Also does that mean the 2015 points are lost since I didn't bank them?
I think you must have banked them when you booked. As is better explained below.
If your trip is booked in June 2016 and you are using June 2015 UY points, then you had to bank them into next UY to use them for June 2016.
If you did bank them then they are now 2016 UY points and will expire in May 31, 2017.
Also, I have the
trip insurance, so does that change what I get back?
You either use the trip insurance OR you cancel and get the points back (if you cancel in time).
My mom thinks we should still go so as not to disappoint the kids. She will stay home with a health aide and my sister. My sister is hesitant now, whereas a month ago she said to just go. My husband thinks we should cancel.
Is your sister going? Or is she part of the decision because she would be the one holding down the fort? Is she overwhelmed already? What is your husband's reasoning? You have to have deep conversations with everyone, IMO, at this point. How do the kids feel?
This might not be appropriate for your personality and if so I apologize ahead of time. My background: my mom was diagnosed with leukemia mid December '99, went into remission VERY quickly, everything seemed great, then a problem with the blood thinner caused her sudden and unexpected death in mid March '00. And I never got a chance to see her in between. (new job, across the country from her, no money, total ostrich syndrome on my part, she was exhausted from the treatments and then I kept getting sick when she was in between treatments including full blown influenza). I was unable to help her (thankfully my brother's wonderful wife stepped in when I could not be there). NOW I am the main one in charge of my mother in law. She has multiple health problems and is slipping into vascular dementia on top of it all. She now HATES when we go away, and I'm realizing why (her other children have proven to be totally unreliable when the care falls on them), but I still have to go away sometimes. My husband (her son) and I have very in depth talks about the what ifs.
I find the "what ifs" to be vital. What if we're on a cruise and something happens. What if we're on the cruise we were on last month with what ended up being FOUR sea days with NO way to get back at all since we're at sea? What do we instruct family to do? (DH is her POA etc) In our case, we try to continue the trip, we get back once we can, everything is on hold. We all know her wishes.
Have you heard of The Conversation Project? It's about these conversations. If you haven't heard of it, look it up. As they say, it's always too early to talk about these things until it's too late. So have the conversations.
Unless the kids have huge feelings about it, IMO it's between you and your mother. If she wants you to go, and you can handle going, go. Ultimately, IMO, even DH doesn't have a huge amount of say in it, unless you suspect that he knows you better than you know yourself right now OR if he and your mom are extremely close. Weirdly, I'm actually hitting the point where it would bother me if *something* happened while we're away than it would bother DH. He would still have more feelings, but I would be more stressed because I'm the arranger. So I can totally see taking his feelings into account if you have that dynamic like we do, but if you really know your mind and you're OK going and your mom is OK with you going, I'd consider going.
The insurance kicks in if you're at the "no points back" stage. And like was stated, you get the maintenance fees back for those points if you file the insurance claim. That's it.
I guess the less than 30 days, they will hold the points means I need to use them sooner than later and need to book within 60 days of trip.
Assuming the points were all moved or already in your 2016 UY, you have until the end of May 2017 to use them, so as long as you're flexible in when to go and where to stay, you have time.
Kathy, how did you make out on that trip so soon after funeral? I don't mean to pry, but I am curious to see how the trip was for you. I am over 2 months now of hospital/care facility everyday for my mom. I love her dearly and will miss her so much. I have done a lot of grieving already. It is very tiring and I think I will be ready for something to enjoy with my family, as I have not had the time for them lately. Was the trip an enjoyable one for you and if so what made it so?
You didn't ask me, but...
When my mom died, I *had to* get OUT. I was driving along the road thinking "this is the last place I talked to her on the phone" ('00, no laws about that yet, oh well). This is where I had this experience and talked about it with her. This is where I was when I found out about the leukemia. Even the YMCA wasn't safe because that's where my stepdad called me with *the news*. I had to get out; I literally stated that I had to leave or I was going to drive my car into Puget Sound because I couldn't take it anymore.
Thankfully a work opportunity arose to go cross country for the summer.
I wasn't in the mode for affording "vacations" then but I bet it would have helped. To go *somewhere else* and have no responsibilities, to just be and to try to breathe...would have been good.
Listen...if it happens, you're going to be sad anyway, no matter where you are. You might as well cry at a place that brings you joy, because once that bout of tears is done you can go see Mickey or Tink or ride Small World or do/see *something* that you have loved. And even though it's an affront to the senses to realize that the world keeps on spinning, it's better to see that at Disney than realizing that because you still have to do the laundry and clean the toilet.
