# Looking at buying DVC, questions



## Galun (Apr 18, 2013)

Hello!  My family of 4 had been going to Disney enough that we are now contemplating a purchase into DVC.  We live in Northern California and would primarily want to use Grand Californian and Aulani.  I have a few questions.

1)  I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out.  However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance.  If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?

2)  I am trying to understand use year.  I know that's when I will get my points.  But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period?  Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August.  What use year should I try to buy?

3)  How easy is it to transfer points?  In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work.  Does it matter where my home resort or use year is?  Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?

4)  Special assessements.  How do owners feel about the potential for Disney to put special assessments on DVC owners?

5)  How much does it cost to resell?  We are always thinking about the worst case scenario, and in this case it would be lack of usage down the road.  What are the costs associated with reselling through a broker, in addition to whatever price we can get for our contract?

Thanks!


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## ptlohmysoul (Apr 18, 2013)

Galun said:


> 2)  I am trying to understand use year.  I know that's when I will get my points.  But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period?  Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August.  What use year should I try to buy?
> 3)  How easy is it to transfer points?  In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work.  Does it matter where my home resort or use year is?  Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?
> 5)  How much does it cost to resell?  We are always thinking about the worst case scenario, and in this case it would be lack of usage down the road.  What are the costs associated with reselling through a broker, in addition to whatever price we can get for our contract?



I can answer some based on my recent research, not experience:
2)It doesn't have much effect on the booking period.  The only concern is if you need to cancel your reservations, and your points are close to expire, so most people recommend you avoid contracts that the UY is summer time or Sept., although others say it matters little.
3)You can only transfer points once a year, in or out.  However, you can book reservations in another person's name whenever (less limitations).  It can matter where your home resort is, as a highly valued dvc such as VGC could possibly be rented at higher $ because of higher demand.  However, when the points are closer to expire, they might only be able to be rented for less, or when the 7 month booking timeframe makes them equal anyone else's points.
5) 10% commission to seller (from you), usuallly buyer pays closing costs, fidelity charges an additional $200 admin. fee which I'm not sure who pays,
resale value is great for a timeshare, but don't expect to make any money, just be glad you will get some $ back


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## MichaelColey (Apr 18, 2013)

Studios on Weekends are probably the hardest units to get.  People like Studios because the point cost is so much lower and people have the most flexibility on weekends.

I know I've seen people posting availability right at 7 months, but it's fairly spotty and disappears quickly.

Resale VGC points cost about twice as much as some of the cheaper resale points, so it's really a tough call.  I would expect that they might rent for higher amounts, though.


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## presley (Apr 18, 2013)

1.)  It is highly unlikely that you would be able to book a weekend at the 7 month mark.  It isn't impossible, but many, many people have bought other resorts with their goal being to trade to VGC.  There just aren't enough rooms for everyone.

3.)  You are allowed one transfer per use year.  That means you can either have a transfer coming in or a transfer going out.  Transferred points hold their original resort and use year booking advantages.  The cost is normally the same for every resort, but since Vero and Aulani pay much higher MFs than most, perhaps they will charge more.... depends on the owner.

5.)  Reselling is very easy as it is a high demand timeshare.  The only future issue is that Disney plans on changing more of the benefits associated with direct vs. resale purchases.  That potentially could drive down the resale prices, but that won't affect anyone buying where they want to stay.  The brokers take 10% commission.


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## rhonda (Apr 18, 2013)

Galun said:


> 1)  I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out.  However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance.  If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?


We use our DVC SSR points to book VGC periodically.  Recent history include:
4 nights over this coming Memorial Day weekend, studio unit (had a 1BR booked but later downgraded to conserve points)
4 nights, studio unit, this past Feb for our Anniversary.
3 nights, 1BR with _perfect_ view of WOC, April 2012
If you are flexible and don't mind hunting for inventory on the member website, you should be able to find a few nights here'n'there.  2BR units are easiest to book (less demand) ... so plan your point requirements accordingly.


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## rhonda (Apr 18, 2013)

Galun said:


> 2)  I am trying to understand use year.  I know that's when I will get my points.  But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period?  Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August.  What use year should I try to buy?


UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation -- but does have much influence on banking options.  The general thought is to choose a UY near to the beginning of your intended travel dates, in your case maybe April or June UYs?  

In depth article on choosing a UY:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668


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## rhonda (Apr 18, 2013)

Galun said:


> 3)  How easy is it to transfer points?  In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work.  Does it matter where my home resort or use year is?  Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?


I recently completed my first-ever transfer.  It was super easy ... from first phone call to verification of successful transfer took about 4 hours total.  HOWEVER -- 
As stated earlier, you may only perform one transfer per year.  
The transferred points retain their original home resort and UY.  If you own VGC but transfer in a pool of SRR, don't expect the SSR points to morph into VGC points.  The SSR points can be used for booking 11 months out for SSR but only 7 months out for other locations.
Transfered points can be banked.  Banked points cannot be transferred.
The member website isn't aware of transferred points.  You won't see the balance online and you can't book online against the transferred points.  Transactions involving the transferred points will require a phone call to Member Services.
FWIW, I rented my transferred points through a Disney Resale broker.  The broker handled all the comms and the money transfers.  Super fast, super easy and with high confidence in the elusive "trust" factor.


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## SuzanneSLO (Apr 18, 2013)

rhonda said:


> I recently completed my first-ever transfer.  It was super easy ... from first phone call to verification of successful transfer took about 4 hours total.  HOWEVER --
> As stated earlier, you may only perform one transfer per year.
> The transferred points retain their original home resort and UY.  If you own VGC but transfer in a pool of SRR, don't expect the SSR points to morph into VGC points.  The SSR points can be used for booking 11 months out for SSR but only 7 months out for other locations.
> Transfered points can be banked.  Banked points cannot be transferred.
> ...



There is one other issue relating to transfers about which you should be aware.  Transferred points can only be used to book over the phone, not online.  The booking window opens at 8 am eastern for online booking and at 9 am for booking over the telephone.  When booking GCV at 7 months, this one hour delay can mean the difference between booking a reservation and getting on the waitlist. 

-- Suzanne


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## Galun (Apr 18, 2013)

Thank you very much for all the replies!


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## blondietink (Apr 19, 2013)

Use year hasn't matter much to us.  I have never known DVC to do a special assessment.  Refurbishment is figured into your yearly maintenance/dues.  However, after Vero Beach got hit by a hurricane a few years ago, their yearly fees per point went up substantially and they have stayed pretty high due to repairs and/or increased insurance costs.


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## spencersmama (Apr 19, 2013)

My Use Year did affect me this year.  My use year is from Aug 1 - Jul 31st.  The problem is that at this point in our lives, we generally travel at the end of July/beginning of August.  I had reservations for mid-July, but my son's summer schedule changed and we had to change our reservations.  I would have preferred to change our reservations to the first week in August, but we had to make sure the reservations started before the use year ended.  We had enough notice that we arranged things so that everything worked out, but I could see how it could have been as issue if there wasn't availability. I could have been hard so close to the end of the use year.


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## lilpooh108 (Apr 20, 2013)

I disagree that UY doesn't affect reservations.  I should have thought about this more when I bought, but now I have to plan around my issue, which is this.

We always travel the last week of November, 1st week of December.  I have a Dec UY.

The system prohibits you from searching overlapping use years.  So---I can't EVER put in a search for check in Nov 27 check out Dec 3.  This also means that I have to borrow points for the Nov portion of my stay (assuming I have no prior year points).  This affects alot of things, among which is availability at the 11 month period, and the lifespan of points if I decide to cancel November portions of my stays.  If I had known of this quirk, I would have chosen a Sept UY instead.

So to the OP---I would actually pick a UY that is a few months before the month in which you actually travel.  If you like to travel late May/early June, don't pick June.  Pick April.


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## JPrisco (Apr 20, 2013)

lilpooh108 said:


> The system prohibits you from searching overlapping use years.  So---I can't EVER put in a search for check in Nov 27 check out Dec 3.
> 
> So to the OP---I would actually pick a UY that is a few months before the month in which you actually travel.  If you like to travel late May/early June, don't pick June.  Pick April.



Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years.  I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).  

I do agree with picking a use year a few months after you usually travel, because if you have to cancel last minute you still have time to use your points.

JP


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## lilpooh108 (Apr 20, 2013)

JPrisco said:


> Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years.  I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).



Wow, really?  Do you search by calling in or online?  If online, then I will have to call their tech dept and see if something is wrong w/my account.  However, the notation specifically says that I cannot search overlapping UY.

I know that I can book overlapping UY if I split up the reservation, but at the moment I'm not even able to put in dates that would overlap my UY.  In essence, I lose the 11 month advantage for Dec dates on a Nov check in b/c I can't book 7 days out from 11/27, etc.

To the OP--- I forgot to add in my prior post.  I own at Aulani.  Early June through July is incredibly hard to book at Aulani at 7 months.  There were quite a few threads on Disboards last year regarding this issue.  I guess west coast people tend to go right at the beginning of their summer break.  Unless you own at Aulani, NYE week is nearly impossible (2013 NYE is booked up already, and we're at the 8 month mark).  So Golden week, June/July, and NYE week is shut out unless you own.  Everything else seems doable at the 7month mark.  I don't own at VGC, but I've heard its incredibly hard to get simply b/c there's just not that many units available.  Aulani availability may change later on as they declare more units.

Resale-- I was able to resell my small BWV contract w/in 2 days of listing it, for $2 per point less than I bought it for 2 years ago (excluding commission & notary fees).  BWV just wasn't attractive to us after staying there, so I decided to sell it.  The MFs were also a bit higher than what I wanted to pay for a resort I didn't really like.  

BTW, if you intend on buying retail...Grand Floridian is coming out if you're interested in that, and willing to wait a few months.


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## dvc_john (Apr 20, 2013)

JPrisco said:


> Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years.  I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).



I guess I've never booked a vacation spanning UY's. But I just did a test to see what would happen. I have a June UY, and tested for a reservation of May 30 - June 5, and I got the following message:

_Your travel dates may not overlap two Use Years. Please contact Member Services at (800) xxx-xxxx to help you book your stay._


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## alwysonvac (Apr 20, 2013)

> 1) I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out. However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance. If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?





> Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August.....



*If you want to book a studio or one bedroom anytime during the summer (peak travel season) regardless of the number of nights buy VGC.*


*WHY?*

(1) VGC has a limited number of rooms. It only has 23 Dedicated Two Bedroom, 23 Lockoff Two Bedroom (which can be booked separately as a one bedroom or a studio) and 2 Three Bedroom Grand Villa.
IMPACT: There is more demand than supply therefore there will be competition through out the year

(2) Most families will want to stay when the kids are out of school (spring/summer/winter break, holidays and weekends).
IMPACT: Expect the highest competition for timeshare stays anytime the kids are out of school from both VGC owners and non-VGC owners.

(3) VGC point chart is very high compared to the older DVC resorts. Most folks will try to stretch their points by booking the smallest room size they can manage for longer stays. DVC owners will also try to book during the cheapest DVC season.
IMPACT: Studios and one bedrooms are the first to be booked since they cost the least amount of points. 

There was a thread on the disboards that talked about the difficulty of booking Aulani for June 2013 during Choice Season (June 1 to 23) before the point requirement go up in Magic Season for the rest of the summer (June 24 thru Aug 31). 
Disboard thread - http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3023272 
NOTE: I'm assuming June during Choice season will always be hard to book at the 7 month mark for both Aulani and VGC since it offers the lowest point option in the summer.

Here's what I posted last year regarding 2013 online availability
January & February 2013 online availability for VGC (as of 7/31/12) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1336231&postcount=31
March & April 2013 online availability for VGC (as of 9/22/12) - 
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1363458&postcount=47
Late March thru July 2013 online availability for VGC and Aulani (as of 12/23/12) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1400851&postcount=60
NOTE: Based on the availability I posted, I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a non-VGC resort if there intent was to mainly stay at VGC in a studio or one bedroom.

