When should I bank points?

[Gizmo74]

We just bought 200 Poly Oct use year points direct. I can bank my 200, 2016 points in May. If I know for sure that I am not taking another Disney trip this year, can I bank them now? Any pro/cons on banking points early? Do most folks bank points on the last day?

 

[mustinjourney]

yes -- you can bank them now.

Pros -- you don't forget to bank them.

Cons -- you decide to do a last minute trip in the summer and borrow from next year's allotment. Or something along those lines.

 

[Gizmo74]

If I did bank now and decided to do a last minute trip this summer, would the bank points not be used first? Let's say my last minute trip only used 100 points....I would borrow the 100 banked points or would I have to borrow all the points even if I didn't need them for the trip?

I understand that if my last minute trip fell through I would only have until Oct to use the borrowed points.

 

[mustinjourney]

If I did bank now and decided to do a last minute trip this summer, would the bank points not be used first? Let's say my last minute trip only used 100 points....I would borrow the 100 banked points or would I have to borrow all the points even if I didn't need them for the trip?

I understand that if my last minute trip fell through I would only have until Oct to use the borrowed points.

Baked points wouldn't be eligible for use since they'd be in next years UY. Once banked, they cannot be borrowed back.

So if you had 100 Oct 2016 points banked into 2017 UY. And then you decided to use 75 points this summer, that would fall in the 2016 UY. Since you'd have no points, you'd have to borrow from 2017 UY. The only points that could be borrowed would be the original 2017 points.

You would then have 125 points leftover for use in 2017 UY (100 banked and 25 regular points).

 

[Gizmo74]

Baked points wouldn't be eligible for use since they'd be in next years UY. Once banked, they cannot be borrowed back.

So if you had 100 Oct 2016 points banked into 2017 UY. And then you decided to use 75 points this summer, that would fall in the 2016 UY. Since you'd have no points, you'd have to borrow from 2017 UY. The only points that could be borrowed would be the original 2017 points.

You would then have 125 points leftover for use in 2017 UY (100 banked and 25 regular points).

Using your example, when would the 2016 bank points be used? Why would not be used first since they are part of the 2017 UY.

Would my trip have to be in the 2017 UY to use my 2016 banked points?

 

[mustinjourney]

Once the 2016 UY points get banked, they cannot be used except in 2017 UY. For an Oct UY, a summer trip in 2017 is still 2016, so you can't use those banked points.

Read this link. It should explain everything you need to know.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-april-27-2016.1942668/

 

[Gizmo74]

Once the 2016 UY points get banked, they cannot be used except in 2017 UY. For an Oct UY, a summer trip in 2017 is still 2016, so you can't use those banked points.

Read this link. It should explain everything you need to know.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-april-27-2016.1942668/

Thank you! I finally get it. I read that thread the other day but it just now clicked for me with us chatting.

 

[mustinjourney]

Yeah. It can be difficult to wrap your mind around. I have a DEC and APR UY and sometimes I confuse myself. Particularly between April and December since the April UY is the current calendar year and then the dec UY is still living in the past.

 

[rcchello]

Sample of one - me. We are not the type to run off on a last minute trip ( airfares, 20 hour drive, dog sitting, etc.). So once I finish planning our vacations for the year I bank all remaining points. If I am unsure, I will set a reminder for one month before the cutoff and bank then.

If I lived closer to Disney or Hilton Head I might wait longer, but in 25 years I have never needed to borrow because I had already banked.

 

[Gizmo74]

Sample of one - me. We are not the type to run off on a last minute trip ( airfares, 20 hour drive, dog sitting, etc.). So once I finish planning our vacations for the year I bank all remaining points. If I am unsure, I will set a reminder for one month before the cutoff and bank then.

If I lived closer to Disney or Hilton Head I might wait longer, but in 25 years I have never needed to borrow because I had already banked.

Thanks! I am also a planner and don't do last minute trips, especially to Disney World. I will probably be the one to bank earlier then later to make sure it is done.

 

[gharter]

If you know you will not use the points for the current year, I would bank them before the window expires. That will give you more flexibility for this/next year. If you think you might use them before they expire, i would book as soon as possible.

 

[ELMC]

Thanks! I am also a planner and don't do last minute trips, especially to Disney World. I will probably be the one to bank earlier then later to make sure it is done.

Probably a safe bet. If you did decide to take a last minute trip, the worst that would happen is that you would be turned around in your points (using 2017 points in 2016 and banked 2016 points in 2017). This could lead to a little difficulty the following year if you don't use up all the points, and would most likely result in wasting a few points or borrowing a few from 2018 to round out a reservation. It's an ever so slight pain to deal with, but it can be done.