Add-on Contracts: Should You Match Your Use Years?

When searching for that perfect DVC add-on contract, a common question that comes up is: Do I need to match my Use Year? After all, when you find a great contract that just happens to have a different Use Year from your existing contract, it can be really tempting to go for it. However, the importance of matching Use Years mostly depends on how you plan to use your points. 

Matching Use Years Makes It Easier to Manage Your Points

One Membership Number

Generally speaking, if you already have a DVC contract, it’s best to match your Use Years.  This makes it easier to manage your contracts since everything will fall under one DVC Membership number.  

The Same Banking Deadline for All Contracts

When all of your contracts are of the same Use Year, they all have the same banking deadline. This makes it simpler to remember when you need to bank any leftover points or when your points are about to expire.  

Easy Point Usage

If you are looking for an add-on contract that can be used to supplement your existing points, having the same Use Year makes it easier to combine your points. For instance, if you have an Old Key West contract with a February Use Year, purchasing another Old Key West contract with a February Use Year will make it fairly seamless to use your points altogether for larger accommodations or longer stays. Even having a different home resort but the same Use Year would allow you to easily combine points at the 0-7 month booking window. All you need to do is check off which contracts you want to use at the time of booking.  

But Having Different Use Years Isn’t Impossible

Organization Keeps It Manageable

If you keep yourself organized, having different Use Years may not be too complicated to manage. Setting annual calendar reminders for banking deadlines or devising a way to track your point usage can go a long way to ensure you get the most out of your points.  

Not an Issue if You’re Not Combining Points

Combining points from two different contracts with different Use Years can be cumbersome since this involves calling DVC Member Services to transfer points from one Membership to the other.  However, this may not even matter if you have no intention of using the points together.  

For example, if you have a Bay Lake Tower contract for your Disney World vacations and you’re interested in purchasing a Disneyland Hotel contract specifically for your Disneyland vacations, you may not feel the need to combine your points.  

Disneyland Hotel

Can Be Advantageous for Traveling at Different Times of the Year

If you ever take a trip after your banking deadline, it can be a little risky should you ever need to cancel the stay at the last minute. If that happens, you don’t have much time to use those points before they expire. This is where having more than one Use Year can be helpful.  

If you have different Use Years, you could strategically select which contract you use for a trip based on the travel dates. That would help you avoid using points after your banking deadline has passed.  

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