use year

[blakrose9999]

just bought in after alot of thought about doing this but now i wonder why everyone says not to travel late in your use year. Just curious as to why and if if maybe is because of the inability to rebook?

 

[vicki_c]

Because you will be beyond your banking window for those points and they would have to be used before the end of the use year.

 

[LisaS]

Yes, it is because you could end up losing points if you cancel a trip that is scheduled for late in your UY. If you cancel after your banking deadline you would need to use the points for another stay prior to the end of your UY and there may not be any availability during such a small window.

It can also limit your ability to waitlist for a room requiring fewer points for a stay late in your UY because if your waitlist came through after your banking deadline, you couldn't bank the points you got back and could end up losing them.

 

[dansamy]

Hmm..what's considered late in your Use Year? Our UY is Oct. We usually travel in Feb or Oct, which I don't think is really late in our UY. Occasionally, we travel in late May or early Jun. I think Jun is kinda late.

 

[vicki_c]

Late in your use year usually would refer to after your banking window. For an October use year, that would be after May 31.

October is the beginning of your use year, so that would not be a problem and February wouldn't be an issue either.

Any trips you cancel after May 31 would require you to use those points before September 30.

 

[chalee94]

some examples:

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window closed on jan 31, 2012 so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation before they expire on may 31, 2012.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window won't close until jan 31, 2013 so you'd have until then to decide whether to use current year (2012) pts for a reservation in that UY or else bank them to the next year. (you'd still need to use banked and borrowed pts by may 31, 2013.)

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but that won't matter since they expire on may 31...which is less than 60 days out.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but at least you'd have 12 months before they expire on may 31, 2013 to decide what to do with them.

 

[LisaS]

Hmm..what's considered late in your Use Year? Our UY is Oct. We usually travel in Feb or Oct, which I don't think is really late in our UY. Occasionally, we travel in late May or early Jun. I think Jun is kinda late.

With an Oct UY, you are fine with all of those travel dates. If you need to cancel a trip, ideally you want to cancel at least 31 days prior to check in so that your points do not go into holding (making all current UY points used for the reservation unbankable). So even with a trip starting June 30th you would want to cancel that no later than May 30th (31 days in advance) which would still be prior to your May 31st banking deadline.

If you cancelled a trip 30 days or less prior to check in the points would go into holding. You would not be able to bank any of the points and can only use them to book a stay 60 days or less in advance. You would have until the end of September to use them. Your chances of using the points during those months is pretty good, even with the 60-day booking restriction.

Now if you used banked or borrowed points for a trip and then cancelled, you would not be able to bank those points even if you cancelled 31 days or more in advance and are within your banking window. You would have to use them by Sep 30th, but would not have the 60-day booking restriction.

 

[bwvBound]

With an Oct UY, you are fine with all of those travel dates. If you need to cancel a trip, ideally you want to cancel at least 31 days prior to check in so that your points do not go into holding (making all current UY points used for the reservation unbankable). So even with a trip starting June 30th you would want to cancel that no later than May 30th (31 days in advance) which would still be prior to your May 31st banking deadline.

Great point! Thanks for making this clear.

 

[dansamy]

Great point! Thanks for making this clear.

Yup. That makes it very clear. I remember when I bought I told my guide I wanted October, but I couldn't remember why! I know I had researched it and it was "best" for my travel habits.