UY but now confused.  (We could buy DVC next couple of weeks so should know this!)

Looking to travel first or second week of December and April school vacation (twenty-something day of April).

What use year and if we buy BLT would we get 2 years of points to use??

Thanks for answer and any insight you can give!


----------



## CarolMN

Litigbearohmy said:


> Sorry to ask for my particular scenario -- thought I understood UY but now confused.  (We could buy DVC next couple of weeks so should know this!)
> 
> Looking to travel first or second week of December and April school vacation (twenty-something day of April).
> 
> What use year and if we buy BLT would we get 2 years of points to use??
> 
> Thanks for answer and any insight you can give!


 For December and April vacations, any use year except February, March or June will work just fine.

There are no use years for January, May, July or November.

Don't know the answer to your BLT points question, but I think it depends on which use year you purchase.  You'll get more and better opinions on that if you post that question separately.


----------



## Sandisw

For BLT, the first set of points are coming in 2009.  Depending on which UY you buy, you may or may not have two years of points to use for your next vacation.

For Dec and April vacations, April UY as well as Aug, Sept, Oct, or Dec UY, will work for you as any cancellations you make at least 31 days out for your Dec or April trips would still fall within your 8 month banking window. 

If you buy BLT with an Aug UY, your first set of points will come August 1st, 2009.  Since BLT is opening in August, you will pay a prorated 5 months worth of MF's for 2009.

If you choose one of the later UY's, then you won't get your points until then.  The MF's will be prorated as well so Sept UY will only pay 4 months, Oct UY will only pay 3 months, and Dec will only pay 1 month of MF's for 2009.

So, if your first DVC trip will be April 2010, you would only have your current UY set of points if you choose a June, Aug, Sept, Oct or Dec UY.

 If you choose Feb, Mar or April UY, you would have two years worth of points for that trip.

HTH!!


----------



## pumpkinfish

DH and I would typically like to travel in October and May. What UY should we ask for?


----------



## ACDSNY

rmonty02 said:


> I'm going to be getting information in the mail about DVC(VGC-Villas Grand California-not sure the abrreviation-very new) at GCH. When speaking with the "guide" (I think that's what they're called-again, very new) he mentioned I would have a June UY. Now, does that fall under receiving 08 and 09 points? or would I receive only 09 points in June?


 
You can request a different UY if the one being offered doesn't meet your needs.  As an example, we initial started with a Feb UY, but we typically travel in the Fall which is after our banking deadline so if I had to cancel a trip the points would have to be used before Jan 31 or I'd loose them.  We've since started a couple of new contracts (AKV & VGC) with an Aug UY which works much better for us.


----------



## CarolMN

pumpkinfish said:


> DH and I would typically like to travel in October and May. What UY should we ask for?


Choose a use year that will allow you to bank points if you have to cancel a trip.  The banking deadline is the end of the 8th month following the beginning of your use year.

So if you plan to travel mainly in October and May, the following use years would work for you:

February (banking deadline is September 30), 
March (banking deadline is October 31), 
April (banking deadline is November 30), 
October (banking deadline is May 31) & 
December (banking deadline is July 31)

Note:  February works for October vacations because if you don't cancel a vacation at least 31 days in advance, the points that are returned to your account go into "holding".  Holding points cannot be banked.  They expire at the end of the use year.


----------



## jimmaher69

Thinking of buying. Our last two trips were in April.  My wife is a teacher so we cannot travel when she is in school.

That being said I would like to travel atleast once for Christmas, but most trips would be april or summer.

Is April UY my best bet.

Thanks

Jim


----------



## pumpkinfish

CarolMN said:


> Choose a use year that will allow you to bank points if you have to cancel a trip.  The banking deadline is the end of the 8th month following the beginning of your use year.
> 
> So if you plan to travel mainly in October and May, the following use years would work for you:
> 
> February (banking deadline is September 30),
> March (banking deadline is October 31),
> April (banking deadline is November 30),
> October (banking deadline is May 31) &
> December (banking deadline is July 31)
> 
> Note:  February works for October vacations because if you don't cancel a vacation at least 31 days in advance, the points that are returned to your account go into "holding".  Holding points cannot be banked.  They expire at the end of the use year.



Ok, I agree I think Feb would work out better. let me see if I have this:
Say we have a vacation planned starting Oct 10. I have until Sept 9 to cancel. If I cancel Sept 12, we have to use those pts by the following Feb.
Am I correct?


----------



## CarolMN

jimmaher69 said:


> Thinking of buying. Our last two trips were in April.  My wife is a teacher so we cannot travel when she is in school.
> 
> That being said I would like to travel atleast once for Christmas, but most trips would be april or summer.
> 
> Is April UY my best bet.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Jim


Yes.  An April use year would cover April, May, the summer months, and fall through the end of December.


----------



## Sandisw

pumpkinfish said:


> Ok, I agree I think Feb would work out better. let me see if I have this:
> Say we have a vacation planned starting Oct 10. I have until Sept 9 to cancel. If I cancel Sept 12, we have to use those pts by the following Feb.
> Am I correct?



Yes, a cancellation on the 12th of September would cause those points to go into "holding".  They would have to be used by January 31st.  In addition, points in "holding" can only be used for vacations booked 60 days or less in advance of your stay.


----------



## 5forDiz

pumpkinfish said:


> Ok, I agree I think Feb would work out better. let me see if I have this:
> Say we have a vacation planned starting Oct 10. I have until Sept 9 to cancel. If I cancel Sept 12, we have to use those pts by the following Feb.
> Am I correct?



Yes but ONLY the CURRENT Use Year's points used in the reservation will be bankable if you cancel at least 31 days before the check-in date  ( I just wanted to be sure this point is clear in case you didn't pick it up in earlier posts  )

So if your trip has Oct 10 2009 check-in using points from your CURRENT UY
of February 2009 & you cancel Sept 9 2009 (31 days before) you can bank the points from February 2009 UY allotment by Sept 30 2009 into 
2010 Use Year.

But if this reservation also used Banked Points (from February 2008 UY allotment) 
and / or Borrowed Points (from February 2010 UY allotment) you would need to use these Banked and / or Borrowed points by January 31 2010 - they would not be bankable even though you are cancelling the ressie 31 days or more before check-in & even though your banking deadline is 
Sept 30 2009 because points that have been banked can't be banked again & borrowed points cannot be put back into the UY they were originally from so any banked or borrowed points would need to be used for another reservation that occurs by Jan 31 2010 ( latest check-out date
could be is Feb 1 2010 )


----------



## pumpkinfish

Sandisw said:


> Yes, a cancellation on the 12th of September would cause those points to go into "holding".  They would have to be used by January 31st.  In addition, points in "holding" can only be used for vacations booked 60 days or less in advance of your stay.





5forDiz said:


> Yes but ONLY the CURRENT Use Year's points used in the reservation will be bankable if you cancel at least 31 days before the check-in date  ( I just wanted to be sure this point is clear in case you didn't pick it up in earlier posts  )
> 
> So if your trip has Oct 10 2009 check-in using points from your CURRENT UY
> of February 2009 & you cancel Sept 9 2009 (31 days before) you can bank the points from February 2009 UY allotment by Sept 30 2009 into
> 2010 Use Year.
> 
> But if this reservation also used Banked Points (from February 2008 UY allotment)
> and / or Borrowed Points (from February 2010 UY allotment) you would need to use these Banked and / or Borrowed points by January 31 2010 - they would not be bankable even though you are cancelling the ressie 31 days or more before check-in & even though your banking deadline is
> Sept 30 2009 because points that have been banked can't be banked again & borrowed points cannot be put back into the UY they were originally from so any banked or borrowed points would need to be used for another reservation that occurs by Jan 31 2010 ( latest check-out date
> could be is Feb 1 2010 )



Thank you both! I absolutely have this now (can't believe it!). My ppw is on its way via fedex as I type this...so excited!


----------



## Sandisw

pumpkinfish said:


> Thank you both! I absolutely have this now (can't believe it!). My ppw is on its way via fedex as I type this...so excited!



Your welcome and congratulations!!!


----------



## lark

Can I ask one more example to see if I'm understanding this?

1) Today I buy 160 BLT points with a June 1 use year.  No developer points.

2) I call tomorrow and make a reservation for June 31 of this year, which costs 50 points.

3) In August of this year, I decide I want to visit my home resort in July 2010, for a stay that would cost 400 points.  So, at my 11 month window, I call up and bank my 110 remaining 2009 points.  I have 160 points coming on June 1, 2010, so that makes a total of 270.  Can I now also borrow 130 of my points that are coming on June 1, 2011 to complete this reservation at my 11 month window?

4) As I understand it, this will leave me with 30 points for my 2011 use year.


----------



## 5forDiz

lark said:


> Can I ask one more example to see if I'm understanding this?
> 
> 1) Today I buy 160 BLT points with a June 1 use year.  No developer points.
> 
> 2) I call tomorrow and make a reservation for June 31 of this year, which costs 50 points.
> 
> 3) In August of this year, I decide I want to visit my home resort in July 2010, for a stay that would cost 400 points.  So, at my 11 month window, I call up and bank my 110 remaining 2009 points.  I have 160 points coming on June 1, 2010, so that makes a total of 270.  Can I now also borrow 130 of my points that are coming on June 1, 2011 to complete this reservation at my 11 month window?
> 
> 4) As I understand it, this will leave me with 30 points for my 2011 use year.



BLT points may not be used for any reservations that are BEFORE the official opening of BLT Resort ( iirc BLT will open beginning of August 2009 ).  So therefore you could not book a stay for June 2009. Same goes for any points from a DVC resort that has not yet opened.

But to answer your question - let's say the points were from SSR then yes you could do what you are stating above and yes MS would borrow from 2011 Use Year 130 points that would be required to cover reservation for July 2010 ( because 2011 Use Year allotment of pts may be borrowed into 2010 UY to be utilized for stays between 6/1/2010 - 5/31/2011 ) and yes MS will borrow from 2011 Use Year points when you call to make July 2010 at 11 month window.

Best wishes


----------



## lark

5forDiz said:


> BLT points may not be used for any reservations that are BEFORE the official opening of BLT Resort ( iirc BLT will open beginning of August 2009 ).  So therefore you could not book a stay for June 2009. Same goes for any points from a DVC resort that has not yet opened.
> 
> But to answer your question - let's say the points were from SSR then yes you could do what you are stating above and yes MS would borrow from 2011 Use Year 130 points that would be required to cover reservation for July 2010 ( because 2011 Use Year allotment of pts may be borrowed into 2010 UY to be utilized for stays between 6/1/2010 - 5/31/2011 ) and yes MS will borrow from 2011 Use Year points when you call to make July 2010 at 11 month window.
> 
> Best wishes



Thanks so much.  Yes, actually I should have been more clear.  I was going to use the 50 points in June not for BLT but a different resort.  Thanks very much for the answer.  This is exactly what I needed.


----------



## 5forDiz

lark said:


> Thanks so much.  Yes, actually I should have been more clear.  I was going to use the 50 points in June not for BLT but a different resort.  Thanks very much for the answer.  This is exactly what I needed.



BLT points cannot be used at ANY resort prior to BLT opening - sorry, my post should have made this clearer.

This is DVC policy - it has to do with reciprocity (spelling ?); if you used BLT points at SSR for example then an SSR owner must be able to use their SSR points at BLT so since that isn't possible until BLT opens that is why BLT points are not usable for a stay at any resort prior to the opening of BLT.

Good luck.


----------



## lark

5forDiz said:


> BLT points cannot be used at ANY resort prior to BLT opening - sorry, my post should have made this clearer.
> 
> This is DVC policy - it has to do with reciprocity (spelling ?); if you used BLT points at SSR for example then an SSR owner must be able to use their SSR points at BLT so since that isn't possible until BLT opens that is why BLT points are not usable for a stay at any resort prior to the opening of BLT.
> 
> Good luck.



Aha -- that is very important information.  Thanks.  

In addition to reciprocity, I suppose that only makes sense, since owners of BLT points aren't required to pay MFs until opening.


----------



## rmonty02

I do believe I'm understanding the UY and its correlation with the banking deadline, cancellation issues and the holding account thing.  I was wondering about borrowing pts.  Is there a time frame from when you receive your points that you can ask to borrow next years points? When would it be too early or too late to borrow?  With a June UY for example.


----------



## Sandisw

rmonty02 said:


> I do believe I'm understanding the UY and its correlation with the banking deadline, cancellation issues and the holding account thing.  I was wondering about borrowing pts.  Is there a time frame from when you receive your points that you can ask to borrow next years points? When would it be too early or too late to borrow?  With a June UY for example.



You don't actually ask to "borrow" points.  When you call to make a reservation, MS will borrow points if you need them to make the reservation.  
They will use any banked points you have 1st, then they will use "current year" points, and if you are still short, they will borrow exactly what you need.

Of course, once you borrow, those points can not be returned to their UY so even if you cancel 31 days or more out, those points will still have to be used before the UY ends.

For example, if you have a June UY with 160 points. You want to go in July, 2010 and will need 200 points. In August 09, you call to make the reservation.  Since the trip happens in your 2010 UY, they will use all of those points (160) and "borrow" 40 points from 2011, into 2010 to complete the reservation.

If you had to cancel that July reservation, the 2010 points would be put back without restrictions (and you could still bank all 160), but the 2011 points (40) that were borrowed would still need to used for vacations from June 1st 2010 until May 31st, 2011.


----------



## chalee94

rmonty02 said:


> I do believe I'm understanding the UY and its correlation with the banking deadline, cancellation issues and the holding account thing.  I was wondering about borrowing pts.  Is there a time frame from when you receive your points that you can ask to borrow next years points? When would it be too early or too late to borrow?  With a June UY for example.



Borrowing is only done when you are making a reservation and need the points.

If you have a June UY, and you want to make a reservation for your 2009 UY (June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010)

Lets say you bought a resale last year which was stripped and would not receive any points until the 2010 UY (June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011).  You still could have called on July 1, 2008 to book a reservation at your home resort for June 1, 2009 by borrowing from your 2010 UY.

Or if you waited for a while and decide at the last minute on May 28, 2010 or so to see if there is availability on May 30, 2010, you could still borrow from your 2010 UY to make that reservation.


----------



## rmonty02

chalee94 said:


> Lets say you bought a resale last year which was stripped and would not receive any points until the 2010 UY (June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011).  You still could have called on July 1, 2008 to book a reservation at your home resort for June 1, 2009 by borrowing from your 2010 UY.



I see. This 2008 scenario answers my question. So, I suppose I'll only have to worry about borrowing points on my 2060 reservations when I'll not have any more points to borrow from. (At least on this '09 contact)


----------



## rmonty02

Sandisw said:


> Of course, once you borrow, those points can not be returned to their UY so even if you cancel 31 days or more out, those points will still have to be used before the UY ends.



I will definitely make a note of this. You guys have been sooo helpful. Thx.


----------



## Nanabug02

I'm normally pretty sharp, but for some reason I am having trouble grasping what my best UY would be.   Can someone help, please? 

We normally go in May, June and October.  What would be the best use year for these travel dates and why?  

Thanks so much!!!!


----------



## Sandisw

Nanabug02 said:


> I'm normally pretty sharp, but for some reason I am having trouble grasping what my best UY would be.   Can someone help, please?
> 
> We normally go in May, June and October.  What would be the best use year for these travel dates and why?
> 
> Thanks so much!!!!



March or April would be best for your travel times.  You get 8 months after your UY to bank any points.  If you ever have to cancel a trip more than 31 days in advance, you want to be within this banking window to give you flexibility with what to do with the points.

For March, you would have until the end of October to bank points, and until November if you choose an April UY.

Just remember, your UY does not affect when you can book.  You can always book starting 11 months before check in date at your home resort and 7 months from check in date at the other DVC resorts.


----------



## CarolMN

Nanabug02 said:


> I'm normally pretty sharp, but for some reason I am having trouble grasping what my best UY would be.   Can someone help, please?
> 
> We normally go in May, June and October.  What would be the best use year for these travel dates and why?
> 
> Thanks so much!!!!





Sandisw said:


> March or April would be best for your travel times.  You get 8 months after your UY to bank any points.  If you ever have to cancel a trip more than 31 days in advance, you want to be within this banking window to give you flexibility with what to do with the points.
> 
> For March, you would have until the end of October to bank points, and until November if you choose an April UY.
> 
> Just remember, your UY does not affect when you can book.  You can always book starting 11 months before check in date at your home resort and 7 months from check in date at the other DVC resorts.


February would also work for those travel times.  The banking deadline for February use years is the end of September.

If you do not cancel a reservation at least 31 days in advance, the returned points go into the "holding account" and cannot be banked anyway.  So the latest you could cancel an October vacation would be sometime in September (or possibly the very end of August if your check in date was October 30 or 31).

Note that holding account points carry booking restrictions (can't make a reservation with them that begins more than 60 days in the future), so members really try to avoid late cancellations.


----------



## jenharring

ok I know this is an old post, but hopefully some one can help me.  If we plan to go 2x a year.  Once for a short trip in Febuary and then a week to 10 days in May when would a good use year be for us.  Thanks
We will using a studio in Feb and a 2 bedroom in May.  What is the mim amount of points we would need?


----------



## chalee94

ok I know this is an old post, but hopefully some one can help me.  If we plan to go 2x a year.  Once for a short trip in Febuary and then a week to 10 days in May when would a good use year be for us. 

a feb UY would be ideal.  but stay away from the summer months like jun and aug and any other UY would probably work fine.

We will using a studio in Feb and a 2 bedroom in May.  What is the mim amount of points we would need?

there are point charts for the different resorts linked above - you can calculate how many pts you need at your favorite DVC resorts and go from there.


----------



## jenharring

thanks as it looks we will need around 275 points or so.  Depending on if we go in jan or feb.  thanks so much


----------



## DVCGeek

jenharring said:


> thanks as it looks we will need around 275 points or so.  Depending on if we go in jan or feb.  thanks so much



Don't forget to add in some extra points because the charts can and have changed (compare 2009 and 2010s to get a feel for what kind of thing MIGHT happen again!)


----------



## chalee94

jenharring said:


> thanks as it looks we will need around 275 points or so.  Depending on if we go in jan or feb.  thanks so much



if you might go in january, don't get a feb use year...maybe back up and get an oct or dec UY.  (it won't matter unless you have to cancel a reservation, but it's better to get a UY where you don't travel in the last 3-4 months before the start of your UY.)


----------



## jenharring

chalee94 said:


> if you might go in january, don't get a feb use year...maybe back up and get an oct or dec UY.  (it won't matter unless you have to cancel a reservation, but it's better to get a UY where you don't travel in the last 3-4 months before the start of your UY.)



ok so oct it is.  So do you get to pic your uy or is it when you buy in or close?


----------



## Sandisw

jenharring said:


> ok so oct it is.  So do you get to pic your uy or is it when you buy in or close?



If you are buying direct through Disney, you can request the UY that works for you.  As long as they still have points to sell for that UY, they will give it to you.

If you are looking at BLT or VGC, I know that all UY's are still available and I believe it is even the case with AKV and SSR.

And, if you are adding on at AKV or SSR, there is even a chance that the contract might come with 08 points since we are still in the Oct 08 UY.

Good luck!


----------



## Aubie881

Ok here is what i am thinking, can you tell me if this works.  I can buy 50points June10 UY.  I want to make a first week of May trip every other year starting May2011.
June 2010 50pts.

May 2011 need 32 more points, borrow them from June 2011.  Can i bank the rest of my June 2011 points to June 2012. Hoping yes.

June 2012 50pts + my 18 remaining pts from June 2011.

May 2013 I have 68 points(50June12+18banked from 11). Need 34 more points,borrow from June 2013. Leaving 16 June 2013 pts. Bank these to June 2014

June 2014 50pts + 16pts from 2013

May 2015 I have 66pts.  Borrow some points from June 2015

Continue this pattern on and on.  Is this possible and if not where am I going wrong. 
TIA


----------



## Sandisw

Aubie881 said:


> Ok here is what i am thinking, can you tell me if this works.  I can buy 50points June10 UY.  I want to make a first week of May trip every other year starting May2011.
> June 2010 50pts.
> 
> May 2011 need 32 more points, borrow them from June 2011.  Can i bank the rest of my June 2011 points to June 2012. Hoping yes.
> 
> June 2012 50pts + my 18 remaining pts from June 2011.
> 
> May 2013 I have 68 points(50June12+18banked from 11). Need 34 more points,borrow from June 2013. Leaving 16 June 2013 pts. Bank these to June 2014
> 
> June 2014 50pts + 16pts from 2013
> 
> May 2015 I have 66pts.  Borrow some points from June 2015
> 
> Continue this pattern on and on.  Is this possible and if not where am I going wrong.
> TIA



If your travel plans will be in May, June UY would probably be the worst for your trips.  If you ever had to cancel a trip less than 31 days out, you would only have until May 30th to use those points or you would lose them.

For May trips, a better UY would be April (or Feb or Mar).  You don't have to have the points in order to book your trips.  Are you thinking you need June UY so you can make a reservation in June for the following May (11 months later)?

You can book any trip 11 months in advance of check in at your home resort, regardless of UY.  You don't have to have the points when you make the reservations, they just need to be available at time of travel.

While your scenario would work, you would be in a borrowing situation most of the time and as I said, stuck if you ever had to cancel or change your ressie after the banking deadline, January 31st.  However, if you had, say, an April UY, your May 2011 trip, could be covered with both April 2010 and 2011 points, bank the rest, etc.  If you did ever have to cancel with borrowed points, at least you would have until March 31st of the next year to use them up.

HTH.


----------



## Aubie881

Ok,this is why I think a June UY is better for our travel needs,  Assuming we will never have to cancel a May trip.  You said my last post would work so here is what I think would happen with a April UY.  Icould be wrong as I have only been looking into this for a couple of weeks.  I want to start to travel May 2011 with a DVC resale then every other year.  With April UY is this right.

April 2010 50pts Bank to April 2011
April 2011 50 pts + 50 banked points
May 2011 need only 82 points, bank 18pts to April 2012
April 2012 50pts plus 18pts from 2011
If staying with my May every other year travel would I not lose my2011 pts, with a May 2013 trip.  
Could i Travel May 2012 by borrowing some points from 2013.  I think this pattern would just change my travel to even number years.  

 My head is starting to pound, I did not think that buying into DVC could be so stressfull.


----------



## chalee94

Aubie881 said:


> Could i Travel May 2012 by borrowing some points from 2013.  I think this pattern would just change my travel to even number years.



you could rent the 2010 pts or else just wait and look for a stripped april contract with pts coming in 2011...you'd probably save a few bucks.

not a big deal...but probably a better idea to get the april UY in case you have to cancel...


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## Sandisw

Aubie881 said:


> Ok,this is why I think a June UY is better for our travel needs,  Assuming we will never have to cancel a May trip.  You said my last post would work so here is what I think would happen with a April UY.  Icould be wrong as I have only been looking into this for a couple of weeks.  I want to start to travel May 2011 with a DVC resale then every other year.  With April UY is this right.
> 
> April 2010 50pts Bank to April 2011
> April 2011 50 pts + 50 banked points
> May 2011 need only 82 points, bank 18pts to April 2012
> April 2012 50pts plus 18pts from 2011
> If staying with my May every other year travel would I not lose my2011 pts, with a May 2013 trip.
> Could i Travel May 2012 by borrowing some points from 2013.  I think this pattern would just change my travel to even number years.
> 
> My head is starting to pound, I did not think that buying into DVC could be so stressfull.



Yes, you could borrow the points from 2013 to travel in 2012 and then start going the even years.  What you may find, that you will want to add an extra night or so so you can use closer to your 100 points every other year (this leaves less of a chance of losing those points).

Good luck!


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## Aubie881

thanks, you have given great advice and I will surely use it in making my decision on UY.


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## laundrygal

>>If you see yourselves going in the late spring months, the Summer months and October - December, April would be better. (There is no May use year).

We have been thinking about DVC for some time, mostly so we can visit WDW about every 18 months (in May one year, then December the next, then 3rd year off). If I read this thread correctly, it seems like an April UY is the right choice. Do I have that right? Are there any other months that might be a better or at least comparable choice? If it matters, the 2nd-year December trip is more important to us than the May one. In the May year, we could ultimately be more flexible if required. 

We usually have the ability to plan and keep our vacations without disruption, but I can definitely appreciate the desire to avoid losing points unnecessarily due to the banking/holding rules. 

Thanks so much! DISboards has been EXTREMELY helpful to me in understanding DVC and the pros and cons!

-Sarah


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## chalee94

laundrygal said:


> >>If you see yourselves going in the late spring months, the Summer months and October - December, April would be better. (There is no May use year).
> 
> We have been thinking about DVC for some time, mostly so we can visit WDW about every 18 months (in May one year, then December the next, then 3rd year off). If I read this thread correctly, it seems like an April UY is the right choice. Do I have that right? Are there any other months that might be a better or at least comparable choice?



yep - april or december would both be good choices.

if you have to cancel your reservation and can do so more than 30 days in advance, either UY should work fine - you would still be within your banking window.  if you never have to cancel a reservation, your UY month will never matter.


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## mom2mizmous

We are an example of how your use year prefence may change.  When we bought our BCV ,  we were only able to get limited use years (or so we thought back then-lol)SOOO since we generally traveled during feb break, we took a sept use year.  Fast forward a few years, DH change of jobs and we NOW vacation mostly in JULY (NOT a good set up for SEPT use year).  So far we have been ok and will continue to keep our fingers crossed.  So as others have said , choose your use year wisely, but DO keep in mind your FUTURE vacation patterns MAY change


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## vellamint

I keep getting confused......can someone please help me?

We plan on vacation 2-3 more years in mid-end August and then I plan to travel oct-dec.....even over the dreaded christmas/new years holiday week.

What would be my best use year?


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## Sandisw

vellamint said:


> I keep getting confused......can someone please help me?
> 
> We plan on vacation 2-3 more years in mid-end August and then I plan to travel oct-dec.....even over the dreaded christmas/new years holiday week.
> 
> What would be my best use year?



August would work out well for you.  The ideal situation is to have your UY start just prior to your vacations.  With Aug, you would have until March 31st to bank points if you ever had to cancel the trip.

If you are buying resale, and want some flexibility (since you can't always find the UY that is ideal), June would also work out well.

Good luck!


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## vellamint

Sandisw said:


> August would work out well for you.  The ideal situation is to have your UY start just prior to your vacations.  With Aug, you would have until March 31st to bank points if you ever had to cancel the trip.
> 
> If you are buying resale, and want some flexibility (since you can't always find the UY that is ideal), June would also work out well.
> 
> Good luck!



Which UY would I DEFINITELY NOT want for my timeframes......  I am looking at resales and some are cheaper than others but cheap won't help me if I get a "bad" UY.

Thanks.


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## 5forDiz

vellamint said:


> Which UY would I DEFINITELY NOT want for my timeframes......  I am looking at resales and some are cheaper than others but cheap won't help me if I get a "bad" UY.
> 
> Thanks.




just in case you didn't know January,May,July and November are NOT
UYs.

I'd say August is good choice for travel months you mention.  September too, October works too.

Just keep in mind that ONLY CURRENT UY points will be bankable IF you cancel a reservation at least 31 days to check in date so borrowed and banked points used in your reservation will need to be utilized by the end of your UY.  If you cancel 30 days thru 1 day before check-in date points go into Holding Status and must be utilized by end of UY and may not be banked even if they are Current UY points ( there are some booking stipulations as well when points go into Holding too ).

Sometimes there is really no "ideal" UY if you plan to travel over a span of months - - best advice is probably to pick UY that will have your travel fall within first 8 months of that UY so jmho in your case I wouldn't consider:

~ June because the banking deadline is Jan 31 (not great for cancelling a Dec/Jan trip or Feb trip) but not the worst choice, and

~ prob not Feb either ( banking deadline is Sept 30 and end of UY Jan 31 is way TOO CLOSE for travel in Dec/Jan if you had to cancel & utilize points by end of UY - note that this is where you will come into a difficult situation if you have points that cannot be banked either because you are beyond the banking deadline OR you've cancelled between 30 days thru 1 day before checkin OR you've got banked and borrowed points in your reservation -- you wouldn't want to be sooo close to the end of your UY that leaves you very little time to utilize those points that you've got no choice but to make use of before the UY ends.

~  March pretty much same as Feb because of banking deadline of Oct 31 & UY ending on Feb 28 or 29 

~ April probably isn't best either because banking deadline is Nov 30 ( again, not good for cancelling Dec/Jan or Feb travel ) and also anything beyond banking window or non-bankable needs to be utilized in a reservation that ends before April 1st so that leaves you approx 3 months if you cancelled mid-late December trip, etc.

I mention travel during January because you did make mention of Jan in your post and also because that is a great time to travel to WDW with DVC because point usage is SUPER LOW !!!!! ( February isn't too bad either point usage-wise )


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## Sandisw

vellamint said:


> Which UY would I DEFINITELY NOT want for my timeframes......  I am looking at resales and some are cheaper than others but cheap won't help me if I get a "bad" UY.
> 
> Thanks.



For those Oct/Nov/Dec trips you may want to do in the future, I would stay away from Feb and March.  Even April works, as you would have until Nov 30th to cancel and still bank points--that would cover your Dec trips since you have to cancel at least 31 days in advance to avoid points going into holding.