Link to DVC Points Charts 
Grand Californian - http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...DisneyVacationClub_GrandCalifornianVillas.pdf
Aulani - http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...intsChart_DisneyVacationClub_AulaniVillas.pdf

Link to DVC Maintenance Fee History (per point by DVC resort) - http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/owning-dvc/faqs?task=view&id=51

Good Luck and Welcome to TUG


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## JPrisco (Apr 20, 2013)

lilpooh108 said:


> Wow, really?  Do you search by calling in or online?
> 
> I must have called it in. I didn't recall doing that, but I must have since I get the message online too.


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## lilpooh108 (Apr 20, 2013)

Yup, that overlapping UY issue is always getting in my way.  It really drives me nuts.


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## rhonda (Apr 20, 2013)

lilpooh108 said:


> I disagree that UY doesn't affect reservations.  I should have thought about this more when I bought, but now I have to plan around my issue, which is this.


I agree (strongly) that UY is an important element in the purchase decision and should be chosen with care.  I linked to the longer thread in hopes the OP would do additional research.

What I said above is, "UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation," in that it has no interaction with the 7-month or 11-month reservation window which appeared to be the focus of the OP's train of thought.  Make sense?


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## lilpooh108 (Apr 20, 2013)

rhonda said:


> What I said above is, "UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation," in that it has no interaction with the 7-month or 11-month reservation window which appeared to be the focus of the OP's train of thought.  Make sense?



It makes sense, but in certain situations it is incorrect that UY "plays no role."

If you cannot search during the period in which UY overlap, and you would like to check in on November 27 in order to stay 1 week, then effectively you are at a disadvantage with respect to others which have the full 11 month advantage checking in on November 27th.

If you have to essentially split up the reservation by booking Nov. 27 to Nov 30, then Dec 1 onwards, someone who was able to book the entire 7 days online checking in Nov 27th just got a 4 day headstart on the 11 month advantage.

Of course you can always wait 1 hour after online reservations are open to call MS to book the entire 7 day stay, but then you've just lost 1 hour lead time to book your reservation.  For things like treehouses, grandvillas, AKV club, AKV value, this 1 hour will matter.


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## Galun (Apr 23, 2013)

Thanks for all the additional replies!

lilpooh108 - thanks for the color on Aulani availability.  We do live in the west coast but we have flexibility in when to go during summer.  It looks like there is availability 7 months out for August which is good enough for us.

alwysonvac - thanks for the color on VGC.  VGC is within driving distance so we do have flexibility even though the kids are in school.  I guess we will see whether we are satisfied with the availability 7 months out once we made the purchase.

rhonda - thanks for your suggestions on UY.  We have decided on December UY.  We do most of our traveling in the summer, and we think Dec UY gives us the most flexibility with our strategy to buy at a chepaer resport, book 7 months out, and get into our desired resort.  It also give us the ability to bank points by 7/31 in case we need to cancel our summer vacation.


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## Myxdvz (Apr 23, 2013)

Galun said:


> rhonda - thanks for your suggestions on UY.  We have decided on December UY.  We do most of our traveling in the summer, and we think Dec UY gives us the most flexibility with our strategy to buy at a chepaer resport, book 7 months out, and get into our desired resort.  It also give us the ability to bank points by 7/31 in case we need to cancel our summer vacation.



If you do all your travelling in the summer - you don't want a December UY.  December UYs are best for travel 12/1 - August/31.  After this, any cancellation will be too late to bank.

If you truly vacation in the summer (June to August), a June UY is best.


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## Galun (Apr 23, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> If you do all your travelling in the summer - you don't want a December UY.  December UYs are best for travel 12/1 - August/31.  After this, any cancellation will be too late to bank.
> 
> If you truly vacation in the summer (June to August), a June UY is best.



School starts the first week of September so we will get our traveling done by August anyways.  I figure if we need to cancel a summer vacation we will know by 7/31 to bank the points.  We will receive the points on 12/1 allows us to book 7/1 - 8/31 vacation 7 months out.

I can definitely see the advantage of buying June UY at a home resort for summer since I can take advantage of the 11 months booking window.


