Does anyone constantly make changes to their reservations?

[disprincess2213]

When I used to book CRO, I would change my mind 100x and make changes to the reservation over and over. I was just wondering if anyone does this in the DVC. For example, If you have a split stay booked at AKL and OKW. Then one day you're browsing and see an opening for a few nights at BWV (something you really wanted!), do you cancel and change the reservation? Does anyone do this multiple times if your mind changes, or something better comes along, or you decide you want a bigger/smaller room? Are their any penalties for changes? What if it falls in 30 days of check in? Can you modify then?

 

[disneynutz]

I'm sure that people do, we don't usually. We have a 8 years list that projects where we are staying and when, how many points we will need and how many points that we will have extra.

60 days prior to any date, DVC can take rooms and give them to Disney for cash guests.

30 days before your reservation , if you cancel, your points go into holding. You can only book holding points 60 days prior to check in and you can't bank them.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

To date there are no penalties or fees over 30 days from check in for making changes or cancellations to reservations. At 30 days or under, then your points go into holding and those rules apply.

Holding Account Vacation Points.
If a confirmed reservation is canceled thirty (30) days or less before the arrival date, the Home Resort Vacation Points used to make that reservation are placed into a Holding Account. "Holding Account Vacation Points" are subject to the following restrictions:

1) Holding Account Vacation Points can only be used to book reservations within sixty (60) days of check in.

2) Holding Account Vacation Points must be used for reservations during their Use Year. Any Holding Account Vacation Points remaining in the Holding Account at the end of the Use Year will expire.

3) Holding Account Vacation Points cannot be Banked.

4) Holding Account Vacation Points used to reserve and stay during the last 60 days of a Use Year may be used for reservations at any DVC Resort.

 

[OKW Lover]

Making multiple changes on a DVC reservation isn't a regular thing. Most members are frequent visitors who know what they want and book it when they make their reservations. Perhaps they will wait-list a specific resort but that's about the norm for DVC bookings.

I've never understood those non-DVC guest who continually change their reservations. I guess I can understand if a "deal" comes along, but otherwise why second-guess?

 

[heynowirv]

Like most other people we know where we want to stay especially if we're booking at the 7 month window.

 

[AirGoofy]

When I used to book CRO, I would change my mind 100x and make changes to the reservation over and over. I was just wondering if anyone does this in the DVC. For example, If you have a split stay booked at AKL and OKW. Then one day you're browsing and see an opening for a few nights at BWV (something you really wanted!), do you cancel and change the reservation? Does anyone do this multiple times if your mind changes, or something better comes along, or you decide you want a bigger/smaller room? Are their any penalties for changes? What if it falls in 30 days of check in? Can you modify then?

I don't constantly change them. DVC members will routinely book their home resorts at 11 months out and then change at the 7 month window. We did this to try all the WDW DVC resorts. We still need to try VGF, but that will only be a one timer stay or split stay since the number of points needed are so high. Similarly, we'll probably try Poly once. This year, later than the 7 month mark, DW and oldest dd wanted to go to the beach. So, I was able to change book VBR for an extra few days.

There is nothing prohibitive in changing days, other than waiting in the phone to make the request thru Member Services. The perk in DVC is having that 11 month window to book where you want to stay.

 

[CarolMN]

I don't think there are a lot of members who make frequent changes. Once you get within the 7 month window, there really aren't a lot of opportunities to do that - unless you are fond of split stays and don't mind moving 2 or more times during your stay.

You can't make a change if there isn't availability. For the smaller, near park resorts, availability can get very spotty within a day or two after the 7 month window opens.

Last minute changes can result in no reservation at all because most changes involve a cancellation and a re-book. Especially for the popular times & smaller resorts, someone could grab both the reservation you cancelled and the one you wanted before you get the new one locked in.

In most cases, I book at 11 months and do not make any date, resort or booking category changes.

 

[bwvBound]

Does anyone constantly make changes to their reservations? When I used to book CRO, I would change my mind 100x and make changes to the reservation over and over.

Very interesting question. It may, to some degree, help me better understand why I personally dread the idea of ever renting out my points and dealing with "people and their indecisiveness." (Some on these boards cite sufficient of that with their own family sometimes!)

From my timeshare experience (~16 years), successful and happy timeshare owners plan far ahead and make very few changes. Following that pattern, DVC owners are mostly similar but show more agility than "traditional weeks" owners as they enjoy increased choices assisted by DVC's flexible banking and cancellation policies.

So I'd say DVC owners make more changes than "traditional weeks" timeshare owners but not nearly as many changes as hotel-stayers. I'd even suggest that DVC owners make fewer reservation changes than owners in competitive points-based timeshare programs, such as Worldmark the Club.

Years ago it was stated that 30% of all Worldmark reservations will be cancelled. I'm guessing that number has increased since the original statement as:

• The original ownership base ages. (It is easier to cancel a "been there, done that" reservation for increasingly trivial reasons. And as our lives become more complex, the number of obstacles between you and a getaway weekend multiply!)
• Web tools improved! Online reservations, saved searches, etc. Oh, my -- they have made it easy to monitor inventory and take advantage of sudden shifts in the inventory!
• The number of resort options increases. ("Oh, I had a reservation at the beach ... but wouldn't you prefer visiting the new property near the hot springs for this trip??")
• There are more ways to book cash reservations ... allowing owners to travel more often than their points would have allowed. This means we both book and cancel more. I often book weekend stays on speculation when certain locations go on "sale" and might drop a fare share of those before the cancellation window closes.
• The waitlist system is effective. (Since it works so well, I worry less about booking early. If what I want isn't readily available, I waitlist and most often get just what I wanted. "Easy-breezy" greatly reduces "pressure and panic" regarding reservations. The more confident you are about getting what you want, the less likely you are to hoard a less-than-perfect reservation. Turnover increases!)

