Understanding the concepts behind DVC Use Years are vital to making an informed purchase from the DVC resale market. For those considering Disney Vacation Club ownership for the first time, your choice of Use Year depends on when you expect to use your DVC points. If you're already a DVC member, selecting the optimal Use Year requires a bit more consideration, but as always, the process is manageable with the right information. Before you purchase a DVC resale from Fidelity, we'll tell you what you need to know.

What is DVC Use Year?

The term Use Year (which is often abbreviated to UY) is a bit deceiving. People new to the workings of DVC Use Year are often surprised to find out that it actually refers to a month. There are eight Use Years considered: February, March, April, June, August, September, October and December.

The first of that month is the date when a DVC member is eligible to use the annual allotment of points for the next twelve months. So, if you were to purchase points from the DVC resale market with a September UY, you would have until August 31 of the following year to use or bank your points. Note that you don't need the points in order to make a reservation; the points just need to be available for the dates of your vacation. If you've already gone on a trip to Disney and exhausted your points for the year, you can still come home and book a Disney vacation for next year.

What Should I Consider When Selecting a Use Year on the DVC Resale Market?

The answer to this question depends largely on your situation. If you're shopping the DVC resale market as a first-time DVC buyer, you'll want to think about when your family is most likely to go on Disney vacations. Ideally, you would consistently travel early in your Use Year. That way, if you need to cancel the trip for any reason you would still have several months to use or bank the DVC points for that year. This is especially important because points cannot be banked during the final four months of a Use Year; they must be used or they will expire when the annual allotment is renewed.

For current Disney Vacation Club members who are turning to DVC resales for additional points, Use Year has more importance. In order to simply add DVC points to your current account, you'll need to purchase points within the same Use Year as the points that you already own. The resort does not matter, but if points are purchased under a different Use Year, a separate account will be created. For this reason, many members seek points under the same Use Year that they already own when shopping DVC resale listings. Of course, there are exceptions. If you're a current DVC member with a March Use Year who consistently visits WDW every Spring but would now like start going twice a year--once in Spring and once in Fall--it might be worthwhile to purchase additional points under an August, September, or October Use Year. That will give you a full window to use your DVC points under both accounts.

For more information on handling multiple DVC memberships, see our article about Adding DVC Points.

Are Some DVC Use Years More Desirable than Others?

As mentioned above, the selection of a Use Year is simply a matter of preference based upon travel habits and current ownership. However, the distribution of available DVC points is not even across all Use Years or consistent among resorts. Nearly 1/3 of all the Animal Kingdom Villas points are under a December Use Year, while only 11% of Bay Lake Tower points fall under the same Use Year.

The good news is that our research has not shown any distinguishable difference in cost or ROFR that can be attributed to a DVC point package Use Year. It appears as though Use Year remains purely a matter of preference and should not be a factor in determining the price of DVC points, despite the limited availability of some Use Years at particular resorts.

DVC Use Year Chart

Not only does your DVC Use Year determine when your annual allotment of points become available, it also tells you the last day of the year for you to bank your DVC Points.

DVC Use Year Last Day to Bank DVC Points February September 30 March October 31 April November 30 June January 31 August March 31 September April 30 October May 31 December July 31

If you're not sure when the last day is you can bank your points, a general rule of thumb is eight months after your Use Year.

If you think you have an idea of what Use Year you're looking for and you're ready to start shopping for DVC Resale points, check out Fidelity's DVC listings where you'll find tons of great deals. If you don't see the Use Year or DVC points package you're looking for, sign up for Fidelity's Priority Mail List, and have the latest listings delivered to your inbox before they're advertised to the public. It's a convenient and free way to shop the DVC resale market.