# Use year question



## travelinmom (Dec 2, 2016)

We own at Wilderness Lodge (now Boulder Ridge) and I am thinking of buying BC resale.  Other than when my points become available, does the use year have any impact on making reservations or using my points?  We currently have a Dec use year.  Should I only look at buying Dec use years?  I tried searching this forum to find information on use year and what it impacts, but I couldn't find anything, so I apologize if this was already covered somewhere.

Thanks in advance!


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## MelissaI (Dec 2, 2016)

I have two contracts, titled the same and same use year.  Both contracts are visible under one login and work seemlessly together at the seven month mark.  Since they are different resorts, we can only use the points from each contract individually between 7 and 11 months.  They also both share the same banking deadline.  At seven months, we can make one reservation using both contracts if we need to do so (for instance if the point cost is more than we have in one contract).  You would not be able to do that if they are different use years. You would need to make separate reservations and have member services link them. When we purchased our second contract we specifically looked for December only, so the contracts would work together and share banking deadlines. Use year has an effect on your cancellations, if you cancel or vacation after the banking deadline it can make it possible to lose points.  With proper planning, one can make any use year work, I would think.


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## Cyberc (Dec 3, 2016)

For you own convenience you should buy the same use year. 

As mentioned the banking deadline is the same and if the use year aren't the same you can't combine the points for a reservation at the 7 months mark. 

There are however two advantages for different use years:
1. You get to have 2 wait lists per use year
2. You get to make 1 in/out bound transfer per use year. 

But nonetheless I would still opt for the same use year.


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## Bailey#1 (Dec 5, 2016)

If the December UY works for you I would buy a December UY.  We have 2 UY because the first one the UY wasn't an ideal match for us.


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## chalee94 (Dec 5, 2016)

travelinmom said:


> Other than when my points become available, does the use year have any impact on making reservations or using my points?  We currently have a Dec use year.



UY has nothing to do with when you can call or go online to book.  Your pts are available to use when you are 11 months out for your home resort or 7 months out for other DVC resorts.

(You start by looking at the dates of your stay and then looking at which UY (not calendar year) that those dates fall into - if you have a Dec UY, then a July 14, 2017 stay falls into your 2016 UY (which runs from Dec 1, 2016 to Nov 30, 2017) - which tells you that you can use current 2016 pts when you book the stay in Aug 2016 + banked pts from the previous (2015) UY, if any + borrowed pts from your 2017 UY if needed.  It makes no difference that when you call or go online in Aug 2016 to book the stay, that you are still in your 2015 UY.)

UY is mostly an issue if you need to cancel a reservation. Ideally, you never want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY...so with a Dec UY, you would be putting Sept/Oct/Nov stays at extra risk if you needed to cancel them after your banking window has already closed (i.e. after July 31 of the next calendar year for a Dec UY).

So if you preferred to travel in Sept/Oct/November, then it might not be a bad idea to pick up a different UY to cover those trips.

But for most people, it's a lot more simple to stick with one UY for all contracts...


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## Deb & Bill (Dec 17, 2016)

If you need to combine your points for a single stay, you wouldn't be able to book a night with combined points without transferring with two different UYs.  You could book some nights with one contract and some nights with the other if they were different UY.  But you would have to check out and check in again.  With two different contracts (meaning two different UYs), they cannot combine two reservations into one.  You cannot borrow transferred points, but you can bank them.  You cannot transfer banked or borrowed points.


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## AnnaS (Dec 19, 2016)

I am with everyone here - I would keep the same UY.   So much simpler in the long run.  Good luck!


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## icydog (Jan 21, 2017)

My thinking is this. 
1. Buy where you want to stay
2. If you're buying multiple resorts make sure the use years are the same
3. Combine points at 7 months if you want
4. Use resort priority 11-7 months 
5. Enjoy yourself!


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## M&M (Feb 9, 2017)

I agree. We had two separate UYs, but sold one contract and bought another with the same use year. We like having the same UY better.


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## elaine (Feb 10, 2017)

I have a different UY b/c same was not available for 2nd small purchase (at HHI to get 11 mth advantage) . We usually make reservations at 11 mths out, so it really doesn't matter. But, you cannot combine unless you transfer in. So, sometimes, we have an odd number of points left over and lose a few. If your UY is available, then get the same, as you have more options. But if you are buying a different resort and plan to use 11 mth booking, it doesn't matter that much.


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## littlestar (Feb 10, 2017)

Keep the same use year for simplicity. Otherwise you will have two membership numbers.


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## icydog (Feb 15, 2017)

I think Hilton Head and Vero Beach may prove the exception but to me owning in the same use year is my only option. I just can't keep track of more than one use year and more than one contract.


