Day-by-day booking questions

[RLRDA]

Hi DVC veterans,

I'm gearing up to call in early October for a 7 month booking at BCV for May '08. I've already asked some preliminary questions on the boards regarding the types of 2BR villas there, point usage from my contracts, etc. hoping to be well informed when I finally can call MS to book.

The trip will be May 4th to May 9th. I know that if I want to book day-by-day, I can call on Oct. 5th to start the process. My questions are these....is it possible that I could get a 2BR on nights 1, 2 and 4 and nothing would be available on 3 & 5 (for example). What would happen, I could waitlist the nights I don't get or switch to another resort altogether? If I were to get all 5 nights by booking day-by-day are they linked all together into 1 reservation so that we aren't switching from one 2BR to another 2BR? Is this automatic or do I have to specify to MS that I want them linked?

I know that no one can say for sure but do I have a decent chance of getting a 2BR at BCV in early May?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[drusba]

Yes, it is possible to get some nights and not others. You can then waitlist for the rest or switch to another resort if possible if you do not want to risk waiting on the waitlist. They will link all ressies made together once you are done so you have one room for entire time -- just tell them what you are doing when you do it.

 

[larrytau]

We just went through this process with BCV for a trip Easter Sunday week, and we ended up getting every day at BCV - I was surprised!

I started with two days at OKW that I reserved as my backup plan prior to the seventh month mark. We needed only a one bedroom, and comments from this board lead me to believe that is the easiest bedroom size to get at seven months. Not sure about your need for a 2 bedroom. I can't imagine that a 2 bedroom in early May would be a problem. But ....

I added day by day, and had no problem with any of my five days. On a Monday, I added two days. I also called as soon as they opened on Saturday. I also had to delete the OKW reservation, replace my points, and then apply them to the BCV reservations. I was also concerned with the linkage of basically four different reservations.

Just talk to the MS folks. They were very gentle with me, and explained the process very well. At the end, the lady linked them all up, and took my view request. I received 6 different letters, one for the OKW reservation, four for the individual day by day BCV reservations, and one for the entire five day reservation.

Sent in an email to the MS website thanking them for the MS person'is s cooperation and skill in this process for a newbie. Got a nice thank you back from the supervisor. Excellent experience!

Hi DVC veterans,

I'm gearing up to call in early October for a 7 month booking at BCV for May '08. I've already asked some preliminary questions on the boards regarding the types of 2BR villas there, point usage from my contracts, etc. hoping to be well informed when I finally can call MS to book.

The trip will be May 4th to May 9th. I know that if I want to book day-by-day, I can call on Oct. 5th to start the process. My question is this....is it possible that I could get a 2BR on nights 1, 2 and 4 and nothing would be available on 3 & 5 (for example). What would happen, I could waitlist the nights I don't get or switch to another resort altogether? If I were to get all 5 nights by booking day-by-day are they linked all together into 1 reservation so that we aren't switching from one 2BR to another 2BR? Is this automatic or do I have to specify to MS that I want them linked?

I know that no one can say for sure but do I have a decent chance of getting a 2BR at BCV in early May?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip).....I know that no one can say for sure but do I have a decent chance of getting a 2BR at BCV in early May?

Thanks for any feedback!

I think you have a good chance as long as you don't want/need a dedicated 2 bedroom with 2 queens in the second bedroom. There aren't very many of those and they do tend to book before the 7 month window opens. But I think you have a pretty good chance of getting a 2 bedroom lock off unit or a dedicated 2 bedroom with 1 queen and a sleep sofa in the second bedroom.

There are three separate booking categories of 2 bedroom units at the BCV (ded 2Q, ded 1Q/sleep sofa and lock off). Ask the MS CM how availability looks for your dates when you make the first call. Reserve whichever type has the best availability. If you don't get the same kind of unit for all of your nights, you will end up moving / changing rooms during your stay. You don't want that.

Compared to many other months, May is actually one of the easier months to book at 7 months.



P.S. If you tell the first CM that you are calling day by day and what your "final" check out day will be, he/she will hold the confirmation letter until you have made all the calls. Everything will be linked together, you will only get one letter and you won't have to move.

 

[RLRDA]

We needed only a one bedroom, and comments from this board lead me to believe that is the easiest bedroom size to get at seven months. Not sure about your need for a 2 bedroom.