Good luck!!!


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## tekmom

Hi, we only go to WDW in July and August.  For a resale BCV (or any)what would be a good use year?  How many points would be a good start?  200? or less?


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## chalee94

Hi, we only go to WDW in July and August.  For a resale BCV (or any)what would be a good use year?  

anything before july: june might be ideal (and also work fine for holiday trips in the winter) but a feb/mar UY might make potential spring break trips easier.

How many points would be a good start?  200? or less?

i started with 40 a few years back so i could pay cash.  (on the down side, now i definitely need a few more.)  look at the point charts linked above and figure out how you would tend to use DVC...then calculate how many points you would need...  it's very individual, but 160 would give you more options if you intended to trade out for other timeshares.


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## amelia1

Okay.....I'm really trying to understand this UY thing.  Really!  I'm not getting it though. 
So...if we were to travel in March, June, August, and even December...would a good UY for us be April?  
I'm sorry to be such a dope!


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## Sandisw

amelia1 said:


> Okay.....I'm really trying to understand this UY thing.  Really!  I'm not getting it though.
> So...if we were to travel in March, June, August, and even December...would a good UY for us be April?
> I'm sorry to be such a dope!



Since you have a lot of months that you like to travel, I would say Dec UY would be good.  The rule it to try and travel during the first 8 months of the UY so that if you have to cancel a trip, you still have time to bank points (or if you are going on borrowed points and have to cancel, you still have time to use those points before your UY ends as borrowed points can't be returned).

With Dec UY, you would be able to cancel for all your trips since you have until July 31st to bank points.  This would work even for August trips as you must cancel at least 31 days out to prevent points from going into holding.

Good luck!


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## amelia1

I just don't get that UY thing so I'm glad there are people like you out there!!!


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## vellamint

Okay!  Back from my vacation and DVC tour.  Just want to make sure I have the UY understood correctly.

Poster above stated "pick a UY that will have your travel fall within first 8 months of THAT UY".

With that reasoning.....with plans on traveling from August through February.....an August use year would be best for me....correct?

(I know...I widened my vacationing months....but using the "first 8 months of the UY" scenario I figured it would work).


----------



## chalee94

vellamint said:


> With that reasoning.....with plans on traveling from August through February.....an August use year would be best for me....correct?



yes.  if you would very rarely travel from april/may through july, then august is a really good choice.


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## pnyltwk

x


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## CarolMN

pnyltwk said:


> We have a March UY.  Back when we joined we did not know anything at all about this.  From my perspective I would say that the UY has little impact.  We seem to always be borrowing points so they never expire anyway.


Apparently,you've been lucky in that you  have not had to cancel a vacation that occurs late in your use year.  That is when use year becomes important.   

If you cancel a vacation more than 31 days in advance of arrival, are past your banking deadline and cannot reschedule before the end of your use year, then the returned points expire at the end of your use year.    If you were NOT past your banking deadline, you could at least save the current use year points (not the borrowed points) by banking them.



pnyltwk said:


> The UY does not impact when you can make reservations, only when the points will be posted to your account.


True that it doesn't impact when you can make reservations.  

But actually, all of your points are already in your account for all use years.  You match your desired vacation dates with your use year dates to determine the  use year the points will be deducted from.  If necessary, you can borrow points from the next use year or use points that were banked from the previous use year.  

Once banked or borrowed, a point must be used in the use year into which it was banked or borrowed.  Otherwise they expire.  Banking and borrowing are not reversible.



pnyltwk said:


> Just take lots of vacations and alway borrow points and be happy.


I'm glad that this method has worked for you.    I wouldn't recommend it to others, though.  It has it's own set of risks and could result in the loss of points.

IMO, it's best to take the time to understand all of the various rules around use year, points and reservations.  Then you can make informed decisions and minimize your chances of losing points.


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## pnyltwk

x]


----------



## Otootles

Thanks to Carol , and others for all the useful insights and info for those of us that don't know all of the ins and outs of DVC.  I appreciate the patience that you have with all of us rookies!


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## starwarsdisney

This UY stuff is a little confusing to me. We are about to buy 100 points at AKV through Disney. We are going to get 2008 points (to used anywhere as I understand it) and 2009 points. The kicker here is that we don't have kids and don't have a specifc time of year that we always travel. We do know that we will avoid traveling during the last part of June, all of July, and all of August because those are peak capacity times and a little hot! Everything else is pretty open for us. What would be a good UY month for us? I'm thinking we would rather have September or October UY month rather than December. Thoughts?


----------



## Sandisw

starwarsdisney said:


> This UY stuff is a little confusing to me. We are about to buy 100 points at AKV through Disney. We are going to get 2008 points (to used anywhere as I understand it) and 2009 points. The kicker here is that we don't have kids and don't have a specifc time of year that we always travel. We do know that we will avoid traveling during the last part of June, all of July, and all of August because those are peak capacity times and a little hot! Everything else is pretty open for us. What would be a good UY month for us? I'm thinking we would rather have September or October UY month rather than December. Thoughts?



I agree, Sept or Oct UY, would work well if the LEAST likely time of travel is June, July and August.

Out of those 2, IMO, I would go with September.  With Sept UY, all your trips through May would be covered if you ever had to cancel 31 days out as you would still be in the banking window (which is April 30th).

Those early June trips would be the only ones that could potentially be at risk, but since that is such a small time, the bulk of your travel would fall within the timeframe to give you a lot of flexibility to use points.

The fact that your travel times are varied, UY is of less importance than if you have a set time to go so really, any will work for you!


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## 5forDiz

starwarsdisney said:


> This UY stuff is a little confusing to me. We are about to buy 100 points at AKV through Disney. We are going to get 2008 points (to used anywhere as I understand it) and 2009 points. The kicker here is that we don't have kids and don't have a specifc time of year that we always travel. We do know that we will avoid traveling during the last part of June, all of July, and all of August because those are peak capacity times and a little hot! Everything else is pretty open for us. What would be a good UY month for us? I'm thinking we would rather have September or October UY month rather than December. Thoughts?




Rule of thumb is to pick UY in which you will not travel during last 4 months of that UY.   Main idea behind this is time - still within your banking window time & time remaining before you reach end of UY:  

 your banking deadline will be last day of 8th month of your UY so you'd want to plan travel during first 8 months so that in event of cancellation as long as you did so AT LEAST 31 days or more before check-in date you would still then be able to bank the Current Use Year points used in reservation;  if you cancelled between 30 days thru 1 day before check-in then those Current UY points would need to be re-used for another trip before UY ends.  Also, in event of cancellation in a reservation that has Banked &/or Borrowed points in it  you would have at least 4 months to end of your UY to reuse those Banked or Borrowed points used in that reservation towards a new trip before the UY ends (because banked pts are never re-bankable & borrowed pts can't be put back into UY theyre originally from )

September or October sounds like it would work well for travel habits you described.  But if for some reason your travel habits ever changed to reflect typical school summertime vacation schedules then September or October wouldn't be.

just fyi, January  May  July & November are not Use Years.


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## starwarsdisney

5forDiz said:


> Rule of thumb is to pick UY in which you will not travel during last 4 months of that UY.   Main idea behind this is time - still within your banking window time & time remaining before you reach end of UY:
> 
> your banking deadline will be last day of 8th month of your UY so you'd want to plan travel during first 8 months so that in event of cancellation as long as you did so AT LEAST 31 days or more before check-in date you would still then be able to bank the Current Use Year points used in reservation;  if you cancelled between 30 days thru 1 day before check-in then those Current UY points would need to be re-used for another trip before UY ends.  Also, in event of cancellation in a reservation that has Banked &/or Borrowed points in it  you would have at least 4 months to end of your UY to reuse those Banked or Borrowed points used in that reservation towards a new trip before the UY ends (because banked pts are never re-bankable & borrowed pts can't be put back into UY theyre originally from )
> 
> September or October sounds like it would work well for travel habits you described.  But if for some reason your travel habits ever changed to reflect typical school summertime vacation schedules then September or October wouldn't be.
> 
> just fyi, January  May  July & November are not Use Years.



Just found out that we will have a December UY. Not happy about that but it could be worse. We are more likly to travel late September through December so this UY leaves us little room to spare. If you were to have to cancel due to a family emergency do that take that into consideration? That is the only reason I see us having to cancel a trip.

So if I'm understanding all of this correctly. Our year will run December 1st 2009 through November 30th 2010. We would have to bank points by July 31st 2010 for the 2011 year right? Banked points would be good until November 30th 2012 right? Borrowed points from 2013 would also be good until November 30th 2012 right? This is not our plan, but I just want to make sure I understand all of this.

We would get our points as follows.

December 2009
December 2010
December 2011
December 2012 
Etc.


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## chalee94

Just found out that we will have a December UY. Not happy about that but it could be worse. We are more likly to travel late September through December so this UY leaves us little room to spare. If you were to have to cancel due to a family emergency do that take that into consideration? 

i don't believe so.  they may allow a one-time late banking if you miss the deadline, but from what i understand that's a one-time-only kind of deal.  you'd probably have to rent the reservation on short notice or else give it away to family or friends that could use it on short notice.  sorry.  (hopefully it will never be an issue.)

So if I'm understanding all of this correctly. Our year will run December 1st 2009 through November 30th 2010. 

that would be your 2009 use year.  yes.

We would have to bank points by July 31st 2010 for the 2011 year right?

no.  banking pts by july 31, 2010 would move the 2009 pts into your 2010 use year.

dec use years are weird since most of your 2009 use year takes place in 2010...but you'll get used to it and figure it out.

Banked points would be good until November 30th 2012 right? 

your banked 2009 pts will expire on nov 30, 2011.

Borrowed points from 2013 would also be good until November 30th 2012 right? 

actually, borrowed pts from the 2013 use year would be good until nov 30, 2013.  (it's not you - it really is complicated.)


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## 5forDiz

starwarsdisney said:


> ........Just found out that we will have a December UY. Not happy about that but it could be worse. We are more likly to travel late September through December so this UY leaves us little room to spare.........




jmho, I'd decline December UY. It's your $ & they'll not want to lose the sale and so don't hesitate to tell DVC what Use Year YOU WANT that works best for your travel habits and if that is travelling September through December then December is not good UY choice.....ideally it'd be September but August is good choice too -  now it may take a bit of a wait for them to acquire points for September or August UY (or maybe no wait at all) but imo it'd be worth the wait if you had to.

Good luck & post back how things go


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## starwarsdisney

5forDiz said:


> jmho, I'd decline December UY. It's your $ & they'll not want to lose the sale and so don't hesitate to tell DVC what Use Year YOU WANT that works best for your travel habits and if that is travelling September through December then December is not good UY choice.....ideally it'd be September but August is good choice too -  now it may take a bit of a wait for them to acquire points for September or August UY (or maybe no wait at all) but imo it'd be worth the wait if you had to.
> 
> Good luck & post back how things go




I asked our Disney agent about switching the UY month. Unfortunatly to get the 2008 points they only have December UY month left (and who doesn't want free points). I'm not to worried about it since we've never canceled a vacation. The only way that I could see us canceling is a family emergency or hurricane and we tend to not travel down there during hurricane season.


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## 5forDiz

starwarsdisney said:


> I asked our Disney agent about switching the UY month. Unfortunatly to get the 2008 points they only have December UY month left (and who doesn't want free points). I'm not to worried about it since we've never canceled a vacation. The only way that I could see us canceling is a family emergency or hurricane and we tend to not travel down there during hurricane season.




I see your point re wanting to get 2008 UY points when you make your purchase.   Our family too has been fortunate never needing to last minute cancel.  There is trip insurance that some here have mentioned purchasing but we've never done that ( I kinda feel like doing that almost puts a jinx on the trip  ) but some like extra security -- idk exactly how it works so can't help you out on the details.    Just wanted to mention something about booking reservations, in case you didn't read it as of yet :  you may always call MS as early as 11 months before check-in date you want to book at your Home Resort; you do not have to wait until your UY month rolls around to make reservation - - some do get confused with this and think they actually have to wait until the UY begins to make reservation especially if they're borrowing points but that's not the case because MS will view your account and see what banked points you may have available and what current UY points will be available and what points you can borrow to book your reservation.

Best wishes


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## starwarsdisney

5forDiz said:


> I see your point re wanting to get 2008 UY points when you make your purchase.   Our family too has been fortunate never needing to last minute cancel.  There is trip insurance that some here have mentioned purchasing but we've never done that ( I kinda feel like doing that almost puts a jinx on the trip  ) but some like extra security -- idk exactly how it works so can't help you out on the details.    Just wanted to mention something about booking reservations, in case you didn't read it as of yet :  you may always call MS as early as 11 months before check-in date you want to book at your Home Resort; you do not have to wait until your UY month rolls around to make reservation - - some do get confused with this and think they actually have to wait until the UY begins to make reservation especially if they're borrowing points but that's not the case because MS will view your account and see what banked points you may have available and what current UY points will be available and what points you can borrow to book your reservation.
> 
> Best wishes



We actually have always purchased the trip insurance (we like the piece of mind it gives us). Thanks for the info, it really is a lot to take in at first.


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## mariepapa

Okay, jumping on the bandwagon. We are considering purchasing. We will likely take vacations during school breaks: Febraury (maybe), April, December and maybe in summer. I am thinking an April or December use year would be our best bet after reading through these posts. Of course, now I have to figure out how many points we really want and we will likely do resale. Disney itself is just too much I think.

BTW, everyone here is so helpful and nice!!!!


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## 5kwallace

We are buying at BLT.  We received our paperwork yesterday.  My use year is March.  We travel in April & November/December each year.  Is March a good use year for us?  I just can't seem to understand how this works.  What do you think?  Thanks in advance.


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## chalee94

5kwallace said:


> We are buying at BLT.  We received our paperwork yesterday.  My use year is March.  We travel in April & November/December each year.  Is March a good use year for us?  I just can't seem to understand how this works.  What do you think?  Thanks in advance.



if you never travel in the summer, just ask for an oct UY.


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## nu2dvc

chalee94 said:


> if you never travel in the summer, just ask for an oct UY.



I'm still trying to figure all this out myself, so can somebody please explain if I am not understanding something correctly.
If PP picked an October use year and likes to travel in Apr./Nov./Dec. she would have a problem if she had to cancel a Nov./Dec. trip in say, September or October, right? she would be past her banking deadline and it wouldn't give her time to plan another trip before her UY rolls over.  Isn't that right?


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## chalee94

nu2dvc said:


> If PP picked an October use year and likes to travel in Apr./Nov./Dec. she would have a problem if she had to cancel a Nov./Dec. trip in say, September or October, right?



assuming the poster is booking the stay with current year pts:

they would have booked a nov 2010 trip with 2010 pts (good from oct 1, 2010 thru sep 30, 2011) - so their banking window for those pts closes on jul 31, 2011.  if they want to cancel the nov 2010 trip in sep/oct 2010, they would still have nearly a year to decide whether to bank the 2010 pts or not.

take some time and write down what points you are using from what use year as discussed in the opening post...it will be easier if you have it in front of you.


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## nu2dvc

Thanks Chalee...hopefully I'll reach the point where I actually get all this stuff.  I'd hate to drop the ball and screw up my points, use them incorrectly and lose any of them.  This forum has been much more helpful than just hearing the standard explanation from my guide.


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## chalee94

the important thing to remember is that UY has nothing at all to do with when you can call and book your stay.  you can call to book your home resort 11 months ahead of time.

while banking rules have changed over the years, the general rule to remember is that travelling early in your use year will give you more options if you should have to cancel.  

even if the imaginary poster with the oct UY used banked 2009 pts or borrowed 2011 pts for their stay in nov 2010 - which would mean that those pts would necessarily expire at the end of the 2010 UY - they would still have more time to decide whether to use the pts themselves or rent them out before they expire in sep 2011 than they would if they were travelling at the end of their use year (say, in aug/sept 2011).


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## shancan911

Insomniac here.  After reading this thread, I think I'm more confused than before.  We just bought BLT last week(October)  Our UY is March, I know DH has to bank points like this week.  So, did we get 2009 points? If so, that's like a discount, right? Because we didn't pay for March  through September?  I'll get it all some day.  I was on a cruise, and worried about DS getting his missed schoolwork done, and could not understand or come up with questions at the appropriate time, and now I'm lost


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## Sandisw

shancan911 said:


> Insomniac here.  After reading this thread, I think I'm more confused than before.  We just bought BLT last week(October)  Our UY is March, I know DH has to bank points like this week.  So, did we get 2009 points? If so, that's like a discount, right? Because we didn't pay for March  through September?  I'll get it all some day.  I was on a cruise, and worried about DS getting his missed schoolwork done, and could not understand or come up with questions at the appropriate time, and now I'm lost



Yes, when you bought BLT, they gave you current UY points since we are still in the 2009 March UY.

Since you just bought, you are only going to pay MF's for 2009 from now until the end of the year so in a way, you are getting a deal as MF's are based on the calendar year and not the UY.

If you have 2009 points that you are not using, you have until October 31st to get them banked.  As a new buyer, I do think they give you a bit of a leeway but if you have your member number already, give MS a call and get them banked (or go on DVC member website and bank them there).

Congratulations!!!


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## DISNEMOM

subscribing


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## Toad_Passenger

Okay, I'm running this through here to see if I'm grasping this 100%.

Let's use a December UY in my example.

On 12/1/09 I get 150 points which can be used for 12/1/09 - 12/1/10 ressies.
If I know I'm not going to be vacationing during that time period, I may bank those points.

That would mean on 12/1/10 I would get 150 points to be used in 2011.  Plus the 150 points that were banked.

However, once I bank my first 150 points (say in April of 2010), if I want to make a reservation for February of 2011, would I be able to with those banked points, even though I haven't been given my additional 150 points for 2011?


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## chalee94

Toad_Passenger said:


> However, once I bank my first 150 points (say in April of 2010), if I want to make a reservation for February of 2011, would I be able to with those banked points, even though I haven't been given my additional 150 points for 2011?



from page 1:



> *Remember, use year has nothing to do with when you may call to make a reservation. *All of your points are actually "in your account". You don't have to wait until your use year begins to have access to your points - you just have to match your vacation dates to the use year it falls within, and then make sure you have enough points in that use year to make the desired reservation.



your 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 pts are all already in your account.  step 1 is to determine that feb 2011 is in your 2010 use year.  so you can call in march 2010 to make a reservation at your home resort in feb 2011 using any combination of:

*banked 2009 pts 
*current 2010 pts
*borrowed 2011 pts

(december is more confusing as a use year because 2009 pts are mostly usable in 2010 and so on.)



Toad_Passenger said:


> That would mean on 12/1/10 I would get 150 points to be used in 2011.  Plus the 150 points that were banked.



to clarify: the pts you "get" on 12/1/10 are *2010* use year pts, even though you are likely to use them in 2011.  when you call in march 2010 to book feb 2011, you would be using "current" pts from your 2010 use year along with the banked pts from your 2009 use year.


----------



## Toad_Passenger

chalee94 said:


> to clarify: the pts you "get" on 12/1/10 are *2010* use year pts, even though you are likely to use them in 2011.  when you call in march 2010 to book feb 2011, you would be using "current" pts from your 2010 use year along with the banked pts from your 2009 use year.



So, since they are already considered "in the account" I would actually have 300 points to spend on the February 2011 ressies?

Interesting.  Thanks.


----------



## chalee94

Toad_Passenger said:


> So, since they are already considered "in the account" I would actually have 300 points to spend on the February 2011 ressies?



yes.  or you could even borrow your dec 2011 pts when you make the call in march 2010 to spend a total of up to 450 pts on your feb 2011 stay...


----------



## Sandisw

Toad_Passenger said:


> So, since they are already considered "in the account" I would actually have 300 points to spend on the February 2011 ressies?
> 
> Interesting.  Thanks.



Technically, you have all your points when you buy and they just become current UY points every year at the start of your UY.

The easiest way to understand how to know what points can be used for the reservations is to first figure out what UY your trip will happen.  Once you know that, you can always "pay" with banked points from the prior UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the next UY.

Dec UY can be tricky to get because your current UY is typically the calendar year before the year we are in.  Dec 2010 UY covers travel for most of 2011 (January - November).


----------



## disneymath

We typically travel to WDW the last half of August - evn if we buy DVC I can't see this changing much as it is the best value point-wise over the summer.  We may occasionally travel in early December.  When I retire (more than 20 yrs from now), I could see early December and January/February trips replacing the August ones.

Am I correct in thinking that August would be our best UY with June being the runner up?  With an August UY, points would have to be banked by April 3oth, right? If so, this would even cover the unlikely event of my booking a March Break trip.


----------



## Sammie

Sandisw said:


> Technically, you have all your points when you buy and they just become current UY points every year at the start of your UY.
> 
> The easiest way to understand how to know what points can be used for the reservations is to first figure out what UY your trip will happen.  Once you know that, you can always "pay" with banked points from the prior UY, current UY points, and borrowed points from the next UY.
> 
> Dec UY can be tricky to get because your current UY is typically the calendar year before the year we are in.  Dec 2010 UY covers travel for most of 2011 (January - November).



This is possibly one of the best explanations ever.


----------



## Sammie

disneymath said:


> We typically travel to WDW the last half of August - evn if we buy DVC I can't see this changing much as it is the best value point-wise over the summer.  We may occasionally travel in early December.  When I retire (more than 20 yrs from now), I could see early December and January/February trips replacing the August ones.
> 
> Am I correct in thinking that August would be our best UY with June being the runner up?  With an August UY, points would have to be banked by April 3oth, right? If so, this would even cover the unlikely event of my booking a March Break trip.



Not sure which would be best but can tell you for those of us that book most of our trips for August, having an Oct. use year which we do, is not good.


----------



## Sandisw

disneymath said:


> We typically travel to WDW the last half of August - evn if we buy DVC I can't see this changing much as it is the best value point-wise over the summer.  We may occasionally travel in early December.  When I retire (more than 20 yrs from now), I could see early December and January/February trips replacing the August ones.
> 
> Am I correct in thinking that August would be our best UY with June being the runner up?  With an August UY, points would have to be banked by April 3oth, right? If so, this would even cover the unlikely event of my booking a March Break trip.



Yes, August would be ideal for your trips with June coming in right behind.  We have June UY because I teach and travel to WDW beginning to mid August.  Last summer, I was making changes to our reservation right up to the 31 day mark (trying to get different resorts for our 1st DVC stay!).

Having the UY that falls right before your typical travel really does give you the most flexibility if you need to change or cancel a trip (at least 31 days out--after that the points go in to holding and then there are different rules) since you have those first 8 months to bank points.

The other piece is with borrowed points.  Once borrowed, they can not be returned and expire at the end of the UY they are borrowed in to.  When you travel at the beginning of the UY and have to change/cancel, it gives you a lot of time to reschedule so you can use up those borrowed points.


----------



## disneymath

Sammie said:


> Not sure which would be best but can tell you for those of us that book most of our trips for August, having an Oct. use year which we do, is not good.


 
Okay, so October is definitely not even a consideration then!



Sandisw said:


> Yes, August would be ideal for your trips with June coming in right behind.


 
Thanks for confirming this for me!


----------



## CarolMN

Bumping up - Original Post updated with a more timely example. 

Let me know if there are any typos or anything "hinky" with the details.  I think I got all the dates correct, but you never know, LOL.


----------



## Illini Al

Potential "future owner" question. After reading the OP multiple times, I may be getting the hang of this, but if I ever become an owner, I can see using Excel to manage all of my current, banked, and borrowed points several years out. Has anyone ever created a detailed Excel spreadsheet to track and manage point usage?


----------



## Corwin

We just got back from WDW and bought 160 points in BLT with a September UY.

Our guide originally wanted to assign us a February UY, but we don't have a vacation planned until August 2011, and he wanted us to be able to use our 2009 points for that vacation. So we got a September UY.

Reading this thread, it looks like we got the worst possible use year, as we usually travel in late August. 

We are still within the 10-day rescission period, so I am strongly considering calling my guide and switching our use year, or cancelling the purchase if they won't switch it.

If we usually travel in late August, our September UY is not good, right? What months would be better?

If we get an August UY, or the February UY that we were originally offered, our 2009 points will expire before we can use them for our August 2011 visit. In that case, are we better off renting the points, or just living with the September UY so that we can use them for our August 2011 visit?

Thanks very much for any help!


----------



## chalee94

If we usually travel in late August, our September UY is not good, right? 

if you have to cancel in june (for example), you'd be past your banking window and would risk the pts expiring unused.

What months would be better?

when else do you travel?  if you never travel in jan-feb-march, then an april UY might be best.  if you always travel in august, then an august UY would be best...but things can change over several decades regardless...

If we get an August UY, or the February UY that we were originally offered, our 2009 points will expire before we can use them for our August 2011 visit. In that case, are we better off renting the points, or just living with the September UY so that we can use them for our August 2011 visit?

if you never have to cancel, then UY is a non-issue.  the tradeoffs just depend on your individual situation...


----------



## Corwin

chalee94 said:


> If we usually travel in late August, our September UY is not good, right?
> 
> if you have to cancel in june (for example), you'd be past your banking window and would risk the pts expiring unused.
> 
> What months would be better?
> 
> when else do you travel?  if you never travel in jan-feb-march, then an april UY might be best.  if you always travel in august, then an august UY would be best...but things can change over several decades regardless...
> 
> If we get an August UY, or the February UY that we were originally offered, our 2009 points will expire before we can use them for our August 2011 visit. In that case, are we better off renting the points, or just living with the September UY so that we can use them for our August 2011 visit?
> 
> if you never have to cancel, then UY is a non-issue.  the tradeoffs just depend on your individual situation...


We have one child who is 13 years old. We don't like to take him out of school, so as long as he is going with us, we'd generally only be travelling during the February school break, the April school break, or the summer.

Although we just got back from a February visit (during school break), we usually travel in late August right before school starts.

I was thinking that a February UY might be best.


----------



## chalee94

Corwin said:


> ...we'd generally only be travelling during the February school break, the April school break, or the summer.
> 
> Although we just got back from a February visit (during school break), we usually travel in late August right before school starts.
> 
> I was thinking that a February UY might be best.



no UY covers every month of the year.  a feb UY would work well if you primarily travel feb through august.

but if you do eventually travel in nov or dec, try not to use banked/borrowed pts and hope you don't need to cancel...


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## KBoopaloo

Thank you for this thread, it answered a lot of questions for me. I do just want to ask a specific question to be sure I understand everything properly.

First things first...we have 160 points with a December Use Year. 

We are planning a large family vacation for 2011 using banked 2009 points(available to us 12/1/09), current 2010 points(available 12/1/10) and some borrowed 2011 points (available 12/1/11). 

Our original plan was to travel in April 2011 but thanks to the way Easter falls that year, we are considering traveling at the end of February instead. If I were to book the February dates now and then we decided to change to April, when I called to cancel the February dates, I would still be able to use the banked and borrowed points as long as I rebooked for dates before 11/30/11, correct?

I think much of my confusion comes from the December Use Year which makes our points always seem like they are being used a year late.


----------



## Sandisw

KBoopaloo said:


> Thank you for this thread, it answered a lot of questions for me. I do just want to ask a specific question to be sure I understand everything properly.
> 
> First things first...we have 160 points with a December Use Year.
> 
> We are planning a large family vacation for 2011 using banked 2009 points(available to us 12/1/09), current 2010 points(available 12/1/10) and some borrowed 2011 points (available 12/1/11).
> 
> Our original plan was to travel in April 2011 but thanks to the way Easter falls that year, we are considering traveling at the end of February instead. If I were to book the February dates now and then we decided to change to April, when I called to cancel the February dates, I would still be able to use the banked and borrowed points as long as I rebooked for dates before 11/30/11, correct?
> 
> I think much of my confusion comes from the December Use Year which makes our points always seem like they are being used a year late.



Yes, both the February and April 2011 trips fall in your 2010 UY.  That means you can used banked 2009 points, current 2010 points, and borrowed 2011 points to pay for either of these trips.  And, your 2009 banked points do indeed expire by 11/30/11.

I do agree with you that with a Dec UY, the majority of your travel happens in the next calendar year.  But, if you simply remember to first figure out the UY you are traveling, then figuring out the points that can be used becomes easier--ie: If you travel in your 2012 UY, than you can use banked 2011, 2012 and borrowed 2013 points.

Have a great time!


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## KBoopaloo

Thank you so much! I thought I had it figured out but wanted to be sure.


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## NJ2Boardwalk

I hope June is good. We have gone mostly over summer but also late October and early November. Can we make a reservation as soon as we close or do we have to wait until June 1st. Listen to me - like we own already, we still have to pass ROFR, I pray  It is Disney though I can dream *BIG*


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## 5forDiz

NJ2Boardwalk said:


> I hope June is good. We have gone mostly over summer but also late October and early November. Can we make a reservation as soon as we close or do we have to wait until June 1st. Listen to me - like we own already, we still have to pass ROFR, I pray  It is Disney though I can dream *BIG*



You do not wait for your Use Year month to come around to make a DVC reservation;  you can make a reservation at your Home Resort as early as 11 months before the check-in date you would like (ie to reserve at your Home Resort for check-in on Feb 20 2011 you may call on Mar 20 2010).
For non-Home Resorts you can make a reservation as early as 7 months before check-in date you'd like.    

