Availability one minute, gone the next. Lesson learned about renting

[AmyDek]

So I learned my lesson the hard way about how fast you have to jump on a reservation. A member found me a dream come true reservation to rent points and in the time I scrambled to put together my paypal account and banking info it was gone.

So my question is- do the rooms ever open back up again? Or am I out of luck? I honestly don't want to keep holding out hope if it's impossible or extremely unlikely. I'd rather move on and plan our trip and not be in limbo. I had resigned myself to BLT not being an option and was over the moon when the reservation was there. This time I have paypal on my phone to make the transaction the minute the reservation is there. But will it happen? BLT one bedroom for May. Should I give up hope?

 

[suebeelin]

It could still happen. People cancel up until the 31day mark. Good luck!

 

[DisDadDVC]

So I learned my lesson the hard way about how fast you have to jump on a reservation. A member found me a dream come true reservation to rent points and in the time I scrambled to put together my paypal account and banking info it was gone.

So my question is- do the rooms ever open back up again? Or am I out of luck? I honestly don't want to keep holding out hope if it's impossible or extremely unlikely. I'd rather move on and plan our trip and not be in limbo. I had resigned myself to BLT not being an option and was over the moon when the reservation was there. This time I have paypal on my phone to make the transaction the minute the reservation is there. But will it happen? BLT one bedroom for May. Should I give up hope?

If you are not an owner, it is going to be tough to time this right. Most renters won't waitlist for you. And if it opens up again, you are likely to have the same issue again. If you are looking for Standard view, I'd say your options are slim to none. Lake view I will say is 50/50. Currently about 50% of the days are booked

 

[supersnoop]

If the owner has to bank or borrow points to get the reservation you want, then they're going to want a deposit up front. You'll want to line someone up and pay them ahead of time. But, if they can book with their current year points, there's really no risk grabbing the reservation and getting paid a little later. So, work with your owner to see what arrangement you can come up with.

 

[tjkraz]

Ask the member if you can pay them in advance and have them put the reservation on their waitlist. Since you just missed out booking the room live, in theory it means that there are no owners on the waitlist for that resort/date/view. All it takes is one cancellation for the waitlist to be filled.

The odds of finding the room available during a random website check are pretty slim...unless you're checking 20 times per day.

 

[ziravan]

Every time I've rented a reservation to someone, I've secured the reservation first and only asked for payment after the renter got a confirmation number.

As the owner, I wouldn't want to take money for a reservation that I didn't already have locked down.

As a renter, I wouldn't pay a cent without being able to put the confirmation number in my MDE account and confirm that it's a real reservation.

The problem here isn't you being quick enough on the draw with payment. No.

The problem is you need to rent from a different owner. You need to rent from someone who will or can book the reservation before payment. Unless you're talking about a reservation within the next 31 days (where a penalty exists for cancelling), booking first, payment after confirmation of reservation is the normal way renting should go. That protects both parties.

 

[robinb]

Every time I've rented a reservation to someone, I've secured the reservation first and only asked for payment after the renter got a confirmation number.

As the owner, I wouldn't want to take money for a reservation that I didn't already have locked down.

As a renter, I wouldn't pay a cent without being able to put the confirmation number in my MDE account and confirm that it's a real reservation.

The problem here isn't you being quick enough on the draw with payment. No.

The problem is you need to rent from a different owner.

Good point. I have also rented out points in the past. The only time I would not grab the reservation first and collect the money later is if I needed to borrow or bank points to cover it.

 

[AmyDek]

Every time I've rented a reservation to someone, I've secured the reservation first and only asked for payment after the renter got a confirmation number.

As the owner, I wouldn't want to take money for a reservation that I didn't already have locked down.

As a renter, I wouldn't pay a cent without being able to put the confirmation number in my MDE account and confirm that it's a real reservation.

The problem here isn't you being quick enough on the draw with payment. No.

The problem is you need to rent from a different owner. You need to rent from someone who will or can book the reservation before payment. Unless you're talking about a reservation within the next 31 days (where a penalty exists for cancelling), booking first, payment after confirmation of reservation is the normal way renting should go. That protects both parties.

The owner explained that their points are being borrowed I think? I understood that was the reason why she couldn't book then pay.

If I book a different hotel with this owner and wait list the BLT what do you think are the chances that I will get it?

 

[tjkraz]

If I book a different hotel with this owner and wait list the BLT what do you think are the chances that I will get it?

What do you think the odds are that someone else will cancel their trip on 4 months' notice? Might happen...might not happen.

 

[robinb]

If I book a different hotel with this owner and wait list the BLT what do you think are the chances that I will get it?

In May? Probably not really great since it's so close but you can always hope. I would WL if the owner is willing to do it and I would jump on it right away so you are at the top of the list for those dates.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I don't think this is a lesson just about renting. It also gives you some idea about booking availability and points as an owner.

