If you want to keep up with the list of people who are going in November and where they are staying, this can be the thread! I suspect that threads for November and December are sometimes delayed because what people seem to want is to discuss the holidays and ask questions about the season (more than just giving their trip dates and hotels), and they know that we have an active thread for that. When they see that thread and post in it, there is less of a need to start the check-in thread, I suppose. I think that's probably what happens.