Is there a good time of year to buy direct? My use year is August. I want to bank the new resort in 2020, to have extra points in 2021. Are maint fees prorated?
Too bad you didn't ask this a month ago! But yes, as the PP mentioned, you want to buy before July 31st to get the best overall "deal."
Maintenance fees are prorated, but they are for the calendar year, NOT the UY. All dues for 20XX year points are due in January of that same year 20XX, regardless of UY. So, if you have a December UY, you are paying the maintenance fees for points you won't receive for another 11 months (unless you borrow).
Meaning, if you purchased an add-on on 1-July-
2020, you will receive both
2019 UY points (bankable as a courtesy) and your full
2020 points one month later. However, you will only have to pay prorated dues on the
2020 points. The maintenance dues for the
2019 points you receive were paid for in January 2019 by whomever owned them throughout that year (Disney, another member, etc), with that accounting/financial cycle already closed. This is how Disney is able to say "free bonus points" -- because you don't have to pay dues on them.