When an owner wants to stay somewhere specific, they get best results at 11 and 7 months. Any time closer is a dice roll (unless their somewhere specific is one of the three resorts with very large inventories).

 

[bumbershoot]

If I were looking into a reservation, saw it online, was that far into it...then shortly after it was gone, because of what I've read about on the boards, I would wait about 20 minutes and go into find it again. Because the act of looking at it, then going away from the page, can lock that up and it can *appear* gone, when actually it's just sitting there. I wonder if that's what happened to your owner, only she's not savvy enough to know that.

If the owner has to bank or borrow points to get the reservation you want, then they're going to want a deposit up front. You'll want to line someone up and pay them ahead of time. But, if they can book with their current year points, there's really no risk grabbing the reservation and getting paid a little later. So, work with your owner to see what arrangement you can come up with.

YES.

Every time I've rented a reservation to someone, I've secured the reservation first and only asked for payment after the renter got a confirmation number.

As the owner, I wouldn't want to take money for a reservation that I didn't already have locked down.

As a renter, I wouldn't pay a cent without being able to put the confirmation number in my MDE account and confirm that it's a real reservation.

The problem here isn't you being quick enough on the draw with payment. No.

The problem is you need to rent from a different owner. You need to rent from someone who will or can book the reservation before payment. Unless you're talking about a reservation within the next 31 days (where a penalty exists for cancelling), booking first, payment after confirmation of reservation is the normal way renting should go. That protects both parties.

I don't rent out my points, but if I did, that would be how I would do it.

The owner explained that their points are being borrowed I think? I understood that was the reason why she couldn't book then pay.

If I book a different hotel with this owner and wait list the BLT what do you think are the chances that I will get it?

Aha. Well, is there any way to convince her (perhaps with a deposit?) that you DO want this reservation, that you WILL pay for it, that she has nothing to risk *from you* if she just books it for you?

Any way to find someone who doesn't have to borrow points?

 

[AmyDek]

If I were looking into a reservation, saw it online, was that far into it...then shortly after it was gone, because of what I've read about on the boards, I would wait about 20 minutes and go into find it again. Because the act of looking at it, then going away from the page, can lock that up and it can *appear* gone, when actually it's just sitting there. I wonder if that's what happened to your owner, only she's not savvy enough to know that.




YES.



I don't rent out my points, but if I did, that would be how I would do it.






Aha. Well, is there any way to convince her (perhaps with a deposit?) that you DO want this reservation, that you WILL pay for it, that she has nothing to risk *from you* if she just books it for you?

Any way to find someone who doesn't have to borrow points?

I still want to book with her in a different resort so no reason to do deposit. I'll book a back up resort and hope for an opening on a wait list. Does the owner have to check on a wait list or does DVC contact them? Is there any way for me to check or the owner has to? Wondering if I'm depending on an owner to let me know if DVC contacts them or to check daily etc!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

As long as the reservation is 31 days or longer from check in I make the reservation in my name then change it to the renter once I get a payment.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I still want to book with her in a different resort so no reason to do deposit. I'll book a back up resort and hope for an opening on a wait list. Does the owner have to check on a wait list or does DVC contact them? Is there any way for me to check or the owner has to? Wondering if I'm depending on an owner to let me know if DVC contacts them or to check daily etc!

The success greatly diminishes for a long stay if one relies only on the waitlist without also checking online periodically but it can happen.

 

[AmyDek]

The success greatly diminishes for a long stay if one relies only on the waitlist without also checking online periodically but it can happen.

Can I check? Or only the member? the stay is 7 nights. Is that considered a long stay?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Can I check? Or only the member? the stay is 7 nights. Is that considered a long stay?

Only a member can check. Waitlisting for more than a day or two makes it more difficult but it can be easier if a lot of the days are available so that it's really only looking for an extra day or two to be available and fill in the hole(s).

 

[AmyDek]

Only a member can check. Waitlisting for more than a day or two makes it more difficult but it can be easier if a lot of the days are available so that it's really only looking for an extra day or two to be available and fill in the hole(s).

Ok so here's my scenario. The member found us a reservation at BLt- not our ideal dates but I would have taken it. By the time we went to book just 4 of the 7 nights were there. So should I book this new hotel on the dates BLT was available and hope for a cancellation? Or do I go with ideal dates and figure we are out of luck?

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Really depends on if you are ok on moving rooms if it doesn't come through. Also depends on how often you check. I just put a dec 20-26 trip together a little over a month out. But I checked the site many times each day to keep looking. I would just change my wait lists as I got what I needed. Good luck and work with the member

 

[AmyDek]

Thanks! After reading all of this I felt it was best to accept our reservation and be excited about it, rather than depending on the member to check each day for a full stay! We have wait listed one day, member services said that it will automatically add the one day if it becomes available in the next 31 days. Hope that happens!