A thread on MouseOwners has me interested in Use Year. If you bought direct within the last two years can you tell me:
I will go first:
Copper Creek
January 2018
No- if I purchased Poly there were two choices but CC only offered August.
We are so alike…
They were still selling Poly at the time you purchased? The only available to us were CC and Aulani (will that ever sell out??!).
The use year didn’t (and doesn’t) seem to matter all that much. I’ve already got 2019’s points. Maybe I don’t really understand that part!
We were able to stay here for 9 nights this past January. As we all know, availability is nil for next January. But, our plan all along was to splurge on the first trip as owners and then spend fewer points in the following years at OKW, SS, and AKL. Planning on OKW for the next trip.
On MouseOwners someone said they bought and were able to pick any use year. Did you have a choice? I am wondering if it was my guide that restricted me, or my status as a first time buyer.
I did get in right at the end of Poly offerings. They told me I could get April or December Poly use year. I seriously considered it but my heart wanted CC.
I don’t recall being offered a choice. I think if I had, I would have gone with April or September (for reasons that I can’t even remember now).
Does the use year make any difference to you personally? Like I said before, it doesn’t really seem to matter. I got my 2019 points at the beginning of this year and can use them right now. So, it’s not like I have to wait til August for them to be available.
Makes no difference to me at all. I think I too would have picked April, I was just checking on the belief that all new owners get to pick any use year.
Edited to add: although I really like August!
It matters most for cancellation purposes as well as for coordinating add-on contracts in the future. For ease, it’s best to have the same use year. Then again, for folks who are traveling multiple times a year it may not matter too much. But it’s more to keep on top of with different deadlines.
As far as cancelling, you want to have a use year that is as close to your usual travel time as possible. So that the points are available juuuuuust before you go, and so that you then have most of the rest of the year to cancel your trip and use the points so they aren’t lost.
For us, we travel mostly in April. Ideally we would get a Feb use year. We can book the points for April, and they will be available in time to travel. But if we need to cancel - what is it, under 30 days? - and the points go into holding, we have allllllllll the way until the following Feb to use, increasing the likelihood that we would get the chance to do so and not lose the points altogether.
Follow?
Thank you. That makes sense given the scenarios you’ve described. I’m sure they briefed us with that info but there is so much else to consider when you’re finally ready to buy, after months (or years) of considering it.
I am pretty certain we weren’t given a choice since we ended up with August. Our biggest trip each year has been in January so to hedge bets, we should’ve, if we could’ve, gone with December.
I had to hear it about 20 times over before I really got it. I was listening to Resort Loop’s DVC episode (they do one every month near the end of the month) and they presented a scenario wherein a grandma was wanting to buy in, planning to travel with her grandkids each June. As they talked it through it solidified in my brain. I needed the concrete example to help it make sense.
Ok, you have me thinking… I like to go to Oralando twice a year and I want to stay in DVC even if I am doing other things at time. My August UY works well for my fall trips (usually September for HHNs). For this upcoming August I had booked a night at BWI that I decided to cancel. I had rolled over my points so I booked that night with August 19 points. When I cancelled it put those points back into 19 use and I was able to use them for February. If my other trips are usually April but depending on Easter maybe February, I want February for my next contract? They don’t have January so December could possible work too?
December would probably be best if you’d want to consider Feb travel on occasion.
If you’re going to mix up your use years, though, you might not want to buy at a different location (or maybe you would!). I worry about myself keeping the bank/borrow deadlines in mind and knowing when to book which location. Also combining contract points can be tricky with mixed use years and resorts.
It’s a lot to consider!
For our next contract (yes, there will be one) I really would like to get AKL. But I will most importantly want to keep my Dec use year. I just know myself too well and at some point I’ll lose points for not banking/borrowing on time.
I am going to buy AKL. I want a resort that I potentially can get a room in the months CC is not available (December). When I cancelled in August it was great I had until July 31st to rebook.
Do you happen to know the current going rate for AKL if buying from Disney?
I have been using this chart
The only direct I have been thinking about is an extended OKW contract. I have heard some good arguments for it lately. I think I will ask for a tour in August.
During my conversations, my DVC guide said $176/point
For the sold-out resorts, DVC would have to buy back points under ROFR for anyone on a waiting list, whether official or not. Therefore you would be limited to what they could get. In theory, if you held out long enough you could get the Use Year you wanted.
Now that they can re-assign the Use Year on points they buy back under ROFR. So they should be able to give you what you want.
Just seeing