Understanding Use Year - Updated February 10, 2021

[chalee94]

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?

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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...

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Also, is it possible to change your UY?

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

 

[disneynutz]

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]

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?