June is good UY if you travel summer through December/January:  banking deadline for June UY is January 31 so based upon what you say are your travel habits, June UY would work well.

Sending lots of pixie dust your way that you'll hear you've passed ROFR real soon


----------



## DVCGeek

NJ2Boardwalk said:


> Can we make a reservation as soon as we close



Since this sounds like a resale I believe it may take another few weeks after you close with the seller before Disney has you in the system, but as others said you do NOT have to wait until your use month, just the 11/7 month ressie rules.

FYI, if you buy directly from the Mouse you don't even have to wait until you close; you can make a ressie the day you pay your deposit in many cases - for my add-ons the points were showing online before I even got the paperwork to sign!


----------



## johnsbelt

Illini Al said:


> Potential "future owner" question. After reading the OP multiple times, I may be getting the hang of this, but if I ever become an owner, I can see using Excel to manage all of my current, banked, and borrowed points several years out. Has anyone ever created a detailed Excel spreadsheet to track and manage point usage?



I built one as I'm also looking into ownership as well.  What I did was attempting to accomplish with the spreadsheet was to look at payback on a resale for a small number of points (40-50) since the wife and I would be interested in going to WDW every other year usually in the fall, and for about 5 days in a studio.  Columns were labeled Month, Trans Type (purchase, interest, amount of transaction, Balance, Points available (past, cur, future), MF per point (adjusted for 3.5% inflation), Value per point (rack rate of a studio discounted 50%, adjusted for 5% annual inflation).  When I used points I subtracted them from the columns beginning with past, then current, then future).  At the beginning of my use year (used Feb since there seemed to be a lot of those on the resale mkt for BLT), I shifted the points from Current to Past, from Future to Current, and then added my new points into the Future.

All in all, using an interest rate of 1.35% (what I would get if the money were in a savings account at Discover Bank online), the payback was 4 trips over a 9 year period.

Hope this helps,
John


----------



## chrisatl

Hi everyone, thanks for the good information on the usage year. I just wanted to verify that I had this stuff figured out correctly.  We are about to buy a contract from Disney for BLT and our primary travel months would be March-July, and sometimes December (X-mas time). I am thinking that a December usage year would be a good choice - am I right? Thanks in advance!!


----------



## Sandisw

chrisatl said:


> Hi everyone, thanks for the good information on the usage year. I just wanted to verify that I had this stuff figured out correctly.  We are about to buy a contract from Disney for BLT and our primary travel months would be March-July, and sometimes December (X-mas time). I am thinking that a December usage year would be a good choice - am I right? Thanks in advance!!



Yes, December works well for those times of travel!  Good luck!!!


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## AimeeMichele

I have a meeting with a DVC guy when I'm in the World next month (looking to buy at BLT). He told me that they contracts currently have a use year of February. As we usually travel at the end of November, beginning of December and occassionally October I'm thinking a UY of February isn't ideal for me. What would the ideal UY be? Sorry, it's been a long day and I just can't seem to wrap my head around this. Thank you so much in advance!


----------



## Sandisw

AimeeMichele said:


> I have a meeting with a DVC guy when I'm in the World next month (looking to buy at BLT). He told me that they contracts currently have a use year of February. As we usually travel at the end of November, beginning of December and occassionally October I'm thinking a UY of February isn't ideal for me. What would the ideal UY be? Sorry, it's been a long day and I just can't seem to wrap my head around this. Thank you so much in advance!



With Oct, Nov, and Dec travel most of the time, I would ask for an Oct UY.  Having a UY that starts just prior to your typical vacation offers the most flexibility if you have to change or cancel a trip.


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## lisaann1170

This is incredibly helpful!  Thank you!


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## kristintrod

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation of use year.  I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of it now but there is one thing that I have read on different posts that is confusing me.  Many people suggest getting a use year in the same month as you plan on taking your vacation.  For example, if you vacation in June, then some people suggest a June use year.  How does that work?
We normally vacation in October or January.  I was thinking June would be the best use year because it would allow us to bank our points if we had to cancel in October or January but I'm wondering if October would be better.  Can someone help me out with this?  Thanks!


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## chalee94

Many people suggest getting a use year in the same month as you plan on taking your vacation.  For example, if you vacation in June, then some people suggest a June use year.  How does that work?  We normally vacation in October or January.  I was thinking June would be the best use year because it would allow us to bank our points if we had to cancel in October or January but I'm wondering if October would be better.  Can someone help me out with this?  

october is slightly better if you are traveling in oct and january.  put it this way:

if you cancel a january reservation less than a month out, your pts become "holding pts" - they can't be banked and can only be used for reservations within 60 days.  if you used any banked or borrowed pts, they also can't be banked.

so with an oct UY, you still have till the end of september to figure out how to use those pts.  with a jun UY, you have till the end of may.  even if you can't use them yourself it's probably nice to have the option to rent a reservation to the summer schoolkid crowd...

not a big difference.  a june UY and oct UY are both fine in most of your situations - if you cancel the jan reservation more than a month out, you can still bank your current pts - correct.  an oct UY just gives you a little longer to figure things out if a last minute cancellation messes up your pts.

but if you see a june UY contract for a good price, UY month probably shouldn't be a dealbreaker...that's true.


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## kristintrod

Thank you Charles!  That was very helpful.  So I do have a couple of follow up questions.  If we have an Oct. UY and we vacation in Oct, do the points come from the current year?  Are the points not withdrawn until the actual vacation?  So if we had to cancel for any reason, we wouldn't have to worry about banking points because they had not been deposited yet?


----------



## chalee94

If we have an Oct. UY and we vacation in Oct, do the points come from the current year?

my suspicion is that you might want to read the first post in this thread again.  

your oct 2011 UY pts are valid for stays from oct 1, 2011 to sept 30, 2012.  so if your planned stay is oct 10, 2011 for 6 nights - which occurs in your 2011 UY - you can call to book as early as nov 10, 2010 for your home resort.  and at that date, you would be calling to book with any combination of banked pts from 2010, current pts from 2011 and/or borrowed pts from 2012.  

so yes, i think that is what you are asking.  if you call in nov 2010 to book oct 2011 with an oct UY, the 2011 allotment used to book the reservation would be current pts - correct.

your first question is "what use year do the dates of my stay fall in?" (or something like that but more grammatically correct.)

Are the points not withdrawn until the actual vacation? So if we had to cancel for any reason, we wouldn't have to worry about banking points because they had not been deposited yet?

pts are no longer available for another use when you book the reservation - so if you banked your 2010 pts when you called in nov 2010 for an oct 2011 reservation, they are now in your 2011 UY and will expire on sept 30, 2012...if you needed to borrow any 2012 pts when you called in nov 2010 to complete the reservation, they are now in your 2011 UY and will expire on sept 30, 2012.  you can bank pts at any time prior to your banking window closing - borrowing only occurs if you need the pts to complete a specific reservation.

banking and borrowing are "final" which means you cannot put them back into their original UY.  so be sure when you book the reservation.

so for example, if you call in august 2011 to cancel that oct 2011 reservation, all the pts used will drop back into your 2011 UY.  any banked or borrowed pts will be stuck in the 2011 UY no matter what and will expire if not used for a stay by the night of sept 30, 2012 (the end of the oct 2011 UY).  any current 2011 pts can still be banked forward into 2012 (which means they would be valid for stays from oct 1, 2012 to sept 30, 2013).

also consider that if you booked a stay in nov 2010 for oct 2011 using 150 current 2011 pts and then in march 2011 you called to book a stay at a nonhome resort, you would most likely need to cancel the first reservation to rebook that oct 2011 stay for a new resort.  the 150 pts are considered "used" by the home resort reservation and would likely need to be freed up to book a replacement reservation.

one tricky thing is not to think about pts in terms of when they are "deposited."  my online account shows my pts through my 2013 UY.  i can't use those pts since my booking window for my home resort hasn't opened yet...but in a sense, they are already in my account.


----------



## Sandisw

kristintrod said:


> Thank you Charles!  That was very helpful.  So I do have a couple of follow up questions.  If we have an Oct. UY and we vacation in Oct, do the points come from the current year?  Are the points not withdrawn until the actual vacation?  So if we had to cancel for any reason, we wouldn't have to worry about banking points because they had not been deposited yet?



Everything is based on when you travel and not when you book the trip.  So, if you have an Oct UY, every Oct 1st, your points for that year go from being next years point to current UY points.

Say you want to travel in Oct 2012, which would be your Oct 2012 UY.  In November, 2011, you call to book that trip (since you can call to book 11 months in advance).  MS will look at your account and use any banked 2011 points, current 2012 UY points, and borrow any 2013 UY points you need.


----------



## EWL

Thank you for this post and all the extremely helpful information!  I am struggling to get my brain wrapped around this and my head is still kind of spinning in circles.  

If I am considering buying into DVC with a 75pt resale contract with the intent of traveling every 3 years, or at most every other year (since those are the only scenarios where I can get the numbers to look favorable for me), then I would be relying heavily on banking and borrowing to have 225pts every 3 years.  And I'm thinking that it also makes the choice of use year more important too.  So I want to have a good understanding of how this all would work.  

If I guess that we'd likely travel in August, but perhaps sometimes in June or July, and rarely but possibly at other times, what use year is our best bet?  

If I go with August for the sake of the example and buy in today, do I have this right:

1) On 8/1/2011, I get 75 points for the 2011 use year, which runs 8/1/2011 to 7/31/2012.

2) On 9/15/2011, I can call and book a reservation at my home resort (probably AKV) for August 15, 2012, (11 months prior) which falls in my 2012 use year, requiring 225 points.  At that time, all 75 of 2011 points would be banked, I would use my 2012 points, and borrow all 75 of my 2013 points.

3) If all is fine, I am done.  But if I need to cancel in February 2012, I get all my points back because I am more than 31 days before checkin, but I now have all 225 points in the 2012 use year.  (Right?  They stay in the year that the reservation was made?)

4)  If I act before the end of March 2012, I could bank 75 current year points into the 2013 use year, but would have to use the other 150 banked and borrowed points by the end of my 2012 use year or 7/31/2013.  But since it's only March, I would still be able to take advantage of the 11-month booking for summer 2013 so should have good options.

5) If I don't act before the end of March 2012, I am past the banking deadline so have to use all 225 by the end of my 2012 use year. (Right?)

6) If I cancel in July 2012, within 30 days of checkin, my 225 points all go into holding and I have to use them by the end of my 2012 use year but cannot book more than 60 days ahead.  If I don't use them, they're gone.

So using this approach, I would call at the 11-month window in September to book a trip for the following August;  I'd basically have until the end of March banking deadline to cancel if needed and either use 150 points the following June or July and bank 75 into the next year, or I could cancel up until July and use all 225 points the following June or July or whenever but with 60 day max advance reservations.  Have I got this right?    Thank you!


----------



## CarolMN

EWL said:


> Thank you for this post and all the extremely helpful information!  I am struggling to get my brain wrapped around this and my head is still kind of spinning in circles.
> 
> If I am considering buying into DVC with a 75pt resale contract with the intent of traveling every 3 years, or at most every other year (since those are the only scenarios where I can get the numbers to look favorable for me), then I would be relying heavily on banking and borrowing to have 225pts every 3 years.  And I'm thinking that it also makes the choice of use year more important too.  So I want to have a good understanding of how this all would work.
> 
> If I guess that we'd likely travel in August, but perhaps sometimes in June or July, and rarely but possibly at other times, what use year is our best bet?


Since you plan to do the every other or every third year thing, there may not be a "best" use year.   August would give you the most time to reuse the points if you mostly travel in August and had to cancel a trip.  The plan you describe below is a good one, IMO.



EWL said:


> If I go with August for the sake of the example and buy in today, do I have this right:
> 
> 1) On 8/1/2011, I get 75 points for the 2011 use year, which runs 8/1/2011 to 7/31/2012.


 Correct.



EWL said:


> 2) On 9/15/2011, I can call and book a reservation at my home resort (probably AKV) for August 15, 2012, (11 months prior) which falls in my 2012 use year, requiring 225 points.  At that time, all 75 of 2011 points would be banked, I would use my 2012 points, and borrow all 75 of my 2013 points.


 Correct.



EWL said:


> 3) If all is fine, I am done.  But if I need to cancel in February 2012, I get all my points back because I am more than 31 days before checkin, but I now have all 225 points in the 2012 use year.  (Right?  They stay in the year that the reservation was made?)


Yes, correct.



EWL said:


> 4)  If I act before the end of March 2012, I could bank 75 current year points into the 2013 use year, but would have to use the other 150 banked and borrowed points by the end of my 2012 use year or 7/31/2013.  But since it's only March, I would still be able to take advantage of the 11-month booking for summer 2013 so should have good options.


Correct and I agree that in March of 2012, you would still have good options for the summer months of June & July of 2013.



EWL said:


> 5) If I don't act before the end of March 2012, I am past the banking deadline so have to use all 225 by the end of my 2012 use year. (Right?)


  Yes, correct.



EWL said:


> 6) If I cancel in July 2012, within 30 days of checkin, my 225 points all go into holding and I have to use them by the end of my 2012 use year but cannot book more than 60 days ahead.  If I don't use them, they're gone.


Yes, correct again.



EWL said:


> So using this approach, I would call at the 11-month window in September to book a trip for the following August;  I'd basically have until the end of March banking deadline to cancel if needed and either use 150 points the following June or July and bank 75 into the next year, or I could cancel up until July and use all 225 points the following June or July or whenever but with 60 day max advance reservations.  Have I got this right?    Thank you!


You've got it!   Congratulations, you go to the head of the class!


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## EWL

CarolMN said:


> You've got it!



Wow-- I can't believe I have it straight!  All thanks to your great explanation, no doubt.    Thanks so much!


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## PKS44

and.....if you book your trip to fall at the end of JULY you could actually use up to 300 points not just 225pts

If you had 75 pt from 2010 points banked into 2011 use those for the July 2012 dates, then use the other 3 years as you planned--you could also use 2 years worth in July and 2 years worth in August-so long as you use up one years' worth in July before the start of the next Use Year- you can use up to 4 years worth on one trip.


----------



## EWL

PKS44 said:


> and.....if you book your trip to fall at the end of JULY you could actually use up to 300 points not just 225pts



You mean basically a split trip at the end of July going into August?  So using 150 points (banked plus current UY) at the very end of July and then 150 more (new current UY plus borrowed) in August?  Very interesting!!  Is that complicated to book?  Does a reservation that crosses into the next UY count as being in each year separately or would it have to be split into two reservations?


----------



## Sandisw

EWL said:


> You mean basically a split trip at the end of July going into August?  So using 150 points (banked plus current UY) at the very end of July and then 150 more (new current UY plus borrowed) in August?  Very interesting!!  Is that complicated to book?  Does a reservation that crosses into the next UY count as being in each year separately or would it have to be split into two reservations?



It would still be one reservation.  It just that the banked and current points can only be used for the days prior the UY start.

The only drawback for doing something like this is that you are using banked and current points right at the end of the UY.  If you had to cancel that trip, you would be stuck and would lose all the points associated with the first part of the trip.


----------



## PKS44

It is not complicated and the options range from using 2 years on one side of the USE YEAR and 2 years on the other side or 1 year on either side and 3 on the other...as stated above--it is one reservation-- you just have to have the points eligible...Just a little trick I discovered to maximize use of points.


----------



## chalee94

Sandisw said:


> The only drawback for doing something like this is that you are using banked and current points right at the end of the UY.  If you had to cancel that trip, you would be stuck and would lose all the points associated with the first part of the trip.



this.

crossing use year to use 4 years worth of pts means you are traveling at the end of a use year...better not have to cancel or you are up the creek...


----------



## TinknPink

Illini Al said:


> Potential "future owner" question. After reading the OP multiple times, I may be getting the hang of this, but if I ever become an owner, I can see using Excel to manage all of my current, banked, and borrowed points several years out. Has anyone ever created a detailed Excel spreadsheet to track and manage point usage?




I too would like to see if someone has developed a points tracking spreadsheet. I saw one reply to this question but it included more than what i am looking for (value/interest rates etc). I would like one that just tracks the points with columns for banking, borrowing, and added yearly points etc.


----------



## kat3668

Looking into possible purchasing DVC...  I usually travel Sept , Dec, late jan early Feb or march what would be the best use year for me?


----------



## Missyrose

kat3668 said:


> Looking into possible purchasing DVC...  I usually travel Sept , Dec, late jan early Feb or march what would be the best use year for me?



Ideally, you want your UY to be just before you travel, so September would work best for you. August would probably also be just fine.


----------



## gert

I am really having a hard time understanding UY.

I'm planning on becoming a member through resale once my home equity loan closes. Probably 150pts at BWV to start. Our travel times would almost always be from June 15th-August 15th every year. 

I don't anticipate that changing for another 10 years, and by then I'll have caught addonitis so many times and I'll be so flush with points that it won't matter if they go into holding and expire 

What's my best UY?


----------



## Sandisw

gert said:


> I am really having a hard time understanding UY.
> 
> I'm planning on becoming a member through resale once my home equity loan closes. Probably 150pts at BWV to start. Our travel times would almost always be from June 15th-August 15th every year.
> 
> I don't anticipate that changing for another 10 years, and by then I'll have caught addonitis so many times and I'll be so flush with points that it won't matter if they go into holding and expire
> 
> What's my best UY?



June would be ideal--if you can't find that, with the travel dates you mention, I would look for April, March or Feb UY.  Those would all work too.

Having a UY that starts just before your typical travel offers the most flexibility if you have to cancel or want to change a trip at least 31 days in advance.

UY does not have any impact on when you can book.  You can always call 11 months in advance to book at your home resort and 7 months in advance for the others.


----------



## gert

Sandisw said:


> June would be ideal--if you can't find that, with the travel dates you mention, I would look for April, March or Feb UY.  Those would all work too.
> 
> Having a UY that starts just before your typical travel offers the most flexibility if you have to cancel or want to change a trip at least 31 days in advance.
> 
> UY does not have any impact on when you can book.  You can always call 11 months in advance to book at your home resort and 7 months in advance for the others.



Bless you! No idea why I had so much trouble figuring out my best UY. I read all 12 pages of this thread and when I was done my brain hurt and I finally went from long-time lurker to first-time poster.


----------



## luv2sleep

I have asked for a June UY contract. My travel time would be July, Aug, October and December (plus the occasional 1st week of Jan). Besides June, what other UYs would work for me? I am on the VGC waitlist.


----------



## disneynutz

luv2sleep said:


> I have asked for a June UY contract. My travel time would be July, Aug, October and December (plus the occasional 1st week of Jan). Besides June, what other UYs would work for me? I am on the VGC waitlist.



A June UY is great for vacations between June - January which it the 8 month banking period should you ever need to cancel a vacation. Vacations in February - May if canceled have to have the points used before the end of May or you lose them.

 Bill


----------



## luv2sleep

disneynutz said:


> A June UY is great for vacations between June - January which it the 8 month banking period should you ever need to cancel a vacation. Vacations in February - May if canceled have to have the points used before the end of May or you lose them.
> 
> Bill



Thank you! I will stick with June then.


----------



## emilymad

I currently have a December UY.  I am looking to add on but not yet sure where or how many points.  I seem to change my mind 15 times a day!   I had been looking at contracts only with a December UY.  In another thread it was pointed out to me that having a second UY can greatly increase your flexibility.  Is my thinking correct that if I look for a June UY that between that and my December UY I would have the whole year covered?


----------



## chalee94

emilymad said:


> Is my thinking correct that if I look for a June UY that between that and my December UY I would have the whole year covered?



it would cover the whole year, provided you are using june UY pts for stays in oct and nov...and using dec UY pts for stays in april and may.  if you need to use pts from both contracts, it lessens the benefit.

owning 2 UYs makes it a little more complicated to keep up with.  not a big deal but if you take your eye off the ball, it's a little easier to forget to bank or something and lose pts.

also, you cannot combine june UY pts and dec UY pts to book a single night's stay, so you'd need to book 3 nights with one contract and 4 with the other and ask MS to link the reservations (or else transfer pts from one contract to the other.)


----------



## emilymad

Thanks!  I think I could keep it all straight.  I had forgotten about not using the points from each UY on the same night.  That is good to keep in mind.


----------



## babesboo99

Thank you.. I am going to print this out as well this answered alot of questions for me..


----------



## babesboo99

My DH and I are planning to buy BCV points with an Oct UY we usually travel Oct-Jan  maybe a few times in the spring or summer. Is Oct a good UY for us? We will probably bank and borrow depending on what size rooms we get.


----------



## luv2sleep

Great info about having two different use years. Thank you!


----------



## MousekeTom




----------



## luv2sleep

Wow, that's so helpful!  I actually saved a copy of that image, lol!  Makes it very clear!


----------



## Sammie

MousekeTom said:


>



I really don't understand why?

Use year does not at all determine when we book trips, in fact that would be the last thing to influence us. 

In fact most all of our trips have been in your red area. In over 15 years of having DVC we have only taken two trips in the green area. 

With DVC ownership being 50 years or more, there is no way anyone will know that far in advance when their travel plans will be. Ours have changed over the years as we and our family have aged, school has changed and so have jobs. 

Just my opinion but I think people worry too much about something that has little affect on using your DVC for the long term.


----------



## MousekeTom

Sammie said:


> I really don't understand why?



One man's opinion, if you are a planner.


----------



## luv2sleep

Sammie said:


> I really don't understand why?
> 
> Use year does not at all determine when we book trips, in fact that would be the last thing to influence us.
> 
> In fact most all of our trips have been in your red area. In over 15 years of having DVC we have only taken two trips in the green area.
> 
> With DVC ownership being 50 years or more, there is no way anyone will know that far in advance when their travel plans will be. Ours have changed over the years as we and our family have aged, school has changed and so have jobs.
> 
> Just my opinion but I think people worry too much about something that has little affect on using your DVC for the long term.



What happens to your points if you book in the red area and heed to cancel at the last minute?


----------



## ELMC

Sammie said:


> I really don't understand why?
> 
> Use year does not at all determine when we book trips, in fact that would be the last thing to influence us.
> 
> In fact most all of our trips have been in your red area. In over 15 years of having DVC we have only taken two trips in the green area.
> 
> With DVC ownership being 50 years or more, there is no way anyone will know that far in advance when their travel plans will be. Ours have changed over the years as we and our family have aged, school has changed and so have jobs.
> 
> Just my opinion but I think people worry too much about something that has little affect on using your DVC for the long term.



Without debating the importance of use year, I wanted to point out that I think you may be misinterpreting the graphic.  Of course, I may be misinterpreting it as well, but I think I looked at it differently than you did.  Please let me explain.  When looking at the graphic, I did not assign numbers to the months based on the order in which they appear in the calendar (2 does not mean February and 12 does not mean December).  Instead, I looked at my personal vacation habits and then placed them on the graphic.  For example, the most likely four month period for us to vacation is August to November (so that would be the green section) followed by December to March (the yellow section).  April to July is least likely for us (so that would be in the red).  So based on that (and this graphic), our most optimal use year is August, because it is at the beginning of the 8 month period where we are most likely to vacation.  Furthermore, the red months fall after the banking window has closed, so by structuring it this way I would stand the least chance of having to cancel a vacation and lose the points.

Again, there is validity to both sides of the argument as to how important this is, but I just thought I'd offer my interpretation of what the poster was trying to do.


----------



## MousekeTom

ELMC said:


> Without debating the importance of use year, I wanted to point out that I think you may be misinterpreting the graphic.  Of course, I may be misinterpreting it as well, but I think I looked at it differently than you did.  Please let me explain.  When looking at the graphic, I did not assign numbers to the months based on the order in which they appear in the calendar (2 does not mean February and 12 does not mean December).  Instead, I looked at my personal vacation habits and then placed them on the graphic.  For example, the most likely four month period for us to vacation is August to November (so that would be the green section) followed by December to March (the yellow section).  April to July is least likely for us (so that would be in the red).  So based on that (and this graphic), our most optimal use year is August, because it is at the beginning of the 8 month period where we are most likely to vacation.  Furthermore, the red months fall after the banking window has closed, so by structuring it this way I would stand the least chance of having to cancel a vacation and lose the points.
> 
> Again, there is validity to both sides of the argument as to how important this is, but I just thought I'd offer my interpretation of what the poster was trying to do.



Well put.

It's just a graph for those who are struggling to decide which use year to pick when they are purchasing DVC. I certainly wouldn't recommend you plan your vacation around the graph. It is really meant to help those purchasers who would never travel during a certain season of the year.


----------



## chalee94

babesboo99 said:


> My DH and I are planning to buy BCV points with an Oct UY we usually travel Oct-Jan  maybe a few times in the spring or summer. Is Oct a good UY for us? We will probably bank and borrow depending on what size rooms we get.



oct sounds good - no use year covers everything, so if you book a reservation in july or august, be aware that it's more complicated if you need to cancel after your booking window closes at the end of may.

picking a good use year mostly helps you protect current UY pts, so if you cancel early enough, you can bank them.  but if you are using a lot of banked and borrowed pts, traveling early in your UY still allows you more time to figure out what to do with your pts if you cancel.

again, if you never have to cancel, UY month will probably never be much of an issue...


----------



## Sammie

MousekeTom said:


> Well put.
> 
> It's just a graph for those who are struggling to decide which use year to pick when they are purchasing DVC. I certainly wouldn't recommend you plan your vacation around the graph. It is really meant to help those purchasers who would never travel during a certain season of the year.



I understand that, and I do understand that the graph is what works right now for you, but my point is that truly no one knows what will work for 50 years or more. 

So my point was that while the graph works right now for you, I think others need to realize that there truly is no reason to over analyze trying to decide what use year to get when they purchase. 

There will be so many things to change over the years as to when you will go and not go.

And of course for us old timers we had the option when we bought of banking our points on a % system that Jim Lewis took away and replaced it with the must bank 4 months out which I personally do not like.

Tom it is pretty though,


----------



## Sammie

luv2sleep said:


> What happens to your points if you book in the red area and heed to cancel at the last minute?



They go into holding just like anyone else's would. And of course that is something one would like to avoid, but honestly and maybe this comes from having DVC for over 15 years there are many things simply out of your control.

Personally for us cancelling would only be due to a very serious emergency and if that happens worrying about my DVC points would be the least of my concerns.


----------



## luv2sleep

Sammie said:


> They go into holding just like anyone else's would. And of course that is something one would like to avoid, but honestly and maybe this comes from having DVC for over 15 years there are many things simply out of your control.
> 
> Personally for us cancelling would only be due to a very serious emergency and if that happens worrying about my DVC points would be the least of my concerns.



I pretty much would only cancel if there was a serious emergency also.  Given that I have a young child anything could come up.  Sometimes kids get sick suddenly and you have no choice but to cancel.  

I just read about cancellations and holding.  I didn't realize that you could lose your points even if it's before the last 4 months in your use year if you cancel sooner within 31 days before the trip.  Given that I have to make vacation requests at work a few months out, there's no way I could necessarily just reschedule a trip within 60 days.  Gives me more to think about.


----------



## disneynutz

luv2sleep said:


> I pretty much would only cancel if there was a serious emergency also.  Given that I have a young child anything could come up.  Sometimes kids get sick suddenly and you have no choice but to cancel.
> 
> I just read about cancellations and holding.  I didn't realize that you could lose your points even if it's before the last 4 months in your use year if you cancel sooner within 31 days before the trip.  Given that I have to make vacation requests at work a few months out, there's no way I could necessarily just reschedule a trip within 60 days.  Gives me more to think about.



Bad things can happen. We have had to cancel due to a death in the family, a forced job relocation, and we all came down with the flu. Thankfully we had the correct UY and we banked 2 of the 3 vacations worth of points. The Flu vacation we rescheduled for later in the year, still within our banking window.

 Bill


----------



## luv2sleep

disneynutz said:


> Bad things can happen. We have had to cancel due to a death in the family, a forced job relocation, and we all came down with the flu. Thankfully we had the correct UY and we banked 2 of the 3 vacations worth of points. The Flu vacation we rescheduled for later in the year, still within our banking window.
> 
> Bill



Ok, I'm confused.  If you cancel within 31 days from the start of your trip, and you are in the first 8 months of your use year, you can still bank those points into the next year?  If so, that makes me feel better.  I thought I read that you would have to use them within 60 days or lose them and couldn't bank them in the above scenario.


----------



## disneynutz

luv2sleep said:


> Ok, I'm confused.  If you cancel within 31 days from the start of your trip, and you are in the first 8 months of your use year, you can still bank those points into the next year?  If so, that makes me feel better.  I thought I read that you would have to use them within 60 days or lose them and couldn't bank them in the above scenario.



You are correct, our cancellations were prior to 30 days. We probably could have kept the flu vacation but after having 5 people sick, we decided to postpone.

Having the correct UY is just some added insurance that doesn't cost anything except for a understanding of Disney's rules.

We did have one other cancellation within the 30 day window and it was a pain to find something 60 days prior, (another Disney rule). Fortunately that's why they built SSR. 

 Bill


----------



## CarolMN

To clarify - 

If you cancel a vacation *30 days or less prior to arrival*l, the returned points go into the holding account.  That means those points expire at the end of the use year, cannot be banked and can only be used to book a new vacation that occurs no more than 60 days in the future.    If you cancel late, it doesn't matter where you are in your use year, except that the earlier you are, the more time you will have to try to use them  However, the points will be restricted as described above - no banking allowed, reservations can only be made 60 days or less in advance.

