Let's say you purchased 200 points. You would be assigned a "use year" (that is the month of the year in which your points would recycle). For example, my use year is February, and I own 200 points. Every February, 200 points are available for me to use that year. When I decide to book my vacation, I choose the dates I want to visit, and the type of room that I want to stay in. That will determine how many points that visit will cost me. I also have the option of banking my points into the next use year, or borrowing points against next year for this year.