North Carolina rations three different things on three different clocks, and knowing which clock governs you is most of the strategy.
The course clock is the strictest: the DMV's point-reduction path is available once every five years, and it isn't for everyday tickets anyway, requiring 7 or more points already on your record and a $40 eligibility hearing before the course counts for anything. Five years is a long dormancy for a tool of last resort, which is exactly what it is: drivers who qualify are drivers whose next points carry real suspension risk, and the once-a-half-decade reduction should be spent accordingly.
The clock most North Carolina drivers should actually be watching belongs to the PJC, the Prayer for Judgment Continued, and it's not a course at all. For insurance purposes, a household gets one PJC every three years; use a second inside the window and the insurance protection evaporates for both. Household is the operative word: your spouse's PJC last year spends yours. Before requesting one in court, know your household's history, because a wasted PJC is the most expensive free thing in North Carolina traffic law.
Court-permitted course dismissals run per case with prior permission, and a court agreeing once implies nothing about next time.
Whichever clock applies, course pricing and the county-based 4-hour versus 8-hour split are on our cost page, and the full strategy picture is on our points page. Approved online courses are compared on the North Carolina page.