If you cancel *at least 31 days prior to arrival*, the points are returned to your account in the same status they had just before the reservation was made (banked, borrowed, current, holding, one-time use, etc.).   If your banking deadline has not yet passed, you can bank the current use year points.  All of the other points (those that are not current use year points), will expire at the end of the use year.

So if you cancel on-time, but you are past the banking deadline, you only have until the end of the use year to use the points.  If you can't use them, they expire and are forfeited.


----------



## luv2sleep

CarolMN said:


> To clarify -
> 
> If you cancel a vacation *30 days or less prior to arrival*l, the returned points go into the holding account.  That means those points expire at the end of the use year, cannot be banked and can only be used to book a new vacation that occurs no more than 60 days in the future.    If you cancel late, it doesn't matter where you are in your use year, except that the earlier you are, the more time you will have to try to use them  However, the points will be restricted as described above - no banking allowed, reservations can only be made 60 days or less in advance.
> 
> If you cancel *at least 31 days prior to arrival*, the points are returned to your account in the same status they had just before the reservation was made (banked, borrowed, current, holding, one-time use, etc.).   If your banking deadline has not yet passed, you can bank the current use year points.  All of the other points (those that are not current use year points), will expire at the end of the use year.
> 
> So if you cancel on-time, but you are past the banking deadline, you only have until the end of the use year to use the points.  If you can't use them, they expire and are forfeited.



Thank you! This really clears up any confusion. 

Why the 'booking no more than 60 days in advance rule?  What is the reason behind that? Booking a trip no more than 2 months in advance does not leave much room for planning. 

Also, from what I read, holding points CAN be used for the Disneyland Resort hotels.  Is that correct?  What about for the hotels in WDW like the Polynesian?  Can they be used there too?


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

luv2sleep said:


> Thank you! This really clears up any confusion.
> 
> Why the 'booking no more than 60 days in advance rule?  What is the reason behind that? Booking a trip no more than 2 months in advance does not leave much room for planning.
> 
> Also, from what I read, holding points CAN be used for the Disneyland Resort hotels.  Is that correct?  What about for the hotels in WDW like the Polynesian?  Can they be used there too?



When you are cancelling less than 30 days out your are leaving DVC with a room last minute that they may or may not fill.  The price you pay for that cancellation is that you will then be restricted to booking a room that similarly has not been booked and is close to the equivalent of what you cancelled.  

As far as using points for DLR hotels or WDW hotels first depends on any resale restrictions on  your points.  If they can be used for those options then yes, you can use holding points to book those options but they are still held to the 60 day from check-in restriction.


----------



## luv2sleep

KAT4DISNEY said:


> When you are cancelling less than 30 days out your are leaving DVC with a room last minute that they may or may not fill.  The price you pay for that cancellation is that you will then be restricted to booking a room that similarly has not been booked and is close to the equivalent of what you cancelled.
> 
> As far as using points for DLR hotels or WDW hotels first depends on any resale restrictions on  your points.  If they can be used for those options then yes, you can use holding points to book those options but they are still held to the 60 day from check-in restriction.



Thank you!


----------



## cz4ever

ELMC said:


> Without debating the importance of use year, I wanted to point out that I think you may be misinterpreting the graphic.  Of course, I may be misinterpreting it as well, but I think I looked at it differently than you did.  Please let me explain.  When looking at the graphic, I did not assign numbers to the months based on the order in which they appear in the calendar (2 does not mean February and 12 does not mean December).  Instead, I looked at my personal vacation habits and then placed them on the graphic.  For example, the most likely four month period for us to vacation is August to November (so that would be the green section) followed by December to March (the yellow section).  April to July is least likely for us (so that would be in the red).  So based on that (and this graphic), our most optimal use year is August, because it is at the beginning of the 8 month period where we are most likely to vacation.  Furthermore, the red months fall after the banking window has closed, so by structuring it this way I would stand the least chance of having to cancel a vacation and lose the points.
> 
> Again, there is validity to both sides of the argument as to how important this is, but I just thought I'd offer my interpretation of what the poster was trying to do.



Thanks for the clarification, and in general to all on the thread for all the info.


----------



## dmband

so i have (once again) been reading up and thinking about dvc
if you travel to disney in july 99% of the time...
the best use yr would be like may/june???
that way if you had to cancel you still have 1 yr to use the points and/or bank them
tia


----------



## luv2sleep

MousekeTom said:


>



I thought this chart was really helpful. 

I bought June because I travel mostly during the months of July through December.  I also travel in the Spring but that's just one trip vs the 3 potential trips in the last half of the year.  My bank by date is January 31st of every year.


----------



## chalee94

dmband said:


> if you travel to disney in july 99% of the time...
> the best use yr would be like may/june???
> that way if you had to cancel you still have 1 yr to use the points and/or bank them
> tia



for july trips, a june UY is ideal...

a june UY will be risky if you travel in march-april-may.


----------



## goofygurlie

Subscribing. Great info!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


----------



## jimim

luv2sleep said:


> I thought this chart was really helpful.
> 
> I bought June because I travel mostly during the months of July through December.  I also travel in the Spring but that's just one trip vs the 3 potential trips in the last half of the year.  My bank by date is January 31st of every year.



Great chart.  So for the past 10 years we have traveled in the june to dec months.  they were evenly spread out so i'm thinking that june or april as i have been told would be the best UY for me?  i have my time of in the summer and holiday's cause i'm in the school system and as my kids get older i can see us not pulling them out of school for a full week vacation.  maybe a day here or there so i will cont to most likely travel in the summer and fall winter months.

so april or june UY makes sense then?  any opinions are soooo welcome!

jimi


----------



## SpectroMan71

Question about dues:  I thought dues were due in the first month of your use year, but now I'm hearing everyone gets billed in December.  Is that true?

Ex: I'm looking at a contract with a Dec use year.  2012 dues are already paid, so I THOUGHT that meant I wouldn't owe dues until Dec 2013.  But I'm being told I'd have to prepay the dues at closing now.  If that's the case, wouldn't that in essence pay me up until Dec 2014?  Or does Disney make you prepay your dues for the upcoming year?


----------



## CRobin

SpectroMan71 said:
			
		

> Question about dues:  I thought dues were due in the first month of your use year, but now I'm hearing everyone gets billed in December.  Is that true?
> 
> Ex: I'm looking at a contract with a Dec use year.  2012 dues are already paid, so I THOUGHT that meant I wouldn't owe dues until Dec 2013.  But I'm being told I'd have to prepay the dues at closing now.  If that's the case, wouldn't that in essence pay me up until Dec 2014?  Or does Disney make you prepay your dues for the upcoming year?



Once you are in the system you have the option of paying your dues in January for the entire upcoming year or paying them month by month through automatic debit from your bank account.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards


----------



## DannysMom

SpectroMan71 said:
			
		

> Question about dues:  I thought dues were due in the first month of your use year, but now I'm hearing everyone gets billed in December.  Is that true?
> 
> Ex: I'm looking at a contract with a Dec use year.  2012 dues are already paid, so I THOUGHT that meant I wouldn't owe dues until Dec 2013.  But I'm being told I'd have to prepay the dues at closing now.  If that's the case, wouldn't that in essence pay me up until Dec 2014?  Or does Disney make you prepay your dues for the upcoming year?



Dues are paid by calendar year NOT use year.  So everyone's dues are billed in December and due in January, no matter what the use year is.  Some members pay in full in January.  Some pay by automatic monthly debit.

If you closed on a December UY contract now, with 2012 dues paid, you would still owe dues in January 2013, like all other members.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos.


----------



## SpectroMan71

Thanks, guys.  Can't believe I've been researching DVC this many years and never knew that about the calendar year billing!  Appreciate it.


----------



## disbound09

Great info.  Is there a thread to the transfer options.  I understand I can only transfer my points once a year.  We have family that may need extras points so we are going to transfer to her and then she would owe us in the future.


----------



## CarolMN

Bump - Post #1 updated on 2/16/2014 to use more current example.


----------



## Syndrome

Thanks, this is great info for those of that are looking to buy into DVC. 

We are having a little bit of a struggle trying to figure out which UY would be best for us. Mostly because we will usually be traveling at 2 different times of the year. 
We will be traveling last week of July / first week of August every year. 
Then we will also be doing a trip anywhere between December - March . 
So 2 trips a year at opposite ends of the calendar.  We will NEVER be able to travel April-July , and September - November due to business reasons. 

So ...........we _think_ we have decided on a December UY to base our DVC purchase/s .  There are quite a lot of December UY contracts available (I would say its one of the most common) so easy to find, and add on keeping the same UY later. It would work out great for our trips that fall December- March every year. Also if we ever needed to cancel (very doubtful) or Summer trip which always starts in July, we still have the 4 month time frame to bank our points if we need to. 

How does this plan look to you UY experts ? 
We were looking at April-June UY as well , but I think December would suit us better, except that the points will come into our account so late into the year. 

Thanks for the help !


----------



## disneynutz

Syndrome said:


> Thanks, this is great info for those of that are looking to buy into DVC.
> 
> We are having a little bit of a struggle trying to figure out which UY would be best for us. Mostly because we will usually be traveling at 2 different times of the year.
> We will be traveling last week of July / first week of August every year.
> Then we will also be doing a trip anywhere between December - March .
> So 2 trips a year at opposite ends of the calendar.  We will NEVER be able to travel April-July , and September - November due to business reasons.
> 
> So ...........we _think_ we have decided on a December UY to base our DVC purchase/s .  There are quite a lot of December UY contracts available (I would say its one of the most common) so easy to find, and add on keeping the same UY later. It would work out great for our trips that fall December- March every year. Also if we ever needed to cancel (very doubtful) or Summer trip which always starts in July, we still have the 4 month time frame to bank our points if we need to.
> 
> How does this plan look to you UY experts ?
> We were looking at April-June UY as well , but I think December would suit us better, except that the points will come into our account so late into the year.
> 
> Thanks for the help !



Your business reasons may change over the next 30 to 50 years.

Pick the UY that covers the majority of your vacations.

It doesn't really matter when your UY is for point loading. What matters is that you have points in your account for your reservation dates.

 Bill


----------



## Syndrome

disneynutz said:


> Your business reasons may change over the next 30 to 50 years.
> 
> Pick the UY that covers the majority of your vacations.
> 
> It doesn't really matter when your UY is for point loading. What matters is that you have points in your account for your reservation dates.
> 
> Bill



Thanks, 
Anything can change over the next 30-50 years , so the best anyone can do is take an educated guess on what the future will hold. 

That said, our business reasons are highly unlikely to change in the next 28 years (looking at a 2042 resort) . We have been in the business for over 25 years. Its a seasonal business that really can not change barring any radical changes in the weather patterns (like if winter and summer were to reverse some how). As long as we have freezing temperature winters, and nice warm summers our business model and "busy seasons" will not change. Of coarse anything can happen with any business, but that's an unforeseen that would be hard for anyone to predict .........so we have to go with what we know will _probably_ happen in the future. 

So..........we do know what our "seasons" are for our ability to take vacations and are trying to come up with a UY that will at least suit what we know will probably happen in the future. 

We always take a trip anywhere from last week of July through August sometime. Also somewhere between December through March will, and does work .
Knowing our business (for over 25 years) we can not travel April - end of July and September - beginning of December (except for the Thanksgiving possibly) . We have tried,  and things can and do get ugly, lol. 
With those parameters in mind (that's the best bet we can take on what the future may hold) .........does a December UY work out o.k. for our situation, or would we be better with some thing else. We generally never need to alter or change our July/August reservations, but _may_ occasionally need to change our December -March reservations due to weather concerns .

I am hoping you UY expert's can guide me a little bit, or tell me if I am missing something. From the research I have done, I _think_ a December UY would be the best compromise for our split up vacation schedule (from what we know the future will hold for us  ). 

Thanks !


----------



## disneynutz

Syndrome said:


> Thanks,
> Anything can change over the next 30-50 years , so the best anyone can do is take an educated guess on what the future will hold.
> 
> That said, our business reasons are highly unlikely to change in the next 28 years (looking at a 2042 resort) . We have been in the business for over 25 years. Its a seasonal business that really can not change barring any radical changes in the weather patterns (like if winter and summer were to reverse some how). As long as we have freezing temperature winters, and nice warm summers our business model and "busy seasons" will not change. Of coarse anything can happen with any business, but that's an unforeseen that would be hard for anyone to predict .........so we have to go with what we know will _probably_ happen in the future.
> 
> So..........we do know what our "seasons" are for our ability to take vacations and are trying to come up with a UY that will at least suit what we know will probably happen in the future.
> 
> We always take a trip anywhere from last week of July through August sometime. Also somewhere between December through March will, and does work .
> Knowing our business (for over 25 years) we can not travel April - end of July and September - beginning of December. We have tried,  and things can and do get ugly, lol.
> With those parameters in mind (that's the best bet we can take on what the future may hold) .........does a December UY work out o.k. for our situation, or would we be better with some thing else. We generally never need to alter or change our July/August reservations, but _may_ occasionally need to change our December -March reservations due to weather concerns .
> 
> I am hoping you UY expert's can guide me a little bit, or tell me if I am missing something. From the research I have done, I _think_ a December UY would be the best compromise for our split up vacation schedule (from what we know the future will hold for us  ).
> 
> Thanks !



Like I said, if a December UY covers more of your travel time and there is a greater possibility of cancelation during those times, then a December UY would appear to be the best. 

Remember you are looking for an 8 month period which will allow you to bank your points should you wish to cancel your reservation and you can't use the points up before the end of the UY, that's all, just a little added insurance that is free.

 Bill


----------



## Syndrome

Thanks Bill, That's what I kind of wanted some input on. Given our travel dates, I was wondering if a December UY would suit us the best. 
Since our dates seem to work with a December UY, our summer reservations almost will never be canceled, where as our winter plans may change from time to time,  and there are plenty of December UY contracts to choose from ........I thought ( in my still newbie, DVC mindset) that a December UY would be the best for us. 
Just looking for some help from some of the DVC experts !

Thanks


----------



## Sandisw

Syndrome said:


> Thanks Bill, That's what I kind of wanted some input on. Given our travel dates, I was wondering if a December UY would suit us the best. Since our dates seem to work with a December UY, our summer reservations almost will never be canceled, where as our winter plans may change from time to time,  and there are plenty of December UY contracts to choose from ........I thought ( in my still newbie, DVC mindset) that a December UY would be the best for us. Just looking for some help from some of the DVC experts !  Thanks



I'd go with December UY based on current travel plans..


----------



## ILDisneyfan

This is all great information and has helped me understand!  Thanks!


----------



## Ensusieasm

If I plan to use points in January, February, or March every year, what Use Year should I buy?


----------



## PacoDF

Ensusieasm said:


> If I plan to use points in January, February, or March every year, what Use Year should I buy?



December, October and September would be fine for you. December is the better for you. Even August would work for you.

You have 8 months of protection after your UY starts, so all those are ok.


----------



## Ensusieasm

Thanks for the advice. Now I will know what to look for.


----------



## mhawk4

When it comes to what points I have and what I have to use I am a total idiot.  I can handle a large budget for a university, oversee major academic programs, and manage staff, but I CANNOT get my mind wrapped around the whole use year stuff especially when I am thinking a few years out.  One minute I think I have it all figured out and the next ahhhh!

Just sold 265 to David's Vacation Rental and will loose 16 because the points expire in May 2014 but that is due to my stupidity and don't want to repeat this.

Currently I have the following:
Use Year June 2014
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points  240
Total Vacation Points Remaining  215
Total Vacation Points Available to Bank  215
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow 215
I know I need to use these by May 2015

Use Year June 2015
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points  240
Total Vacation Points Remaining  240
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow  240
Need to use by May 2016

Use Year June 2016
Total Annual Allotment of Vacation Points  240
Total Vacation Points Remaining  240
Total Vacation Points Available to Borrow  240
Need to use by May 2017

I am thinking of selling the 215 (2014) and 240 (2015) points as we cannot go to Disney until April 2016 due to work and life circumstances.  

So am I right in that I could sell the 2014 and 2015 years now and then use 2016 points and possibly borrow 2017 points if we need them for a April 2016 vacation?

I could make the reservations in April 2015 for April 2016 for my home resort using the 2016 and borrowing 2017 if I need it.  Or should I save some of the 2015 points to use in 2016.

I am usually really smart about these things but don't feel so smart with this. 

Thank you to anyone who can give me help!

And sorry for the long post!


----------



## PacoDF

You are wrong about your date and use year. Since you have a June use year, your next trip in April 2016 actually is within your June 2015 UY. Your 2016UY starts June 1st, 2016. So April 2016 is still your 2015 UY.

If you need 240 or less points for your trip, then you can rent out your remaining 2014 points. If you need more than 240 I would bank the amount needed of the 2014 into your 2015 so you can use them along your 2015 allotment, then sell the remaining if any. That way you will not need to borrow  the next year (I think is always best to bank instead of borrowing) and you can plan a new trip after June 2016 without borrowing.

Other alternative is to bank all your 2014 points, use those first and whatever amount of 2015 you need, and the rest 2015 either bank them into 2016 or sell them.


----------



## mhawk4

PacoDF said:


> You are wrong about your date and use year. Since you have a June use year, your next trip in April 2016 actually is within your June 2015 UY. Your 2016UY starts June 1st, 2016. So April 2016 is still your 2015 UY.
> 
> If you need 240 or less points for your trip, then you can rent out your remaining 2014 points. If you need more than 240 I would bank the amount needed of the 2014 into your 2015 so you can use them along your 2015 allotment, then sell the remaining if any. That way you will not need to borrow  the next year (I think is always best to bank instead of borrowing) and you can plan a new trip after June 2016 without borrowing.
> 
> Other alternative is to bank all your 2014 points, use those first and whatever amount of 2015 you need, and the rest 2015 either bank them into 2016 or sell them.



Thanks, I do get confused regarding how long banked points are good for and when they expire and how far forward I can borrow points.  

Our next trip will be April 2016 but the following one won't be until April or June/July of 2018 as we have family trip to the Grand Canyon in summer 2017. So that was why I was thinking of selling the 2014 points and some of the 2015 points, holding some 2015 points and borrowing points for our April 2016 trip.

Thanks!


----------



## agie65

mhawk4 said:


> Thanks, I do get confused regarding how long banked points are good for and when they expire and how far forward I can borrow points.  Our next trip will be April 2016 but the following one won't be until April or June/July of 2018 as we have family trip to the Grand Canyon in summer 2017. So that was why I was thinking of selling the 2014 points and some of the 2015 points, holding some 2015 points and borrowing points for our April 2016 trip.  Thanks!



I look at this way, all pts have 2 yr life span. You can bank into next use yr if you are going to use it, otherwise I will rent them out to get money out. If you are short next yr you can always, borrow or get transferred in.


----------



## DeefromOhio

CAROLMN has a fabulous explanation of UY on page one of this thread and she updated it for 2014. 

I'm brand new to DVC and just signed a contract for 220 points at SSR with a UY of December. Her example used an October UY, so I copied her post, pasted it to Word, and customized it to my December UY, by moving every example back by two months. For instance, her October UY required points be banked by May 31st, so I just moved mine to July 31st.

I really needed some help in understanding this stuff and her post really helped a lot. If you haven't read it yet, then check it out and customize it your UY! 

Happy to "almost" be part of DVC.


----------



## CarolMN

DeefromOhio said:


> CAROLMN has a fabulous explanation of UY on page one of this thread and she updated it for 2014.
> 
> I'm brand new to DVC and just signed a contract for 220 points at SSR with a UY of December. Her example used an October UY, so I copied her post, pasted it to Word, and customized it to my December UY, by moving every example back by two months. For instance, her October UY required points be banked by May 31st, so I just moved mine to July 31st.
> 
> I really needed some help in understanding this stuff and her post really helped a lot. If you haven't read it yet, then check it out and customize it your UY!
> 
> Happy to "almost" be part of DVC.



Thank you!  You used the example to do exactly what I hoped people would do  - used it to help you understand the use year you purchased.

Hope to officially welcome you home very soon!


----------



## FF/MEDIC MEL

OK Folks, my head is still spinning, We are going to buy a DVC through resale.  We usually visit WDW in September, October, January, or February.  What use year should we look at getting.  Please make this easy.  This will be a purchase in order to get our foot in the door when Poly goes on sale.  Thanks in advance.


----------



## disneynutz

FF/MEDIC MEL said:


> OK Folks, my head is still spinning, We are going to buy a DVC through resale.  We usually visit WDW in September, October, January, or February.  What use year should we look at getting.  Please make this easy.  This will be a purchase in order to get our foot in the door when Poly goes on sale.  Thanks in advance.



August would be best for stays between August and March and it has more contracts than September.

 Bill


----------



## r5moores

Hi All,

 I have been going to Disney every year since 1993.   I have been renting points from a DVC owner for the last 4.  We have FINALLY decided on buying points ourselves.  We toyed with it because we have been renting for $10 a point each year so it's been a dream $$ wise.

 We just need to bite the bullet, I could kick myself because we could have already bought and had it paid off by now.  And we typically go for two weeks at a shot, sometimes three so I should have already done this  

 Anyhoo, my head is spinning trying to read and digest all the information, so forgive me for just putting our typical plans out there for someone to help me figure it out.

 We typically go June, or September, or November.  So I'm trying to figure  out the best use year for us.   

 Also, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way I can buy this year and still get points from last year.  Meaning lets say I buy a December UY.  Right now Dec 2013 UY points were good from 12/1/13 until 11/30/2014 if I got this straight.  So can you still buy last years use year?  So lets so I wanted to buy a December UY today, would I get last years points since we are still in that time frame then this December I would get my 2014 UY points that would be good from 12//2014-11/30/2015?  And if that's the case, I could bank the 2013 points.  Im just confused on what happens to the 2014 points I would get, when those would have to be banked by, would that be Next July or next month?    Hopefully I'm making sense or I just have no understanding of this at all.

 Thanks for anyone who is willing to read through my confusion and figure out what I'm trying to ask  

 Jackie


----------



## ProudMommyof2

Ok- really trying to understand. We are looking at HHI points. We would almost always travel April thru August. Am I right that we would want April through Dec for a use year? 
Thanks


----------



## disneynutz

r5moores said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I have been going to Disney every year since 1993.   I have been renting points from a DVC owner for the last 4.  We have FINALLY decided on buying points ourselves.  We toyed with it because we have been renting for $10 a point each year so it's been a dream $$ wise.
> 
> We just need to bite the bullet, I could kick myself because we could have already bought and had it paid off by now.  And we typically go for two weeks at a shot, sometimes three so I should have already done this
> 
> Anyhoo, my head is spinning trying to read and digest all the information, so forgive me for just putting our typical plans out there for someone to help me figure it out.
> 
> We typically go June, or September, or November.  So I'm trying to figure  out the best use year for us.
> 
> Also, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way I can buy this year and still get points from last year.  Meaning lets say I buy a December UY.  Right now Dec 2013 UY points were good from 12/1/13 until 11/30/2014 if I got this straight.  So can you still buy last years use year?  So lets so I wanted to buy a December UY today, would I get last years points since we are still in that time frame then this December I would get my 2014 UY points that would be good from 12//2014-11/30/2015?  And if that's the case, I could bank the 2013 points.  Im just confused on what happens to the 2014 points I would get, when those would have to be banked by, would that be Next July or next month?    Hopefully I'm making sense or I just have no understanding of this at all.
> 
> Thanks for anyone who is willing to read through my confusion and figure out what I'm trying to ask
> 
> Jackie



A June UY seems to be the best insurance. Don't worry about getting last years points, buy resale and save some money.

 Bill


----------



## disneynutz

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Ok- really trying to understand. We are looking at HHI points. We would almost always travel April thru August. Am I right that we would want April through Dec for a use year?
> Thanks



Your UY would be April through March, you can bank your points during the first 8 months of your UY.

 Bill


----------



## ProudMommyof2

disneynutz said:


> Your UY would be April through March, you can bank your points during the first 8 months of your UY.
> 
> Bill



Right. But a Feb use year would work as well because i could still bank points from any trip cancelled April thru August? Am I getting this right?


----------



## disneynutz

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Right. But a Feb use year would work as well because i could still bank points from any trip cancelled April thru August? Am I getting this right?



February UY will work for trips between Feb and September, 8 months.

 Bill


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Ok- really trying to understand. We are looking at HHI points. We would almost always travel April thru August. Am I right that we would want April through Dec for a use year?
> Thanks





ProudMommyof2 said:


> Right. But a Feb use year would work as well because i could still bank points from any trip cancelled April thru August? Am I getting this right?



Feb, March or April would all provide good "insurance" against late cancellations.  As far as use any UY would work but May-Sept would be the least ideal to help in case of late cancellation.


----------



## chitwndan

Is it just me, or does it seem like your use year really doesn't matter if you're not canceling your trip 3 months prior?

I've read the 1st page a few time but not the 16 pages in the interim, to be fair, but from what I can tell it makes little difference other that to know when you will receive your points.

Obviously it's good to know when comparing contracts for purchase in knowing what points you have and when they will be available, but outside of that does it really matter?

Personally I like the idea of a Feb use year as your vacations can stretch into January if you go during Christmas. So then you are getting your points as soon as possible in the next year and your "fiscal year" or "use year" is close enough to the calendar year to be insignificant for the purposes of keeping track of it.

What am I missing?


----------



## CarolMN

chitwndan said:


> Is it just me, or does it seem like your use year really doesn't matter if you're not canceling your trip 3 months prior?


 Correct.  If you never have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled for the last 3 months of your USE year,  use year doesn't matter.




chitwndan said:


> Personally I like the idea of a Feb use year as your vacations can stretch into January if you go during Christmas. So then you are getting your points as soon as possible in the next year and your "fiscal year" or "use year" is close enough to the calendar year to be insignificant for the purposes of keeping track of it.
> 
> What am I missing?



If I understand you correctly, you should read the first post again.  Use year determines your banking deadline and the life of a particulars use year's points.

*All of your points are already in your account.  You do not have to wait for the beginning of the use year to be able to book with the points.  You just need to have points in the use year that matches your vacation dates. * 

Remember that use year has no relationship to how far in advance you can call to make a reservation.  *No matter when your use year begins, you can call to book your home resort 11 months prior to arrival and a non-home resort 7 months prior to arrival.*

A February use year is a poor choice if you regularly vacation in December or January.  If you have to cancel it, all the points used for that trip expire on January 31.   You would have very little time to reschedule before the points expire and it is too late to bank them.

No one plans to cancel, but life happens.   Think of use year as free "insurance".  You hope to never use insurance, but are grateful to have it if you do.


----------



## disneynutz

CarolMN mentioned "free insurance and "life happens".

We used the free insurance twice, once with a death in the family and once with a forced job relocation. We were able to bank our points and went on a longer vacation the following year. 

 Bill


----------



## Syndrome

We found it more useful (for our situation) , to determine a UY planning around times of the year we could NOT go . 
Its very difficult if not impossible for us to go away (due to business reasons) Sept-November, and not good for us to go away March - July (except long weekend trips). 
So we chose a December UY.  
By the end of July (when we need to bank points for a Dec UY) we Know if we can still go on our planned trip in the beginning of August or bank the points. And we are still good for any trips Dec-March with no worries. 
Since we can really never go on vacation Sept. -Nov. a December UY works perfect for us. If our points have been banked already, we have no worries that we CANT use them last minute Sept. - Nov. . 

Works for us............


----------



## chitwndan

CarolMN said:


> A February use year is a poor choice if you regularly vacation in December or January.  If you have to cancel it, all the points used for that trip expire on January 31.   You would have very little time to reschedule before the points expire and it is too late to bank them.
> 
> No one plans to cancel, but life happens.   Think of use year as free "insurance".  You hope to never use insurance, but are grateful to have it if you do.



Good point! That is something I didn't know and hadn't considered, but at this point we have no regular vacation plans, and would imagine they will be in early June for now. But that is something for me to keep in mind.


----------



## disneynutz

chitwndan said:


> Good point! That is something I didn't know and hadn't considered, but at this point we have no regular vacation plans, and would imagine they will be in early June for now. But that is something for me to keep in mind.



Most of our vacation seasons will change with time so all you can do is take your best guess.

For our family we will never vacation at WDW in the summer or even late May when the temps start to warm. The cooler months are what we enjoy so for us an October UY works well with the banking window of Oct - May.

 Bill


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

chitwndan said:


> Good point! That is something I didn't know and hadn't considered, but at this point we have no regular vacation plans, and would imagine they will be in early June for now. But that is something for me to keep in mind.



Similar to Syndrome we considered when the least likely times would be for us to go to WDW - and that was during the warmest months of July, Aug and Sept so we started with an Oct UY.  As it turned out later we did get an Apr UY also but I think a good way to consider UY if you don't have a definite time you will visit is to think about when you know you're least likely to go.  If it's a consecutive time then a UY starting just after that is likely going to be the best UY to provide insurance against late cancellations.


