What is a DVC Use Year and Which One is the Best?
The Use Year in your DVC contract can be overlooked for importance. In fact, when I bought my initial contract, I had no idea what a DVC Use Year was, and frankly, it wasn't a factor in my decision. However, if planning to vacation at the same time each year, it should be as important as choosing the best resort. The correct Use Year will reduce the complexities around last-minute cancellations.
In simple terms, the Use Year is not a year but the month that your vacation points are put into your account. Points are added on the first day of the month, and you have one full year to use them. The Use Year is designated in your contract and can never change. So in my case, I have an April Use Year. Every April 1, DVC loads my vacation points into my account, and I have until March 31 of the following year to use them. If I sell my contract, the terms are the same. The new owner will get the points on April 1 each year, just like I did. That part will never change.
The Use Year determines the critical decision regarding points that remain in your contract as the Use Year gets closer to ending. It also determines the banking points deadline associated with your membership.
Use Year Basics
For all DVC contracts, the Use Year can be one of eight different months. There are no Use Years for January, May, July, or November. As mentioned earlier, these are designated in your contract and can never change. Just like January 1 starts a new calendar year, the Use Year begins on the first day of the month specified in the DVC contract. Some confusion originates because all DVC contract Use Years overlap two calendar years. For example, this year, my points were given to me on April 1, but they won't expire until March 31 of next year.
Banking Deadline
Banking allows owners flexibility to move vacation points that they will not use this year to the following year. Along with determining the date owners get their points, the Use Year defines the critical banking deadline. At eight months after your Use Year starts, DVC specifies that owners need to decide what they plan to do with any unbooked current year points. An April Use Year requires that I choose what to do with my account vacation points by November 30. If nothing is decided by then, there is a chance that my vacation points will be lost.
If I have 100 points allotted to me on April 1 and haven't booked a vacation with them, I have to tell DVC, by November 30, what I plan to do with them.
1. If I'm not going to use them by the end of the year, I need to bank them into next year.
2. If I will use them for a reservation before March 31, but I just haven't booked it yet, I don't have to do anything. Remember, though, at four months from your vacation, DVC room availability is very tight year-round, and if these points are not reserved before March 31, they are lost.
DVC has given you a way to be flexible with leftover points. At eight months, you can move them to next year. You should always bank them if you aren't going to use them. You don't want to pay for the points and not use them.
Which Use Year Is Best?
First, if you never vacation at the same time of the year, then the Use Year is probably not crucial in your decision, and any Use Year will work. If, however, you have a pattern of when you go on vacation each year, then you want to consider the Use Year in your DVC decision.
The best Use Year is in the same month or the months right before your primary vacation month. This allows time to rebook a vacation should you cancel without losing points. Should you have to cancel a reservation, you want to give yourself the flexibility to rebook before the banking deadline or the end of your Use Year.
For example, if you usually book a Food and Wine vacation in October, you don't want a Use Year of December. The banking deadline for a December Use Year is July 31, and the points have to be used by November 30. If you have to cancel in September, you can't bank the points to the next year as you pass the banking deadline. The points will have to be used based on availability before November 30 or be lost.
On the other hand, if your contract had an October Use Year, the points would be in your account on October 1. If you had to cancel your October vacation, then you have plenty of time to rebook before the eight-month banking deadline or the end of your Use Year. This Use Year decision allows the owner the most flexibility in case of emergencies.
Please note that DVC contracts have an extended expiration date, so your vacation time of year preferences may also change over the years.
Other Alternatives For Points About To Be Lost
If you are about to lose your points, another alternative is to turn them into reservation points for Disney Collection, or Concierge Collection stays. This process may not be open to you if there are restrictions on your DVC contract purchase timing and whether it was bought on the resale market or bought directly from Disney.
These points can also be used for exchanges through Interval International. All DVC contracts are eligible for this type of transaction.
While both of these exchanges are not highly recommended as a good value, they may give some value for your points when you have no choice.
Other alternatives are to transfer the points to another DVC member or to rent them to a points broker. In this case, the ability to find a reservation at the last minute may not make this a viable option as there may not be enough room availability for the points to have any worth.
Can I Make A Reservation Even Though I Don't Have The Points Yet?
So you book an October trip at your home resort at the eleven-month window (November). You have an October Use Year, so you don't have the points yet, but you will have them when your points are placed in your account on October 1. Can I book my reservation? Certainly! DVC knows that you'll have the points.
Sometimes the point requirements of the room are more than you will have in your account. You'll have to decide to borrow from next year to accommodate the reservation at the time of booking. If that is the case, be sure and look at the guidebook's banking and borrowing section to make sure you understand the specific rules.
Adding On-What Use Year?
When adding a second contract to your DVC vacation portfolio, you are faced with the decision about your home resort and a decision on what Use Year to purchase. The plans for the second contract will determine if it's advisable to mix Use Years. If the contract is for the same home resort, then the decision should be easy; the new Use Year should match the initial contract Use Year if possible. These contracts will now function as one contract with the same 11-month home resort priority.
The primary purpose of the additional contract is to book at 11-months at the new home resort. If the contract is for a separate home resort and you are using the second contract for a specific reservation to book at 11-months, then matching Use Year is not as important. If you own at Bay Lake Tower with a February Use Year and purchased a Beach Club contract for easy access to Epcot's Food and Wine in October, then the Use Year could be different.
There are complexities around multiple-Use Years that can be averted if they are kept the same. If you are adding on, Disney may not sell you another contract without matching the Use Year with your first contract. If you are buying resale, the ultimate decision will be yours. But the right resale agent will go over the pitfalls with you.