I think you have a good chance as long as you don't want/need a dedicated 2 bedroom with 2 queens in the second bedroom. There aren't very many of those and they do tend to book before the 7 month window opens. But I think you have a pretty good chance of getting a 2 bedroom lock off unit or a dedicated 2 bedroom with 1 queen and a sleep sofa in the second bedroom.

There are three separate booking categories of 2 bedroom units at the BCV (ded 2Q, ded 1Q/sleep sofa and lock off). Ask the MS CM how availability looks for your dates when you make the first call. Reserve whichever type has the best availability. If you don't get the same kind of unit for all of your nights, you will end up moving / changing rooms during your stay. You don't want that.

Compared to many other months, May is actually one of the easier months to book at 7 months.



P.S. If you tell the first CM that you are calling day by day and what your "final" check out day will be, he/she will hold the confirmation letter until you have made all the calls. Everything will be linked together, you will only get one letter and you won't have to move.

Thanks for the responses! We definitely need some type of 2BR (really doesn't matter what configuration I get) because it will be my family of 5 plus my DM and DAunt. Had it just been my immediate family I'd have gone for a 1BR as the youngest is still in the pack-n-play crib. That being said, I feel better having asked and am grateful for all the "tips" on what to ask/say when calling MS. I hadn't even considered the scenario that I highlighted in BOLD print. That's why I love asking everyone else what they think because someone else has definitely "been there, done that"!!

I feel super-informed and optimistic about my chances! I know from reading the boards that BCV is a coveted reservation, I need all the help/info I can get!

 

[LisaS]

Whenever the subject of day-by-day reservations come up, people talk about asking MS to link all of their reservations. I think there is an easier way, provided all of the nights you need are available when you call. On the first call, tell the MS CM you are starting a day-by-day reservation and tell them what your real check out day will be. When you call back the next day, tell the CM you want to modify a day-by-day reservation, to extend it by one day. So at that point you have one reservation for 2 nights, not two reservations for one night each. Each day that you call, extend the reservation one more night until your reservation is complete. This way there is nothing to link and absolutely no risk of having to move rooms since it's all one reservation.

If you don't get one of your nights in the middle and have to waitlist then you will end up with multiple reservations, but if all nights are available at the time you call, there should be no need to book every night as a totally separate reservation that then must be linked together.

 

[njmeisje]

Lisa,
i just completed my HH reservation for next August day-by-day, and did it exactly as you said. It was very easy, and the MS guides knew exactly what to do. Could not have been easier, for a newbie like me!!

Great advice.

 

[50 years Too!]

I just booked BCV at the 7 month mark for April 8-10. One bedroom.
Sounded like there was plenty of availability. Don't know if May is more popular than April, but from my experience, you should be okay.
I have BCV points but wanted to save them for another trip at a more popular time, when I would need the 11 month booking.
Good luck.

 

[RLRDA]

Whenever the subject of day-by-day reservations come up, people talk about asking MS to link all of their reservations. I think there is an easier way, provided all of the nights you need are available when you call. On the first call, tell the MS CM you are starting a day-by-day reservation and tell them what your real check out day will be. When you call back the next day, tell the CM you want to modify a day-by-day reservation, to extend it by one day. So at that point you have one reservation for 2 nights, not two reservations for one night each. Each day that you call, extend the reservation one more night until your reservation is complete. This way there is nothing to link and absolutely no risk of having to move rooms since it's all one reservation.

If you don't get one of your nights in the middle and have to waitlist then you will end up with multiple reservations, but if all nights are available at the time you call, there should be no need to book every night as a totally separate reservation that then must be linked together.

LisaS,

If I use the above procedure, is there a chance I might lose the original night(s) that I've booked? When I tell them that I want to "modify" the reservation, do the night(s) I've already secured stay in my name while they process the transaction (extension) on their end. I'm probably not explaining my concern correctly. I know I've read where members have tried to alter reservations only to have the new one taken and in the process lost the original ressie due to the speed (or lack thereof) of the CM. Is this a possibility? That would be my biggest concern.

 

[LisaS]

LisaS,

If I use the above procedure, is there a chance I might lose the original night(s) that I've booked? When I tell them that I want to "modify" the reservation, do the night(s) I've already secured stay in my name while they process the transaction (extension) on their end. I'm probably not explaining my concern correctly. I know I've read where members have tried to alter reservations only to have the new one taken and in the process lost the original ressie due to the speed (or lack thereof) of the CM. Is this a possibility? That would be my biggest concern.

