Single point for a waitlist reservation

[ChristieK0310]

Sorry if daft question - normally have a good understanding of my membership but this I'm not sure of!!

I am staying 12 nights this Christmas. I had 10 nights booked then after booking flights decided to add 2 nights so cancelled and have booked two reservations of 6 nights each at my home resort.

The reason for this is that I would like to try and switch at the 7 months and would like a split stay if I can only get the first 6 instead of having to wait for all 12 nights to become available as I know its unlikely.

SO... I plan to waitlist the two 6 night stays at the same resort BUT if both come through then I could depending on view be ONE point short - I have 250 and need 251.

I know I can phone MS and make a reservation and buy ONE point for whatever the going rate is but can I buy it and not link it to a reservation and just let it sit there and be used if the waitlist comes through??? I'm not worried about loosing it if it doesn't come through but don't want to not be able to waitlist a reservation for the sake of one point.

I do not have the possibility of borrowing points.

All thoughts gratefully received

CK

 

[disneynutz]

I caution you that when you complicate things, you run a risk of having problems. CM's make more mistakes when they have to think.

Bill

 

[DMKEDM]

Pretty sure you can't buy a one-time-use point until you need it (at the point of booking) and your w/l will not go through if you're short of points...so I think you will have to adjust one of your two w/l's so that you are not short of points, or take your chances by calling when you see availability on the website...but definitely call MS to see if there's a way to do what you want to do...I think the answer is probably not, but CMs have been known to be able to work magic; it's worth a call to find out...good luck!

 

[ChristieK0310]

Thanks

 

[Sammie]

The purchase needs to occur at the time you're making the reservation that requires them.

• Rates are subject to change, but currently Members enjoy a rate of $15 ($13.33 plus $1.67 tax) per one-time-use Vacation Point.
• You won't be able to cancel or refund your purchase of one-time use Vacation Points, nor will you be able to transfer, bank, or borrow them.
• In the event that your trip does not unfold as planned and your reservation must be canceled, be aware that one-time-use Vacation Points expire at the end of your Use Year.

 

[Dean]

Sorry if daft question - normally have a good understanding of my membership but this I'm not sure of!!

I am staying 12 nights this Christmas. I had 10 nights booked then after booking flights decided to add 2 nights so cancelled and have booked two reservations of 6 nights each at my home resort.

The reason for this is that I would like to try and switch at the 7 months and would like a split stay if I can only get the first 6 instead of having to wait for all 12 nights to become available as I know its unlikely.

SO... I plan to waitlist the two 6 night stays at the same resort BUT if both come through then I could depending on view be ONE point short - I have 250 and need 251.

I know I can phone MS and make a reservation and buy ONE point for whatever the going rate is but can I buy it and not link it to a reservation and just let it sit there and be used if the waitlist comes through??? I'm not worried about loosing it if it doesn't come through but don't want to not be able to waitlist a reservation for the sake of one point.

I do not have the possibility of borrowing points.

All thoughts gratefully received

CK

I'd try to do a transfer of points before hand so you won't get stuck. Even if you have extra for this trip, you can likely use them later and it sounds like you may have depleted your future points as well. I bet you can find someone who doesn't routinely do transfers who'll give you a single point.

 

[maburke]

Can't you create a dummy reservation using exactly the number of points you might have available right now, plus 1 which you'll need to buy, & then cancel it, leaving the purchased point in your account?

 

[kristenrice]

I just encountered the same scenario...I would be 2 points short if my single-night waitlists both filled. Here's what I did...

I had a confirmed reservation that was made at seven months for a Sun-Tues stay. I wanted to waitlist Saturday and Wednesday. I checked the availability and saw that Tuesday was still available so I called MS and cancelled JUST Tuesday night and then immediately rebooked it, buying 2 OTU points in the process. That left me with 2 current UY points that could be put towards the wait listed reservations. It all worked out and both waitlists came through.

The main keys are...
1) the original reservation had to be booked in the 7-month window....
2) there must be current availability for the night you want to "switch out"...
3) the night that you "switch out" the points for must be the first or last night, nothing in the middle.

 

[MouseOfCards]

I just encountered the same scenario...I would be 2 points short if my single-night waitlists both filled. Here's what I did...

I had a confirmed reservation that was made at seven months for a Sun-Tues stay. I wanted to waitlist Saturday and Wednesday. I checked the availability and saw that Tuesday was still available so I called MS and cancelled JUST Tuesday night and then immediately rebooked it, buying 2 OTU points in the process. That left me with 2 current UY points that could be put towards the wait listed reservations. It all worked out and both waitlists came through.

The main keys are...
1) the original reservation had to be booked in the 7-month window....
2) there must be current availability for the night you want to "switch out"...
3) the night that you "switch out" the points for must be the first or last night, nothing in the middle.

Great idea! Thanks. BTW, between the time you cancelled the Tuesday night and rebooked it, isn't there a possibility that night would have become unavailable?

 

[MouseOfCards]

Can't you create a dummy reservation using exactly the number of points you might have available right now, plus 1 which you'll need to buy, & then cancel it, leaving the purchased point in your account?

Just realized that this is essentially the same idea as kristenrice's post. Thanks!

 

[kristenrice]

Great idea! Thanks. BTW, between the time you cancelled the Tuesday night and rebooked it, isn't there a possibility that night would have become unavailable?

Yes, and this involved a reservation at BWV in October so the risk was VERY real. Before we started the process, I had the CM review the reservations I currently held and explained to her exactly what I wanted to do and what I wanted to accomplish. She said that there was "low inventory" for that Tuesday night, but I decided to gamble and hope she had quick fingers. As soon as she cancelled it, she immediately pulled it up for a reservation. It was a bit nerve-wracking for about 30 seconds, but it all worked out.

 

[maburke]

Just realized that this is essentially the same idea as kristenrice's post. Thanks!

But with no risk to an existing reservation. But it only works if you have ten or so points available right now, enough to book one night somewhere.

 

[ChristieK0310]

Fab ideas - I do have spare points that I could book and buy my extra point then cancel and my use year is Feb so December will be grand and if I don't need it then there is no problems loosing it.

Thanks