Changing at Seven Months - Do I need to cancel first?

[js]

Hi.
I have SSR - THVs booked for December 26-January 1.
IF for some crazy reason, something else opens up at my 7 month mark, do I have to cancel
my THVs ressie first and then book what I want since I don't have extra points to book two ressies
at the same time? I am thinking I have to cancel my THVs first which is very scary and then
if I don't get something and the THVs are gone, I'm out of luck.
Do you all agree? Would it be something I should wait to do with MS? If I do that though I'm waiting an extra hour before everyone else on line.
Just want to be fully prepared.

Thanks.

 

[supersnoop]

Yes, you have to free up your points before you can use them for a second reservation. I think calling MS introduces more risk. They can't do anything you can't do.

This is how I handle the situation, and it's worked for many others:
http://disboards.com/threads/making...n-you-go-ahead-of-time.3461485/#post-54707122

 

[jekjones1558]

Of course if you have enough points you can keep the original reservation and not cancel until you have the other reservation booked. If you don't have enough points for both reservations then you will need to cancel the original in order to have points to book the new one.

 

[js]

Yes, you have to free up your points before you can use them for a second reservation. I think calling MS introduces more risk. They can't do anything you can't do.

This is how I handle the situation, and it's worked for many others:
http://disboards.com/threads/making...n-you-go-ahead-of-time.3461485/#post-54707122

Wow! You are a genius!! So can I be on the same computer just open the page in Internet Explorer and the other in Firefox?

I just may get the nerve to try this if anything opens. Thank you so much!!
Did you just think of this yourself

Of course if you have enough points you can keep the original reservation and not cancel until you have the other reservation booked. If you don't have enough points for both reservations then you will need to cancel the original in order to have points to book the new one.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer me. I appreciate it!

 

[DisneyfromDeland]

Yes, you have to free up your points before you can use them for a second reservation. I think calling MS introduces more risk. They can't do anything you can't do.

This is how I handle the situation, and it's worked for many others:
http://disboards.com/threads/making...n-you-go-ahead-of-time.3461485/#post-54707122

This method works great. I have used it and it works just like it says!

 

[js]

This method works great. I have used it and it works just like it says!

I LOVE the dis! Thank you very much for also coming on here and letting me know you used this method too!

 

[supersnoop]

Wow! You are a genius!! So can I be on the same computer just open the page in Internet Explorer and the other in Firefox?

Did you just think of this yourself

Yes and yes. I knew you could hold a room for 20 minutes. From there, it was just verifying that you could cancel online while still holding the room. I tried various scenarios to find the potential problems.

This method works great. I have used it and it works just like it says!

I have discovered one shortcoming recently. This method doesn't seem to work if you cancel a reservation and need to borrow those points. Since this is most useful when changing a reservation for the same dates, most people should never encounter this problem. But if you're cancelling a later reservation to book an earlier one in a different use year, it might not work for you.

 

[js]

Yes and yes. I knew you could hold a room for 20 minutes. From there, it was just verifying that you could cancel online while still holding the room. I tried various scenarios to find the potential problems.

I have discovered one shortcoming recently. This method doesn't seem to work if you cancel a reservation and need to borrow those points. Since this is most useful when changing a reservation for the same dates, most people should never encounter this problem. But if you're cancelling a later reservation to book an earlier one in a different use year, it might not work for you.

The points I am using are September 2017 borrowed into 2016 (for my December 2016 trip). If I change locations, I will not need any extra points, other than
the ones I used for the THVs, so I should be ok, correct? I know that any of the points that I won't use or need to use from the THV ressie will go back to 2016 UY and need to use by August 31, 2016, is that correct too?

Thank you.

 

[supersnoop]

The points I am using are September 2017 borrowed into 2016 (for my December 2016 trip). If I change locations, I will not need any extra points, other than
the ones I used for the THVs, so I should be ok, correct?

Correct.

I know that any of the points that I won't use or need to use from the THV ressie will go back to 2016 UY and need to use by August 31, 2016, is that correct too?

Kind of correct. Your borrowed points should be used first, so any current-use-year points that you used should be returned. Those points can still be banked.

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Epic fail this morning with trying to do a cancel of existing/book new that shows available in two windows at the same time. In a nutshell, I was in the "holding for 20 minutes" window - so in theory the room was mine - so on the second screen I cancelled an existing reservation to get the points needed, which worked as designed. When I went to finalize the new reservation well within the 20 minutes (next screen I think was the "which points do you want to use" one), the system hiccupped and said it couldn't process. I tried reloading, backing up a page, etc., but ended up having to search all over again, which showed no availability. I was hopeful it would only be for 20 minutes - that maybe I was holding the room I wanted in the computer and it hadn't refreshed. I had to go to a meeting so scrambled up a waitlist too just in case it would fill after the 20 minutes. So far no luck. This was for a 2 bedroom Jambo lock off in the middle of the week, well past the 7 month mark and which had been showing open for days. At the risk of being a conspiracy theorist, I find it hard to believe that someone chose that exact moment to do the same thing (nights before and after the open one already showed no availability, so someone would really only be going for that one night), so I'm wondering if the system tried to piece together a lockoff and realized it could in theory but not in reality - perhaps it was never really available...