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## Southerngirl528 (Feb 28, 2017)

Cyberc said:


> and if the use year aren't the same you can't combine the points for a reservation at the 7 months mark.



What month your use year is has nothing at all to do with booking windows. All use years have the same 7 & 11 month booking windows. The important thing is how many months away is the date you are hoping to book?



chalee94 said:


> UY has nothing to do with when you can call or go online to book. Your pts are available to use when you are 11 months out for your home resort or 7 months out for other DVC resorts.





chalee94 said:


> UY is mostly an issue if you need to cancel a reservation. Ideally, you never want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY...so with a Dec UY, you would be putting Sept/Oct/Nov stays at extra risk if you needed to cancel them after your banking window has already closed (i.e. after July 31 of the next calendar year for a Dec UY).
> 
> So if you preferred to travel in Sept/Oct/November, then it might not be a bad idea to pick up a different UY to cover those trips.
> 
> But for most people, it's a lot more simple to stick with one UY for all contracts...



Well said, chalee94!


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## Southerngirl528 (Feb 28, 2017)

Deb & Bill said:


> But you would have to check out and check in again.



If you have some nights booked on one membership & some on another, simply ask Member Services to "link" the reservations so that the resort ops team will see it as one continuous rez. Btw, this only works if the room category is identical. In this scenario I would also give the resort a call a week out to make certain they know that you have 2 reservations for one continuous stay. 

It is technically correct that you would have to make a stop at FD to get new room keys between reservations, but if you follow the steps I've outlined above, you should have no reason to literally check out of your room and back into another. Again, this is dependent on both reservations being for the exact same room type.  I've done this many times over the years. And in this case, I have never had to move.


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## RussellSun (Nov 6, 2017)

One agent told me having a second contract with a usage year 4-8 months apart gives the most flexibility because even if your banking deadline has passed, you can transfer the points to the other membership number. So you don't lose points. I guess another advantage of two membership ids is that you could rent up to 24 points on each membership ID if you need extra points.

A possible disadvantage could be that because you are only allowed one transfer in per year, if you have already used it to combine points for a reservation, then you may not be able to transfer points in again if you are at risk of losing them. So you might be better off banking and borrowing on each account and then transferring unused points that you might lose if you end up canceling a reservation after the banking period has ended.

I guess it comes down to a trade off between ease of use with one membership under one use year vs extra flexibility with 2 use years.

Does anyone else have see any other advantages of having two different use years? I am buying my first small 100 point contract with an April use year and tying to decide of I should do my second contract, which will be larger, with the same use year or a different use year. I want two contracts because I need two different home resorts for the 11 month booking window since I am purchasing high demand clubs.


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## chalee94 (Nov 8, 2017)

RussellSun said:


> One agent told me having a second contract with a usage year 4-8 months apart gives the most flexibility because even if your banking deadline has passed, you can transfer the points to the other membership number. So you don't lose points.



I may be mistaken, but I don't believe that this is true.  Your transferred pts would maintain the same UY and expire at the same time (I.e. if you transfer them to a contract with a different UY, they don't change to track with the new UY any more than they change to pick up the alternate home resort priority.)



RussellSun said:


> I guess another advantage of two membership ids is that you could rent up to 24 points on each membership ID if you need extra points.
> 
> Does anyone else have see any other advantages of having two different use years? I am buying my first small 100 point contract with an April use year and tying to decide of I should do my second contract, which will be larger, with the same use year or a different use year. I want two contracts because I need two different home resorts for the 11 month booking window since I am purchasing high demand clubs.



It is less risky to travel early in your UY, so having 2 UYs can be better if you use the contracts separately to travel at different times of year.  But if you are planning to use the contracts together, there is more of a risk of failing to keep track of both banking deadlines than anything else...


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## RussellSun (Nov 8, 2017)

chalee94 said:


> I may be mistaken, but I don't believe that this is true.  Your transferred pts would maintain the same UY and expire at the same time (I.e. if you transfer them to a contract with a different UY, they don't change to track with the new UY any more than they change to pick up the alternate home resort priority.)
> 
> 
> 
> It is less risky to travel early in your UY, so having 2 UYs can be better if you use the contracts separately to travel at different times of year.  But if you are planning to use the contracts together, there is more of a risk of failing to keep track of both banking deadlines than anything else...



Thank you, this is helpful. I bought two DVC contracts with two different home resorts for the 11-month booking window  at each resort with the same use year. That seemed to make the most sense for simplicity to have all the points under one membership ID.


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

RussellSun said:


> Thank you, this is helpful. I bought two DVC contracts with two different home resorts for the 11-month booking window  at each resort with the same use year. That seemed to make the most sense for simplicity to have all the points under one membership ID.


