Musings on Use Year

[ookitarepanda]

Can somebody weigh in on this that I've been thinking about?

If I generally wanted to book a stay in October, that means making a booking 11 months out in November (or through 7 months out in March). If I am still looking for bookings during that time frame (Nov-Apr), then I don’t want to have to commit to using or banking until I’ve found a booking or given up for the year. That means that I would want a use year that does not have a bank-by date in that window: September (bank by 4/30), October (5/31), December (7/31), February (9/30), March (10/31).

But then I think about what some folks have mentioned: If I generally book in October, but then I have to cancel for some reason, then I would want to have a late enough bank-by date so that I wouldn't be canceling and losing all of my points for the year.

...am I making myself crazy?

 

[DaveNan]

Your second point is the key one.

If you regularly book in Oct, I would target Sept or Oct UY. If you seek highly desirable rooms that demand walking, then I would recommend Sept. The Oct UY may not give you time to start a walk before your stay. In general, you want to avoid regularly scheduling trips late in your UY, particulaly if you had Dec UY. With Feb or Mar availability is better, so you might find something if you cancelled late. But if you cancelled in August (more than 30 days before your reservation), you would be in big trouble. You would be past your banking window and if you were looking to book something in Aug, that you had to use by 11/30, the choices would be very limited.

 

[ookitarepanda]

But if you cancelled in August (more than 30 days before your reservation), you would be in big trouble. You would be past your banking window and if you were looking to book something in Aug, that you had to use by 11/30, the choices would be very limited.

What I was thinking is, if my UY is March, and I cancel an October trip in August, that means I still have room to bank before October 31st. Wouldn't that be right?

 

[Sandisw]

Having a UY that begins just before you travel gives you the best advantage if you have to cancel or change a trip. So, with Oct UY, having an Aug or Sep UY is ideal.

This way, if you cancel at least 31 days out, you have plenty of time.

Now, with a March UY, yes, you’d have until Oct 31 to bank. However, if you ever borrow points and cancel an Oct trip with a March UY, you’d have to use them by end of February, giving you only 4 months to rebook.

With an Aug ot Sep UY, if you had borrowed points, you would have 9 or 10 months to use them up.

Regardless of UY, you can always book 11 months at home resort.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Can somebody weigh in on this that I've been thinking about?

If I generally wanted to book a stay in October, that means making a booking 11 months out in November (or through 7 months out in March). If I am still looking for bookings during that time frame (Nov-Apr), then I don’t want to have to commit to using or banking until I’ve found a booking or given up for the year. That means that I would want a use year that does not have a bank-by date in that window: September (bank by 4/30), October (5/31), December (7/31), February (9/30), March (10/31).

But then I think about what some folks have mentioned: If I generally book in October, but then I have to cancel for some reason, then I would want to have a late enough bank-by date so that I wouldn't be canceling and losing all of my points for the year.

...am I making myself crazy?

I think that you're looking at things a year too early for the banking perspective. In order to worry about banking if you couldn't book the trip you would be talking about current UY points (because those are the only points that are bankable). So using your example of an October trip - let's say October 2020 was the time:

Sept UY - October 2020 trip would use Sept 2020 current points that are valid for stays from Sept 1, 2020 - Aug 31, 2021. You'd have booked during your 11 month window with those points in November of 2019. In March of 2020 you could try and switch your location but you'd still be using the 2020 points - that have a banking date of April 30, 2021 - well after you'd book that stay or even take that trip. If you were going to plan to use banked points that would have been Sept 2019 points and you would have banked them prior to doing your 11 month booking in November of 2019.

So let's look at a Feb UY. For an October 2020 stay you'd be using Feb 2020 points that were valid for stays from Feb 1, 2020-Jan 31, 2021. Same booking window - 11 months in November of 2019 or 7 months in March of 2020. The banking deadline for those Feb 2020 points would be September 30, 2020 - so less than a month from the date of your trip.

All the rest follow the same.

So yes, you're making yourself crazy.

(just to finish with March - an October 2020 stay would use March 2020 current points (or you could use already banked March 2019 points or borrow March 2021 points) You'd have booked at 11 months - November 2019 and tried to switch in March 2020 - still using those March 2020 points that would be valid for stays from March 1, 2020 until April 30, 2021 or that could be banked into the next UY by October 31, 2020 which would be the month of the trip.

 

[DaveNan]

What I was thinking is, if my UY is March, and I cancel an October trip in August, that means I still have room to bank before October 31st. Wouldn't that be right?

My example was for Dec UY. Yes, a March UY would give you a chance to still bank or book something in late Jan or Feb (when I would expect there to be some availability).

 

[ookitarepanda]

I think that you're looking at things a year too early for the banking perspective.

This was the missing link! I kept getting stuck in a loop of where points are and all of that... But this clears everything up. Thank you so much!