tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Aug 18, 2023 20:25:25 GMT -5
If my family typically vacations at WDW in spring (late March to early May), can someone please explain the best use year for a contract and why? Something to do with cancelling a vacation close to when points expire, at which time you are no longer able to bank the points??? I have watched countless videos on the subject and, understandably, different opinions exist. Maybe I can get a consensus here with so many DVC owners. Please! Dumb it down for me since I just don't get it.
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Post by disney54us on Aug 18, 2023 21:23:53 GMT -5
Hi there, welcome to magic owners. I wish I could explain it all but can’t lol. Just wanted to say hi and welcome here.
But there are experts that have it all figured out. There are preferences, as I read through the years. I’m a Oct UY. Which has seemed to work through the years member since 97, except with short term cancellations or a booked vacation that needed to be canceled that had borrowed points and they would need to be used by the end of September. Luckily the couple of times I had issues. Disney ms magic took care of the problems. If you have a tendency to travel at certain times there are ‘experts’ on what the best UY to go for. Good luck.
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Post by dlwdwdvc on Aug 19, 2023 3:57:10 GMT -5
Ask your guide … hopefully he will know the best Use Year / month for your travel plans…
If I normally traveled in March and worried about cancelling last minute and needed to avoid Holding I would choose …
Oh wait I think there are months that are not designated as a choice for a Use. Year… let me go re- read the guidelines.
I guess that explains the equation . I think it is determined by the month the guides are told to push . It probably gives an advantage to DVC for some reason.
You are right it is confusing.
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Post by PirateLinda on Aug 19, 2023 8:00:23 GMT -5
One of our use years is February. It’s good for spring and summer trips. Our banking deadline is September 30.
So, If we have a trip booked in May and have to cancel, we can still bank our points into the next year. If we can’t schedule another trip for that year.
But, if we have a trip booked in December 2023 and have to cancel, we would have to try to book another trip before February 2024. Or we would lose our points. Because our banking deadline has passed.
Now, if you can canceling due to a family emergency, DVC can make an exception and bank your points.
Does that help?
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Post by brp on Aug 19, 2023 10:53:15 GMT -5
Ask your guide … hopefully he will know the best Use Year / month for your travel plans… Also useful to ask here as many are knowledgeable about this. Some of don't have guides (or not ones we know about) and are not interested in talking to timeshare sales people for, well, anything. I'm assuming that any purchase would be resale anyway.
Cheers.
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Aug 19, 2023 11:10:38 GMT -5
When we bought our first contract, it was more about the size of it and the price and how it was loaded (resale), and little thought was given to the use-year. But it worked out pretty well I think, because we often go in Jan/Feb and we had a March UY so if we DID have to cancel (never had to cancel yet) our banking deadline isn't until Oct 31 so plenty of time to not get stuck with borrowed points.
I'm no expert, but I think having a UY shortly after when you typically go might be the best? Hah now I'm confused because I thought about it too long.
Actually, one could argue that if you could be 100% certain that you would never cancel a trip, UY wouldn't matter. The only time I've had anything get funky is planning a trip and being there when the UY comes...i.e. getting there at the tail-end of November and your UY starts in December, you can have issues maybe.
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Post by FessParker1 on Aug 19, 2023 15:10:37 GMT -5
I have a Sept use year and we go in Sept, Dec and March through beginning of May. Never never never going in the summer. I can book my Sept and Dec trips without any worries. May trip would need to be canceled 31 days before the first day of my trip to avoid holding and banked by April 30th which is my banking deadline.
Picking Feb would work if you plan on only going in the spring and summer. Your points would need to be used or banked by Sept 30th if you ever had to cancel a trip.
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Post by dlwdwdvc on Aug 19, 2023 15:54:45 GMT -5
Why does DVC limit the Use Year Months to Feb , March, April, June, August, Sept., Oct., and December?
Never using January, May, July or November ?
There must be a reason .
And I wonder what the advantage this gives to DVC if they have factored in the popularity of certain dates or holidays .
And balancing the points charts .
I mean there has to be an explanation . It can’t just be random…
Maybe it helped to keep the calendar busy during the months that used to be slow or not as popular…
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tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Aug 19, 2023 20:11:24 GMT -5
Maybe a little more background info is required. In terms of resort preferences, we aren't picky so Saratoga Springs suits our vacationing needs just fine. Certainly doesn't hurt that per point SSR is more cost effective, maintenance fees are lower, the resort tends to have more availability and my family loves taking the boat to Disney Springs. I am definitely looking at resale, thinking about two 200 point contracts to eventually "hand over" to my kids to support their Disney addiction. One of our use years is February. It’s good for spring and summer trips. Our banking deadline is September 30. So, If we have a trip booked in May and have to cancel, we can still bank our points into the next year. If we can’t schedule another trip for that year. But, if we have a trip booked in December 2023 and have to cancel, we would have to try to book another trip before February 2024. Or we would lose our points. Because our banking deadline has passed. Now, if you can canceling due to a family emergency, DVC can make an exception and bank your points. Does that help? This does help, thanks. After a little research I see that you have 8 months after your use year to bank your point, after which they are "unbankable" and you either use before they expire them or lose them. For me there are two items I can't wrap my head around. Making sure I have the ability to bank the points should something unexpected interrupt my plans. But also making sure the points are available early enough so that resort availability isn't a problem. I think purchasing at SSR solves the latter. However I think in some ways those two concepts are polar opposites of each other; they both can't exist at the same time. My head hurts... |
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Post by FessParker1 on Aug 19, 2023 20:40:18 GMT -5
Use year dosen't matter when booking. If you have a February use year and want to book March of 2024 you can do it in April of 2023 (11 months before your trip). DVC knows that your points will be there so you don't have to wait til they load onto your account.
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Post by dlwdwdvc on Aug 19, 2023 23:54:30 GMT -5
But are the points from Feb 2022 Use Year or Feb 2023 or Feb2024 ?
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Post by annamaria on Aug 20, 2023 5:47:04 GMT -5
Our April UY worked great for many years since we vacationed with the kids during the summer months. Patterns change. It is still a good UY for our Fall vacations but not so good for our Feb/March vacations. UY for us matters if we had to cancel a Feb/March reservation.
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Post by bakerworld on Aug 20, 2023 7:56:08 GMT -5
We never cancelled a vacation, with exception of COVID, until last year. So my questions to OP is 'what is your canceling history?' We never paid attention to our UY because up until COVID we always went on vacation.
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Post by brp on Aug 20, 2023 9:03:31 GMT -5
We never cancelled a vacation, with exception of COVID, until last year. So my questions to OP is 'what is your canceling history?' We never paid attention to our UY because up until COVID we always went on vacation. Same with us. Including Covid as we just didn't book when the park was closed. We book at 11 months, and we go. So UY is irrelevant for us. As you say, cancellation history/likelihood is important here.
Cheers.
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tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Aug 20, 2023 12:55:22 GMT -5
We never cancelled a vacation, with exception of COVID, until last year. So my questions to OP is 'what is your canceling history?' We never paid attention to our UY because up until COVID we always went on vacation. Admittedly, we have never cancelled a vacation. It's just one of those irrational fears that linger inside my head, exacerbated by the potential waste of lost points. Sounds like I should not spend much time worrying about the cancelling issue, especially since many who responded say the don't give it a second thought. Thanks for the input! |
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