That is best for most people.  The exceptions are for full sized contracts where one of the specific situations offers a distinct advantage like multiple transfers, multiple wait lists and/or to target specific trips early in a given UY as Charles was referencing. Generally new buyers should buy them all together or at leasts buy one and use the system a couple of years before adding a different UY.  It is less of a difference for different home resorts though.


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## RussellSun (Nov 10, 2017)

Dean said:


> That is best for most people.  The exceptions are for full sized contracts where one of the specific situations offers a distinct advantage like multiple transfers, multiple wait lists and/or to target specific trips early in a given UY as Charles was referencing. Generally new buyers should buy them all together or at leasts buy one and use the system a couple of years before adding a different UY.  It is less of a difference for different home resorts though.



I am going to use DVC mostly for Aulani to add days when we go to our Marriott Ko Olina EOY and to take the kids to Disneyland in Anaheim while they are still little. I like to stay in 1 bedrooms so I will use up my points more quickly than most people. I will probably need to bank and borrow since I bought 100 VGC and 200 Aulani with April use year. I think that is a good start and I hope it will be enough for us long term with banking and borrowing. We will occasionally make some Orlando trips while the kids are young. I think we will keep Aulani long term since we like Hawaii. If we become Disney fanatics like many people, maybe we will remain members longer term, who knows? Keep it for the grandkids. I am in escrow to buy both contracts on the resale market. Once they pass ROFR and I get our Disney membership ID, we will be eligible to buy some Disney add-on points if we want to be eligible for full Disney benefits. After all the money we have spent on the two contracts, it is a minimal amount to buy 25-35 points as an add-on to gain a full Disney membership. I was thinking of adding Grand Floridian as the third home resort since that is another hard one to book, even though we may rarely go there. It costs 185 points through Disney direct and there is a wait list to get it. Or we could buy Old Key West or Saratoga Springs from Disney direct for $145 per point and get it immediately but my heart is not into those resorts, although I would like to stay there. Just not into having them as a home resort. I doubt we will ever buy a fourth contract so if we buy some add-on points to get a full Disney membership, this will be it. The delta on price of paying $40 per point more on Grand Floridian vs OKW or SSV is not that much for 25-35 points so I am leaning toward going with what I want. 

So I guess my questions are:

1) Is it worth spending the money on 25-35 direct Disney points to get the benefits and being a full Disney member?

2) If I buy 25-35 points at Grand Floridian, it will barely buy a couple nights at the Grand Floridian with banking or borrowing (75-105 points). Is it still worth it to make that my home resort to get the 11 month booking window?


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

I think for most new buyers they should plan the add on as part of their purchase plan for future options if nothing else.  In your case I'm not sure it makes sense, it depends on how often you'd go to WDW and how long you'd likely stay plus whether you'd have interest in group trips like member only DCL options.  As for WDW I'm not sure 25 only makes sense for VGF or even if VGF makes sense for you at all.  Only you can determine how likely you are to want/need that option.  I get the sense you're making assumptions rather than working from true information/experience and if that's the case I definitely would not buy VGF or any other high end option you don't already own or I might wait a couple of years and make at least one WDW trip before deciding.  In your case I'd likely do VGC even if it took a year or 2 to get the points from DVC.  I'd certainly wait until you've cleared ROFR on both before making any decisions.


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## chalee94 (Nov 10, 2017)

1) Is it worth spending the money on 25-35 direct Disney points to get the benefits and being a full Disney member?

The only real financial discount offered by owning DVC direct is access to discounted APs at WDW (not Disneyland). That doesn't sound like a benefit for you - if you are just getting 10% off of dining at Disneyland, it could take a decade to recover the extra cost.

2) If I buy 25-35 points at Grand Floridian, it will barely buy a couple nights at the Grand Floridian with banking or borrowing (75-105 points). Is it still worth it to make that my home resort to get the 11 month booking window?

If you are trying to book studios at VGF at 11 months out, that can be iffy at certain times of the year (Fall Frenzy specifically). As a west coaster, you'd need to get up at 5am to book online as soon as the 11 month window opens up.  If you use banked or borrowed pts to book a stay, those points will stay in that new use year even if you have to cancel a reservation, and depending on your circumstances, it might be difficult for you to rebook a stay within that same use year.

It *can* work but I don't like your odds.


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## Hankmoon (Nov 10, 2017)

Dean said:


> I think for most new buyers they should plan the add on as part of their purchase plan for future options if nothing else.  In your case I'm not sure it makes sense, it depends on how often you'd go to WDW and how long you'd likely stay plus whether you'd have interest in group trips like member only DCL options.  As for WDW I'm not sure 25 only makes sense for VGF or even if VGF makes sense for you at all.  Only you can determine how likely you are to want/need that option.  I get the sense you're making assumptions rather than working from true information/experience and if that's the case I definitely would not buy VGF or any other high end option you don't already own or I might wait a couple of years and make at least one WDW trip before deciding.  In your case I'd likely do VGC even if it took a year or 2 to get the points from DVC.  I'd certainly wait until you've cleared ROFR on both before making any decisions.



