BOGO scam

[DizBub]

Hopefully you found a way to use those banked BCV points, somehow! I hate when points go to waste!!

Oh, yeah. We did find a way to use those points. Haven't wasted 1 point yet.

I must admit that the reservation they switched the points for was made less than 7 months. Perhaps that's the difference, I gained no booking advantage by them switching the points.

You made this switch with transferred points, right? Could those points have been for the resort you were booking them at? Transferred points retain their home resort for booking and banking purposes. Possibly there was availability or maybe you just got a really nice CM.

 

[curan69]

Actually the transferred points were OKW. We stayed at SSR, BLT, and AKV. We pieced together a trip after we learned the Vero Beach pool and hot tub were being refurbed.

 

[DizBub]

Actually the transferred points were OKW. We stayed at SSR, BLT, and AKV. We pieced together a trip after we learned the Vero Beach pool and hot tub were being refurbed.

I don't think you were doing anything at all unethical or wrong. You did this after the 7 month window and it looks like you got whatever you could.

What OP is trying to say is that it's ok to book a high value, hard to get resort with their priority points and then at 7 months switch them out with less desirable points to be able to bank the high value points to do it all over again next year. If this were allowed everybody would do it and it wouldn't matter where your home resort is, thus no real home resort booking advantage.

In fact, you CAN do what he wants to do IF, at 7 months there is availability for the same reservation. Not entirely impossible but highly unlikely at certain resorts at certain times.

 

[tjkraz]

I think that there is a chance that doing the cancel/re-book online could actually work most of the time. The cancelled room goes back into the inventory within 1-2 minutes and if you search for it again, it often shows up.

It may work. The question is whether it will continue working for the next 30-50 years. Relatively minor changes to the online reservation system or the wait list process could have a negative impact on the release of those cancelled rooms.

I wouldn't recommend rushing out to buy Vero or SSR points, thinking that it's guaranteed this type of scam will work for years to come.

But there is the real risk of losing the reservation altogether and having nothing.

Exactly.

 

[marx]

If the points for both resorts could be pooled at the seven month mark; and if there are days available before or after the dates desired, you could continually add/remove a day (or more) from the reservation replacing 11 month points with 7 month. I did something similar once when I had banked points left from a prior use year with an upcoming reservation using current year points. I could not swap the points for the upcoming reservation so I circumvented by adding/removing days - each time using the banked points then freeing up the current ones.

 

[Kidanifan08]

It may work. The question is whether it will continue working for the next 30-50 years. Relatively minor changes to the online reservation system or the wait list process could have a negative impact on the release of those cancelled rooms.

I wouldn't recommend rushing out to buy Vero or SSR points, thinking that it's guaranteed this type of scam will work for years to come.

I agree with you there. One would think that it would be a high priority to make the waitlist fulfillment work in real-time, so that upon release of a reservation, the room is instantly matched to the next person on the waitlist. But this may not be important to DVC, since a full room is a full room, no matter how it got filled.

I certainly am not endorsing the idea of buying a bunch of inexpensive points with the plan to use them in this way.

 

[tjkraz]

If the points for both resorts could be pooled at the seven month mark; and if there are days available before or after the dates desired, you could continually add/remove a day (or more) from the reservation replacing 11 month points with 7 month. I did something similar once when I had banked points left from a prior use year with an upcoming reservation using current year points. I could not swap the points for the upcoming reservation so I circumvented by adding/removing days - each time using the banked points then freeing up the current ones.

But again, would you be willing to gamble financially that such flexibility will continue?

"Walking" and other modifications to existing reservations have thus far been tolerated. But with Member Services wait times rising and these all being manual transactions requiring MS involvement, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if restrictions (or modification fees) were someday enacted.

One would think that it would be a high priority to make the waitlist fulfillment work in real-time, so that upon release of a reservation, the room is instantly matched to the next person on the waitlist.

Problem with realtime wait list is that only one-to-one matches would ever be filled. As things stand now, multiple cancellations could be pooled to meet a lengthier wait list request. I'm sure this happens often at 7 months when there are a number of cancellations from people looking to switch resorts.

Putting cancellations in some sort of "hold" status until the wait list match process is run may be a better (fairer?) solution. And it would negatively impact what OP is proposing.

 

[Dean]

Putting cancellations in some sort of "hold" status until the wait list match process is run may be a better (fairer?) solution. And it would negatively impact what OP is proposing.

Which has been my suggestion all along. However, in effect it's really one to one now for the most part because they're matching a WL all or nothing and not holding for future availability or matching part now and part later unless one set it up as separate searches.

The truth is it likely will work (with risk) and is not against the rules of the system though it may not be consistent with the intent, same as walking. It's really no different than booking multiples times or multiple unit sizes to give one options later. In the absence of a penalty of some sort such as with the dining reservations, there's no incentive not to. One could potentially get anywhere from 2-3 total reservations every year requiring around the number of points owned at the high demand resort for each reservation without taking banking risks if played correctly and still have the high demand points available. To get 3 a year you'd have to be day 1 of the UY and flirt with the banking window routinely. One would have to own enough other points to use in replacement though. We could apply the same argument to qualified vs non qualified points and holding account points. What's the worst that happens, it forces them to fix the WL system and stop walking.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I didn't mean to slander VB but you can get contracts resale assuming they pass rofr for$30 true the mfs are the highest but an SSR at $60 is still cheap too and works in the scenario.