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## chalee94 (Apr 23, 2013)

Galun said:


> I can definitely see the advantage of buying June UY at a home resort for summer since I can take advantage of the 11 months booking window.



not clear what you mean.

june is a good choice for summer vacations because it gives you more options if you need to cancel.

but you get the 11 month window based on home resort - nothing at all to do with UY.  if your UY month is june, you can call in july 2013 to book june 2014.  if your UY month is dec, you can still call in july 2013 to book june 2014.  11 months = 11 months no matter what your UY month.

if i bought a resale contract with a june UY that was stripped and didn't have any pts coming till the june 2015 UY, i could still call in july 2013 to book my home resort for june 2014 with borrowed pts from my 2015 UY.

a dec UY is just weird in that a vacation in june 2014 is actually taking place in your dec 2013 UY.  but again, UY has nothing to do with the booking window.


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## blondietink (Apr 23, 2013)

Agreed.  You can book your vacation 11 months out at your home resort, or 7 months out at another resort no matter what your use year.  The only thing you have to be mindful of is if you want to bank points.  For example, we have a September use year.  I have until April 30th to bank any or all of my points for my current September use year.


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## Myxdvz (Apr 24, 2013)

Galun said:


> I can definitely see the advantage of buying June UY at a home resort for summer since I can take advantage of the 11 months booking window.



UY has nothing to do with the 11 month booking window.  You can still take advantage of that with your December UY.

I realize school is back in September.  But things happen, you just never know.  A June UY will give you better flexibility should you need to cancel.

Rule of thumb is to always have a UY that is on or before the months you intend to vacation.


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## Galun (Apr 24, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> UY has nothing to do with the 11 month booking window.  You can still take advantage of that with your December UY.
> 
> I realize school is back in September.  But things happen, you just never know.  A June UY will give you better flexibility should you need to cancel.
> 
> Rule of thumb is to always have a UY that is on or before the months you intend to vacation.



I should have been more clear.  We plan on using DVC for our July / August vacation. In that sense, the 11 month booking window for the June UY would be the best fit for us if we intend to use the home resort priority.

Our intent on this first contract is to get into DVC with a cheaper resort and trade into a different one at the 7 month window.  In that sense I think Dec UY is best since the 7 month booking window gets us to July / August.


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## bnoble (Apr 24, 2013)

To repeat Myxdvz's point: Use year has *nothing to do* with when you can book.  You can book your home resort 11 months prior to check in, no matter what use year you have or what time of year you are traveling.  Likewise for the 7-month "club" window.

Where Use Year *does* matter is the banking deadlines.  If you intend to bank, you can do so no later than four months prior to the end of your use year.  So, if you mostly travel in the Summer, a September Use Year is the worst possible choice---if you have to cancel anytime on or after May 1st, you cannot bank the points into the next year.


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## Beefnot (Apr 24, 2013)

Use year has nothing to do with when you can book, but it may affect which year you have to draw from to utilize your points, correct?


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## Myxdvz (Apr 24, 2013)

Beefnot said:


> Use year has nothing to do with when you can book, but it may affect which year you have to draw from to utilize your points, correct?



Yes, it does affect which year you have to draw from to utilize your points.

June 2013 UY is good for ressies from 6/1/13 - 5/31/14
December 2013 UY is good for ressies from 12/1/13 - 11/30/14

So a July 2014 reservation will take from a June 2014 UY but from a December 2013 UY.  The 11 month window for a 7/1/14 checkin is 8/1/13 regardless of what UY you have.


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## Galun (Apr 24, 2013)

bnoble said:


> To repeat Myxdvz's point: Use year has *nothing to do* with when you can book.  You can book your home resort 11 months prior to check in, no matter what use year you have or what time of year you are traveling.  Likewise for the 7-month "club" window.
> 
> Where Use Year *does* matter is the banking deadlines.  If you intend to bank, you can do so no later than four months prior to the end of your use year.  *So, if you mostly travel in the Summer, a September Use Year is the worst possible choice---if you have to cancel anytime on or after May 1st, you cannot bank the points into the next year.*



December UY gives us until July 31st to cancel and bank the points, which works well for our summer vacation plan.  Even though UY has nothing to do with when I can book, it determines when I will receive my points allocation.  With Dec UY I receive my new points on Dec 1, which allows me to book July 1 the following year in the 7 month booking window.

