How to make a reservation at 11 months out?

[disneydenisel]

We joined in 2006 and didn't have a chance to use the 11 month window, and in 2005, we rented points. So my question is for my 2008 planning.

We own at BCV. If I want to book 6 nights in a 2 bedroom lockoff starting on October 18, 2008:

1. Do I call day by day, and start on November 19, 2007?
2. Does everyone try and call right when MS opens?
3. Do I simply tell the CM that I am going to be calling day by day to get the ressies linked every day, or do I make all the reservations first, and then ask them to link them all? I want to try and make this simple for the CMs.

If I want to switch to November 22, 2008 (Thanksgiving week), do I start calling day by day on December 23, 2007? And since December 23 is a Sunday, does MS open on December 24? If not, then do I start calling on December 26, 2007?

Thanks for your help. I have to mark my calendar and get up before 6am to make the calls!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yes, yes and yes.

And yes.

 

[LisaS]

3. Do I simply tell the CM that I am going to be calling day by day to get the ressies linked every day, or do I make all the reservations first, and then ask them to link them all? I want to try and make this simple for the CMs.

You aren't making lots of one-night reservations and linking them. You are making a 1-night reservation and then calling back every day to modify it, extending it by one night. Since you cannot call on Sunday, you might be adding 2 nights to the reservation when you call on a Monday. So I believe there's only one reservation and no linking required.

When you call the first day, tell the CM that you are booking day by day and what your real check-out day will be. They will make a note of it and will hold off sending your confirmation until your entire reservation is complete. During that first call the CM will create a 1-night reservation and provide you with a confirmation number. When you call the second (and subsequent) days, the CM will modify your reservation, adding one night (or 2 nights when you call on Monday). When you add the final night to the reservation, the CM will notice your reservation is complete and will release your confirmation.

 

[disneydenisel]

When you call the first day, tell the CM that you are booking day by day and what your real check-out day will be. They will make a note of it and will hold off sending your confirmation until your entire reservation is complete. During that first call the CM will create a 1-night reservation and provide you with a confirmation number. When you call the second (and subsequent) days, the CM will modify your reservation, adding one night (or 2 nights when you call on Monday). When you add the final night to the reservation, the CM will notice your reservation is complete and will release your confirmation.

Thanks! On the second and subsequent days that I call in, do I tell MS that I want to "modify an existing reservation" or "add a night to an existing reservation" and they can look up the number and do this fairly quickly? I want to be sure not to miss out on those precious minutes when all the villas might get snatched up (especially during F&W or Thanksgiving/holidays).

I only have 8 months left to figure it out !

 

[beachblanket]

Thanks! On the second and subsequent days that I call in, do I tell MS that I want to "modify an existing reservation" or "add a night to an existing reservation" and they can look up the number and do this fairly quickly?

Start your call by adding the words "Hello, I would like to" to your second quote.

The CM will then ask for your DVC member # and name. They will then want to verify by asking for either the last 4 digits of your social security number and/or your address.

want to be sure not to miss out on those precious minutes when all the villas might get snatched up (especially during F&W or Thanksgiving/holidays).

Denise, while you are calling for a limited supply ressie, the competition isn't as brutally ferocious as breakfast in the castle or a Illuminations specialty cruise. You will HAVE to go through the "preliminaries" described above. Once you do, the CM will have to pull up your ressie on their system and check availabilty, and (in my experience calling right at 9am exactly 11 months to the day out for limited supply accomodations during mega high seasons) that can easily involve an agonizing 30-40 seconds of silence.

But the CM has always come back on the line confirming the night.

Also, expect that on the first day you call for the CM to ask you if you plan to be calling back om subsequent days to add on, and if so, what your final checkout day will be. This was they can add that information to your reservation, which (a) helps any others CMs who may pick up your call on the other days to know immediately that you are doing a day by day and (b) lets DVC know not to send out a ressie confirmation letter until you finish the booking.

 

[Snow Shoe]

This is the way I made our Christmas res's at BWV for this year. When you call MS make sure that you tell them that your going to make day by day res's and that your chk-out date will be on whatever date This is so they will note it on your resie and as you call day by day the CM will see it and know your are making your reservation day by day. I found out that it works better telling them what you are doing and they can then note it on the reservation.

 

[kimberh]

I did this , this year for the first time, when I called back on the second day, gave my info... MS said to me, I see where you have a day by day reservation and started the process. I said," you guys are good!" He laughed.

 

[disneydenisel]

Thank you, thank you for all of the great advice and tips on how to make these reservations. It seems like everyone is doing it, so the CMs will know exactly what is going on. Great news! Now I just have to wait a few months....

With my other timeshares, I just call 12 months out from the check-in day!

 

[beachblanket]

Thank you, thank you for all of the great advice and tips on how to make these reservations. It seems like everyone is doing it

Everyone? Don't take feedback given here as representative of DVC members in general.

I'm saying that because I just finished a day by day ressie for Presidents Day week of 2008. That involved a check in on Saturday, 2/16/08 and a check out on Sunday, 2/24/08. That meant that last day for me call to book the last night was today, Saturday 3/24/07.

While getting through to member services right at opening has been easy over the last week, today it was much harder (wait times on MS were 15 minutes plus). I strongly suspect this is because a bunch of other DVC members (who don't know about the day by day approach) were all calling today to make the same sort of President's Day week reservation I already have (in other words, they waited until the final check out day to call to book the whole ressie).

Well, if they were looking for the better villas, they just learned something the hard way....