day by day reservations, waitlisting, oh my!

[emma'smom]

Can someone just give me the basics on what all of these terms mean and how it all works? If I have a reservation at my home resort made at the 11 month mark and want to stay at a different DVC (thus would call at the 7 month mark), how does this all work? What would doing dayb-by-day do? If I can't get something in the middle of my vacation? Then what does one do? If I have used all of my points with the original 11 month reservation, what do I use to try for a reservation at teh 7 month mark somewhere else? I don't want to "borrow" just to hold a reservation, do I? This is all very confusing! Help!

 

[J and R's mom]

1)Booking Day-by-Day--You call and book at the 7 month window as each day of your reservation comes up. In other words, let's say you are booked for the 10th through the 16th. You'll call on the 11th (at seven months out) and book for the night of the 10th at your desired resort. Then you'll call on the 12th for the night of the 11th and so on. It will actually be 6 different reservations if you do it this way. Some members book this way if they are trying to get into small, popular resorts at a busy time.

2)What happens if you don't get one of your days in the middle?--That is the catch to booking day-by-day. If you don't get one of the days in the middle, then you run the risk of having to switch resorts for that night (or nights) and switch back for the remaining nights.

3)Needing extra points?--If the resort you are switching to at 7 months out requires the same number of points per night it's an even trade... no borrowing (or using available points) is needed. If the new reservation requires more points, then you only need to borrow the difference in the two reservations. For example, if your first reservation cost 150 points and your new one will cost 160 points, you only need to come up with 10 extra points.

4)Booking--You DO NOT have to book day-by-day. You can book your stay for the entire length of the stay. If the resort is not available for you for the entire length of stay (and you don't want to risk switching resorts) you can waitlist for the entire length of stay. And you can waitlist for more than one resort at the same time. Some folks find out that some of their nights are available while some are not...and that's where the day-by-day booking sometimes comes in. Let's say (using the example above) that the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th were available but the 12th and 15th were not. Some will book those 4 available nights and waitlist for the other two. HOWEVER, if those other two nights don't open up, you will have to switch resorts two different times.

And yes, this can all get confusing....until you've done it a few times. Then it becomes fun...in a weird way.

The wait-list is a nice thing. Most folks have good luck with it.

 

[emma'smom]

Thanks....one last question. If I switch my points from my original reservation to the new one (doing day by day) than I assume that means I give up my original (11 month) reservation at my home resort, right? So I do run the risk of not having the day-by-days come through (and having to waitlist, which may not come thru) and losing my original booking for the entire week, right?

If this were just my own immediate family (dh, me and the kids), I wouldn't care...but we're trying to take my elderly parents with us and I just know that once they get all unpacked, they won't want to change resorts for a night- it will just be too much for them.

One more question (a little OT, but guys are so knowledgeable)- If we want to rent points for a different trip (rather than borrow into the next UY), do we have to wait until the 11 month mark at that resort (to get someone who might be interested in renting who has a home resort where we want to stay) to make these arrangements or can we post this request now so that a potential agreement can be made and the reservation can be made right at the 11 month window?

Thanks!

 

[J and R's mom]

Thanks....one last question. If I switch my points from my original reservation to the new one (doing day by day) than I assume that means I give up my original (11 month) reservation at my home resort, right?

Yes, you give up your original reservation and replace it with the new one, unless you make a separate reservation using other points.

So I do run the risk of not having the day-by-days come through (and having to waitlist, which may not come thru) and losing my original booking for the entire week, right?

When you waitlist day-by-day, you only change your original reservation if there is availability at the new resort. If there is not, you keep your night(s) at the original location and waitlist for those nights. That way you are still booked somewhere during your stay. You're not left without a resort.

If this were just my own immediate family (dh, me and the kids), I wouldn't care...but we're trying to take my elderly parents with us and I just know that once they get all unpacked, they won't want to change resorts for a night- it will just be too much for them.

This is one reason I would recommend that you call at 7 months out and waitlist for the entire length of stay (not day-by-day). That way, if your waitlist comes through, you get ALL of the nights at the same resort without having to worry about switching.

One more question (a little OT, but guys are so knowledgeable)- If we want to rent points for a different trip (rather than borrow into the next UY), do we have to wait until the 11 month mark at that resort (to get someone who might be interested in renting who has a home resort where we want to stay) to make these arrangements or can we post this request now so that a potential agreement can be made and the reservation can be made right at the 11 month window?

Thanks!

I'm not an expert here, but I believe that the points that you rent should maintain the UY and that resort booking window. But I've read that sometimes it doesn't work this way even though it's supposed to. I would post this as a separate question on these boards because there are some knowledgable folks that might not open up this thread and they could give you an accurate answer.