----------



## chalee94

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Right. But a Feb use year would work as well because i could still bank points from any trip cancelled April thru August? Am I getting this right?





chitwndan said:


> Is it just me, or does it seem like your use year really doesn't matter if you're not canceling your trip 3 months prior?



it's not a huge deal but if you are dealing with banked or borrowed pts that cannot be banked into the next year anyway, canceling a trip earlier in your UY still gives you more time to plan and figure out how to adjust before the pts expire...so it still might mean the difference between having 10-12 months to make new plans and having 4-6 months to make new plans...which - with DVC booking windows - can still make a difference.


----------



## Disney Mom Lisa

Hi everyone.  I've read through all 17 pages of this thread, and every time I think I have it figured out I read another post and get more confused.  We sometimes travel at the end of May and into June, sometimes in July, and sometimes in January.  Since there is no May UY, and based upon what I've read, I was thinking an April or June UY would work best.  However, I'm confused by the "last minute" cancellation issue.  If, for some reason, I had to cancel a June trip in April, then it will already be too late to bank my points, correct?  Wouldn't an October UY work best for that scenario, because I'd have until 5/31 to bank?  Thanks in advance for the help!


----------



## supersnoop

Disney Mom Lisa said:


> Hi everyone.  I've read through all 17 pages of this thread, and every time I think I have it figured out I read another post and get more confused.  We sometimes travel at the end of May and into June, sometimes in July, and sometimes in January.  Since there is no May UY, and based upon what I've read, I was thinking an April or June UY would work best.  However, I'm confused by the "last minute" cancellation issue.  If, for some reason, I had to cancel a June trip in April, then it will already be too late to bank my points, correct?  Wouldn't an October UY work best for that scenario, because I'd have until 5/31 to bank?  Thanks in advance for the help!


If you have a June use year and you cancel a June reservation, you'll have an entire year to use those points or eight months to bank the points.


----------



## Disney Mom Lisa

supersnoop said:


> If you have a June use year and you cancel a June reservation, you'll have an entire year to use those points or eight months to bank the points.


Thanks so much - that makes sense.


----------



## chalee94

Disney Mom Lisa said:


> We sometimes travel at the end of May and into June, sometimes in July, and sometimes in January.  Since there is no May UY, and based upon what I've read, I was thinking an April or June UY would work best.  However, I'm confused by the "last minute" cancellation issue.  If, for some reason, I had to cancel a June trip in April, then it will already be too late to bank my points, correct?



OTOH, if you have a June UY and  have to cancel a late may trip in early april, you would definitely be past your window to bank and would only have 2 months to figure out whether to rent your stay as-is or try to move your reservation to something you could use at the last minute (probably with limited availability), or else risk losing those pts.

you do not want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY.  it is ideal to travel early in your UY (June trips with a June UY are ideal).

if you never travel in sept/oct/nov, a dec UY would be a good choice (although it can be a little confusing since you will virtually always be using points "one year behind" - a jan 2015 trip or july 2015 trip would take place in your dec 2014 UY.)

but if you never need to cancel, it won't matter much...


----------



## supersnoop

chalee94 said:


> you do not want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY.  it is ideal to travel early in your UY (June trips with a June UY are ideal).  if you never travel in sept/oct/nov, a dec UY would be a good choice (although it can be a little confusing since you will virtually always be using points "one year behind" - a jan 2015 trip or july 2015 trip would take place in your dec 2014 UY.)  but if you never need to cancel, it won't matter much...



It's 4 months, not three. But, otherwise, I do agree, a December use year sounds like a good fit.


----------



## chalee94

if you cancel less than a month ahead of arrival, the pts turn into "holding pts" and cannot be banked.  so we are assuming that you would be able to cancel over a month ahead of time which makes for the 3 month risk window that limits banking...but it's good to be clear about what those assumptions are.


----------



## Disney Mom Lisa

chalee94 said:


> OTOH, if you have a June UY and  have to cancel a late may trip in early april, you would definitely be past your window to bank and would only have 2 months to figure out whether to rent your stay as-is or try to move your reservation to something you could use at the last minute (probably with limited availability), or else risk losing those pts.
> 
> you do not want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY.  it is ideal to travel early in your UY (June trips with a June UY are ideal).
> 
> if you never travel in sept/oct/nov, a dec UY would be a good choice (although it can be a little confusing since you will virtually always be using points "one year behind" - a jan 2015 trip or july 2015 trip would take place in your dec 2014 UY.)
> 
> but if you never need to cancel, it won't matter much...





supersnoop said:


> It's 4 months, not three. But, otherwise, I do agree, a December use year sounds like a good fit.



So a December UY would be better than an April UY for travel in late May/June/July?


----------



## disBOBney

Disney Mom Lisa said:


> So a December UY would be better than an April UY for travel in late May/June/July?



Sorry, I am jumping into this thread late. According to what has recently been said, either a Dec or Apr UY would work well because your expected travel time is not within three months BEFORE either UY. That being said Apr would be the best bet, because if you have to cancel a may-july trip you have much longer to plan alternate arrangements.


----------



## chalee94

disBOBney said:


> Sorry, I am jumping into this thread late. According to what has recently been said, either a Dec or Apr UY would work well because *your expected travel time is not within three months BEFORE either UY*. That being said Apr would be the best bet, because if you have to cancel a may-july trip you have much longer to plan alternate arrangements.



the OP did mention january trips.

otherwise, i agree with this.


----------



## Disney Mom Lisa

chalee94 said:


> the OP did mention january trips.
> 
> otherwise, i agree with this.


Yes, I did mention January trips - sorry to have confused the issue.  The January trips would only be done if I can't use my points in the preceeding summer, and only infrequently - that's why I was thinking April would work.  Thanks for all of your help and insight.


----------



## avic77

Ok I read through this and I am just as confused as PP! 
I am just starting my search and I have points figured out, resorts figured out, and event contract end dates figured out....but UY is boggling my mind.
Please help me make sense.
I will usually travel Sept, October, and early November. We may hit an occasional Jan/Feb

Is there a chart for UY/Bank deadline?
What UY should i start searching for?


----------



## chalee94

avic77 said:


> I will usually travel Sept, October, and early November. We may hit an occasional Jan/Feb.



buy a sept UY.  there.  easy.



> Is there a chart for UY/Bank deadline?








remember that all of your pts through 2040 and beyond are already added to your account when you buy the contract. you can call at 11 months out based on your home resort, not UY...UY month has nothing at all to do with when you call to book.

so you really have a couple of issues limiting you:

1) UY tells you when your pts are valid for stays.

so for a silly example, if your UY month is oct, then your 2020 UY pts are valid for stays from oct 1, 2020 through sept 30, 2021.

2) you can only bank ahead one year or borrow from one year ahead. and once you bank or borrow pts, they cannot be moved again.

so if you borrow your 2020 pts into 2019, they would be valid for stays beginning on oct 1, 2019. but your 11 month window for oct 1, 2019 doesn't open till nov 1, 2018, so your 2020 UY pts are not available for booking until that point.

use year month is mostly an issue if you need to cancel.

some examples:

if you have an oct UY and a sept 2015 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out (in july), your banking window closed on may 31, 2015 so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation before they expire on sept 30, 2015. (note that a sept 2015 trip would be in your oct 2014 UY.)

if you have an oct UY and an oct 2015 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window won't close until may 31, 2016 so you'd have until then to decide whether to use current year (2015) pts for a reservation in that UY or else bank them to the next year. (you'd still need to use banked and borrowed pts by sept 30, 2016. as stated in #2 above, you can only move pts one time.)

if you have an oct UY and a sept 2015 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but that won't matter since they expire on sept 30, 2015...which is less than 60 days out.

if you have an oct UY and an oct 2015 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but at least you'd have 12 months before they expire on sept 30, 2016 to decide what to do with them.

so traveling at the very end of your UY can be risky and result in losing pts in some cases.  but if you never cancel, UY will probably never be much of an issue.

the only other reason UY month might become an issue is that some UY months are more common than others:

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program-51703/owning-dvc-81414/news-27910/2571-updated-use-year-distribution-charts-april-2014

so sometimes it's easier to find pts to add-on if you own a common UY as compared to a rare UY.


----------



## disneynutz

avic77 said:


> Ok I read through this and I am just as confused as PP!
> I am just starting my search and I have points figured out, resorts figured out, and event contract end dates figured out....but UY is boggling my mind.
> Please help me make sense.
> I will usually travel Sept, October, and early November. We may hit an occasional Jan/Feb
> 
> Is there a chart for UY/Bank deadline?
> What UY should i start searching for?



It's not that hard. Pick a UY that covers the 8 months that you usually vacation.

A September UY covers Sept - April.

The benefit of "free UY insurance" is if you need to cancel a vacation, you can bank the points and not worry about only have 4 months left in the UY to use or lose the points.

 Bill


----------



## DenLo

disneynutz said:


> It's not that hard. Pick a UY that covers the 8 months that you usually vacation.
> 
> A September UY covers Sept - April.
> 
> The benefit of "free UY insurance" is if you need to cancel a vacation, you can bank the points and not worry about only have 4 months left in the UY to use or lose the points.
> 
> Bill



 Good explanation, Bill!


----------



## avic77

disneynutz said:


> It's not that hard. Pick a UY that covers the 8 months that you usually vacation.
> 
> A September UY covers Sept - April.
> 
> The benefit of "free UY insurance" is if you need to cancel a vacation, you can bank the points and not worry about only have 4 months left in the UY to use or lose the points.
> 
> Bill


OK that made sense. Sorry for my stupid questions!


----------



## squirrel4569

I understand if you don't cancel a trip then it doesn't become an issue, but it does happen to some people.  I'm looking at points that have a March UY and we typically travel in August and November.  I realize that with a March UY and a November booking that if I cancel it I'll have to bank them before the end of October to not risk losing my points.  That would fall within the 31 day change/cancel window though so I should be ok with that right?  Obviously if I'm within 30 days I'm kind of screwed though because I'd have to put the points in holding and use them within the UY with a 60 day booking.  Likewise if I booked at Christmas (ha!) and cancelled in early November I wouldn't be able to bank the points so I'd have to use them or rent them to not lose them.

Also, is it possible to change your UY?


----------



## supersnoop

squirrel4569 said:


> Also, is it possible to change your UY?


No, not without selling your contract and buying a new one.


----------



## disneynutz

squirrel4569 said:


> I understand if you don't cancel a trip then it doesn't become an issue, but it does happen to some people.  I'm looking at points that have a March UY and we typically travel in August and November.  I realize that with a March UY and a November booking that if I cancel it I'll have to bank them before the end of October to not risk losing my points.  That would fall within the 31 day change/cancel window though so I should be ok with that right?  Obviously if I'm within 30 days I'm kind of screwed though because I'd have to put the points in holding and use them within the UY with a 60 day booking.  Likewise if I booked at Christmas (ha!) and cancelled in early November I wouldn't be able to bank the points so I'd have to use them or rent them to not lose them.
> 
> Also, is it possible to change your UY?



Stuff happens in life, schedules change, people get sick, having the ability to bank points should plans change is an extra perk. We have had a death in the family and a forced job change that caused us to cancel 2 DVC vacations where we opted to bank and take a longer vacation the following year.

The only way to change your UY is to sell the contract and buy a different one.

 Bill


----------



## squirrel4569

disneynutz said:


> Stuff happens in life, schedules change, people get sick, having the ability to bank points should plans change is an extra perk. We have had a death in the family and a forced job change that caused us to cancel 2 DVC vacations where we opted to bank and take a longer vacation the following year.
> 
> The only way to change your UY is to sell the contract and buy a different one.
> 
> Bill



Ok, so would March be ok for August & November or should I look more for July/August?


----------



## disneynutz

squirrel4569 said:


> Ok, so would March be ok for August & November or should I look more for July/August?



Ideally you would want a UY where the 1st 8 months covers the majority of the times that you will vacation.

We don't like the heat so we never vacation during the summer. We love the cooler months and Thanksgiving and Christmas at WDW. We have an Oct UY which covers Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May which works great for us.

 Bill


----------



## squirrel4569

disneynutz said:


> Ideally you would want a UY where the 1st 8 months covers the majority of the times that you will vacation.  We don't like the heat so we never vacation during the summer. We love the cooler months and Thanksgiving and Christmas at WDW. We have an Oct UY which covers Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May which works great for us.   Bill



Awesome! Thanks!


----------



## chalee94

squirrel4569 said:


> Ok, so would March be ok for August & November or should I look more for July/August?



there is not a july UY but june or august would be better.

the other way to look at it is: what months would you never go to wdw?  if you would rarely/never go to wdw in may/june/july, then august would be a good choice for UY.


----------



## squirrel4569

chalee94 said:


> there is not a july UY but june or august would be better.
> 
> the other way to look at it is: what months would you never go to wdw?  if you would rarely/never go to wdw in may/june/july, then august would be a good choice for UY.



Star Wars Weekends is on the bucket list, plus our spring break is in early March, not on Easter weekend when a lot of schools are out, so that is a consideration for a time we haven't yet gone.  I can say we probably would never go in December, January or February due to Christmas and school schedules.  My wife is a nanny for a couple who are both teachers so we are bound not only by our own children's school schedules, but by theirs as well.  

Of course, anything can change in the next 43 years or so.


----------



## chalee94

squirrel4569 said:


> Star Wars Weekends is on the bucket list, plus our spring break is in early March, not on Easter weekend when a lot of schools are out, so that is a consideration for a time we haven't yet gone.  I can say we probably would never go in December, January or February due to Christmas and school schedules.  My wife is a nanny for a couple who are both teachers so we are bound not only by our own children's school schedules, but by theirs as well.
> 
> Of course, anything can change in the next 43 years or so.



no UY covers everything but that does make sense that a march UY would be a good choice for you...


----------



## dsnydaddy

disneynutz said:


> Ideally you would want a UY where the 1st 8 months covers the majority of the times that you will vacation.
> 
> We don't like the heat so we never vacation during the summer. We love the cooler months and Thanksgiving and Christmas at WDW. We have an Oct UY which covers Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May which works great for us.
> 
> Bill



Thanks for that Bill,

For some reason wrapping my head around Use Year and the months that affected was just not sitting right in my head.  Your very simple explanation cleared that up for me.  Looks like I lucked out with my Use Year since I, like you, dislike the heat.  October will work nicely for us.  We often travel to FL in October, February and ultimately would like to take in a Christmas season again with possible a Star Wars weekend.


----------



## newfangled

Well....I guess I didn't choose wisely, but I think we'll be ok.

In the process of purchasing VWL with Dec use year.  

Pro
I think it's good for those December trips and we do love the lodge at that time of year.

Con
The only time of year we avoid WDW is a short time during spring break, and summer vacation (we have annual passes but tend to stay away during seasonal pass black out dates with occasional exceptions).   Late June, July, August, and early September are times to avoid for us...so Sept or Oct UY would probably have made the most sense.


I'm new to this, but thinking we'll be ok because fall is flexible for us (And we are only an hour away).  If we have to cancel a late Sept/early Oct trip, we can pick up a long weekend here and there to use the points before December (even if our resort selection may be limited).   Anyone else do this????  Or am I missing something with my logic here?


----------



## chalee94

newfangled said:


> I'm new to this, but thinking we'll be ok because fall is flexible for us (And we are only an hour away).  If we have to cancel a late Sept/early Oct trip, we can pick up a long weekend here and there to use the points before December (even if our resort selection may be limited).   Anyone else do this????  Or am I missing something with my logic here?



if you are that close, you probably have more options than most of us.  when you have to factor in a long drive or airfare, that increases the risk when you have to make last minute changes.  but while last minute booking options can be pretty limited, you can probably find a night or 2 somewhere on property if you are very flexible...hopefully it won't come up very often.


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## CarolMN

Updated with 2015 example.


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## Nolamom3

I think 4 kids have melted my brains ability to function correctly. As much as I'm reading this, im still confused. The only thing I understand is my UY isn't a good one for us (IF our resale doesn't get taken. It hasn't passed ROFR yet)  but I don't understand why. Lol! From what I'm reading, it becomes a problem if you have to cancel a reservation. Correct? It doesn't affect the ability to book our home resort. If our contract goes through, our UY is Feb. And of course, it's the worst possible UY since we tend to vacation any time between September-January.


----------



## chalee94

Nolamom3 said:


> From what I'm reading, it becomes a problem if you have to cancel a reservation. Correct? It doesn't affect the ability to book our home resort. If our contract goes through, our UY is Feb. And of course, it's the worst possible UY since we tend to vacation any time between September-January.



no effect at all on booking times.  that is all based on home resort.  you can always book at 11 months out at your home resort using banked, current and borrowed pts (where "current UY" is based on the dates of your stay).

unfortunately, if you need to cancel, your UY will limit your options.  a feb UY means you need to bank your current UY pts by sept 30 if you want to move them to the next use year.  if you have a dec/jan stay and need to cancel in oct, you'd be past your banking deadline and have to scramble to use your pts in an alternate way before they expire on jan 31.  (and any banked/borrowed pts will be stuck in their new UY, so they would be expiring as well.)

you would still have the option to try to rent your reservation for cash, but it might be tough to find a taker on short notice.

traveling early in your UY would give you more options and be less risky - but on the bright side, if you never need to cancel, UY won't be much of an issue.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

Nolamom3 said:


> I think 4 kids have melted my brains ability to function correctly. As much as I'm reading this, im still confused. The only thing I understand is my UY isn't a good one for us (IF our resale doesn't get taken. It hasn't passed ROFR yet)  but I don't understand why. Lol! From what I'm reading, it becomes a problem if you have to cancel a reservation. Correct? It doesn't affect the ability to book our home resort. If our contract goes through, our UY is Feb. And of course, it's the worst possible UY since we tend to vacation any time between September-January.



As you understood it and Charles confirmed it's more so about ease of using points late in a UY if you have to cancel.  Or if you look at it a different way by choosing a UY that you would travel early within (so for you a Sept UY) it becomes a sort of free insurance against last minute cancellations by giving you the most possible time to use the points since last minute bookings can be more difficult to make.  So it's not catastrophic to have a less than optimum UY but if something unexpected happens you won't have as much time to plan new travel or to rent out the points if you could not reschedule for yourself.


----------



## disneynutz

Nolamom3 said:


> I think 4 kids have melted my brains ability to function correctly. As much as I'm reading this, im still confused. The only thing I understand is my UY isn't a good one for us (IF our resale doesn't get taken. It hasn't passed ROFR yet)  but I don't understand why. Lol! From what I'm reading, it becomes a problem if you have to cancel a reservation. Correct? It doesn't affect the ability to book our home resort. If our contract goes through, our UY is Feb. And of course, it's the worst possible UY since we tend to vacation any time between September-January.



Look at it as free insurance that may save you some points when you cancel a vacation. 

 Bill


----------



## Nolamom3

Okay! I understand now. Thanks for the replies!


----------



## Ensusieasm

If I always vacation in January, February, and March what are the best use years for me starting with the very best?


----------



## disneynutz

Ensusieasm said:


> If I always vacation in January, February, and March what are the best use years for me starting with the very best?



December, but you really need to understand why. Check out post 261, maybe that will help.

 Bill


----------



## chalee94

Ensusieasm said:


> If I always vacation in January, February, and March what are the best use years for me starting with the very best?



or look at the rules for holding points and banking windows.  then think your way through it using a dec stay for a dec UY and a jan stay for a dec UY.

you can read this to walk you through some of the details of traveling early in your UY compared to late in your UY:

http://disboards.com/threads/unders...-january-2-2015.1942668/page-13#post-52584249


----------



## Ensusieasm

disneynutz said:


> December, but you really need to understand why. Check out post 261, maybe that will help.
> 
> Bill


Thank you, I will read post 261.


----------



## Ensusieasm

chalee94 said:


> or look at the rules for holding points and banking windows.  then think your way through it using a dec stay for a dec UY and a jan stay for a dec UY.
> 
> you can read this to walk you through some of the details of traveling early in your UY compared to late in your UY:
> 
> http://disboards.com/threads/unders...-january-2-2015.1942668/page-13#post-52584249


Thanks for the help. I'll go read your recommended post.


----------



## alicia080979

Okay, I have read through and *think* I get it now. Can you make sure I'm looking at the right UY. My brain is mush these days from little ones. We like to go down twice per year. We would go sometime between Sept-early Dec for one trip and May/June for the other for SWW.
I was initially thinking March would be the best but now I'm thinking April would be the best. If we had to cancel a Dec trip, we would still be in our banking window correct? If we went in Dec it would be the 1st two weeks and we would cancel in Nov. so I think we would still be good.

Am I understanding correctly that I need to start searching for an April UY?


----------



## disneynutz

alicia080979 said:


> Okay, I have read through and *think* I get it now. Can you make sure I'm looking at the right UY. My brain is mush these days from little ones. We like to go down twice per year. We would go sometime between Sept-early Dec for one trip and May/June for the other for SWW.
> I was initially thinking March would be the best but now I'm thinking April would be the best. If we had to cancel a Dec trip, we would still be in our banking window correct? If we went in Dec it would be the 1st two weeks and we would cancel in Nov. so I think we would still be good.
> 
> Am I understanding correctly that I need to start searching for an April UY?



Pick a UY where the first 8 months covers the most trips possible. That way when you cancel a vacation, you can bank your points and use them the following year.

People will post that they will never cancel but I guarantee you that a young family will have things happen  that will cause a cancellation. 

 Bill


----------



## chalee94

alicia080979 said:


> We would go sometime between Sept-early Dec for one trip and May/June for the other for SWW.
> I was initially thinking March would be the best but now I'm thinking April would be the best. If we had to cancel a Dec trip, we would still be in our banking window correct? If we went in Dec it would be the 1st two weeks and we would cancel in Nov. so I think we would still be good.
> 
> Am I understanding correctly that I need to start searching for an April UY?



april is your best bet, yes.

it puts you most at risk for trips in jan/feb/march.

for a dec trip, as long as you cancel more than a month out, you will have no trouble banking current UY pts. (and if you cancel less than a month out, the pts become holding pts and could not be banked regardless of UY month.)


----------



## supersnoop

alicia080979 said:


> Okay, I have read through and *think* I get it now. Can you make sure I'm looking at the right UY. My brain is mush these days from little ones. We like to go down twice per year. We would go sometime between Sept-early Dec for one trip and May/June for the other for SWW.
> I was initially thinking March would be the best but now I'm thinking April would be the best. If we had to cancel a Dec trip, we would still be in our banking window correct? If we went in Dec it would be the 1st two weeks and we would cancel in Nov. so I think we would still be good.
> 
> Am I understanding correctly that I need to start searching for an April UY?


I wouldn't normally recommend this, but if those two yearly trips are truly the normal, you could purchase two small contracts with different use years; one for each trip.  As long as you only use one for each trip, that should be easy to manage.  Otherwise, April is your best bet.


----------



## CarolMN

alicia080979 said:


> Okay, I have read through and *think* I get it now. Can you make sure I'm looking at the right UY. My brain is mush these days from little ones. We like to go down twice per year. We would go sometime between Sept-early Dec for one trip and May/June for the other for SWW.
> I was initially thinking March would be the best but now I'm thinking April would be the best. If we had to cancel a Dec trip, we would still be in our banking window correct? If we went in Dec it would be the 1st two weeks and we would cancel in Nov. so I think we would still be good.
> 
> Am I understanding correctly that I need to start searching for an April UY?


The banking deadline for an April use year is November 30.  As long as you cancel at least 31 days prior to arrival, you could bank the points used for the cancelled December trip.

A March use year would also work.  Banking deadline is October 31.    You'd have to cancel the trip on or before October 31, but that's probably only a day or so prior to the 31 day mark if you are going in early December.   Remember that if you cancel less than 31 days in advance, the returned points go into holding status.  Those points can't be banked.

April is what I would choose given you travel pattern.   Good luck with the search & ROFR!


----------



## famgel

Ok need help made ressies for GV at our home resort SSR a for 1st week in Jan2016. I had 180 this use year (February) and borrowed 230 from 2/2016 -2017 use year. I'm thinking of trying for week at OKW at 7 mos. but know once I borrow it has to be used by this use year which would be 2/1/16. Question is can I use borrowed points and some of my current use years points and just bank balance left with current use year points with new ressie at 7 months?


----------



## Mellyfer

Wow, so much great information that makes my newbie head spin!  I like the advice to consider that an ideal use year now may not suit future travel plans.
So, we mostly travel in March.  But we would also like the option of travelling in August, and someday maybe during the Christmas/New Years holiday.  What would you experts recommend as a suitable use year?


----------



## CarolMN

Mellyfer said:


> Wow, so much great information that makes my newbie head spin!  I like the advice to consider that an ideal use year now may not suit future travel plans.
> So, we mostly travel in March.  But we would also like the option of travelling in August, and someday maybe during the Christmas/New Years holiday.  What would you experts recommend as a suitable use year?



Given those travel possibilities, I'd get an August use year.  Banking deadline for an August use year is the end of March, so an August use year would cover March trips as well as the August and December trips.

With an August use year,  trips scheduled for July, June or May could be a problem if you have to cancel after the previous March 31.    (If you travel in April, you have to cancel at least 31 days in advance to avoid the holding account.  Points in the holding account cannot be banked and have other restrictions on their use).

Good luck


----------



## wallygirl

If adding on resale is it best to get the same UY? We're buying SSR w/ Aug UY, but will add on more as finances permit. Other than managing two banking dates are there any other reasons to buy same UY? Thanks in advance for your help!


----------



## chalee94

wallygirl said:


> If adding on resale is it best to get the same UY? We're buying SSR w/ Aug UY, but will add on more as finances permit. Other than managing two banking dates are there any other reasons to buy same UY? Thanks in advance for your help!



if you buy the same UY and the contracts are titled the same, then the contracts are under one member number (one is the master contract and the other is the "add-on") and they are easier to use.  you can still sell or will them separately but they work together seamlessly.

if you buy a different UY you have not "added on" at all, but rather bought a separate master contract.  if you want the different banking window and plan to use the contracts separately, that can be a good thing.  but if you are planning to combine pts from both contracts, things are a bit more complicated.

if you get a great deal and you are pretty organized, buy the best deal you can get.  but for most people, keeping the same UY is a better choice.


----------



## ParkHoppers

We have one contract at BLT and one on the way hopefully for VWL both with August UY. We like to travel Oct.Nov and Dec. From my understanding of UY I thought this would be ideal. Was I correct?


----------



## chalee94

ParkHoppers said:


> We have one contract at BLT and one on the way hopefully for VWL both with August UY. We like to travel Oct.Nov and Dec. From my understanding of UY I thought this would be ideal. Was I correct?



If you really only travel in October to December (and never travel in July to September),  an October UY would be "ideal."

But Aug sounds like a good UY for you.  If you got the price you wanted,  I wouldn't worry about it.


----------



## wallygirl

chalee94 said:


> if you buy the same UY and the contracts are titled the same, then the contracts are under one member number (one is the master contract and the other is the "add-on") and they are easier to use.  you can still sell or will them separately but they work together seamlessly.
> 
> if you buy a different UY you have not "added on" at all, but rather bought a separate master contract.  if you want the different banking window and plan to use the contracts separately, that can be a good thing.  but if you are planning to combine pts from both contracts, things are a bit more complicated.
> 
> if you get a great deal and you are pretty organized, buy the best deal you can get.  but for most people, keeping the same UY is a better choice.


Thanks Charles!  I appreciate the info!


----------



## ParkHoppers

chalee94 said:


> If you really only travel in October to December (and never travel in July to September),  an October UY would be "ideal."
> 
> But Aug sounds like a good UY for you.  If you got the price you wanted,  I wouldn't worry about it.



We might go in September at some point so August was close enough for us to be happy with the UY.


----------



## CarolMN

ParkHoppers said:


> We have one contract at BLT and one on the way hopefully for VWL both with August UY. We like to travel Oct.Nov and Dec. From my understanding of UY I thought this would be ideal. Was I correct?



We now travel mostly during those times and also have an August use year.  It works very well  - especially since we occasionally begin a vacation at the very end of September (when Food & Wine begins).   

Remember not to get too hung up on perfect or ideal  - your travel patterns can (and probably will) change over the life of your membership.   We originally traveled mostly during school breaks.   Luckily for us, we never had to cancel a trip.  Use year only matters if you have to cancel a trip scheduled to occur late in your use year.  Use year can be like like insurance  - you hope you don't need it (and with some luck you won't), but it sure is nice to have when you do!


----------



## Michal Holm

If I understand correctly, my UY should be may or June if I plan to travel July-August?

Regards Michal.


----------



## LisaS

Michal Holm said:


> If I understand correctly, my UY should be may or June if I plan to travel July-August?
> 
> Regards Michal.


There is no May Use Year.  There are 8 UYs available: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct and Dec.  If you plan to travel July-August then a July UY would be ideal but since it doesn't exist, June would be best assuming you do not plan to visit WDW from March through the end of May.


----------



## Luvscrappin

Trying very hard to find the best UY as we look at resale contracts. Currently, we vacation in July, but soon I think that will change to Sept-Dec and possibly May. What UY should we go for or avoid?  IDK why this seems so confusing. Thanks for your patience!


----------



## chalee94

Luvscrappin said:


> Trying very hard to find the best UY as we look at resale contracts. Currently, we vacation in July, but soon I think that will change to Sept-Dec and possibly May. What UY should we go for or avoid?  IDK why this seems so confusing. Thanks for your patience!



