Use year question: what if my new use year starts in the middle of my travel dates?

[ChandraM]

I am looking to buy my first contract (resale) and I think I have all of the use year stuff figured out besides this particular scenario. For example, my kid's spring break often starts during the end of March and ends during the beginning of April. If I bought a contract with an April use year, how would that work?

Would I have to use April 2020 points for a trip that runs from March 27, - April 3, 2021? Or would I be able to use 2020 points for the first 5 nights and 2 nights from 2021 on the same reservation? If so, would I have to "borrow" the points for the last 2 nights in order to make the reservation, or would it just be automatically pulled from the next use year?

Or would it just be a good idea to avoid an April use year if these are likely travel dates for me? I do realize I'd be in danger of losing the 2020 points altogether if I ended up having to cancel that trip at the last minute...

Thank you in advance for the help! I tried searching for an answer but it's possible I'm not using the correct key words

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would avoid April if this is a common use case for you.

I will use real example years.

April 2019 points must be used by March 31, 2020 unless banked or borrowed. So they could not be used to book April 1 onward as part of a stay beginning before that. You would have to book those stays in two pieces, possibly banking points or using points from two different years.

Once in a while this is fine but if it is something regular for years... Ugh.

You would be better with a February or even a December UY.

 

[Sandisw]

The typical response is to get a UY that provides the most flexibility in case you had to cancel a trip. Traveling in the first 8 months is ideal because if you did cancel 31 day or more, you could still bank points. And if you had borrowed points, you’d have at least some time to re-book.

If there are times you u know you will travel at the end of March, then I wouldn’t choose April...Feb or March is munch better.

But to answer your question, everything is based on dates of travel. So with an April UY, the March dates of your trip would need to be booked in one UY, and the April dates in another.

That would mean you would be able to use different types of points for each one. For example, if you planned a trip from March 27th to April 3rd., 2020. March 27 to March 31st would be in your 2019 UY. Points for that part of your stay would need to be either banked 2018 UY points, 2019 UY points, or borrowed 2020 points if you needed them to finish the reservation.

For the April 1st to 3rd dates, those would be in your 2020 UY. Those days would need to be booked with either banked 2019 points, 2020 UY points, and borrowed 2021 points if needed to complete the reservation.

 

[ChandraM]

Thanks! We haven't traveled during spring break yet. We usually travel at the end of August when the crowds are lower, but if we had to cancel and reschedule (due to a hurricane, for instance) spring break would be it for us because I don't want to take my kids out of school and even if I could get something during Christmas break I definitely wouldn't want to battle those crowds.

I have been thinking an August use year would be the best for me but I'm trying to consider other options because I keep seeing good contracts with other use years!

 

[Sandisw]

February or March would work too for spring and August. Those may be more available.

 

[Sunshine22]

I agree that August, February and March would work for your potential plans. Avoid April use year if you may travel in March since you will have no wiggle room if a trip needs to be cancelled at the last minute.