FWIW, I make plenty of changes to my Worldmark reservations and I'm well aware that many fellow owners do likewise. I'm not quite there yet with DVC, but have enjoyed several DVC waitlist successes. With each waitlist success I find myself "relaxing" my anxiety over DVC reservations.

Perhaps it is only a matter of time before DVC owners become a group of "changers," too??

 

[Deb & Bill]

Think of it this way. You'll have your DVC points for the next 28+ years. You can change to a different resort next time.

Otherwise, you might wind up like Carol said. You cancel your reservation to make a change and when you go to book it, it is already gone. You have nothing.

 

[DebbieB]

Not regularly but there have been times that I made multiple changes. I was planning a trip last fall. I originally booked for the second week of December 2013 at BWV. Then after I had a cold trip in March, I decided not to take that chance again and change it to the second week of November. Then in the summer I found out I had a work conference that week. So I changed it to the third week but could not get BWV, so I booked AKV. Then they changed the conference to the third week around September. By then nothing was available for the second week so I booked BWV with an AP rate (almost $300 a night - yikes). Little by little I got my 5 nights on points and cancelled the AP reservation.

 

[disprincess2213]

The reason I asked is because dvc is much harder to book than regular CROs of not staying at your home resort. So, if next year you want to stay at AKL to switch things up a bit (one of the GREAT PERKS) and nothing is available for your week, say you check constantly and something pops up!!!! Or maybe only 3 nights, then you switch over and waitlist the rest! I was wondering if people generally did that if they initially didn't get their first pick!

 

[jerseygal]

I research plane fares, dates, to make sure this is a feasible resort a lot before 7 months..

Once the 7 month window comes and we are successful in making a reservation, we STICK with our plan, unless we are waitlisted!

 

[crisi]

We don't. We generally book our home and stay there. When we do get an itch to switch, we make a seven month plan and stick with it. And I wouldn't waitlist. If I can't get my first choice I take my second. If nothing I want is available we stick with the home reservation we made eleven months out.

 

[bwvBound]

The reason I asked is because dvc is much harder to book than regular CROs of not staying at your home resort. So, if next year you want to stay at AKL to switch things up a bit (one of the GREAT PERKS) and nothing is available for your week, say you check constantly and something pops up!!!! Or maybe only 3 nights, then you switch over and waitlist the rest! I was wondering if people generally did that if they initially didn't get their first pick!

disprincess2213,

To that end, yes -- I'd say quite a few DVC owners "stalk" online inventory looking for tweaks to their reservation. Some enjoy the split-stay notion (3 nights at one resort with 2 nights at another), others loathe it.

FWIW, I have only booked my home resort at 11 months once in 10 years of ownership. I generally live in the 7-month window and have been both happy and successful getting my 1st choice reservation nearly every time. We've used our DVC points at Vero in the summer, Aulani (9 nights, ocean view), AKV (5x, including once at Club Level), BWV (annually), Treehouse Villas, Grand Cal (5x?), OKW, VWL, etc. We definitely hop around! We had a VGF reservation once but cancelled it. We'll get there, no worries.

Yes -- we stalk inventory online. Yes, we use the Waitlist. Yes, we are open to making a few changes to our reservation (moving arrival/departure dates) or booking a "last minute" stay at the Grand Cal just because it was sitting there.

So please do enjoy searching the inventory. Make a mental note of the patterns you see. Compare these patterns to the advice here and simply ENJOY your DVC!

 

[Sur]

I tweak my add on cash reservations, as I always seem to be low on points. The annual dues coming out has temporarily quenched my desire to add on.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

I am constantly changing my ressies. I was actually talking to MS the other day and they mentioned how long it was taking to open up my account and asked me if I had alot of cancelled reservations. I just keep trying until I get what I really want

 

[AirGoofy]

The reason I asked is because dvc is much harder to book than regular CROs of not staying at your home resort. So, if next year you want to stay at AKL to switch things up a bit (one of the GREAT PERKS) and nothing is available for your week, say you check constantly and something pops up!!!! Or maybe only 3 nights, then you switch over and waitlist the rest! I was wondering if people generally did that if they initially didn't get their first pick!

I think it depends on when you travel. If you are trying to book during F&W, BWV and BCV are extremely difficult to get at the 7 month mark. During April (not during Spring Break), it was easy to get BCV at the 7 month mark. For AKL, there are probably some times of year and types of rooms that will be difficult to get at the 7month mark.

 

[bakerworld]

When it's just us then I usually make 2 changes: the initial reservation, the 7 month location change and adding or losing a night depending on air.

When we had our family trip I made various changes to the same location to accommodate time schedules. It was irritating and costly, both in points and $$ - not going to do that again.

 

[DisneyfromDeland]

We just got our points in October and I have been guilty of making constant changes. I have adjusted dates on our March reservation, made/cancelled reservations for HHI in June as the seven month window opened and then called to modify that reservation. I also know of one other reservation I will try to change locations at the seven month window. I will probably cancel less once I have had my points longer and learn booking strategies.

 

[dundey]

Can you modify a reservation online using the DVC website, or do you have to cancel it and make a new one?

I was trying to do this today and couldn't figure out how, and I'm sure I have looked at doing this in the past!