Lets Talk About Holding!

[RoseGold]

Holding is coming back! Help!

I have a June reservation currently booked for several nights in a 1BR, and also a backup option for a studio for some of the nights.

If I cancel some nights on the 1BR within 30 days, will those holding points get applied against the rest of the 1BR booking? What about if I cancel the studio reservation into holding?

My thinking is as long as I plan to keep most of the 1BR nights, I should be able to cancel the other bookings and get the holding points absorbed.

 

[JETSDAD]

I believe holding points can only be used for new reservations (according to the official rules anyways...I haven't had to deal with holding points personally....yet).

 

[peabody58]

Points are all equal when within 30 days, regardless of where you got them from. It would work if the dates you are rebooking are outside the 30 day booking window. If the rebooking is within 30 days, then they will still be HOLDING points. I may be wrong, but I went thru this a couple years back with my plans and could not escape the 30 day Window of Death. Was still able to use my points, just had to follow the HOLDING rules closely.

 

[drusba]

As to the 1BR reservation in June, iif you modify it to fewer nights 30 days or less before arrival:

1. All points that come out of the reservation get put into holding. You don't then get to put them back in the reservation and take out non-holding points. The points taken out of the reservation will instead be subject to the holding rules which are (a) they must be used for a reservation that ends by the end of the current use year, and (b) they can be used only to make a reservation 60-days or fewer from arrival date. The only way they can go back into the 1BR reservation is to do another modification that adds back days to that reservation in June, and those days need to still be available when you try to do that

2. It can even be worse than it sounds. If that 1BR reservation currently has in it current use year points and also banked or borrowed points. Then when you do a modification online to a shorter stay, the system will actually take out of the reservation and put into holding current use year points before taking out any banked or borrowed points, i.e., your current use year points will turn into holding points in that situation before any of your banked or borrowed points are taken out of the reservation. You would need to call MS to make the modification to have bank or borrowed points taken out of the reservation first.

If you cancel the studio reservation, all points in that reservation go into holding and none go into the 1BR reservation unless you can still add nights to the 1BR reservation, which depends on their being available in June.

 

[Sandisw]

Any changes of points within 31 days automatically become holding. I learned the hard way.

So, if you adjust a 1 bedroom and end up with holding points and you try to put them in another trip that is also already within 31 days, even if there is a room, those other points now become holding.

The only way to put holding points into a current trip is rooms are still there and you are between 31 days and 60 days.

So, to completely avoid them, you have to avoid canceling or changing to less points any trip less than 31 days out.

 

[RoseGold]

Oh man, this is tricky.

So what about holding the studio to hope to be able to a pricier studio last minute, say BLT to Poly. If I am able to do that, that's a new reservation, so the studio's points wouldn't go into holding, right? I could upgrade, just not downgrade?

 

[TomorrowlandOfYesterday]

The points still go into holding, even when upgrading. But as long as the reservation is kept, it won't matter that they are in holding because they are applied in a reservation.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Is the rule already back in place or was that coming in May...? I can't remember.

 

[vicarrieous]

Is the rule already back in place or was that coming in May...? I can't remember.

Coming May 1

 

[drusba]

Oh man, this is tricky.

So what about holding the studio to hope to be able to a pricier studio last minute, say BLT to Poly. If I am able to do that, that's a new reservation, so the studio's points wouldn't go into holding, right? I could upgrade, just not downgrade?

You are punished by holding if, at 30 days or less out, you cancel a reservation, or modify to one using fewer points, both of which changes result in points no longer being in a reservation and thus they go to holding. Assuming availability, you can always modify a reservation less than 31 days out, by adding nights and thus putting in more points, while taking none out, and nothing ends up in holding.

That is why waitlists, when you already have a reservation and want another for the same time period, can be set up to expire before 31 days from date of arrival or you can choose to retain them until 7 days out from arrival. If acceptance off the waitlist would result in a reservation using fewer total points than used in the reservation to be changed, you should choose to have the waitlist end before 30 days out. If the waitlist would result in a reservation using more points than the one to be changed, you can continue to keep the waitlist up to 7 days out.

 

[RoseGold]

So I stalked and stalked and now I have a configuration where I could upgrade a night or two if what I want becomes available.

Moral of the story is book your reservation in blocks of a couple nights!

These holding rules are tough!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So I stalked and stalked and now I have a configuration where I could upgrade a night or two if what I want becomes available.

Moral of the story is book your reservation in blocks of a couple nights!

These holding rules are tough!

If you have absolutes in what you book then they are tough. Otherwise I think people make too much out of it. Holding can give you a flexibility that was experience this past year when it went away. You can be free to book something you see, cancel it and rebook to your hearts content up until the day of check in.

With that said I actually think that the 30 days has now become too long and isn't required anymore and if anything it should more mirror the hotel side of 5 days. There are a lot of people willing to book and travel last minute and rooms really don't sit around in that last 4 weeks before check in.

 

[RoseGold]

Availability is CRAZY. It's changing every time I check! Beware the ides of May, bringing back holding and banking rules!

 

[Sandisw]

Availability is CRAZY. It's changing every time I check! Beware the ides of May, bringing back holding and banking rules!

I assume you meant borrowing rules as there were no changes to banking.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Are borrowing rules back to normal?

 

[Sandisw]

Are borrowing rules back to normal?

Tomorrow is the last day to cancel and have borrowed points returned. Starting May 1st, we will be back to normal rules for holding and borrowed points.

ETA. The rule going back to normal for borrowed points is that they can not be returned and it will be a final transaction. The 50% rule will still be in play. My initial comment was misleading.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Tomorrow is the last day to cancel and have borrowed points returned. Starting May 1st, we will be back to normal rules for holding and borrowed points.

What about the 50 percent borrowing rule?

 

[Sandisw]

What about the 50 percent borrowing rule?

That is still in effect and no mention of when that will end. I added to my comment about because I realize it was confusing.

 

[Matty B13]

That is still in effect and no mention of when that will end. I added to my comment about because I realize it was confusing.

That stinks..... I was really hoping to only use one contract to book my 2022 trip instead of two contracts.