Can you change your use year?

[tjkraz]

Unless you intend to vacation during the same narrow 2-3 month period year-after-year for the duration of the contract, Use Year really doesn't matter much.

IMO, selecting a Use Year is the portion of the purchase people are most likely to overthink. Sure you can go out of your way to pick a Use Year that fits current vacation habits but few people can accurately predict what the future may hold. As soon as habits change due to kids' vacation schedules (or lack thereof), job changes, retirement, different choice of destinations, etc., the "ideal" Use Year may no longer be so ideal.

Of all the criteria taken into consideration when deciding what to buy, Use Year is pretty close to the bottom, IMO.

 

[joefrat]

Use Year

We're looking at a resale, but the use year is September and that doesn't work really well for us. Can you pay a fee to change the month?

Another dumb question - I'm looking for a July use year, and don't see any. Is July not available?

Thanks for you help.

For what ever reason the only use - years are:
February, March, April, June, August, September, October and December

 

[dreamfinder]

I am not sure I follow your "take whatever you can get, or lose the points" logic since you can book 7-11 months in advance and can bank the points then.

You are correct on the cancelation part, but my guess is that if you own DVC for the life of the contract, the way you vacation is likely to change over the years so while you may go in December now, you may end up going in May later.

The take it or lose it can easily come into play. Say you own HHR in February, but want to stay at BLT on Christmas week. BLT owners took up all the rooms at their 11 month window, so you get on the waitlist at 7 months. But when November rolls around, and you still don't have a booking, it's too late to bank your points so you either need to take anything you can get, or lose your points.

It is an isolated case, but situations like that can apply. So if you plan on traveling around Christmas time each year, a February use year may not be the best idea for you just to help to minimize such an occurrence.