How do you all book?

[lagunn]

Hi we have just bought our points for AKV and would like to know the best way to book our vacation. Do we book week by week or wait and book the whole 3 weeks together?
thankyou in advance
Lesley

 

[Pootle]

Hello Lesley, Congratulations on your purchase.

Long-term demand for AKV is unknown (and it's going to be quite large) but short-term at least it's sure to be popular, so I'd definitely book it week by week and, if you are going at popular times or want a high demand category of villa, I would even consider day by day and then let MS tell you if it's unnecessary.

The calls are free after all, and I find MS very helpful.

 

[lagunn]

Thanks for your answer, could you tell me what time to call from the uk please.
lesley

 

[Pootle]

Well the UK is 5 hours ahead for most of the year, so from 2 pm to 10 pm here is the working day of 9 am - 5 pm there. MS opens longer on Thursdays and also on Saturday mornings.

 

[Ali and boyz]

we booked out 3 weeks at SSR for July next year all at once but as Moira said AK is smaller and think will be more popular

 

[lagunn]

Some of the points i have are developer points so i can't use those until the 7 month window,(only just found that out , was'nt explained like that )
So what we are going to do is book a week at AKLV with our dvc points then use developer points at 7 months. So probably have to stay elsewhere.
Also only just found out developer points have to be used within 12 months of purchase So we will have to book the last leg of our holiday first.

 

[lesley.a.murray@talk]

Just so I know too, I hear people talking about booking day by day.
If I want 2 or 3 weeks, can I book all the weeks at the start of the window? Does that make sense?
eg if I want to arrive on Nov 1st for 3 weeks, can I book all 3 weeks(if available) on Jan 1st ie 11 months in advance?
I've confused myself here!

 

[lagunn]

I am confused too!!!
I phoned the other day and asked about booking day by day and was told better off to wait and book all together in case the bookings do not show up..

 

[Pootle]

Well the UK is 5 hours ahead for most of the year, so from 2 pm to 10 pm here is the working day of 9 am - 5 pm there. MS opens longer on Thursdays and also on Saturday mornings.

LOL Forgive me - it was early when I responded to your post

I don't know much about developer points except that there's been a lot about them - and the difficulty in using them - on the main DVC boards. I'm sure I read that when using them, MS have to make the booking manually and you are not given a booking reference immediately as you would be normally.

A search on the other boards for developer points might answer some of your questions.

 

[Pootle]

Just so I know too, I hear people talking about booking day by day.
If I want 2 or 3 weeks, can I book all the weeks at the start of the window? Does that make sense?
eg if I want to arrive on Nov 1st for 3 weeks, can I book all 3 weeks(if available) on Jan 1st ie 11 months in advance?
I've confused myself here!

You could not book all 3 weeks on 1st Jan in the example you gave. On Jan 1st, you could book November 1st and tell MS you were going to book day by day, and ring up daily until your booking is complete. This way you only have one reservation number and they send out written confirmation on completion of the booking.

Booking day by day is mostly used for hard to come by reservations - Christmas, New Year etc, plus certain categories of room - Boardwalk View or standard rooms at BWV etc. Or, for those who have points elsewhere and want to switch at 7 months into a different resort - especially the smaller resorts such as BCV.

At 11 months you are only in competition with other owners at that resort so it may not be necessary to go the day by day route.

 

[lesley.a.murray@talk]

Thanks for the reply Moira.
So here I am, hoping to close before the end of October( closing documents are due any day). I am looking to book for July 08. If I am on the system soon, I will be in the middle of the 11 and 7 months windows. I really would be happy to stay at any WDW DVC resort or even 3!! Here's where I need your ( and anyone elses) advice.
Do I
1. try and book as much as I can at my home resort ( BCV not holding out much hope at this late stage) and then swop.

2. wait for the 7 month window and take what I can get?

As I say, this being or first vist, I'm happy to stay anywhere, maybe a week at each and don't mind if it not BCV this time.
What do you think?

 

[Pootle]

Hi Lesley

I'm sure the waiting to start booking is frustrating, but my guess is that providing you are not including the days around 4th July, you'll stand a good chance of getting much, if not all, of your booking at BCV. You could waitlist for any dates you are missing.

Remember, there are likely to be others wanting your dates at BCV who won't be able to book until 7 months out so you do have an advantage.

Once you are in the system and have made your first calls to MS you'll be in a better position to consider your options.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on