Probably going to have to pick up a cash reservation and pray for a waitlist miracle, as it's right smack in the middle of our week's stay. On the off chance it did try to fill through my waitlist, anyone have any idea how long the waitlist matching process takes after the system snags the reservation?

Only kicking myself, and I am not trying to spread panic, but thought you might want a recent example of where this process didn't work out, leading to some issues I'd really rather not be dealing with. That said, maybe I racked up a few positive karma points since someone just got 2 nights of a Bay Lake theme park view grand villa they were waitlisted for (couldn't get it back after this mess).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I just go ahead and use 2 devices. Have had too many hiccups trying to do it on the same machine. It definitely always fails me when just using 2 windows in the same browser - learned the quickly. And when I tried 2 different browsers there were issues although that was at a time that there were so many issues in general with booking so that may have been part or all of the problem. But I know the 2 devices works so I stick with that.

 

[maburke]

Epic fail this morning with trying to do a cancel of existing/book new that shows available in two windows at the same time. In a nutshell, I was in the "holding for 20 minutes" window - so in theory the room was mine - so on the second screen I cancelled an existing reservation to get the points needed, which worked as designed. When I went to finalize the new reservation well within the 20 minutes (next screen I think was the "which points do you want to use" one), the system hiccupped and said it couldn't process. I tried reloading, backing up a page, etc., but ended up having to search all over again, which showed no availability.

Can you confirm which browser(s) you were using, and whether you were using two different browsers, or two windows of the same browser?

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Hi, it was IE 11, and it was 2 windows in the same browser (on the same device). Lesson learned to not do it that way again, hope I saved someone else some pain!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Reminds me I need to be refreshing with info on the Disboards any time I'm thinking about planning a trip - someone here is always up to speed with the latest.

 

[maburke]

Hi, it was IE 11, and it was 2 windows in the same browser (on the same device). Lesson learned to not do it that way again, hope I saved someone else some pain!

Yep, so sorry, it's a known issue that you cannot do it with two windows of the same browser (step 1 of the instructions linked above). I will say that I managed to recover a reservation that I had grabbed but not completed once by phoning MS within 60 minutes. That's how long the system holds your reservation -- after 20 minutes, the screen will time out, but you can still get it if you call MS within the 60. But even that might not have worked in this scenario, because by using another window in the same browser, you have effectively moved away from the reservation window and (perhaps) released your hold on the room.

So sorry, I hope you get what you want.

 

[js]

Wow! So sorry aroundtheriverbend. I hope you end up getting everything you want.

All, I had planned on coming into work on going on my ONE computer but planned on opening two of the following:

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Google Chrome

IF I open on one computer and use two of the above browsers, is it most likely it will work. Did aroundtheriverbend have a problem
since they had one computer and ONE browser open? I am going to try this if anything is open for me at the 7 month mark so want to
be fully ready and prepared

Thank you all so much. I learn so much here!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Hi, yes, the problem I had would appear to be one computer one browser. That's what I get for skimming instructions and not reading fully, but fingers crossed my continued website stalking will pay off. Good luck!!

 

[supersnoop]

Did aroundtheriverbend have a problem since they had one computer and ONE browser open?

Yes. Multiple tabs in a single browser share the same "session ID." In that scenario, every click invalidates any other page. You have to create two unique sessions. The easiest way to do that is to use different browsers or different devices.

 

[maburke]

Wow! So sorry aroundtheriverbend. I hope you end up getting everything you want.

All, I had planned on coming into work on going on my ONE computer but planned on opening two of the following:

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Google Chrome

IF I open on one computer and use two of the above browsers, is it most likely it will work. Did aroundtheriverbend have a problem
since they had one computer and ONE browser open? I am going to try this if anything is open for me at the 7 month mark so want to
be fully ready and prepared

Thank you all so much. I learn so much here!

Yes, I can confirm that two different browsers (I used Firefox and Safari) on one computer will do the job. I'd also keep the instructions linked above open, so that you can follow them exactly. Good luck!

 

[2binak]

I recently tried this method and had a hiccup....I was using the same browser and two different devices.

http://disboards.com/threads/switching-resorts-wwyd.3493236/