Disney is not selling any Grand Cal points direct at all, not even with a wait list. They told me to buy them on the resale market. That is why we proceeded with the resale market. Yes, you are right. We need to complete these purchases and get our Disney membership before we make more assumptions. Then if we become Disney fanatics, I think this question will answer itself.


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

Hankmoon said:


> Disney is not selling any Grand Cal points direct at all, not even with a wait list. They told me to buy them on the resale market. That is why we proceeded with the resale market. Yes, you are right. We need to complete these purchases and get our Disney membership before we make more assumptions. Then if we become Disney fanatics, I think this question will answer itself.


Sure they are, when they get them they sell them.  They may not have them right now but if you keep checking back you will eventually get them.


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## Hankmoon (Nov 10, 2017)

We just passed ROFR on our resale Grand Cal contract.


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

Hankmoon said:


> We just passed ROFR on our resale Grand Cal contract.


Congrats but if you need a few more and to buy retail, you can get them at VGC but it will likely take some time and effort.


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## Hankmoon (Nov 10, 2017)

Dean said:


> Congrats but if you need a few more and to buy retail, you can get them at VGC but it will likely take some time and effort.



I would prefer to buy a third home resort if I add more points so I get the 11 month reservation booking window at a third location. Wouldn’t that make more sense? I really love the Grand Floridian and that is a hard one to book without the 11 month booking window. I was thinking 35-40 retail points would allow us to stay there every 3 years (with banking and borrowing and add on points) in a studio or a couple days in a 1 bedroom depending on the season. All the other DVCs in Orlando are easier to book at the 7 month booking window.


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

Hankmoon said:


> I would prefer to buy a third home resort if I add more points so I get the 11 month reservation booking window at a third location. Wouldn’t that make more sense? I really love the Grand Floridian and that is a hard one to book without the 11 month booking window. I was thinking 35-40 retail points would allow us to stay there every 3 years (with banking and borrowing and add on points) in a studio or a couple days in a 1 bedroom depending on the season. All the other DVCs in Orlando are easier to book at the 7 month booking window.


I wouldn't get tied up too much in the hard to book idea.  I'd only buy VGF if I intended to stay there routinely and I wouldn't buy more points retail.  If you truly need/want VGF I'd likely just buy there resale and do a retail add on elsewhere.  IMO this is a common mistake many new to DVC make when buying in, going too high up the ladder when they don't need to or it doesn't benefit them routinely.


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## Hankmoon (Nov 10, 2017)

Dean said:


> I wouldn't get tied up too much in the hard to book idea.  I'd only buy VGF if I intended to stay there routinely and I wouldn't buy more points retail.  If you truly need/want VGF I'd likely just buy there resale and do a retail add on elsewhere.  IMO this is a common mistake many new to DVC make when buying in, going too high up the ladder when they don't need to or it doesn't benefit them routinely.



Would you recommend buying a small 25 point retail contract at the cheapest price to add to my resale points? Some folks have said that it is a good idea to be a “card carrying” DVC member and they do that after they get their membership ID. I can see the advantage of doing that for emotional and psychological reasons - not financial reasons. It might make one feel like they really are part of the Disney family. However, it probably won’t get much in terms of staying anywhere at the 11 month mark unless you bank and borrow.


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## Dean (Nov 10, 2017)

Hankmoon said:


> Would you recommend buying a small 25 point retail contract at the cheapest price to add to my resale points? Some folks have said that it is a good idea to be a “card carrying” DVC member and they do that after they get their membership ID. I can see the advantage of doing that for emotional and psychological reasons - not financial reasons. It might make one feel like they really are part of the Disney family. However, it probably won’t get much in terms of staying anywhere at the 11 month mark unless you bank and borrow.


I wouldn't do it for emotional reasons but I'd do it for options either present or future.  Whether cheapest is best depends.  For most I'd to it at a resort I owned already, one I intended to buy in the future or where the points gave me real and specific options or I'd go for the cheapest.  Take the issue above where RussellSun was thinking about VGF periodically.  If that's a real and viable plan, getting the points there might be a good option.  OTOH, just because they think they might want to stay there and it's hard to get into isn't enough of a reason to me.  What's best will vary the variables like whether I need them at a given resort and how I planned to use them.  If one will use them at 7 months or after regularly, it really doesn't matter and either SSR or HH are likely the cheapest long term.  The best plan is to build this into the overall purchase plan from the start for anyone else reading.  One does need a 10-20% cushion for most situations so the add on retail can serve that need as well.


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