I'm just wondering how many people employ this "scam" since many admit to walking.

You buy the most expensive resort and also the least expensive resort

Book with premium pts at 11 months and then at 7 months cancel and with the other account(cheap pts) quickly book at 7 months.

So you can always circumvent the 11 month rule. And get twice the stays at the premium hotel at 1/2 the points cost.

Can't be done. They will not swap our non-home resort points at seven months out for a reservation made at 7(+1) to 11 months out with home resort points. That defeats the home resort advantage. You would have to cancel and IF the reservation still existed at seven months out, you would rebook the reservation. Someone else could pick it up before you got back in to book it. You can try, but you might not always be successful. And then you could book whatever was available at seven months out.

Your reservation might even go to the waitlist before you could rebook it.

 

[eileenkeeney]

Currently doesn't the wait list work such that it just runs every so often, to look for availability, instead of being set up to take things as they become available?

I have heard of people who do what the OP described. My first thought was that anyone on the wait list would have their reservation filled before it was made available for others to book.
But this is not how the wait list was explained to me.

I do know people who will re-book using points they consider to be lower value, if they see availability at 7 months, but that availability is there BEFORE they cancel anything. This is not at all unethical or at all a scam.
They then recover their original points by canceling that reservation, and maybe they rent them out or maybe they just book something further into the future.

IF the wait list is working as it was described to me, I fully expect that to change. It is just makes too much sense to change it so that wait list requests are filled when reservations are cancelled, before releasing the slots to someone else.

Even as long as the wait list is not working this way, there is a reasonable probability that someone else will book that reservation before the person who just released it can grab it.

Years ago there was a flaw in the point transfer system, where transferred points were picking up the properties of the account transferred into, and not the account transferred from. I did hear of people taking advantage of this, by transferring their points from one resort into their account for the other resort. But I think this hole was plugged a long time ago.

 

[Dean]

Currently doesn't the wait list work such that it just runs every so often, to look for availability, instead of being set up to take things as they become available?

I have heard of people who do what the OP described. My first thought was that anyone on the wait list would have their reservation filled before it was made available for others to book.
But this is not how the wait list was explained to me.

I do know people who will re-book using points they consider to be lower value, if they see availability at 7 months, but that availability is there BEFORE they cancel anything. This is not at all unethical or at all a scam.
They then recover their original points by canceling that reservation, and maybe they rent them out or maybe they just book something further into the future.

IF the wait list is working as it was described to me, I fully expect that to change. It is just makes too much sense to change it so that wait list requests are filled when reservations are cancelled, before releasing the slots to someone else.

Even as long as the wait list is not working this way, there is a reasonable probability that someone else will book that reservation before the person who just released it can grab it.

Years ago there was a flaw in the point transfer system, where transferred points were picking up the properties of the account transferred into, and not the account transferred from. I did hear of people taking advantage of this, by transferring their points from one resort into their account for the other resort. But I think this hole was plugged a long time ago.

There are ways to dramatically reduce the likelihood one will lose the reservation in the interim between the cancelation and rebooking.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

There are ways to dramatically reduce the likelihood one will lose the reservation in the interim between the cancelation and rebooking.

Which are? ... ;-)


Please don't tell.. I don't want to condone this behavior

 

[BestDadEver]

Loop hole?

Slightly immoral... But if you are okay with walking, this is just a bit more advanced and a bit more shady.

So if you like VGF buy a few direct points there,
Reserve at 11 months with home VGF($150pp)
Cancel at 7 months
Rebook same time with VB($30pp) or whatever other low cost point resort.

then either rinse and repeat with premium points or bank them for next year or use them for another stay.
Sort of a BOGO...

It doesn't work that way . If you do this and you plan doesn't work , which it won't you are stuck with essentially no home resort advantage , unless you are getting a lot of points , cause your points will be split to 2 resorts , you would have to wait till 7 months to combine them .

It's just easier to do it the right way .

 

[crisi]

It may work. The question is whether it will continue working for the next 30-50 years. Relatively minor changes to the online reservation system or the wait list process could have a negative impact on the release of those cancelled rooms.
.

For instance, all it takes is a change to room status - to put released rooms into "hold" until the waitlist runs at night - one day delay will make this plan worthless.

 

[Minniesgal]

I just can't see this working. The cancelled reservation days would likely be picked up by a waitlist (or at least some would). If those days were still open for booking anyway at VGF at 7 months, then why bother buying VGF points at all. If you hope to stay at a premium resort every trip but buy an off-site location then chances are you'll end up disappointed.

Actually if the OP were cancelling and booking again straight away I don't think the wait list would get a look in. However I wouldn't be surprised if someone else trying to book at 7 months got the room first. I see no benefit in using the home resort advantage here as you lose it the minute you cancel. Seems pointless to me.

 

[Minniesgal]

For my Feb trip I was able to have MS move points around so that some transferred in points were used for an existing reservation so I could see and use left over points online. (Transferred points don't show up online) if they are able to move points around what would stop them from just changing where points come from without cancelling and rebooking? On another point I got the Impression the OP was talking about buying a small contract at a resort to gain the 11 month booking not realizing you need the full amount of points for that advantage.

They won't take points from a home resort advantage reservation and swap them out for non home resort points even after 7 months.