As I had indicated, the primary goal of these points will be to book a different resort at the 7 month window.  So we feel that Dec UY is the best compromise between ability to book after getting the points, and flexibility to cancel and bank points.

If at some point I want to buy for the home resort booking priority at 11 months, then I will want to buy a UY as close to my vacation dates as possible.  I definitely agree with that.


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## Myxdvz (Apr 24, 2013)

Galun said:


> December UY gives us until July 31st to cancel and bank the points, which works well for our summer vacation plan.  Even though UY has nothing to do with when I can book, *it determines when I will receive my points allocation.  With Dec UY I receive my new points on Dec 1, which allows me to book July 1 the following year in the 7 month booking window.*
> 
> As I had indicated, the primary goal of these points will be to book a different resort at the 7 month window.  So we feel that Dec UY is the best compromise between ability to book after getting the points, and flexibility to cancel and bank points.
> 
> If at some point I want to buy for the home resort booking priority at 11 months, then I will want to buy a UY as close to my vacation dates as possible.  I definitely agree with that.



I think I saw from DIS that you already purchased.  And while there's nothing wrong with buying a Dec UY and it works for you, I really think you need to understand UY.

If you look at the bolded statement - I think this is a common misunderstanding, that is not true.  You don't have to wait until Dec 1 to receive your UY points allocation.  It's already there.  The 7 month booking window for a July reservation is December even if you have a January/February/March UY.  The points are already there.

Let's assume there are 3 owners of SSR with the following UY and they want to book BLT for July 1 2014.

Dec 2013 UY:  for ressies 12/1/13 - 11/30/14
Jan 2014 UY:  for ressie 1/1/14 - 12/31/14
Feb 2014 UY:  for ressie 2/1/14 - 1/31/15

The 7 month window opens for *ALL* of them on December 1, 2013.  The Jan UY owner doesn't have to "wait" until Jan to get their points. Ditto with Feb.


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## Beefnot (Apr 24, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> I think I saw from DIS that you already purchased. And while there's nothing wrong with buying a Dec UY and it works for you, I really think you need to understand UY.
> 
> If you look at the bolded statement - I think this is a common misunderstanding, that is not true. You don't have to wait until Dec 1 to receive your UY points allocation. It's already there. The 7 month booking window for a July reservation is December even if you have a January/February/March UY. The points are already there.
> 
> ...


 

In the example above, let's say in November 2013, I completed purchase of a contract with UY of August 2013 that was stripped of 2013 points.  On December 1, 2013, if I wanted to book a 07/01/2014 reservation, I would need to borrower from the August 2014 points to complete the reservation.  One could end up in a perpetual borrowing cycle, but perhaps that is only an issue when it comes to selling (e.g., price of the contract)?

Another potential is related to banking.  With an August 2014 UY, I would have until April 1st to bank the points into next year, however if in June I need to cancel, I've got a problem.  I cannot bank the points into the next year so what are my options? Cancel and rebook before 07/31/2013, rent the points out (probably at a discount), or deposit the reservation into RCI (horrible option, and assume that RCI only takes full week deposits)?

Last issue I can think of possibly is when MFs are due.  If I have an August UY, are my MFs still due on Jan. 1st?  I have to pay up on 1/1/2013, even I don't have a trip planned until April 2014.  Is that correct?

Other than MF timing, is UY more of a bogeyman than a real-life concern?


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## Myxdvz (Apr 24, 2013)

Beefnot said:


> Last issue I can think of possibly is when MFs are due.  If I have an August UY, are my MFs still due on Jan. 1st?  I have to pay up on 1/1/2013, even I don't have a trip planned until April 2014.  Is that correct?
> 
> Other than MF timing, is UY more of a bogeyman than a real-life concern?



All MFs are due at the same time (which is normally January, unless you're doing the auto deductions I think).  I would say that UY affects banking window and safe cancellation window (again with having time to rent/rebook before your banking deadline).

Is it more a bogeyman than a real-life concern?  Some people may think so.  But it has to be understood correctly for people to work around any real concern.

