Please explain use year

[Tweety1]

What is the key to how you choose your use year, advice is greatfully recd

[Rockette]

Generally it is best to have a use year that starts just before you normally take your holidays. Your use year really only comes into play if you have to cancel, particularly at short notice. Say your use year is April, you book a holiday for the May but have to cancel. You've got until the November to bank your points that you're not now using or until March the following year to reschedule. If however, you'd booked for March, you wouldn't have long to use your points, you wouldn't be able to bank and would lose your points. Hope that helps.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by Rockette

Generally it is best to have a use year that starts just before you normally take your holidays. Your use year really only comes into play if you have to cancel, particularly at short notice. Say your use year is April, you book a holiday for the May but have to cancel. You've got until the November to bank your points that you're not now using or until March the following year to reschedule. If however, you'd booked for March, you wouldn't have long to use your points, you wouldn't be able to bank and would lose your points. Hope that helps.

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I sort of get it so if I had a use year of April(as we normally hol between end of April up until end of Aug) and if I wanted to book 11 months out for April 2020 I could do that May 2019 but then if I cancelled in Dec 2019 do I only have until March 2020 to use them?
Sorry if I sound dense

[YorkshireT]

Here is an explanation I gave some time ago (end of September 2017)

"Imagine it not as 'use year' but 'month points come into your account in the year'. That may make it a little easier.
Then imagine you must have the points in your account for the time of travel (not booking).
So imagine use year is October. I get my 2017 points next week (1 October 2017). I want to bank them to 2018. So in October 2018 I will have two lots of points. Not very good if I wanted to travel August 2018. I'd have had to not bank my points for 2018 and instead borrow from 2018 as the points for 2018 had not come in yet and even though I am travelling in 2018, because my use year is October, I had not hit my 2018 points year yet.
Use year can make a bit of a difference when first buying in terms of points. For example, mine has a Feb use year (good I think as the points come straight in near the beginning of the year.) I did not intend to go until 18 months after I first bought. That meant I could rent some banked points on the contract, and because my points the following year came in before travel, I would still have enough for my intended time of travel because on my first trip I use that year's points and borrowed the following year's points also. Had I not had a Feb use year and my points had come in after my intended date of travel 18 months hence, I'd have not been able to use that year's points and borrow the following year's points.
Complex I know!"

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Here is an explanation I gave some time ago (end of September 2017)

"Imagine it not as 'use year' but 'month points come into your account in the year'. That may make it a little easier.
Then imagine you must have the points in your account for the time of travel (not booking).
So imagine use year is October. I get my 2017 points next week (1 October 2017). I want to bank them to 2018. So in October 2018 I will have two lots of points. Not very good if I wanted to travel August 2018. I'd have had to not bank my points for 2018 and instead borrow from 2018 as the points for 2018 had not come in yet and even though I am travelling in 2018, because my use year is October, I had not hit my 2018 points year yet.
Use year can make a bit of a difference when first buying in terms of points. For example, mine has a Feb use year (good I think as the points come straight in near the beginning of the year.) I did not intend to go until 18 months after I first bought. That meant I could rent some banked points on the contract, and because my points the following year came in before travel, I would still have enough for my intended time of travel because on my first trip I use that year's points and borrowed the following year's points also. Had I not had a Feb use year and my points had come in after my intended date of travel 18 months hence, I'd have not been able to use that year's points and borrow the following year's points.
Complex I know!"

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Thank you

[DisneyExplorer]

We travel in July each year and our guide advised a dec use year

[BevS97]

It’s inpor to know that it makes no difference to when you can book.

As long as the points will be in your account on check in Day you can always book 11 months in advance.

After the first year it doesn’t make a lot of difference except if you need to cancel, as mentioned above. But I think a late use year is confusing.

If you have a December use year. You pay your dues in Jan 2017 for points you receive in Dec 2017.
Again after the first year it doesn’t really matter. But in the first year it can feel like you are paying dues for points you haven’t got yet.

Ours is June. We normally holiday in August and it seems to work.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by BevS97

It’s inpor to know that it makes no difference to when you can book.

As long as the points will be in your account on check in Day you can always book 11 months in advance.

After the first year it doesn’t make a lot of difference except if you need to cancel, as mentioned above. But I think a late use year is confusing.

If you have a December use year. You pay your dues in Jan 2017 for points you receive in Dec 2017.
Again after the first year it doesn’t really matter. But in the first year it can feel like you are paying dues for points you haven’t got yet.

Ours is June. We normally holiday in August and it seems to work.

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Ahh I see so if I booked for Aug 19 but use yr was say March U can book knowing that the pts will be there? I thought I would have to borrow

[BevS97]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Ahh I see so if I booked for Aug 19 but use yr was say March U can book knowing that the pts will be there? I thought I would have to borrow

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No. You can book 11 months before as the points will be available on check in day.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by BevS97

No. You can book 11 months before as the points will be available on check in day.

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So I have this crystal clear, your pts for example if you booked in the sept for the following Aug so that would be 11 months out and at the point of booking you had no pts but you would from 1 Dec and the6 would obviously still be there in the Aug that would be fine? Have I understood this correctly