Booking more than one studio - new procedure?

[Brandis]

Yesterday, I booked 3 studios at BLT for a big family trip next year.

I told the CM what I wanted and she proceeded with the booking and when she got all the necessary informations from me, she gave me the booking number and I thought we were done. Then she said, OK, lets do the second studio now. And then the same with the third.

Then I asked her if she could put in a request for the studios to be close together, she said "No problem" and then had to add the request to each booking separatly as well.

This had me really surprised! Did it always take that long if you wanted to book more than 1 studio at a time or is this because of the new system? Until now I had only booked one accomodation at a time, but variying sizes and had thought that I would always get only 1 booking number, even if I booked more than 1 studio.

Also, will this create a problem if I want to change to a 3 BR-villa at a different resort at the 7 month window? Since then it will probably switch back to 1 booking number.

 

[drusba]

My experience in the past has always been that reserving multiple rooms required multiple reservation numbers and each was done separately while on phone.

As to trying to switch at 7 months out, new system is actually better. When you call to reserve, they can now hold a new room while they then proceed to cancel prior requests so you are assured of getting it if it is available at the beginning of the phone conversation. Under old system that new room could disappear to someone else calling at the same time during the time it took to cancel existing reservations.

 

[alicat07]

My experience in the past has always been that reserving multiple rooms required multiple reservation numbers and each was done separately while on phone.

As to trying to switch at 7 months out, new system is actually better. When you call to reserve, they can now hold a new room while they then proceed to cancel prior requests so you are assured of getting it if it is available at the beginning of the phone conversation. Under old system that new room could disappear to someone else calling at the same time during the time it took to cancel existing reservations.

This happened to us!!! We decided to extend our stay and wanted AKV a 2 br and a studio, both savanna view, to fit all of us. The CM told us they were available, but had to do it quick because there was only one of each. So while we were inputing the 2 BR with all the info, by the time she got to the studio it was gone. We ended up with a standard view and put the studio with savanna view on waitlist, which did come through about a month later. So it did work out for us, but under the new system it may not have happened to begin with! Great that they can hold the room!

 

[Brandis]

Ah good to know! When she started with the second booking, knowing how long the first had taken, I got a bit nervous if someone might take the third studio from me. But if they can put a hold on it, that's great.

 

[disneygrandma]

Concerning the new system & rooms being held........is that known for sure? I've been afraid of making resv's at our home resort & switching at the 7 mo mark. In the past, the only time I've done that was when I had enough points to 1st make a new resv, then cancel the 1st one. Our daughter has her heart set on staying at BLT next Oct. I had planned on just waiting until the 7 mo mark so I would have the points available when I called, & not have to risk losing the BLT villa while my home resort resv is cancelled.

How will online reservations work in this case, when an existing resv needs to be cancelled so those points can be used on the new one? I, for one, am not happy about the whole online reservation thing. I'm happy calling as soon as MS opens at either the 7 or 11 mo mark. I'm worried that members with advanced computer systems, programs, etc will be able to jump in there ahead of me now. At least with the phone, everyone is on an even playing field. What time of day will the online system go in to effect for those reserving at their 7 or 11 mo marks?

Also, when I'm speaking w/MS, I'm able to find out which points were used for the resv, and have them manually adjusted if the wrong ones were taken. This is very important at the 7 mo mark due to 2 resorts on the same membership #. Yes, I know, I could always call back to have it done later, but I would prefer to have everything taken care of when I make the resv. And yes, I know that I can still call MS to make the resv, instead of doing so online. But by the time I listen to the whole spiel, "chosen to take a survey", etc, the others online might be reserving the villa that I was hoping for.

As you can probably tell, I'm really nervous about the new online system. I understand about the "pay when you book" rules that are now in effect for cash resv's & DDP. But I'm so nervous about the other changes.

Also, for the OP, I usually always make resv's for mulitple villas when we travel. I've always had to do each one separately. What I do, is start with the villa that I most want to get, which is usually a 2 bdrm, & hope for the other. I once had to take a 1 bdrm when I only needed a studio, but it worked out OK. If under the new system, you can hold all villas at once, and then finish up the reservation process.....well, we'll just have to see. That means that 1 person could grab several villas at once. What will the limit be? As I said, I'm really nervous about this whole thing.

 

[rwcmath]

...As to trying to switch at 7 months out, new system is actually better. When you call to reserve, they can now hold a new room while they then proceed to cancel prior requests so you are assured of getting it if it is available at the beginning of the phone conversation. Under old system that new room could disappear to someone else calling at the same time during the time it took to cancel existing reservations.

Great! I haven't used the new system, but this fact is a definite improvement!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I always book a 2bd and a studio each June and Oct/Nov and I've always been given two separate reservation numbers.