For example, I have an April UY, so I really should try and avoid doing a late March Spring Break trip if at all possible because any cancellation for that after November, amounts to forfeited points.


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## Galun (Apr 24, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> I think I saw from DIS that you already purchased.  And while there's nothing wrong with buying a Dec UY and it works for you, I really think you need to understand UY.
> 
> *If you look at the bolded statement - I think this is a common misunderstanding, that is not true.*  You don't have to wait until Dec 1 to receive your UY points allocation.  It's already there.  The 7 month booking window for a July reservation is December even if you have a January/February/March UY.  The points are already there.
> 
> ...



Oh!  Thanks for laying this out!  You are correct in my misunderstanding and the illustration made it clear.

For example let's say I want to book a trip for Christmas this year. I can use my 2013 UY points to book at 7 months out? I previously thought that was not possible since I wouldn't get my points till 12/1.

But the advantage in having the ability to cancel a summer vacation and have all points bankable by July 31 still holds right?


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## Galun (Apr 24, 2013)

... delete duplicate post.


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## Beefnot (Apr 24, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> Is it more a bogeyman than a real-life concern? Some people may think so. But it has to be understood correctly for people to work around any real concern.
> 
> For example, I have an April UY, so I really should try and avoid doing a late March Spring Break trip if at all possible because any cancellation for that after November, amounts to forfeited points.


 

Ok gotcha, that makes sense.


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## Myxdvz (Apr 24, 2013)

Galun said:


> Oh!  Thanks for laying this out!  You are correct in my misunderstanding and the illustration made it clear.



Great - it is a common misunderstanding for new owners to make.



Galun said:


> For example let's say I want to book a trip for Christmas this year. I can use my 2013 UY points to book at 7 months out? I previously thought that was not possible since I wouldn't get my points till 12/1.



Assuming still that you have a December UY, yes, you can book a Christmas 2013 trip on May 2013 (7 month window) and it will use your December 2013 UY because it is good for reservations from 12/1/13 - 11/30/13.  If you booked a November 2013 trip, you can do so starting April 2013 but it will use points from your December 2012 UY.  Make sense?



Galun said:


> But the advantage in having the ability to cancel a summer vacation and have all points bankable by July 31 still holds right?


With a December UY, you have to bank all remaining points by July 31st.  Any cancellations and/or points beyond that has to be spent by November 30 or forfeit.  

This is the reason why June is a better UY than December UY for a July-August trip. Not the worst (that will be September), but definitely not the best.



Beefnot said:


> In the example above, let's say in November 2013, I completed purchase of a contract with UY of August 2013 that was stripped of 2013 points.  On December 1, 2013, if I wanted to book a 07/01/2014 reservation, I would need to borrower from the August 2014 points to complete the reservation.  One could end up in a perpetual borrowing cycle, but perhaps that is only an issue when it comes to selling (e.g., price of the contract)?



A 7/1/14 reservation will fall within your August 2013 UY (8/1/13 - 7/31/14).  Since your August 2013 is stripped of points, you would have to borrow points from Aug 2014 UY to make the reservation.  

Since these are borrowed points, IF you cancel (even before 4/30/14 which is your banking window), the points have to be used by 7/31/14 because they can't be banked again.


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## Galun (Apr 25, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> Great - it is a common misunderstanding for new owners to make.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the detailed explanation.  It's too late to change now.  Looks like it's not ideal but not a disaster either.


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## Myxdvz (Apr 25, 2013)

Galun said:


> Thanks for the detailed explanation.  It's too late to change now.  Looks like it's not ideal but not a disaster either.



Yup, it's not the end of the world .  As long as you cancel anything before your July 31st banking window you should be ok.  Anything after that has to be used up by Nov 30th or forfeited.

Heck, I have April UY, and I do Spring Break trips   I just have to understand/realize that those are use it or lose it points if I had to cancel.


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## durrod (Apr 25, 2013)

deleted deleted


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## durrod (Apr 25, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> I just have to understand/realize that those are use it or lose it points if I had to cancel.



Just want to add than in this specific situation for use it or lose it there is always the option to deposit the points with RCI if you have the minimum points to deposit.


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