1) UY has nothing to do with when you call to book - that is based on home resort only.  "use" year is about when you "use" your pts for a stay.

2) you ideally want to travel early in your UY - you never want to travel in the last 3 months or so of your UY.  if your travel patterns are spread out, but you'd never travel in January to March, then April is probably your best bet for UY.  a June UY is decent but would make your May trips more risky if you need to cancel.

traveling late in your UY is more risky if you wind up needing to cancel - primarily because you risk being past your banking window and having to use-or-lose pts in a short window of time.  that's really the main issue.


----------



## Luvscrappin

Thanks chalee94!  That is what I was thinking but wanted to make sure.  Now just to find a good resale contract...seems like since we made the decision to go for it that it's taking forever to happen!


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

DH mentioned we should look into Poly DVC. Yeah! I am just starting my research  (actually in car now driving home from visiting family out of town). I am very green in my DVC knowledge and will be going back to read this entire thread.

Ok, UY.....we have historically gone in October. Went in August this year. Interested in visiting on May too. Best UY for us would be April?

TIA,
Debbie


----------



## disneynutz

HeyIt'sMe said:


> DH mentioned we should look into Poly DVC. Yeah! I am just starting my research  (actually in car now driving home from visiting family out of town). I am very green in my DVC knowledge and will be going back to read this entire thread.
> 
> Ok, UY.....we have historically gone in October. Went in August this year. Interested in visiting on May too. Best UY for us would be April?
> 
> TIA,
> Debbie



You want to pick a UY where it's first 8 months cover the months that you usually vacation.

 Bill


----------



## supersnoop

HeyIt'sMe said:


> DH mentioned we should look into Poly DVC. Yeah! I am just starting my research  (actually in car now driving home from visiting family out of town). I am very green in my DVC knowledge and will be going back to read this entire thread.
> 
> Ok, UY.....we have historically gone in October. Went in August this year. Interested in visiting on May too. Best UY for us would be April?
> 
> TIA,
> Debbie





HeyIt'sMe said:


> Ok, UY.....we have historically gone in October. Went in August this year. Interested in visiting on May too. Best UY for us would be April?


Will you ever travel in December, January, Febuary or March?  To be fair, December is less of a concern.  If not, then April would be perfect.


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

disneynutz said:


> You want to pick a UY where it's first 8 months cover the months that you usually vacation.
> 
> Bill



Thanks Bill



supersnoop said:


> Will you ever travel in December, January, Febuary or March?  To be fair, December is less of a concern.  If not, then April would be perfect.



As things stand now we would not travel December-March. We like to stick close to home during the holidays and January-March are busy for me at work so I don't take vacation in those months. Of course that will change once I am retired but that's 15+ years away. We are most interested in October, August, and May travel dates.

So, another question - when you buy DVC do you get to pick the use year or are they allocated in some way?


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

One more question for now and then I'll go do some more homework/research:

Assumptions - Say we buy:
...a 100 point contract with an April UY
...at home resort: Polynesian
...direct thru Disney
...sometime in February 2016

Since February 2016 falls in the 2015 UY (4/1/15-3/31/16) we would get 100 points for 2015 that we could bank immediately (or use) in addition to 100 points for 2016. Correct? That's how I am understanding it after reading the first post. I assume if we keep all the assumptions above the same except we change the purchase date to, say, May 2016 we no longer would get the 2015 points since that UY is over. Correct?

TIA again,
Debbie


----------



## disneynutz

HeyIt'sMe said:


> Thanks Bill
> 
> 
> 
> As things stand now we would not travel December-March. We like to stick close to home during the holidays and January-March are busy for me at work so I don't take vacation in those months. Of course that will change once I am retired but that's 15+ years away. We are most interested in October, August, and May travel dates.
> 
> So, another question - when you buy DVC do you get to pick the use year or are they allocated in some way?



You might want to rethink December. 
Here are my thoughts, we don't like hot weather, we don't like crowds especially in hot weather, we want a good value for our money, we want Disney to be something that we don't get at home.

Early December has cool weather, the crowds are low, point season is low, you can't beat the free holiday decorations at Disney. We vacation at WDW every December.

Our UY is October and it covers our favorite vacation months, the cool months, Oct - May.

Just a thought.

 Bill


----------



## supersnoop

HeyIt'sMe said:


> One more question for now and then I'll go do some more homework/research:
> 
> Assumptions - Say we buy:
> ...a 100 point contract with an April UY
> ...at home resort: Polynesian
> ...direct thru Disney
> ...sometime in February 2016
> 
> Since February 2016 falls in the 2015 UY (4/1/15-3/31/16) we would get 100 points for 2015 that we could bank immediately (or use) in addition to 100 points for 2016. Correct? That's how I am understanding it after reading the first post. I assume if we keep all the assumptions above the same except we change the purchase date to, say, May 2016 we no longer would get the 2015 points since that UY is over. Correct?


Yes, that's correct.  But I must stress that a direct purchase only makes sense if you will always stay at PVB.  If you'd like to stay elsewhere, look at the resale market.  You can find loaded contracts at other resorts for $40-$80 less per point, which means $4,000 to $8,000 less than direct for a 100 point contract.


----------



## supersnoop

disneynutz said:


> You might want to rethink December.
> Here are my thoughts, we don't like hot weather, we don't like crowds especially in hot weather, we want a good value for our money, we want Disney to be something that we don't get at home.
> 
> Early December has cool weather, the crowds are low, point season is low, you can't beat the free holiday decorations at Disney. We vacation at WDW every December.
> 
> Our UY is October and it covers our favorite vacation months, the cool months, Oct - May.
> 
> Just a thought.
> 
> Bill


I know that standard answer is to choose a use year where  you don't travel in the last four months.  But I think the last three months are all that really matter.  Using an April use year as an example; if you cancel that December reservation after your banking deadline, your points are going into holding.  As long as you cancel before that point, you'll still have time to bank your points.  I guess 7-day wait lists would still be a problem, but 31-day wait lists would still be safe.


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

supersnoop said:


> Yes, that's correct.  But I must stress that a direct purchase only makes sense if you will always stay at PVB.  If you'd like to stay elsewhere, look at the resale market.  You can find loaded contracts at other resorts for $40-$80 less per point, which means $4,000 to $8,000 less than direct for a 100 point contract.



OK, thanks. Sounds like we would need to be mindful of the purchase month in relation to the UY month.

We are dedicated Polynesian fans. We've been to WDW many times and have always stayed at the Polynesian - the only exception being 2014 when we stayed at the GF due to the Poly's construction. We didn't consider purchasing DVC before since the Poly wasn't one of the DVC resorts. Now that it is we're interested in learning more about DVC.

Thanks for all your input - I appreciate it and want to know everything that I can - good, bad & ugly.


----------



## disneynutz

HeyIt'sMe said:


> OK, thanks. Sounds like we would need to be mindful of the purchase month in relation to the UY month.
> 
> We are dedicated Polynesian fans. We've been to WDW many times and have always stayed at the Polynesian - the only exception being 2014 when we stayed at the GF due to the Poly's construction. We didn't consider purchasing DVC before since the Poly wasn't one of the DVC resorts. Now that it is we're interested in learning more about DVC.
> 
> Thanks for all your input - I appreciate it and want to know everything that I can - good, bad & ugly.



I must caution you, we were fans of BLT and bought there right after it was built, it's one of our least favorites now.

How can you pick a favorite if you haven't stayed at all of the resorts? How do you know that you will even like the DVC and how it is run?

Food for thought. 

 Bill


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

It's me again. 

I'd like the teachers to make sure I am understanding things.

Let's say.....
I have an April UY
I have a trip booked for late October
In early September I have to cancel that October trip
I cancel more than 31 days in advance so the points go back to the current UY
(If I cancel 1-30 days in advance the points go into a holding account (which I need to learn more about))
If I am going to bank the current UY points I need to do so on or before November 30
I cannot bank points in December-March
I cannot bank the same points more than once (so the banked current UY points would need to be used in the next UY)
Once I bank my points I cannot go back and use them in the current UY. So, after I bank points on November 30 I can't use those banked points to book a trip in December-March.

Is anything inaccurate?

TIA,
Debbie


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

disneynutz said:


> I must caution you, we were fans of BLT and bought there right after it was built, it's one of our least favorites now.
> 
> How can you pick a favorite if you haven't stayed at all of the resorts? How do you know that you will even like the DVC and how it is run?
> 
> Food for thought.
> 
> Bill



Thanks Bill. This is a good point. Just more to research!


----------



## CarolMN

HeyIt'sMe said:


> It's me again.
> 
> I'd like the teachers to make sure I am understanding things.
> 
> Let's say.....
> I have an April UY
> I have a trip booked for late October
> In early September I have to cancel that October trip
> I cancel more than 31 days in advance so the points go back to the current UY
> (If I cancel 1-30 days in advance the points go into a holding account (which I need to learn more about))
> If I am going to bank the current UY points I need to do so on or before November 30
> I cannot bank points in December-March
> I cannot bank the same points more than once (so the banked current UY points would need to be used in the next UY)
> Once I bank my points I cannot go back and use them in the current UY. So, after I bank points on November 30 I can't use those banked points to book a trip in December-March.
> 
> Is anything inaccurate?
> 
> TIA,
> Debbie


 
All correct.   You've got it!


----------



## disneynutz

HeyIt'sMe said:


> It's me again.
> 
> I'd like the teachers to make sure I am understanding things.
> 
> Let's say.....
> I have an April UY
> I have a trip booked for late October
> In early September I have to cancel that October trip
> I cancel more than 31 days in advance so the points go back to the current UY
> (If I cancel 1-30 days in advance the points go into a holding account (which I need to learn more about))
> If I am going to bank the current UY points I need to do so on or before November 30
> I cannot bank points in December-March
> I cannot bank the same points more than once (so the banked current UY points would need to be used in the next UY)
> Once I bank my points I cannot go back and use them in the current UY. So, after I bank points on November 30 I can't use those banked points to book a trip in December-March.
> 
> Is anything inaccurate?
> 
> TIA,
> Debbie



Looks like you got it! 

If you have holding points you can only use them to book a reservation 60 days or less prior to your check in date.

An interesting issue is that 60 days prior to any date, DVC can transfer un-booked rooms to Disney for cash reservations.

 Bill


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

CarolMN said:


> All correct.   You've got it!





disneynutz said:


> Looks like you got it!
> 
> If you have holding points you can only use them to book a reservation 60 days or less prior to your check in date.
> 
> An interesting issue is that 60 days prior to any date, DVC can transfer un-booked rooms to Disney for cash reservations.
> 
> Bill



Yeah!! Thanks!


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

And like a bad penny...I am back.

Say we close on a 100 point PVB April UY contract direct from Disney at the end of January 2016.
We'd get 100 points for the 2015 UY since we would still be in that UY (4/1/15-3/31/16).
We'd plan to stay in a PVB studio Sun 8/14/16 - Thu 8/18/16.
This would require 109 points according to the 2016 rate chart (23+23+21+21+21).

How does all the initial banking and usage work? I am assuming we'd bank the 2015 UY points at closing then would use them to cover 100 of the required 109 points for the 2016 UY trip. Correct? (Then in November 2016 we would bank the remaining 91 points from UY 2016 and use them in UY 2017). What if we didn't take a 2016 UY trip -- I assume the banked 2015 UY points would be forfeited?

Also, what are the chances we'd even be able to reserve a PVB studio for August 2016 in January 2016 since it's less than 7 months out? Does DVC MS help new owners with their first reservation?

Can you purchase in increments other than 25? Could we purchase 110 points instead of 100 points?

Lastly, it is my understanding that point requirements don't increase over the years. Disney can reallocate points year to year for high peak times - like Easter, since it falls at different times each year - but then point requirements are lowered at other time(s) to make up for the reallocation. Is that correct? Did I even make sense??

TIA yet again!
Debbie


----------



## disneynutz

HeyIt'sMe said:


> And like a bad penny...I am back.
> 
> Say we close on a 100 point PVB April UY contract direct from Disney at the end of January 2016.
> We'd get 100 points for the 2015 UY since we would still be in that UY (4/1/15-3/31/16).
> We'd plan to stay in a PVB studio Sun 8/14/16 - Thu 8/18/16.
> This would require 109 points according to the 2016 rate chart (23+23+21+21+21).
> 
> How does all the initial banking and usage work? I am assuming we'd bank the 2015 UY points at closing then would use them to cover 100 of the required 109 points for the 2016 UY trip. Correct? (Then in November 2016 we would bank the remaining 91 points from UY 2016 and use them in UY 2017). What if we didn't take a 2016 UY trip -- I assume the banked 2015 UY points would be forfeited?
> 
> Also, what are the chances we'd even be able to reserve a PVB studio for August 2016 in January 2016 since it's less than 7 months out? Does DVC MS help new owners with their first reservation?
> 
> Can you purchase in increments other than 25? Could we purchase 110 points instead of 100 points?
> 
> Lastly, it is my understanding that point requirements don't increase over the years. Disney can reallocate points year to year for high peak times - like Easter, since it falls at different times each year - but then point requirements are lowered at other time(s) to make up for the reallocation. Is that correct? Did I even make sense??
> 
> TIA yet again!
> Debbie



I must say you have a really good grasp of point usage. Direct you can buy any amount of points that you want. There have been different minimums through the years and if you look at resales you will see a repeated amount which was the minimum. I don't know what the current minimum is but if DVD is hungry they will change the policies to make a sale.

Why direct? Why PVB? Have you thought about buying a less expensive resort resale to get your feet wet?

 Bill


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

Hi Bill ~

At this point I am just doing research --- Phase I is studying direct from Disney. Phase II will be studying resale.

And as for PVB - it's a matter of "buy where you want to stay". For 20+ years that's where we've loved to stay. I know that could change someday but for now it's the Polynesian for us.

Thanks,
Debbie


----------



## HeyIt'sMe

HeyIt'sMe said:


> Also, what are the chances we'd even be able to reserve a PVB studio for August 2016 in January 2016 since it's less than 7 months out? Does DVC MS help new owners with their first reservation?



I'm quoting myself. How crazy is that??

Does anyone have feedback on my question regarding first reservations?


----------



## LisaS

HeyIt'sMe said:


> Can you purchase in increments other than 25? Could we purchase 110 points instead of 100 points?


As Bill stated, if you purchase directly from Disney you can purchase any number of points over their minimum purchase (and the minimum changes from time to time).  For example, if the minimum is 100 points you could purchase 102 or 113 if that happened to be the number that worked best for you.



> Lastly, it is my understanding that point requirements don't increase over the years. Disney can reallocate points year to year for high peak times - like Easter, since it falls at different times each year - but then point requirements are lowered at other time(s) to make up for the reallocation. Is that correct? Did I even make sense??


The number of points to book every room in the entire resort every night of the year cannot change. Actually I think it's that the total points within a Unit cannot change.  A Unit is typically a group of rooms (ex: in AKV it might be two 2BR lockoffs or four studios or a GV, in resorts like OKW I think each building in one Unit).

A few years ago they reduced the cost of weekend nights (Fri, Sat) and increased the cost of weekday nights (Sun-Thu) to even out demand. Those who purchased just enough points to stay Sun-Thu nights found themselves short of points after that change.  Another change made at a couple of resorts was to reclassify some rooms from one booking category to another. For example, some rooms at AKV were reclassified down from Savanna View to Standard View. To re-balance the points across the resort they increased the cost of Savanna View rooms for nearly every booking season.  Similar changes occurred at BLT where some rooms were reclassified down to Standard View and at SSR where the cost to book the treehouses were increased.  In both cases, the cost to book other rooms were adjusted up or down to re-balance.


----------



## LisaS

HeyIt'sMe said:


> Does anyone have feedback on my question regarding first reservations?


I have no idea about availability at PVB since it's so new.  If you purchase directly from Disney, they will try to help you get your first reservation at your home resort if they can.  When a resort is not yet sold out, they may have some inventory they can tap to get a room for you but it's not guaranteed.


----------



## hayesdvc

I was thinking I saw somewhere on this board a listing of the number of contracts issued by UY for each of the resorts and I cannot seem to locate it again.  Can someone supply the link?  Thanks in advance.


----------



## CarolMN

hayesdvc said:


> I was thinking I saw somewhere on this board a listing of the number of contracts issued by UY for each of the resorts and I cannot seem to locate it again.  Can someone supply the link?  Thanks in advance.



DVC News has an informative article on this subject:

*USE YEAR DISTRIBUTION CHARTS (UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2015)*


----------



## rcjmouse

Not sure if this is the right thread for this question, but here goes!  We have a March use year and are planning on going in Dec 2017.  I have not used any points yet so I have 100 points coming 3/1/16.  We plan on only using 200 points for our stay and selling the other 100 points.  Would it be better to sell my 2016 points or 2018 points?


----------



## Pace

supersnoop said:


> If you have a June use year and you cancel a June reservation, you'll have an entire year to use those points or eight months to bank the points.


Does that also apply to banked points?


----------



## chalee94

Pace said:


> Does that also apply to banked points?



1) you would have until the end of the UY to use the banked pts for a stay  (not to book a reservation).

So to clarify, if you cancel a June 2017 stay in April 2017 (with a June UY), you can still bank your 2017 UY pts and use them for stays from June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019.

If you used banked 2016 UY pts or borrowed 2018 UY pts to book that June 2017 stay, those pts were moved and cannot be moved again with banking or borrowing.  You would have to complete a stay by the end of that 2017 UY (May 31, 2018) or those pts disappear into the void and you get zero value from them.

If you cancel that June 2017 stay on short notice (within 30 days or fewer prior to arrival), all the pts for the stay become "holding pts" and you are restricted to a 60 day booking window which can be very limiting).

2) banked pts cannot be banked again.


----------



## chalee94

rcjmouse said:


> Not sure if this is the right thread for this question, but here goes!  We have a March use year and are planning on going in Dec 2017.  I have not used any points yet so I have 100 points coming 3/1/16.  We plan on only using 200 points for our stay and selling the other 100 points.  Would it be better to sell my 2016 points or 2018 points?



I would use 2016 and 2017 UY pts and decide later whether to rent or transfer the 2018 pts.


----------



## Pace

chalee94 said:


> 1) you would have until the end of the UY to use the banked pts for a stay  (not to book a reservation).
> 
> So to clarify, if you cancel a June 2017 stay in April 2017 (with a June UY), you can still bank your 2017 UY pts and use them for stays from June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019.
> 
> If you used banked 2016 UY pts or borrowed 2018 UY pts to book that June 2017 stay, those pts were moved and cannot be moved again with banking or borrowing.  You would have to complete a stay by the end of that 2017 UY (May 31, 2018) or those pts disappear into the void and you get zero value from them.
> 
> If you cancel that June 2017 stay on short notice (within 30 days or fewer prior to arrival), all the pts for the stay become "holding pts" and you are restricted to a 60 day booking window which can be very limiting).
> 
> 2) banked pts cannot be banked again.


Thank you.   One more question:  If we plan to do most of our traveling during December, January or February, what UY would you recommend?  Besides December, would October or September be a smart choice?


----------



## chalee94

Pace said:


> Thank you.   One more question:  If we plan to do most of our traveling during December, January or February, what UY would you recommend?  Besides December, would October or September be a smart choice?



A December UY gives you the most time to rebook in the event of a cancellation but generally speaking, September or October should also be fine.  If I found a better deal on a resale contract with a Sept UY, I wouldn't hesitate...


----------



## disneynutz

You have 8 months to bank starting from the beginning of your UY. If your vacation falls during those 8 months and you have to cancel, you can bank the points and not worry about having to book another vacation prior to your next UY to save your points. 

 Bill


----------



## Pace

chalee94 said:


> A December UY gives you the most time to rebook in the event of a cancellation but generally speaking, September or October should also be fine.  If I found a better deal on a resale contract with a Sept UY, I wouldn't hesitate...


Great, thank you.


----------



## CarolMN

chalee94 said:


> A December UY gives you the most time to rebook in the event of a cancellation but generally speaking, September or October should also be fine.  If I found a better deal on a resale contract with a Sept UY, I wouldn't hesitate...





Pace said:


> Great, thank you.



IMO, an October or September use year would be better for your travel than would  be the December use year.   The September or October use years would give you the flexibility to start your December vacation at the end of November. Many of us who like early December vacations often start them sometime in the week after Thanksgiving.   If that is something that might ever appeal to you and you have a December use year, you'd have almost no time to reuse points if you had to cancel.  Also you will have to call MS to book the vacations that cross use years unless you want to book them as two separate reservations, each subject to the booking window.  That puts you at a disadvantage to others that can book the whole reservation at once.

Same principle applies to any vacation that crosses use years.


----------



## brookmey

After months of thinking and talking about it, we're finally ready to buy resale.  Our trips would most likely be spring break in March or June/July.  December trips are possible, but we are more likely to go during spring break or summer break than Christmas.  Would a February or March UY be best for us?  Or a December?  What UY would we want to avoid?


----------



## disneynutz

brookmey said:


> After months of thinking and talking about it, we're finally ready to buy resale.  Our trips would most likely be spring break in March or June/July.  December trips are possible, but we are more likely to go during spring break or summer break than Christmas.  Would a February or March UY be best for us?  Or a December?  What UY would we want to avoid?



Your goal is to put as much of your vacation time in an 8 month period so that you have time to bank your points into the next UY should you decide to postpone your vacation until then. Based on this info which UY month just proceeds the months that you intend to vacation?

 Bill


----------



## brookmey

disneynutz said:


> Your goal is to put as much of your vacation time in an 8 month period so that you have time to bank your points into the next UY should you decide to postpone your vacation until then. Based on this info which UY month just proceeds the months that you intend to vacation?
> 
> Bill



We would vacation in March or June/July.


----------



## disneynutz

brookmey said:


> We would vacation in March or June/July.



A February or March UY would work well, you would have until the end of Sept or Oct to bank your points.

Another UY to consider might be Dec which counting 8 months would cover the Christmas holidays through the end of July.

 Bill


----------



## brookmey

disneynutz said:


> A February or March UY would work well, you would have until the end of Sept or Oct to bank your points.
> 
> Another UY to consider might be Dec which counting 8 months would cover the Christmas holidays through the end of July.
> 
> Bill


Thank you!


----------



## TinkerBellLiz

Good Morning!

I have a question about use year.  I've read through this but I think I've managed to confuse myself.

We travel spring summer and late fall.  I am thinking we need a March use year.  If we buy a contract with 2016 points that are not banked, they would need to be used or lost before March 2017. If I make a December 2017 with those points, what happens to them if I cancel that December reservation?  Assuming it is over 30 days from reservation start, I "think" they fall into March 2017 ( sort of like I banked them but didn't!). Am I understanding this right?

If I am, can those points be banked into 2018 or do I need to use them before March 2018.

Thanks for any clarification. 

Liz


----------



## supersnoop

TinkerBellLiz said:


> Good Morning!
> 
> I have a question about use year.  I've read through this but I think I've managed to confuse myself.
> 
> We travel spring summer and late fall.  I am thinking we need a March use year.  If we buy a contract with 2016 points that are not banked, they would need to be used or lost before March 2017. If I make a December 2017 with those points, what happens to them if I cancel that December reservation?  Assuming it is over 30 days from reservation start, I "think" they fall into March 2017 ( sort of like I banked them but didn't!). Am I understanding this right?
> 
> If I am, can those points be banked into 2018 or do I need to use them before March 2018.
> 
> Thanks for any clarification.
> 
> Liz


Points have to be banked before they can be used for trip in the following use year. March 2016 points are past the banking deadline. You cannot use them for a night after February 28, 2017.


----------



## TinkerBellLiz

supersnoop said:


> Points have to be banked before they can be used for trip in the following use year. March 2016 points are past the banking deadline. You cannot use them for a night after February 28, 2017.



Thanks so much. I guess I still have zero understanding of use year. I thought use year had no bearing on when I made reservations.

This is only really a problem with the initial purchase. Based on this I should probably look at a later use year, June or October!

Thanks again for your help.

Liz


----------



## supersnoop

TinkerBellLiz said:


> I thought use year had no bearing on when I made reservations.


Use year has no bearing on when you book the reservation, but the points must reside within the use year of the reservation. 

The best use year is one that provides the most protection in the event you need to cancel a reservation. Don't purchase a particular use year just so you get a few extra points for your first trip.


----------



## LisaS

TinkerBellLiz said:


> Thanks so much. I guess I still have zero understanding of use year. I thought use year had no bearing on when I made reservations.


Your Use Year has no bearing on when you can make a reservation. You can reserve a resort with home resort points starting 11 months from check-in regardless of your UY. You can reserve a resort with any points starting 7 months from check-in.  Your Use Year determines which points can be USED for that reservation. Post #1 in this thread describes how this works so be sure to read through that post a few times until things start to click.

In your particular example, with a March UY, the 2016 points are valid for stays from 3/1/2016 - 2/28/2017.  To use them for a stay in Dec 2017, they would have needed to be banked into their March 2017 UY making them usable for stays from 3/1/2017 - 2/28/2018.  The banking deadline for those March 2016 points was Oct 31, 2016 so it's too late to bank them. That means those unbanked points can be used for stays from now until 2/28/2017.  Any that are not used will expire after 2/28/2017.


----------



## TinkerBellLiz

LisaS said:


> Your Use Year has no bearing on when you can make a reservation. You can reserve a resort with home resort points starting 11 months from check-in regardless of your UY. You can reserve a resort with any points starting 7 months from check-in.  Your Use Year determines which points can be USED for that reservation. Post #1 in this thread describes how this works so be sure to read through that post a few times until things start to click.
> 
> In your particular example, with a March UY, the 2016 points are valid for stays from 3/1/2016 - 2/28/2017.  To use them for a stay in Dec 2017, they would have needed to be banked into their March 2017 UY making them usable for stays from 3/1/2017 - 2/28/2018.  The banking deadline for those March 2016 points was Oct 31, 2016 so it's too late to bank them. That means those unbanked points can be used for stays from now until 2/28/2017.  Any that are not used will expire after 2/28/2017.



Thanks for helping me understand!  I think I am am seeing SOME light.

If I am looking at a contract with a use year of March/April with UNBANKED 2016 points it isn't such a great deal assuming I won't be going to Disney until April.  If those points are BANKED into 2017 use year it would be ok or look for a contract with a later use year.

I am also thinking I should immediately bank any points for 2016 and borrow from 2017 for any 2016 trips I make, sort of swapping years.  Once I have a full year to actually use points things should smooth out. 

Reservation = have points in that use year available in my account regardless of calendar year.  Use year = period to use THAT year's points or bank.  I should plan to bank in my 8th month if I have leftovers.  March = October, April = November, October = June.

I've been concentrating on the $$ factor too much.  This isn't easy to wrap your head around!

Thank you again!

Liz


----------



## aroundtheriverbend

Hi, stumbled across something today I didn't see answered directly (many apologies if it is answered and I missed it).  I have a February use year.  I have always made the assumption that upcoming point borrowing ability would "roll in" on February 1 (in this example, talking about February 2018 use points available for borrowing for DVC property reservations).  I was thinking I needed to wait until tomorrow (Feb 1) to book some big 2017 year end trips at home resorts since I needed some 2018 borrowed points, but was pleasantly surprised to see my 2018 use year was already available.  Does this also mean that in another 1.5 months I would in theory be able to borrow 2019 UY points for a February 2018 trip?  

I've never borrowed this far ahead before, and frankly never even thought about how that would work....


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

aroundtheriverbend said:


> Hi, stumbled across something today I didn't see answered directly (many apologies if it is answered and I missed it).  I have a February use year.  I have always made the assumption that upcoming point borrowing ability would "roll in" on February 1 (in this example, talking about February 2018 use points available for borrowing for DVC property reservations).  I was thinking I needed to wait until tomorrow (Feb 1) to book some big 2017 year end trips at home resorts since I needed some 2018 borrowed points, but was pleasantly surprised to see my 2018 use year was already available.  Does this also mean that in another 1.5 months I would in theory be able to borrow 2019 UY points for a February 2018 trip?
> 
> I've never borrowed this far ahead before, and frankly never even thought about how that would work....



Yes.  UY has zero meaning for when you can call to book a reservation.  That is always 11 months out for a home resort or 7 months for a non-home resort.  The dates of the stay just change what UY the points come from depending on what your UY is - ie, both a Feb UY and a June UY can call to book their home resort for a stay Feb 1, 2018 and use banked or borrowed points and both can make that reservation on March 1, 2017.  But the Feb UY would be able to use banked 2017 points, current 2018 points or borrow 2019 points for that stay as it falls in their 2018 UY.  But for the June UY that stay falls in their 2017 UY so they could use banked 2016 points, current 2017 points for borrow 2018 points.


----------



## TinkerBellLiz

My idea of use year is about reservation date rather than when my use year is.  In your example Feb use year, today is the last day of 2016 and tomorrow starts 2017.  Any reservation (reservation meaning check in date at resort) made between Feb 1 and January 31 (assuming in the 11 month window) could use 2017 or borrow 2018 points.  Once the 11 month window opens for February 1 of 2018 (I think it's March) you could book a reservation for Feb 1 2018 with borrowed 2019 points. 

So long way to answer your question, you could borrow 2019 points but only for a reservation check in date on or AFTER Feb 1 2018.

Hope this helps!  I'm sure if I"m mistaken (and I frequently am) someone will pop in and correct me!  