The people who had problems were cancelling a reservation at Resort X to free up the points they needed to make a new reservation at Resort Y. During that minute or so between cancelling Resort X and booking Resort Y, the nights they cancelled were snatched up immediately and so were the nights they wanted to book.

You won't be cancelling anything -- you will just be adding another day onto an existing reservation. When MS does this, they do not need to cancel and recreate the reservation. They just change the check out date on the reservation. The other advantage to this approach (as opposed to booking a series of one-day reservations) is that it is much quicker. You set up the reservation on the first call but on each subsequent call, you are on the phone with MS for about one minute since all they need to do is change your check-out date.

 

[momsully]

I just finished doing exactly what Lisa said for the week of April 6th! I told them the first day I called what I was doing, and when we finished the call this morning the CM asked me to hold on for a minute as she had to finish the process and order the confirmation to print. I will get one confirmation for the entire week at AKL!

 

[morgklm]

I did the day-by-day for a 2 week ressie at SSR next July. Simply called the first day and let them know the final checkout date, then each day they changed the checkout date. MS was VERY helpful and it went without a hitch! Definitely the way to go for those harder to get dates. Good luck! We will be checking out BCV in a future visit.

 

[RLRDA]

Thanks everyone! It's also nice to hear that the CM's are aware of this process as well! I've always talked to helpful CM's but then again, I've never had a "complicated" booking. Cross your fingers for me everyone

 

[LisaS]

Thanks everyone! It's also nice to hear that the CM's are aware of this process as well! I've always talked to helpful CM's but then again, I've never had a "complicated" booking. Cross your fingers for me everyone

They do this all the time and will help you through it. It's in everyone's best interest to be up front with the CMs about what you want to do. They will make a note of your real check out date in your reservation so that the confirmation letter will be held until all of your nights have been booked. This saves MS time and money, which saves all of us time and money, too!

 

[RLRDA]

Whenever the subject of day-by-day reservations come up, people talk about asking MS to link all of their reservations. I think there is an easier way, provided all of the nights you need are available when you call. On the first call, tell the MS CM you are starting a day-by-day reservation and tell them what your real check out day will be. When you call back the next day, tell the CM you want to modify a day-by-day reservation, to extend it by one day. So at that point you have one reservation for 2 nights, not two reservations for one night each. Each day that you call, extend the reservation one more night until your reservation is complete. This way there is nothing to link and absolutely no risk of having to move rooms since it's all one reservation.

If you don't get one of your nights in the middle and have to waitlist then you will end up with multiple reservations, but if all nights are available at the time you call, there should be no need to book every night as a totally separate reservation that then must be linked together.

Well, I just got off the phone with MS and have made the last day of my reservation at BCV for May 4th - May 9th! Having never done a day-by-day booking before, each day I was worried that there wouldn't be availabilty for what we needed. It went smoothly, as you said, LisaS. I see myself doing it mainly this way in the future. Next, I want to try for an AKV 1BR Concierge in Dec.'08 at 11 months.....so I'd better do THAT day-by-day!

Thanks again....

 

[DisneyTripper]

Well, I just got off the phone with MS and have made the last day of my reservation at BCV for May 4th - May 9th! Having never done a day-by-day booking before, each day I was worried that there wouldn't be availabilty for what we needed. It went smoothly, as you said, LisaS. I see myself doing it mainly this way in the future. Next, I want to try for an AKV 1BR Concierge in Dec.'08 at 11 months.....so I'd better do THAT day-by-day!

Thanks again....

Congratulations! I'm glad you were able to get what you wanted. I've never done the day-by-day booking, but I am about to give it a try for BWV for May 11-17. I hope your luck will visit me.

 

[RLRDA]

Congratulations! I'm glad you were able to get what you wanted. I've never done the day-by-day booking, but I am about to give it a try for BWV for May 11-17. I hope your luck will visit me.

At least for the dates and villa (2BR) I was trying to get, the CM at MS told me that BWV (our 2nd choice) had more availabilty than BCV ~ probably b/c BCV is a smaller resort? I called a few days before my day-by-day calling started, just to check out availability. You can call today and ask just to put your mind at ease...I think you should be OK calling day-by-day.

Good Luck getting your dates/villas !!

P.S. I started calling each A.M. at 8:58am (Sat. it was 12:58pm) and got right through each time...Maybe my clocks are slow, or maybe they start picking up a few minutes early! Either way, I was never put on hold.