Welcome back to planDisney, Michelle!
I'm so glad you've stopped by with another question as you plan your next Disney vacation. Eek! Congratulations on your new Disney Vacation Club contract! Whether you're becoming a Member for the very first time or you've decided to add additional Vacation Points to your existing Membership, "A Whole New World" of possibilities is heading your way!
If you ask me, there's nothing better than having plenty of Vacation Points sitting in your account, just waiting to be used –– they're practically begging you to dream up new and exciting ways to visit your favorite
Disney Destinations! But while those Points are definitely exciting, it can also be really confusing when you're dealing with booking and travel for multiple Use Years at one time. With that in mind, let me share a few details about using different Use Year Vacation Points to help you make the most of your new contract.
The
Use Year for your new Disney Vacation Club contract is based on the date when you receive your annual allotment of those Vacation Points each year. Once you receive those Points, you'll have an entire calendar year to use them or bank them before they expire. For instance, if you have an October Use Year, you would've received your 2022 Points on October 1, 2022, and you'll be able to use them through September 30, 2023. Then, on October 1, 2023, you'll receive your 2023 Use Year Points to use for the following year (and this pattern will continue for the life of your contract). Using that same Use Year as an example (remember, this may be different for you), you would be able to use your 2022 Points for any visit between October 1st and September 30th of next year, which will include your upcoming visit in January 2023 –– unless you need to
borrow Vacation Points from your upcoming Use Year, you won't be able to use your 2023 Points for this stay until they become available on your Use Year date. Then, if you're planning to visit again in January 2024, you would be able to use your 2023 Vacation Points for that stay.
In addition to using your Points during your standard Use Year period, remember that you also have the option to
bank up to 100 percent of your Vacation Points to the next year, which can be done in months 1-8 of your Use Year. If we're sticking with the October Use Year example, this means that you would have the option to bank your Points from October 1st through May 31st each Use Year. Once those Points are banked, they'll expire at the end of your upcoming Use Year, just like the Points for that year. If you don't think you'll be using all the 2022 Use Year Vacation Points on your new contract and you're still within that
banking window, you might want to consider moving them to next year so you won't run the risk of losing them.
Thanks so much for visiting planDisney, Michelle. I hope this helped to answer your question, but if you need more information or have any other questions about your new Disney Vacation Club Membership, please feel free to come back again –– we're always here to lend a helping hand!
Happy Planning,
Amy