Use Year Question

[MiraclesTakeTime]

We are considering purchasing, but we are a bit confused on Use Year. How much does it matter? I know that we can book out 11 months from when we want to go, as long as we will have points at the time of check-in. So, if we tend to go in October, Early December, and February, what use year would be good?

Also, if we buy direct, can we request a use year? We are looking at buying direct at the older resorts and not Riviera.

Thank you!

 

[KVacc]

With those travel dates I would aim for Sept.

 

[princesscinderella]

June or August would also work too, just to give you some flexibility in resale searching. I have a February UY and use them year round but we never book trips longer than 4 days so if I had to cancel past my banking deadline (4 months before end of your UY) I’m never out a ton of points. One advantage of a February UY is the end of January is usually not very busy so it’s easier to schedule a last minute trip to use up points that are going to expire on 1/31. I think Dec is the worst UY because the months leading up to Dec when you can no longer bank points are the busiest for DVC so it would be harder to book a last minute stay if you have points in jeopardy of expiring.

 

[Sandisw]

When buying direct at sold out resorts, they will try and sell you the UY you want, but they may not have those in stock to sell you.

They can change a UY, but the change still has to have the points that work,

Given your travel, several UYs would work…June, Aug, Sept, and Oct, are all good choices,


If end of September is ever a possibility, then I would not go with aOctober.

You just want a UY that has your traveling within the first 8 months so that if you cancel or change, you have time to bank, or reschedule a trip if using points already banked or borrowed.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

When buying direct at sold out resorts, they will try and sell you the UY you want, but they may not have those in stock to sell you.

They can change a UY, but the change still has to have the points that work,

Given your travel, several UYs would work…June, Aug, Sept, and Oct, are all good choices,


If end of September is ever a possibility, then I would not go with aOctober.

You just want a UY that has your traveling within the first 8 months so that if you cancel or change, you have time to bank, or reschedule a trip if using points already banked or borrowed.

Thank you! What do you mean by they can change a use year but may not have the points you want? Does that mean when you buy at sold out resorts, the contracts available will have a set number of points attached?

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you! What do you mean by they can change a use year but may not have the points you want? Does that mean when you buy at sold out resorts, the contracts available will have a set number of points attached?

DVD assigns points for sale to different UYs..they don’t give all UYs the same amount,

Years ago, they gave themselves permission to change the UY of points in stock,

For example, say they ROFR a contract that was part of a June UY. They can change the points from that contract to a different UY so they can be combined with other points they own.

All points DVD owns are pooled together, so they will sell you the number you want, but they do have to have enough points in the same UY and deeded to the same unit to do that, That is why buying a sold out resort isn’t always as easy to get as ones in active sales.

For example, say you want 200 points but want a September UY. They only have 100 Sept UY points but do have June UY points from the same unit. They can simply change the June to September, and now have 200 to sell you.

But, say you are buying in February and want a Sept UY. If all they had was the 100 Sept UY points, and only Feb UY points, they can’t change the Feb to September for you because Feb would already be in its 2022 UY and they have to sell you current UY points, which would mean 2021 UY points for September at this point.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

DVD assigns points for sale to different UYs..they don’t give all UYs the same amount,

Years ago, they gave themselves permission to change the UY of points in stock,

For example, say they ROFR a contract that was part of a June UY. They can change the points from that contract to a different UY so they can be combined with other points they own.

All points DVD owns are pooled together, so they will sell you the number you want, but they do have to have enough points in the same UY and deeded to the same unit to do that, That is why buying a sold out resort isn’t always as easy to get as ones in active sales.

For example, say you want 200 points but want a September UY. They only have 100 Sept UY points but do have June UY points from the same unit. They can simply change the June to September, and now have 200 to sell you.

But, say you are buying in February and want a Sept UY. If all they had was the 100 Sept UY points, and only Feb UY points, they can’t change the Feb to September for you because Feb would already be in its 2022 UY and they have to sell you current UY points, which would mean 2021 UY points for September at this point.

Thank you! That makes sense!

 

[Wedgeout]

Buying direct, you can ask for a ‘sold out’ resort. They need to have the points available. (minimum 150 for new members). They can change a UY but it can be harder to get them to accomplished this for you. They don’t resell contracts. They drain the points out of the contracts they take back. If they have a September (great point chart month) or even an August UY, at the resort of your choice. I’d grab it.

Resale I’d search through the June, August, September, and October contracts. No minimum number of points required to become a member through resale.

When have a good understanding of the cancellation policy, banking, and borrowing…UY does matter.

 

[D-Trick]

Thank you! What do you mean by they can change a use year but may not have the points you want? Does that mean when you buy at sold out resorts, the contracts available will have a set number of points attached?

When DVC changes the UY on points, it still has to stay within the calendar year.

Example 1: if they exercised ROFR on a stripped October contract with zero 2021 points but full 2022 points, they can repackage and resell those Oct 2022 points for any UY in 2022.

Example 2:
Let's ffwd and say the date was November 29th, 2022 and you inquired with DVC to buy a December contract. Since December contracts would still be in the 2021 UY for one more day, DVC can only sell you a contract if they still have 2021 points. Since by this time 2022 is almost over and youre requesting 2021 points, DVC may have none available and explains why they "may not have the points you want." What would most likely happen is DVC would tell you "we'll get back to you," and then two days later they'll call you with availability since Dec 1, 2022 means Dec contracts are now in their 2022 UY and they can sell you points from any UY in 2022 they exercised ROFR on.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

Thanks all! That helps clear things up!

 

[julie-o]

When buying direct at sold out resorts, they will try and sell you the UY you want, but they may not have those in stock to sell you.

They can change a UY, but the change still has to have the points that work,

Given your travel, several UYs would work…June, Aug, Sept, and Oct, are all good choices,


If end of September is ever a possibility, then I would not go with aOctober.

You just want a UY that has your traveling within the first 8 months so that if you cancel or change, you have time to bank, or reschedule a trip if using points already banked or borrowed.

I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand, but it is! If we often travel in February, is February a good or bad use year to have?

 

[badeacon]

I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand, but it is! If we often travel in February, is February a good or bad use year to have?

February would be a good use year to travel in February but don't book any in January. Would lose the points used in January February1 if had to cancel.

 

[Sandisw]

I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand, but it is! If we often travel in February, is February a good or bad use year to have?

You want a UY that start just before a typical travel if you have one. So Feb UY is ideal.

If your trips would ever start end of January, then go with Dec UY…as there is no January.

 

[kanerf]

I have a June use year and travel in May and October. It works for me.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand, but it is! If we often travel in February, is February a good or bad use year to have?

We do our larger trip each year in February or March, so February is our preferred UY. We do a shorter trip in August or September to hit F&W, and while that's up against our banking deadline, we usually know well in advance if something is going south.

 

[arich35]

If we like to go in December and in the future will be doing May-August time frame, is a December use year bad to go with?

 

[chalee94]

If we like to go in December and in the future will be doing May-August time frame, is a December use year bad to go with?

Not great for August trips but probably the best option under those circumstances, given that there is not a May UY.

 

[Sandisw]

Yes, that works but so does April. You just want the bulk of your travel within the first 8 months so you can still bank or reschedule if needed