HOLDING POINTS??
What are holding points? Well let’s begin by reposting the use year and banking timelines:
| Use Year | Last Day to Bank Points |
| February | September 30 |
| March | October 31 |
| April | November 30 |
| June | January 31 |
| August | March 31 |
| September | April 30 |
| October | May 31 |
| December | July 31 |
Any time you cancel a reservation on or LESS THAN 31 days from travel those points get labeled as holding points. Not only are these points now trapped in the use year you used to make the reservation (you cannot bank them), and subsequent NEW reservations using holding points has to be 60 days from the date of travel. THEY ARE EXTREMELY RESTRICTED POINTS.
Again here’s some actual examples. Let’s say you made a trip February 1-7, 2023. Let’s assume you have a December Use Year meaning your banking window is July 31. The points required to make this reservation is December 2022 use year points. You would have gotten your annual allotment December 1, 2022 and you can use that year up to November 30, 2023. Your 31 days out is January 1, 2023. Let’s say you cancel on January 1 (which on the 31st day). They are now holding points.
But because you selected a December use year, and you canceled this, you now have almost 11 months to reuse these points, but you have to use them before November 30, 2023 or they expire worthless.
But as holding points the number rule is the new booking is 60 days away. That means even though you have 11 months to use them, you really have to do it 2 months before your travel and that is a tall order. Basically you’re looking at surplus inventory in Saratoga or Old Key West. Mostly everything else will be sold out. Let’s say you want to travel August 1-7, 2023. With the holding point the EARLIEST you can book that room is then June 1, 2023.
Picking your use year gave you a longer cushion to use them, but holding points make it very hard to find anything.
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