Liz


----------



## aroundtheriverbend

Perfect, thank you both!


----------



## Ronferr80

CarolMN said:


> For December and April vacations, any use year except February, March or June will work just fine.
> 
> There are no use years for January, May, July or November.
> 
> Don't know the answer to your BLT points question, but I think it depends on which use year you purchase.  You'll get more and better opinions on that if you post that question separately.



I was under the thought process that if I traveled April a lot then Jan, Feb, or March would be good use years??? I thought by having a use year lets say Feb it would allow any points that I previously banked the year before to become available, I would have that years points available, and the ability to borrow from the next year if need be to book a bigger room or longer vacation if wanted.    Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!!  Thanks in advance


----------



## CarolMN

Ronferr80 said:


> I was under the thought process that if I traveled April a lot then Jan, Feb, or March would be good use years??? I thought by having a use year lets say Feb it would allow any points that I previously banked the year before to become available, I would have that years points available, and the ability to borrow from the next year if need be to book a bigger room or longer vacation if wanted.    Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!!  Thanks in advance


 There is no January use year.  Feb or March would be good use years for April travel, but that's because if you cancelled the April vacation, you would have until the end of the following September (for Feb use year) or October (for March use year) to bank them into the next use year,  If you didn't bank, you'd have to use them before the following January 31 (Feb) or February 28 (for March) or they would expire.

If you had a June use year and had to cancel an April vacation, you'd only have until the end of May to use the points before they expire.   You'd be past your banking deadline (which was the previous January 31).

By banking or borrowing, you can always have up to 3 use years worth of points to use on a vacation.  That's true no matter what use year you may have.

For example, Let's say you had a June use year and wanted to vacation in April of 2018.   That vacation falls within your 2017 June use year (6/1/2017 through 5/31/2018).  To pay for it, you can use points you banked from your 2016 use year, points from the current use year (2107) and you may borrow points from your 2018 use year if you need more to pay for the vacation.     (The dates of your vacation determine the current use year for that vacation.  If you were vacationing in July of 2018, the current use year would be 2018 (6/1/2018 -5/31/2019) ).

Try to spend some time going through the examples in the linked thread,   Make yourself the charts for the use year you are considering and assume the dates of a typical vacation to see what would happen if you cancelled it.   Again, all use years allow you to have up to 3 years of points to use for any particular vacation.

HTH.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

Ronferr80 said:


> I was under the thought process that if I traveled April a lot then Jan, Feb, or March would be good use years??? I thought by having a use year lets say Feb it would allow any points that I previously banked the year before to become available, I would have that years points available, and the ability to borrow from the next year if need be to book a bigger room or longer vacation if wanted.    Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!!  Thanks in advance



The response you quoted seemed to be to someone who was going to travel in  both Dec and Apr which means a different recommendation than you looking to travel in April.  If April is your time to travel then a March or even April or Feb UY would work.


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## cepmom

Hi all
new to DVC - we just purchased a BCV resale and now just waiting to get our member info from DVC.  Just want to be sure I am understanding the Use Year correctly.  We have a FEB use year. This is what I think I understand - please correct me if I am wrong!!

banking must be done 4 months prior to the next UY start date
any points not banked or used within the 4 month time frame before next UY start date, are lost/expired
borrowing can done any time from next UY only
once borrowed, they can not be put back to original UY and must be used by in UY they are borrowed to or they will expire when next UY begins - _or can these be banked if I borrow then can't use them??_
*2018 UY*

2/1/18 - 1/31/19 
last day to bank 2018 UY points 9/30/18

*2019 UY*

2/1/19 - 1/31/20
last day to bank 2019 UY points - 9/30/19


----------



## chalee94

cepmom said:


> once borrowed, they can not be put back to original UY and must be used by in UY they are borrowed to or they will expire



This is correct.  Once you bank or borrow pts, they are stuck in their new UY and cannot be moved again.

UY is based on when you use the pts for a stay - nothing to do with when you can call to book.  So when we say you have to "use" the pts by the end of the UY, that means that you have to complete your stay  (just to be clear.)

The rest of your post looked fine to me.


----------



## mustinjourney

cepmom said:


> Hi all
> new to DVC - we just purchased a BCV resale and now just waiting to get our member info from DVC.  Just want to be sure I am understanding the Use Year correctly.  We have a FEB use year. This is what I think I understand - please correct me if I am wrong!!
> 
> banking must be done 4 months prior to the next UY start date
> any points not banked or used within the 4 month time frame before next UY start date, are lost/expired
> borrowing can done any time from next UY only
> once borrowed, they can not be put back to original UY and must be used by in UY they are borrowed to or they will expire when next UY begins - _or can these be banked if I borrow then can't use them??_
> *2018 UY*
> 
> 2/1/18 - 1/31/19
> last day to bank 2018 UY points 9/30/18
> 
> *2019 UY*
> 
> 2/1/19 - 1/31/20
> last day to bank 2019 UY points - 9/30/19



FYI -- if you're ever in doubt on your banking deadline -- log in to your DVC account and click on the "my vacation points from the "my dvc membership" tab top left.  It will tell you how many points you have available in the current UY, as well as when your banking deadline is.


----------



## Josh125

Hi, looking at a waitlist BLT and believe I have the UY down...give it a look please.  We generally travel the 2nd week in Sept but could go as late as March.  A July would work but August or even Sept are more ideal.  Correct?


----------



## mustinjourney

Josh125 said:


> Hi, looking at a waitlist BLT and believe I have the UY down...give it a look please.  We generally travel the 2nd week in Sept but could go as late as March.  A July would work but August or even Sept are more ideal.  Correct?



That is correct. September would be your best bet. Followed by august and then July.


----------



## CarolMN

There is no July use year  - no January, May or November, either.


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## jvattes

My head hurts.  LOL 

If our family will typically travel in April, what UY would be most advantageous for us to look for?


----------



## disneynutz

jvattes said:


> My head hurts.  LOL
> 
> If our family will typically travel in April, what UY would be most advantageous for us to look for?



You can bank during the first 8 months of your UY. Pick a UY where the most vacations times are in a UY 8 month period.

 Bill


----------



## supersnoop

jvattes said:


> My head hurts.  LOL
> 
> If our family will typically travel in April, what UY would be most advantageous for us to look for?


April. 

Can you identify any three consecutive months when you will never travel to Disney?


----------



## jvattes

disneynutz said:


> You can bank during the first 8 months of your UY. Pick a UY where the most vacations times are in a UY 8 month period.
> 
> Bill


Oh my gosh! Thanks for saying it so simply!!!


----------



## jvattes

supersnoop said:


> April.
> 
> Can you identify any three consecutive months when you will never travel to Disney?


Probably Dec and Jan for sure. Possibly Nov or Feb.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

jvattes said:


> Probably Dec and Jan for sure. Possibly Nov or Feb.



April or March should be fine to provide the "free insurance" against last minute cancellations.  That's what the best UY is about.


----------



## momof2halls

Our normal month to travel to WDW is May. We have looked at dozens of resale contracts but have yet to see a May contract for sale. Are they rarely available?


----------



## mustinjourney

momof2halls said:


> Our normal month to travel to WDW is May. We have looked at dozens of resale contracts but have yet to see a May contract for sale. Are they rarely available?



There are no January, May, July or November UYs.


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## momof2halls

mustinjourney said:


> There are no January, May, July or November UYs.


Well that would explain it. Thank you!


----------



## 1momof3boys3

I saw that it was recommended to keep track of Use Year information. Does this look correct? Do you recommend adding anything else?

Use Year:  February          Use for: Feb 1-Jan 31        Bank By:  September 30th

2017 Points:        0            Feb 2017- Jan 2018           
2018 Points:    100            Feb 2018- Jan 2019           
2019 Points:    100            Feb 2019- Jan 2020           
2020 Points:    100            Feb 2020- Jan 2021           
2021 Points:    100            Feb 2021- Jan 2022


----------



## 1momof3boys3

1momof3boys3 said:


> I saw that it was recommended to keep track of Use Year information. Does this look correct? Do you recommend adding anything else?
> 
> Use Year:  February          Use for: Feb 1-Jan 31        Bank By:  September 30th
> 
> 2017 Points:        0            Feb 2017- Jan 2018
> 2018 Points:    100            Feb 2018- Jan 2019
> 2019 Points:    100            Feb 2019- Jan 2020
> 2020 Points:    100            Feb 2020- Jan 2021
> 2021 Points:    100            Feb 2021- Jan 2022




The format didn't post correctly, but hopefully the information is correct.


----------



## mustinjourney

1momof3boys3 said:


> I saw that it was recommended to keep track of Use Year information. Does this look correct? Do you recommend adding anything else?
> 
> Use Year:  February          Use for: Feb 1-Jan 31        Bank By:  September 30th
> 
> 2017 Points:        0            Feb 2017- Jan 2018
> 2018 Points:    100            Feb 2018- Jan 2019
> 2019 Points:    100            Feb 2019- Jan 2020
> 2020 Points:    100            Feb 2020- Jan 2021
> 2021 Points:    100            Feb 2021- Jan 2022



this is a stale thread.  What is your question exactly?

*ETA -- based on your posting, the contract is missing all of the 2017 UY points, but has all points going forward.  Were you trying to find out something else?


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

1momof3boys3 said:


> I saw that it was recommended to keep track of Use Year information. Does this look correct? Do you recommend adding anything else?
> 
> Use Year:  February          Use for: Feb 1-Jan 31        Bank By:  September 30th
> 
> 2017 Points:        0            Feb 2017- Jan 2018
> 2018 Points:    100            Feb 2018- Jan 2019
> 2019 Points:    100            Feb 2019- Jan 2020
> 2020 Points:    100            Feb 2020- Jan 2021
> 2021 Points:    100            Feb 2021- Jan 2022



I think that any recommendations of keeping track of points is just that when you make a reservation that you have the correct points remaining.  When you bank track that and check that banked and/or borrowed points are used before current points.  If you cancel make certain that the points go back to your account properly.


----------



## 1momof3boys3

mustinjourney said:


> this is a stale thread.  What is your question exactly?
> 
> *ETA -- based on your posting, the contract is missing all of the 2017 UY points, but has all points going forward.  Were you trying to find out something else?




I'm mostly wondering if a February use year has a banking deadline of September 30th and if the use dates look correct. So, for the 2018 points, I could use those points February 1st 2018 through January 30th of 2019. Is that right?

Sorry to use an old thread. I did a search and didn't see a more recent Use Year thread. =/


----------



## mustinjourney

1momof3boys3 said:


> I'm mostly wondering if a February use year has a banking deadline of September 30th and if the use dates look correct. So, for the 2018 points, I could use those points February 1st 2018 through January 30th of 2019. Is that right?
> 
> Sorry to use an old thread. I did a search and didn't see a more recent Use Year thread. =/



yes -- Feb 2018 UY points run from Feb 1 until Jan 30, 2019.  Banking deadline is September 30th.

*ETA -- no problem using an old thread -- just based on your question, it wasn't clear what you were asking.


----------



## 1momof3boys3

mustinjourney said:


> yes -- Feb 2018 UY points run from Feb 1 until Jan 30, 2019.  Banking deadline is September 30th.
> 
> *ETA -- no problem using an old thread -- just based on your question, it wasn't clear what you were asking.




Thank you for confirming that for me! I just want to make sure I start off fully understanding how the points work.


----------



## chalee94

1momof3boys3 said:


> So, for the 2018 points, I could use those points February 1st 2018 through January 30th of 2019. Is that right?



Remember that UY is about the dates of your stays. UY is not an issue for when you call to book a stay - that is all based on home resort. 

(When you say "I could use those points...", some people think in terms of booking dates when you would call or go online to book the stay. That's not accurate.)

Always start with the dates of your stay - then figure out which UY (or 2) that those dates fall into.  At that point you would know what "current" UY pts you would be using.  And you would also know that you have access to banked points from the UY before and borrowed points from the next UY (if needed).


----------



## MaryAnne220

I'm in the process of purchasing a SSR resale contract, uy Oct. from a family friend.  We plan to travel in October...the dvc guide I spoke with about waitlisting a 50 pt contract at SSR for an Oct UY(to fill out the points we want and to own some points direct) stated that if we plan to travel in Oct, we wouldn't want an OctUY because our points wouldn't be available for  October travel...huh? I thought pts became available 10/1 of each year? The DVC guide has a Sept 50point contract he'd like me to buy...is he correct? Is an October UY a problem for October travel?


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

MaryAnne220 said:


> I'm in the process of purchasing a SSR resale contract, uy Oct. from a family friend.  We plan to travel in October...the dvc guide I spoke with about waitlisting a 50 pt contract at SSR for an Oct UY(to fill out the points we want and to own some points direct) stated that if we plan to travel in Oct, we wouldn't want an OctUY because our points wouldn't be available for  October travel...huh? I thought pts became available 10/1 of each year? The DVC guide has a Sept 50point contract he'd like me to buy...is he correct? Is an October UY a problem for October travel?



No, not correct.

Either that _guide_ doesn't understand UY (although Sept is fine for Oct travel too) or they had Sept points to sell you but not October.  I'd just tell them I'll be wanting Oct points to match the UY once closed on the other contract.  I wouldn't buy until that was closed though.


----------



## Matty B13

Also, if you bought before October 1st, you would get UY 2016 points, and then UY 2017 October 1st.  So almost double points.


----------



## mustinjourney

Matty B13 said:


> Also, if you bought before October 1st, you would get UY 2016 points, and then UY 2017 October 1st.  So almost double points.



This is a VERY good point.  If you're going to buy 50 points direct -- you might as well do that right now before the other closes so that you get the 2016 UY points.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

Matty B13 said:


> Also, if you bought before October 1st, you would get UY 2016 points, and then UY 2017 October 1st.  So almost double points.



Good point.  Sometimes DVC doesn't have current points to sell with all UY's and they can't sell until after the UY starts and there are current points though.


----------



## Matty B13

Yep, but you will pay the dues based on the date of purchase no matter what.  

You might want to try a different guide if this one doesn't have the points your are looking for.


----------



## MaryAnne220

Thanks guys....I insisted he put me on a waitlist for Oct UY, we will see how it works out. I'm looking forward to coming home for many years to come...I may call back next week...and see if I can have a new guide..I felt he was pushy, and short with me, wanted to hurry me to a sale.


----------



## mustinjourney

I would call back today and tomorrow since these are the last two days to get the "bonus" points for OCT UY.  If you can't get the contract today or tomorrow, I would just wait until the resale contract comes through and then buy direct.


----------



## Deb147678

DH and I are looking at purchasing DVC direct.  We have historically traveled between mid Feb or mid March and between last week of Sept, Mid Oct or first part of Thanksgiving week.  I can't figure out what would be the best UY for us.  I don't plan on ever having to cancel a trip but life can have a funny way of not caring about our plans


----------



## JETSDAD

Deb147678 said:


> DH and I are looking at purchasing DVC direct.  We have historically traveled between mid Feb or mid March and between last week of Sept, Mid Oct or first part of Thanksgiving week.  I can't figure out what would be the best UY for us.  I don't plan on ever having to cancel a trip but life can have a funny way of not caring about our plans



I'd say September as that would cover all of the months that you typically travel (Sept-April would all be safe if you had to cancel and bank points).


----------



## Deb147678

JETSDAD said:


> I'd say September as that would cover all of the months that you typically travel (Sept-April would all be safe if you had to cancel and bank points).




Thank you so much.  If I understand correctly, on a Sept UY points would need to be banked by end of May?


----------



## 4luv2cdisney

Deb147678 said:


> Thank you so much.  If I understand correctly, on a Sept UY points would need to be banked by end of May?



End of April


----------



## BcIcemen

Thank you a great explanation of use year


----------



## NewbieMom

Thank you so much for writing this explanation, CarolNM! I have printed it out for reference, once I get my points and make my 1st reservation.


----------



## CarolMN

NewbieMom said:


> Thank you so much for writing this explanation, CarolNM! I have printed it out for reference, once I get my points and make my 1st reservation.


Congratulations and welcome home!

I noticed this thread is 2+ years old.  Appears to be time to get serious about updating the examples.


----------



## eaglesrest

Thanks Carol, this was really helpful but we got caught by a scenario that contradicts the statement that UY only matters if you cancel a reservation.

I read the thread, and followed the advice to buy a UY that was within 7 or 8 months of our regular travel date of August. I looked for an August or June UY but couldn't find one that matched our criteria so snapped up a March UY.

All good. However, there is a scenario we didn't initially consider where an August UY would have worked much better irrespective of whether we cancel the reservation or not. We will be banking some points in 2020 to 2021. We want to travel to Hawaii in May 2022, and aren't staying at DVC in 2020 or 2021. We can't use the banked points from 2020 as the March UY ends 28/02/22. If we had a June or August UY we would be golden.

I know it's not a scenario that happens a lot, but I wanted to draw attention to it so future newbie buyers don't make our rookie mistake. UY only matters if you cancel a reservation AND need the banked points to run into the next calendar year. It's probably obvious to seasoned DVC members but the mechanics only really become apparent when you dig into the weeds.


----------



## famgel

Always remember u could always rent out your DVC points for cash to use towards your trip


----------



## eaglesrest

famgel said:


> Always remember u could always rent out your DVC points for cash to use towards your trip



Yes I think that's what we will do.


----------



## famgel

We used Davids dvc rentals two years ago and was an easy process.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

eaglesrest said:


> Thanks Carol, this was really helpful but we got caught by a scenario that contradicts the statement that UY only matters if you cancel a reservation.
> 
> I read the thread, and followed the advice to buy a UY that was within 7 or 8 months of our regular travel date of August. I looked for an August or June UY but couldn't find one that matched our criteria so snapped up a March UY.
> 
> All good. However, there is a scenario we didn't initially consider where an August UY would have worked much better irrespective of whether we cancel the reservation or not. We will be banking some points in 2020 to 2021. We want to travel to Hawaii in May 2022, and aren't staying at DVC in 2020 or 2021. We can't use the banked points from 2020 as the March UY ends 28/02/22. If we had a June or August UY we would be golden.
> 
> I know it's not a scenario that happens a lot, but I wanted to draw attention to it so future newbie buyers don't make our rookie mistake. UY only matters if you cancel a reservation AND need the banked points to run into the next calendar year. It's probably obvious to seasoned DVC members but the mechanics only really become apparent when you dig into the weeds.



That's more the mechanics of vacations you take and points you have remaining.  Skipping 2 years of DVC travel will very possibly mean there's a year that points can't be used.   To remind - the best UY is about giving a sort of free insurance against last minute cancellations.  A May trip with an August UY would not have that.


----------



## eaglesrest

I get where you are coming from in regards to risk, and yes that would be high risk, but I guess always paying cash previously, I've had a mindset that if we had to cancel last minute we would lose most of, if  not all of our flights and accommodation costs. Fortunately we've never had to cancel, but never say never I guess.

As we are in the UK we are less likely to visit every year, and possibly, like in the Hawaii special event scenario, maybe every 3 years. Our school hols are May and August so being able to have more points available from 2 years prior would work for us, insurance or no insurance. It might not be everyone's scenario but it does impact the use year for us.


----------



## Marionnette

eaglesrest said:


> I get where you are coming from in regards to risk, and yes that would be high risk, but I guess always paying cash previously, I've had a mindset that if we had to cancel last minute we would lose most of, if  not all of our flights and accommodation costs. Fortunately we've never had to cancel, but never say never I guess.
> 
> As we are in the UK we are less likely to visit every year, and possibly, like in the Hawaii special event scenario, maybe every 3 years. Our school hols are May and August so being able to have points available from 2 years prior would work for us, insurance or no insurance. It might not be everyone's scenario but it does impact the use year for us.


With May and August being your usual travel periods, a March UY is actually a very good choice. I think that what you're getting hung up on is the fact that you will not be able to use your 2020 UY's points for that one vacation that falls in your 2022 UY. You can still bank 2021's points, use the 2022 points and then borrow from 2023 to make that trip happen.


----------



## eaglesrest

Yeah that would be the plan and then rent the left-over 2020 points. I just wanted to not have to borrow as many points from 2023, as we really want to go back to Disney in 2023. It will have been 4 years since we visited the mouse, not counting the hula mouse of course  

I guess it will be irrelevant as we'll have topped up another 3 contracts by then anyway


----------



## jvattes

Oops wrong thread


----------



## CarolMN

Updated thread with current examples.     Let me know if there are any typos/errors.   I've only had one cup of coffee this morning!


----------



## CarolynFH

CarolMN said:


> Updated thread with current examples.     Let me know if there are any typos/errors.   I've only had one cup of coffee this morning!



Thanks for maintaining this thread. Unfortunately it looks to me that you need to check the years in the update - e.g. at one point you state that if 2019 points won’t be used by 9/30/19 they need to be banked....  And the title of the thread says it was updated in 2020....


----------



## CarolMN

Thank you!   I fixed the title & reread the post  - think I fixed everything.  If you have time, please check again for me.  Thanks.


----------



## CarolynFH

CarolMN said:


> Thank you!   I fixed the title & reread the post  - think I fixed everything.  If you have time, please check again for me.  Thanks.



Just read it very carefully, and those pesky dates seem to be correct! Thanks for updating this thread - I think it’s very clear!


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

What a great explanation! THank you so much.


----------



## rongarbutt

Do you need to use all your points in the use year, or just start your vacation by the end of the use year?  Let's say I have a Feb use year and start my vacation on January 31st, 2020.  Can I use my 2019 points for the entire week Jan 31- Feb 6?


----------



## Marionnette

rongarbutt said:


> Do you need to use all your points in the use year, or just start your vacation by the end of the use year?  Let's say I have a Feb use year and start my vacation on January 31st, 2020.  Can I use my 2019 points for the entire week Jan 31- Feb 6?


The last night of your stay can be no later than Jan. 31, 2020 when you have a Feb. UY and wish to use 2019 points.


----------



## CarolynFH

rongarbutt said:


> Do you need to use all your points in the use year, or just start your vacation by the end of the use year?  Let's say I have a Feb use year and start my vacation on January 31st, 2020.  Can I use my 2019 points for the entire week Jan 31- Feb 6?





Marionnette said:


> The last night of your stay can be no later than Jan. 31, 2020 when you have a Feb. UY and wish to use 2019 points.



Unless, of course, you bank enough points to cover the nights of Feb. 1-6.  You would have to bank those points by September 30, 2019 in order to use them for reservations beginning Feb. 1, 2020 or later, and they would expire completely if not used by Jan. 31, 2021.


----------



## Marionnette

CarolynFH said:


> Unless, of course, you bank enough points to cover the nights of Feb. 1-6.  You would have to bank those points by September 30, 2019 in order to use them for reservations beginning Feb. 1, 2020 or later, and they would expire completely if not used by Jan. 31, 2021.


Yes, but based in n the dates the the PP posted, it would require two separate reservations. One for the night of 1/31/20 and using unbanked 2019 points. The other would begin 2/1/20 and could use any banked 2019 points. I just didn’t get the impression that just being able to use the points was at the core of the PP’s question. I answered based on them asking if the reservation had to be completed by the end of the UY or just begin before the new UY starts.


----------



## CarolynFH

Marionnette said:


> Yes, but based in n the dates the the PP posted, it would require two separate reservations. One for the night of 1/31/20 and using unbanked 2019 points. The other would begin 2/1/20 and could use any banked 2019 points. I just didn’t get the impression that just being able to use the points was at the core of the PP’s question. I answered based on them asking if the reservation had to be completed by the end of the UY or just begin before the new UY starts.



Yes, I agree!  I tried to add a bit to the knowledge you imparted, and now you've added to that - hopefully PP will be in much better shape to manage their points now!


----------



## Newbie500

Getting ready to make an offer on my first DVC contract, but I want to make sure I understand how use year works.  For a September UY, 150 points contract, no banked points, all 150 points available for 2019 and for 2020, if we plan to travel every Christmas from just before the 25th to January 1 or 2, will a September UY work for me?  How would banking and borrowing work for a December 2020 stay?


----------



## Marionnette

Newbie500 said:


> Getting ready to make an offer on my first DVC contract, but I want to make sure I understand how use year works.  For a September UY, 150 points contract, no banked points, all 150 points available for 2019 and for 2020, if we plan to travel every Christmas from just before the 25th to January 1 or 2, will a September UY work for me?  How would banking and borrowing work for a December 2020 stay?


December 2020 falls within the September 2020 UY. A September UY is perfect for someone who routinely travels in December. You want a UY that will allow you to be able to cancel a reservation if necessary and still have plenty of time to reschedule to use any banked/borrowed points. You also want to be able to cancel and bank any current UY’s points in the event of a cancellation. September UYs have an April 30th banking deadline.

If you wanted to bank your 2019 points into 2020, you would need to do so by 4/30/2020. But for December reservations that would use those points, you should bank them in January. Points must be banked first before making a reservation and January is when the 11-month home resort booking window opens for December reservations.


----------



## Newbie500

Thank you, Marionnette!


----------



## Arthur2990

CarolMN said:


> *Use year only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled to occur late in your use year * - i.e., during the last three months of your use year.  That's because banking is not allowed during the last four months of your use year and so you don't have much time to reschedule before the points expire.   Many owners never have to cancel a vacation (lucky them, LOL) so they don't worry about use year.



So given this.  If i have a 2019 October YU and book a stay in September 2020 can i walk this reservation into October 2020 if i need to?

Or is the last date I can date I can book is September 30?


----------



## CarolMN

Arthur2990 said:


> So given this.  If i have a 2019 October YU and book a stay in September 2020 can i walk this reservation into October 2020 if i need to?
> 
> Or is the last date I can date I can book is September 30?



September 30 is the last night the 2019 points can be used to pay for a reservation.   There may be a way to walk across the use year, but it would require MS to help.


----------



## Tommyboy18

I've read most of the replies but just would like some peace of mind from the community.
We are not DVC members, but have been seriously considering it lately after renting points, sitting though a sales consultation,  and running the numbers in comparison to our current travel arrangements.

My question regards use year and what would be the most ideal for us in terms of flexibility in canceling and 11-month booking. From my understanding, 11 month booking for marathon weekend is difficult. Many book or hoard rooms during marathon for resale?

We currently visit Disney World several times a year. Our future plans dial that back to twice per year for 4-6 days each visit. 

Marathon week
Food & wine (oct)

What month use year would you pursue? 
My understanding says September...
Thoughts?


----------



## DaveNan

Tommyboy18 said:


> I've read most of the replies but just would like some peace of mind from the community.
> We are not DVC members, but have been seriously considering it lately after renting points, sitting though a sales consultation,  and running the numbers in comparison to our current travel arrangements.
> 
> My question regards use year and what would be the most ideal for us in terms of flexibility in canceling and 11-month booking. From my understanding, 11 month booking for marathon weekend is difficult. Many book or hoard rooms during marathon for resale?
> 
> We currently visit Disney World several times a year. Our future plans dial that back to twice per year for 4-6 days each visit.
> 
> Marathon week
> Food & wine (oct)
> 
> What month use year would you pursue?
> My understanding says September...
> Thoughts?


If your W&F trip is always in Oct and does not creep into Sept, than you would be OK with Oct UY too.  Availability is better in Sept, but if that does not match your travel needs than you could go with Oct.  If you have Oct UY and you had travel plans on Oct that you needed to canceled 2 months early (before the 31 day window), you could cancel in August and still have lots of flexibility with your points.  Your UY would be 2 to 14 months ahead of the cancellation date and you could still book something in that UY or bank by the following May 31.  If however you had Oct UY and had actually booked something in Sept (the tail end of your UY), if you cancelled 2 months early in July, you would only have 0-3 months left in your UY.  You would get no booking advantage, and you would be past the banking deadline.  Trips planned late in your UY almost need to be looked at like you need to cancel 7 months early to keep any booking advantage, or 4 months early to avoid missing the banking deadline.  Even the marathon trip is early enough in your UY you would still have options.  I personally feel another advantage to the Sept/Oct UY's is availability in August/Sept is very good.  If you cancelled a Jan trip in Nov, you still have the >7 month booking availability starting in June, and there should be good availability in June. July. August, and Sept.  If you are Dec UY, and you tried to rebook something 7 to 9 months before your UY expiration, availability would be poor.  Trying to spend distressed points in Oct and Nov is almost impossible, but possible in July/August.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

Tommyboy18 said:


> I've read most of the replies but just would like some peace of mind from the community.
> We are not DVC members, but have been seriously considering it lately after renting points, sitting though a sales consultation,  and running the numbers in comparison to our current travel arrangements.
> 
> My question regards use year and what would be the most ideal for us in terms of flexibility in canceling and 11-month booking. From my understanding, 11 month booking for marathon weekend is difficult. Many book or hoard rooms during marathon for resale?
> 
> We currently visit Disney World several times a year. Our future plans dial that back to twice per year for 4-6 days each visit.
> 
> Marathon week
> Food & wine (oct)
> 
> What month use year would you pursue?
> My understanding says September...
> Thoughts?



Every UY can book at 11 months prior to check in at their home resort so that is not a concern with any UY for you.

If your Food and Wine trips would not ever roll back into Sept then either a Sept or an October UY would work well and give you a cushion for any last minute cancellations on either the Food and Wine or the Marathon weekend trips.  If you could see a possibility of Sept bookings then either a Sept or August UY would be best and still give you the free "insurance" against last minute cancellations for Food and Wine and the Marathon weekend.


