Checking availability of DVC inventory

[Jkpark]

I'm new to DVC and have a question on switching over from home resort to non-home resort at 7 months. If I have no reservation, I can go online and book something. But if I need to cancel one and book another, do I need to call member services (an hour later) to not risk ending up with nothing? I thought I had read somewhere that to switch online, you have to cancel one, wait for it to register and then book the new one. And with the timing - you might end up cancelling and then your 7 month non-home resort is no longer available 5 minutes later. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[luckyman_apd]

I'm new to DVC and have a question on switching over from home resort to non-home resort at 7 months. If I have no reservation, I can go online and book something. But if I need to cancel one and book another, do I need to call member services (an hour later) to not risk ending up with nothing? I thought I had read somewhere that to switch online, you have to cancel one, wait for it to register and then book the new one. And with the timing - you might end up cancelling and then your 7 month non-home resort is no longer available 5 minutes later. Does anyone have experience with this?

With the online system, you can see what is available. I have read stories about people who have had an availability and while on the phone lost their home reservation, and the new reservation was filled. I have to believe (in my short experience.....take it with a grain of salt) that this is a rare occurance.....and most likely to occur during when booking the busiest times. I will tell you that when booking my Nov trip this year, a Tues to Sun trip, the Friday night was not available when booking at 9 months out. At the 7 month mark....still not available so I switched the last two nights to another resort, and then waitlisted each night separately at BLT. BOTH came through within a week of each other. There are as many success stories as failures here......just failures tend to get make more noise.

When you cancel a reservation (I have) it registers immediately. I didn't notice any "waiting to register" lag time.....other than the normal time for the page to refresh. One trick if you really worried is to open two different browsers and log in on each. As you cancel on one, click to book on the other. Might get you a few extra seconds....but I honestly feel if you are online that early at the 7 month mark, it won't be a problem except for New Years, xmas, or thanksgiving.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I'm a firm believer of booking your home resort at the 11 month mark and then switching at the 7 month mark if you want a different resort.

I was booking spring break 2013 at the 11 month mark for a standard view studio room at BWV and one of the nights was already gone. Now i have to hope my waitlist comes through,

Don't give up hope. Waitlists do come through. Every scenario is different and nothing is guaranteed, but friends of ours (who got us interested in DVC) and their relatives (who got them interested in DVC) have ALWAYS had their waitlists come through in their history. They put them in early, and never NOT got them. They have told us they usually come through between the 6 and 7 month mark. We had two nights at BLT come through for us this NOV. Guess what happened.....Came through between 6 and 7 months. We originally booked between 9-10 months and two nights weren't available. Again, no guarantees, but spreading optimism and pixie dust.

 

[Jkpark]

Thanks Luckyman - that makes me feel a lot better

 

[luckyman_apd]

Thanks Luckyman - that makes me feel a lot better

Again, nothing is concrete, and stories are abound. You'll find people who've had issues, and people who've had nothing but great experiences. I'm rather new around here two (spent the last year or so reading and learning and bought in in Jan) and I haven't had too much experience dealing with MS, and the experience I've had has been nothing but exceptional. Don't get caught up with the worrying. As long as you plan ahead (sounds like you are) and get in the system the earliest you can, you give yourself the best chances to get what you want. And like I posted above, the waitlist system does work too (never guaranteed) but it does work out sometimes.

 

[fmer55]

I'm a firm believer of booking your home resort at the 11 month mark and then switching at the 7 month mark if you want a different resort.

I was booking spring break 2013 at the 11 month mark for a standard view studio room at BWV and one of the nights was already gone. Now i have to hope my waitlist comes through,

See now I just came to a realization, first of all, all of my trips are for 4 or 5 nights. Second, and here is a very important part, I stay in 1 bdrms primarily, and occasionally 2bdrm. The 1 bedrooms are always last to go, or so it seems, case in point, all 3 views for a 9 day stay during spring break are still available at BWV. So between the 1 bdrm and the 4-5 day trip I have yet to run into any snafus. And I am going nov 16-19, studio stay, booked at 5 months out and had BWV. Waitlisted for BLT lakeview and it come through in a week.

And for anyone who is going to point out that I stay in 1bdrms, I am staying in a studio because it is just me and DD6 for her birthday.

I guess to this point I have been lucky, also being new I want to stay everywhere and I spend my points like a sailor on leave. I assume once I have been around the block I will become a bit more frugal with points

No chance, just buy more pernts