----------



## jerseyduke

Tommyboy18 said:


> I've read most of the replies but just would like some peace of mind from the community.
> We are not DVC members, but have been seriously considering it lately after renting points, sitting though a sales consultation,  and running the numbers in comparison to our current travel arrangements.
> 
> My question regards use year and what would be the most ideal for us in terms of flexibility in canceling and 11-month booking. From my understanding, 11 month booking for marathon weekend is difficult. Many book or hoard rooms during marathon for resale?
> 
> We currently visit Disney World several times a year. Our future plans dial that back to twice per year for 4-6 days each visit.
> 
> Marathon week
> Food & wine (oct)
> 
> What month use year would you pursue?
> My understanding says September...
> Thoughts?



It is considered by many (and in my opinion wisely so) that it is always best to travel in the first few months of your UY.  It is all insurance about cancelling reservations. It gives you the most flexibility.  Your assessment of September is right on assuming you do not think you might ever do F&W at the very end of August.  If you may do August, then an August UY is better.

With either UY both vacations (F&W and Marathons in January) would fall before your banking window closes, so should you have to cancel you would still be able to bank your points.  A last minute cancellation of the Jan trip (points in holding) would still give you 6 or 7 months to make use of those holding points, which is a pretty fair amount of time.  Or if you had a Jan Trip booked with banked or borrowed points, you would also still have 6 or 7 months to use those points before they expire at the end of the UY.

In summary - Possible trip in august = august UY.  Never in August = Sept - however, I would not consider August a mistake in this case, and would go with what was available on the resale market


----------



## Tommyboy18

I appreciate the thorough responses.
I've been reviewing August and September contracts for the past few weeks. Looks like I will continue. 
Aug/Sept seem to be a bit rarer in terms of resale availability for our desired resort unfortunately.


----------



## CarolynFH

Here's the link to a chart showing the distribution of UY for each resort.  It's not consistent from resort to resort, so it might be difficult to find the UY you want in the resort you want simply because relatively few of them exist.  For instance, we have a September UY at BWV, which is shared by less than 8% of the points there.  Looking at this chart might help you decide on which resorts to look for that fit your needs for UY as well as other factors such as price, location, villa sizes, etc.

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018


----------



## thelionqueen

I have read through many threads and always had a good grasp based on my previous March UY.  I am looking at a BWV resale for booking Jan & Dec week long stays in studios.  If I have figured correctly, August seems to be the best UY for both of these trips; is that correct?  I have yet to cancel a trip last minute, but just in case.. thought I'd check.  Thoughts?


----------



## PolyRob

thelionqueen said:


> I have read through many threads and always had a good grasp based on my previous March UY.  I am looking at a BWV resale for booking Jan & Dec week long stays in studios.  If I have figured correctly, August seems to be the best UY for both of these trips; is that correct?  I have yet to cancel a trip last minute, but just in case.. thought I'd check.  Thoughts?


Do you plan on walking reservations? If so I would say October is better. If not, December is better. You would get the most possible time to rebook/bank with a UY right before you want to travel.


----------



## chalee94

thelionqueen said:


> I have read through many threads and always had a good grasp based on my previous March UY.  I am looking at a BWV resale for booking Jan & Dec week long stays in studios.  If I have figured correctly, August seems to be the best UY for both of these trips; is that correct?  I have yet to cancel a trip last minute, but just in case.. thought I'd check.  Thoughts?



Why do you think August is best?

I would agree that Dec is best if you never plan to travel in late November for a Dec trip.


----------



## thelionqueen

chalee94 said:


> Why do you think August is best?
> 
> I would agree that Dec is best if you never plan to travel in late November for a Dec trip.


Thank you!  I left out the fact that I don’t like December use years for personal reasons.  I was thinking October as well but switched to August based on it being 6 months before both. My reasoning...which I’m now thinking is flawed.. is that my banking window is end of March. Therefore, if I did have to cancel, I’d have previous year points to bank. I would never ever go in the summer months. Maybe October but that would be a stretch. I’m usually savvy about most things but trying to figure out December use years (don’t ask... no idea why it’s rough) and banking windows based on travel, trip me up something awful... which is why I posted here lol. Now, I really feel this won’t matter at all since my vacation patterns have been 99.99% cancel free over the last 30+ years.. but just in case. Thanks again for your help and patience


----------



## CarolMN

Don't get December if you ever think you might want to start your vacation during the last few nights of November.  When Thanksgiving is early, that's a very good possibility for those of us who love the early December vacations.  

December is also a poor choice if you will ever need to walk a reservation.  You can't successfully walk over use years.  Again, a real possibility for some booking categories, especially those for studios.

That extra month's "insurance" isn't worth the potential booking hassles.

For your stated travel times, August is fine, as is October & even June.  IMO, any use year that allows you to bank if you cancel at least 31 days in advance would work.  Just go for the best deal with one of those use years.


----------



## thelionqueen

CarolMN said:


> Don't get December if you ever think you might want to start your vacation during the last few nights of November.  When Thanksgiving is early, that's a very good possibility for those of us who love the early December vacations.
> 
> December is also a poor choice if you will ever need to walk a reservation.  You can't successfully walk over use years.  Again, a real possibility for some booking categories, especially those for studios.
> 
> That extra month's "insurance" isn't worth the potential booking hassles.
> 
> For your stated travel times, August is fine, as is October & even June.  IMO, any use year that allows you to bank if you cancel at least 31 days in advance would work.  Just go for the best deal with one of those use years.


Thank you for explaining this so perfectly for my confused brain.  I finally think I know what I'm doing lol


----------



## justadreamaway77

Thank you!  This really helped clear up my understanding of UY!  I was second guessing our UY but now see it is perfect for us....at least until I retire and am not forced to only vacation when school is out!


----------



## Sandisw

justadreamaway77 said:


> Thank you!  This really helped clear up my understanding of UY!  I was second guessing our UY but now see it is perfect for us....at least until I retire and am not forced to only vacation when school is out!



Yeah! I just retired from teaching and it was so nice planning trips anytime and taking advantage of cheaper airfare!


----------



## ofcabbagesandkings

I am in the very early stages of looking for a small (100-150pt) resale AKV contract. I wouldn't consider making an offer until sometime in September at the earliest, when we would at least have an idea of when/whether WDW would return to "normal" operations. I read the first post carefully but I want to make sure the UY  I am considering would be the best choice for our family's travel patterns. We visit WDW on average every 1.5-2 years, always staying either the last week of October or the last week of December (checking out no later than Dec 26th). The majority of AKV contracts have Dec UY and I think that would be perfect in terms of flexibility. If we had to cancel an October trip, we could bank the points by July and use them until the end of December of the following year, correct? We will never travel to WDW Jan-Apr or June-Sep. May we might consider for Mother's Day (my mom lives in Florida) or an Aulani trip, but we haven't done that so far. Thanks!


----------



## Sandisw

ofcabbagesandkings said:


> I am in the very early stages of looking for a small (100-150pt) resale AKV contract. I wouldn't consider making an offer until sometime in September at the earliest, when we would at least have an idea of when/whether WDW would return to "normal" operations. I read the first post carefully but I want to make sure the UY  I am considering would be the best choice for our family's travel patterns. We visit WDW on average every 1.5-2 years, always staying either the last week of October or the last week of December (checking out no later than Dec 26th). The majority of AKV contracts have Dec UY and I think that would be perfect in terms of flexibility. If we had to cancel an October trip, we could bank the points by July and use them until the end of December of the following year, correct? We will never travel to WDW Jan-Apr or June-Sep. May we might consider for Mother's Day (my mom lives in Florida) or an Aulani trip, but we haven't done that so far. Thanks!



Dec UY is not really good for Oct travel.  Yes, if you know by July 31st you’d need to cancel but if something happened Aug 1st, those points would then expire November 30th.

You are better getting Aug, Sept or Oct UY, as both trips fall within those first 8 months.  That means you’d have up to 31 days prior to the trip to cancel and still bank or reschedule the trip.


----------



## ofcabbagesandkings

Sandisw said:


> Dec UY is not really good for Oct travel.  Yes, if you know by July 31st you’d need to cancel but if something happened Aug 1st, those points would then expire November 30th.
> 
> You are better getting Aug, Sept or Oct UY, as both trips fall within those first 8 months.  That means you’d have up to 31 days prior to the trip to cancel and still bank or reschedule the trip.


Thank you. I’m going to look for October as one thing I am certain of is that we will never want to travel in July-Sep. Thanks!


----------



## Sandisw

ofcabbagesandkings said:


> Thank you. I’m going to look for October as one thing I am certain of is that we will never want to travel in July-Sep. Thanks!



Sounds good,,,but at least if you have trouble finding that, you know Aug and Sept will work just as well!


----------



## ofcabbagesandkings

Sandisw said:


> Sounds good,,,but at least if you have trouble finding that, you know Aug and Sept will work just as well!



There have been a few but so many of them are stripped! I think it’s a bit nuts when sellers are quoting high price per point for stripped contracts.


----------



## ABE4DISNEY

Another quick question for you all regarding use year.

We have three current contracts--approx. 400 points all with Feb. use year.

Our travel patterns are usually 2 trips a year:  one in May/June & the other in Nov./Dec.

We are looking to add on 100 points just because we are always borrowing. It won't really add another trip but just will keep us from borrowing, and we can maybe extend our stays a day or two.

With the virus we are now aware that our fall trips could possibly be vulnerable of losing points since it is past banking time on 9/30.
1.   Should our new contract be a later use year like June/August?
2.   Or would it be best to just have all the contracts the same use year for convenience and take the risk about a possible loss of points?
3.   Is it really a big deal to have different use years?
Thanks for your feedback!


----------



## Sandisw

ABE4DISNEY said:


> Another quick question for you all regarding use year.
> 
> We have three current contracts--approx. 400 points all with Feb. use year.
> 
> Our travel patterns are usually 2 trips a year:  one in May/June & the other in Nov./Dec.
> 
> We are looking to add on 100 points just because we are always borrowing. It won't really add another trip but just will keep us from borrowing, and we can maybe extend our stays a day or two.
> 
> With the virus we are now aware that our fall trips could possibly be vulnerable of losing points since it is past banking time on 9/30.
> 1.   Should our new contract be a later use year like June/August?
> 2.   Or would it be best to just have all the contracts the same use year for convenience and take the risk about a possible loss of points?
> 3.   Is it really a big deal to have different use years?
> Thanks for your feedback!



I have 3 and it’s not a huge deal,  However, I don’t ever use them together and book different trips with them,  But, I did do it so I am always traveling in my banking window. 

It does mean I am sometimes borrowing even though I might have points in another,

The big benefit for you would be for those Nov and Dec trips, as you could always book it with those points,.,or at least book the number of nights the 100 points would cover and then the rest with your Feb UY...it would at least protect some of that trip,


----------



## macman123

So when you buy direct (say for a top up on re-sale) you can specify the use year?


----------



## Sandisw

macman123 said:


> So when you buy direct (say for a top up on re-sale) you can specify the use year?



Yes.  But it will be a new membership and thus, you’d be responsible  for meeting the minimum purchase .

That means it is no longer an add on,  You won’t be able to combine points without transfer and once you transfer, you can’t use points online,

It makes sense only when you want enough points to use them at time that is not good for your original one,

Of course, they will encourage you to keep the same one, but I’d you have a reason, and want it, they will not turn you down.


----------



## macman123

Ok. I want to buy 350 resale and 150 direct for BLT with same use year.


----------



## ABE4DISNEY

Sandisw said:


> I have 3 and it’s not a huge deal,  However, I don’t ever use them together and book different trips with them,  But, I did do it so I am always traveling in my banking window.
> 
> It does mean I am sometimes borrowing even though I might have points in another,
> 
> The big benefit for you would be for those Nov and Dec trips, as you could always book it with those points,.,or at least book the number of nights the 100 points would cover and then the rest with your Feb UY...it would at least protect some of that trip,


Thank you!  All very good points!  I appreciate your feedback.


----------



## WanderlustinFP

I will typically travel in February or July/Aug. Which UY is best for me?


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

WanderlustinFP said:


> I will typically travel in February or July/Aug. Which UY is best for me?



A February UY would allow you to travel in all of those months and still be within your banking window if you ended up cancelling 31 days or more prior to your trip.  You would have until Sept 30th in the UY to bank.


----------



## WanderlustinFP

KAT4DISNEY said:


> A February UY would allow you to travel in all of those months and still be within your banking window if you ended up cancelling 31 days or more prior to your trip.  You would have until Sept 30th in the UY to bank.



Would an August UY work as well?


----------



## JETSDAD

WanderlustinFP said:


> Would an August UY work as well?


An August UY would be fine for your August/February travel but would be the worst possible UY for July travel.


----------



## becauseimnew

Help me:
Usual travel months: May, June, October & November. Preferred month is October, although it was becoming way too crowded. We really enjoyed early May, even with all the rain. 
I’m thinking October UY might be the best option? Or Maybe April? 

Thoughts??


----------



## chalee94

October is good as long as you don't start a trip at the end of Sept. April may be safer overall if you plan to avoid Jan-March stays.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

becauseimnew said:


> Help me:
> Usual travel months: May, June, October & November. Preferred month is October, although it was becoming way too crowded. We really enjoyed early May, even with all the rain.
> I’m thinking October UY might be the best option? Or Maybe April?
> 
> Thoughts??



I'd put April first (banking deadline of Nov 30th) and Oct (May 31 banking deadline) similar to a March UY (Oct 31 banking deadline)


----------



## striker1064

becauseimnew said:


> Help me:
> Usual travel months: May, June, October & November. Preferred month is October, although it was becoming way too crowded. We really enjoyed early May, even with all the rain.
> I’m thinking October UY might be the best option? Or Maybe April?
> 
> Thoughts??



Agreed with April, since you like to travel in June an Oct UY puts you past the banking deadline (May 31) so there's some risk.

When 2 UYs are possible I would suggest thinking of the in-between months. October is better if you would travel after April UY banking deadline (Nov 30) - so December through March. April is better if you would travel after Oct UY banking deadline (May 31) - so June through September. Since you mentioned June, April is better.


----------



## becauseimnew

KAT4DISNEY said:


> I'd put April first (banking deadline of Nov 30th) and Oct (May 31 banking deadline) similar to a March UY (Oct 31 banking deadline)


Thank you. 


striker1064 said:


> Agreed with April, since you like to travel in June an Oct UY puts you past the banking deadline (May 31) so there's some risk.
> 
> When 2 UYs are possible I would suggest thinking of the in-between months. October is better if you would travel after April UY banking deadline (Nov 30) - so December through March. April is better if you would travel after Oct UY banking deadline (May 31) - so June through September. Since you mentioned June, April is better.


Thank you, I wish I would have asked earlier. I was waiting for the perfect October BRV contract and passed up on an April contract. Oh well, now I know. 
Thanks for the detailed explanation.


----------



## glamdring269

I've been debating April as a potential UY for us. It's not the best of the bunch but wanted to see if you all agree with my logic

Most likely travel times (in order):
October
December
May-Sep

Least Likely:
Jan-Mar

I guess my logic here is that if I had April it should be ok. The banking window would be end of November. If I don't know by then that I'm going to have to cancel a December trip then I'd get stuck in holding anyway.

Fully understand that April is not the optimal UY but just wanted to get a quick logic check. Always appreciate other perspectives!


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

glamdring269 said:


> I've been debating April as a potential UY for us. It's not the best of the bunch but wanted to see if you all agree with my logic
> 
> Most likely travel times (in order):
> October
> December
> May-Sep
> 
> Least Likely:
> Jan-Mar
> 
> I guess my logic here is that if I had April it should be ok. The banking window would be end of November. If I don't know by then that I'm going to have to cancel a December trip then I'd get stuck in holding anyway.
> 
> Fully understand that April is not the optimal UY but just wanted to get a quick logic check. Always appreciate other perspectives!



Makes sense to me!


----------



## CarolMN

Me, too!


----------



## Mommyof3boys2017

Trying to figure this all out, and I think I have it, but not quite sure. We've gone twice in the fall. Once over labor day (deal was too good to pass up, but I will never go that early again, way too hot for my Ohio blood) and once in October, which was wonderful. I am planning a trip for February to see if that's a good slow time, where we won't melt and hopefully lower crowds (lol). Would getting a Feb UY work well for both Feb/Oct/Nov dates or would an October UY be better to avoid the summer? I don't think we'll ever go in the summer, but the rest of the year is a maybe.


----------



## KAT4DISNEY

Mommyof3boys2017 said:


> Trying to figure this all out, and I think I have it, but not quite sure. We've gone twice in the fall. Once over labor day (deal was too good to pass up, but I will never go that early again, way too hot for my Ohio blood) and once in October, which was wonderful. I am planning a trip for February to see if that's a good slow time, where we won't melt and hopefully lower crowds (lol). Would getting a Feb UY work well for both Feb/Oct/Nov dates or would an October UY be better to avoid the summer? I don't think we'll ever go in the summer, but the rest of the year is a maybe.



A February UY has a banking deadline of Sept 30 so it's not good for late fall trips in Oct and Nov.   Sept or Oct UY's would be best for Oct/Nov/Feb trips.  Even August would not be bad if you want to widen the search for contracts.


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## CarolMN

Bump.  Updated post #1 with a more current example.


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## gisele2

WoW , thanks I finally understood the holding points .


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## tgarre06

Question: If I have an April UY, and have a vacation booked in mid-April that I have to cancel in March more than 31 days before my checkin date, will those points be bankable still? I’m just confused about the stay being in my use Year but the time of cancellation being out of my use Year. Thanks!


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## CarolynFH

tgarre06 said:


> Question: If I have an April UY, and have a vacation booked in mid-April that I have to cancel in March more than 31 days before my checkin date, will those points be bankable still? I’m just confused about the stay being in my use Year but the time of cancellation being out of my use Year. Thanks!


Yes, those points will still be bankable, because they’ll be in their original UY. The date you cancel them won’t matter.


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## tgarre06

One more question: If I have a June UY, and I cancel a Feb trip in Jan more than 31 days before my check-in date, will those points be bankable? I’m not sure since I’m cancelling in my UY but the stay I was cancelling was outside of my UY. Thanks again!


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## chalee94

tgarre06 said:


> One more question: If I have a June UY, and I cancel a Feb trip in Jan more than 31 days before my check-in date, will those points be bankable? I’m not sure since I’m cancelling in my UY but the stay I was cancelling was outside of my UY. Thanks again!



The banking window for Jun UY 2021 closes on Jan 31, 2022, so yes, you could cancel more than 30 days in advance and bank any current 2021 UY pts from that canceled stay so long as they are banked by Jan 31, 2022. A Feb 2022 stay is still very much inside your June 2021 UY, which does not end until May 31, 2022. If you cancel a May 2022 stay in Jan 2022, still bankable (in case you meant banking window instead of UY.)


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## disneylover81

This Use Year stuff has me stressing . . . I just need some help!

I typically travel in July (my birthday month), but it is so hot. We just went for our anniversary the last week in April and it was still hot, but we had great weather (no rain whatsoever). I am wanting to buy DVC and still deciding on direct or resale, leaning toward VGF. I have gotten lots of advice on both sides, so lots of pros and cons for each choice. Hubby thinks I am crazy to spend all this money on DVC, when we can just stay in a Value resort since we only take a shower and sleep in the room anyways - let me say, we have NEVER once stayed in a value resort. It gives me anxiety to even consider the idea. I don't like doors that face the outside because it makes me feel like I am at the Motel 6 or something. I am a Deluxe resort kind of girl ! I don't even care for the moderates when I gave them a chance and we have stayed in a few of those. 

Anyways, I said all that to say I am about to purchase some kind of DVC contract because I want to start trying to travel to WDW at least twice a year, doing something like a 5 night stay somewhere between May-July and then a shorter 3 night stay somewhere between September-November. My kids are grown, so most trips will just be my hubby and I so a studio will be fine. What is my best Use Year choice for these travel times? It may not even matter a whole lot, but I see so many posts about making sure you get the best one for your travel habits. Plus, if I do end up buying resale, I want to make sure I know what UY to look for.


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## Sandisw

disneylover81 said:


> This Use Year stuff has me stressing . . . I just need some help!
> 
> I typically travel in July (my birthday month), but it is so hot. We just went for our anniversary the last week in April and it was still hot, but we had great weather (no rain whatsoever). I am wanting to buy DVC and still deciding on direct or resale, leaning toward VGF. I have gotten lots of advice on both sides, so lots of pros and cons for each choice. Hubby thinks I am crazy to spend all this money on DVC, when we can just stay in a Value resort since we only take a shower and sleep in the room anyways - let me say, we have NEVER once stayed in a value resort. It gives me anxiety to even consider the idea. I don't like doors that face the outside because it makes me feel like I am at the Motel 6 or something. I am a Deluxe resort kind of girl ! I don't even care for the moderates when I gave them a chance and we have stayed in a few of those.
> 
> Anyways, I said all that to say I am about to purchase some kind of DVC contract because I want to start trying to travel to WDW at least twice a year, doing something like a 5 night stay somewhere between May-July and then a shorter 3 night stay somewhere between September-November. My kids are grown, so most trips will just be my hubby and I so a studio will be fine. What is my best Use Year choice for these travel times? It may not even matter a whole lot, but I see so many posts about making sure you get the best one for your travel habits. Plus, if I do end up buying resale, I want to make sure I know what UY to look for.



March or April are best for those travel times.


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## disneylover81

Sandisw said:


> March or April are best for those travel times.


Thank you so much!!! I was thinking April might be good.


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## wnielsen1

disneylover81 said:


> Thank you so much!!! I was thinking April might be good.


April gives you a banking deadline of November 30th.  That is the best UY for what you describe above.


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## disneylover81

wnielsen1 said:


> April gives you a banking deadline of November 30th.  That is the best UY for what you describe above.


Thank you! I think that's exactly what I will be looking for!


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## TraderStitch

Buying direct very soon and just want a second opinion to make sure I'm thinking about this correctly.

We travel mostly Feb, Sept and Oct, (beginning Nov). That being said, an August or September UY would be best... correct?


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## Sandisw

TraderStitch said:


> Buying direct very soon and just want a second opinion to make sure I'm thinking about this correctly.
> 
> We travel mostly Feb, Sept and Oct, (beginning Nov). That being said, an August or September UY would be best... correct?



That would be my choice!


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## dawnandnala

Okay I have read this thread several times over the last week and still looking for some guidance. I do not have a usual travel time  - in the last 4 years I have visited in Dec, Oct, May and have a trip booked upcoming in February. The guide  I started speaking with suggested a June UY. What would be the pros/cons of a June UY?


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## DisneyCowgirl

dawnandnala said:


> Okay I have read this thread several times over the last week and still looking for some guidance. I do not have a usual travel time  - in the last 4 years I have visited in Dec, Oct, May and have a trip booked upcoming in February. The guide to started speaking with suggested a June UY. What would be the pros/cons of a June UY?


With those months, your issue with June I think would be if you had to cancel May trip and it was past the time you could bank your points. But another use year is likely to give you a similar problem with trips in other months. We travel at all different times, so I ended up not worrying about the use year, and so far I've had no issues.


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## dawnandnala

DisneyCowgirl said:


> With those months, your issue with June I think would be if you had to cancel May trip and it was past the time you could bank your points. But another use year is likely to give you a similar problem with trips in other months. We travel at all different times, so I ended up not worrying about the use year, and so far I've had no issues.


Thanks for the feedback!


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## supersnoop

dawnandnala said:


> Okay I have read this thread several times over the last week and still looking for some guidance. I do not have a usual travel time  - in the last 4 years I have visited in Dec, Oct, May and have a trip booked upcoming in February. The guide  I started speaking with suggested a June UY. What would be the pros/cons of a June UY?


For those months, June would almost be the worst.  September, October, February, and December would be better, likely in that order.


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## dawnandnala

supersnoop said:


> For those months, June would almost be the worst.  September, October, February, and December would be better, likely in that order.


TY !


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## BcIcemen

We have a March use year and have never had a problem. We have traveled in Feb,May,June,July,Aug and Nov. Our banking deadline is October 31


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## LadySarathano

Looking for advice. Currently our most frequent travel months are April / May and September / October. The latter has the possibility to be canceled due to work. Cannot travel in November / December due to work. Open to travel in January / February or even early March but generally not interested in Spring Break, Summer, or Christmas Break time frames. What would be our best use year options?


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## mrsdoubie

LadySarathano said:


> Looking for advice. Currently our most frequent travel months are April / May and September / October. The latter has the possibility to be canceled due to work. Cannot travel in November / December due to work. Open to travel in January / February or even early March but generally not interested in Spring Break, Summer, or Christmas Break time frames. What would be our best use year options?


Those are the times I also travel almost exactly and I have an April UY. Nov 30 is your banking deadline. I do sometimes go the 1st week of March, and luckily haven’t had any issues with having to cancel yet.

Editing to add that March would also work for you.


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## Samfar

Great tips. Can someone pls still help me?
We usually travel sept - early Dec .. with Sept usually the main month. 
what use year should be best for me? 
Thank you so much.


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## CarolMN

Samfar said:


> Great tips. Can someone pls still help me?
> We usually travel sept - early Dec .. with Sept usually the main month.
> what use year should be best for me?
> Thank you so much.


August would be ideal for you.


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## Thegoatfeeder

So this isn't really a purchasing DVC question, but this seemed the best thread to ask the question!

I am already a member with a December UY. I have 0 in my 2022 UY, I have 34 in my 2023 UY, and 315 in 2024 (my full allowance).

Am I right in thinking, if I want to book a trip beginning on the 01 December 2023, I can use the points from my 2024 UY?

I have never booked a trip right at the start of my UY before so it has never really come up, but I am confident I am right.


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## Noodlez

Thegoatfeeder said:


> So this isn't really a purchasing DVC question, but this seemed the best thread to ask the question!
> 
> I am already a member with a December UY. I have 0 in my 2022 UY, I have 34 in my 2023 UY, and 315 in 2024 (my full allowance).
> 
> Am I right in thinking, if I want to book a trip beginning on the 01 December 2023, I can use the points from my 2024 UY?
> 
> I have never booked a trip right at the start of my UY before so it has never really come up, but I am confident I am right.


Yes, you can borrow all of your 2024 points for a trip in your 2023 use year.

Edited to check: You have not yet started your 2022 use year.  Have you already borrowed the points from 2022 and 2023?


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## Thegoatfeeder

Noodlez said:


> Yes, you can borrow all of your 2024 points for a trip in your 2023 use year.
> 
> Edited to check: You have not yet started your 2022 use year.  Have you already borrowed the points from 2022 and 2023?



Yeah I used my 2023 points for an upcoming trip in March next year, and 2022 points went on a couple of trips earlier this year.


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## LadySarathano

mrsdoubie said:


> Those are the times I also travel almost exactly and I have an April UY. Nov 30 is your banking deadline. I do sometimes go the 1st week of March, and luckily haven’t had any issues with having to cancel yet.
> 
> Editing to add that March would also work for you.


Thank you! We have an offer for a March contract just sent to ROFR


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## BcIcemen

LadySarathano said:


> Thank you! We have an offer for a March contract just sent to ROFR


I have 2 contracts both with (since July 2017) March UY. Your banking deadline will be on Halloween (when you pass ROFR). We sometimes travel the first week of November as our granddaughters live in NJ and we have been going "jersey week" and so far no problems having to cancel


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## SouthJersey

We almost always vacation in October through January.
I just purchased our DVC this past weekend and opted for a June use year that way I would still get my points for 2022 and be able to bank them for the following use year.
Are there any key drawbacks to my use year and out usual vacationing months?
Thank you for any info


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## Sandisw

BcIcemen said:


> I have 2 contracts both with (since July 2017) March UY. Your banking deadline will be on Halloween (when you pass ROFR). We sometimes travel the first week of November as our granddaughters live in NJ and we have been going "jersey week" and so far no problems having to cancel



I want to add that with the 31 day rule for holding, those November trips can still be protected.


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## BcIcemen

Sandisw said:


> I want to add that with the 31 day rule for holding, those November trips can still be protected.


Very interesting. How is that?


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## Sandisw

BcIcemen said:


> Very interesting. How is that?



With a banking window of October 31st, any November trip could be canceled at the 31 day mark and still return points within the banking window.

All cancellations less than 31 days out the points in holding which means they can’t be banked no matter what.


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## PolyRob

SouthJersey said:


> We almost always vacation in October through January.
> I just purchased our DVC this past weekend and opted for a June use year that way I would still get my points for 2022 and be able to bank them for the following use year.
> Are there any key drawbacks to my use year and out usual vacationing months?
> Thank you for any info


A June UY would have a January 31st banking deadline. You shouldn't have any issues with banking based on your travel dates.

The only possible "issue" I see is losing a safety net if you cancel a trip on banked points. Say you push an entire UY forward and book a January trip. You cancel in December 31 days prior check-in and no points go into holding. In that situation, you would need to use all of those points by May 31st or you lose them. By December you are already within the 7 month booking window and availability could be choppy depending on resort or room category.

If you had a Sept or Oct UY and had to cancel a Jan trip you would have 4 or 5 months left to book on those banked points (and would even be in the 11 month home resort window).


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