Linking reservations

[tjkraz]

I know Member Services now has greater flexibility to link identical consecutive reservations so that multiple check-ins and room switches are not necessary. But what about linking a Studio reservation to a lockoff Two Bedroom reservation?

In other words, assume a Studio villa is booked for several nights followed by a multi-day stay in a lockoff 2B. Can those two reservations be linked so that the Studio party is guaranteed to not have to switch rooms?

Thx.

 

[drusba]

MS will not link reservations for two different room categories such as 2BR lock-off and studio.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I know Member Services now has greater flexibility to link identical consecutive reservations so that multiple check-ins and room switches are not necessary. But what about linking a Studio reservation to a lockoff Two Bedroom reservation?

In other words, assume a Studio villa is booked for several nights followed by a multi-day stay in a lockoff 2B. Can those two reservations be linked so that the Studio party is guaranteed to not have to switch rooms?

Thx.

We've done something similar in the past, but it was just a note on both reservations. We had a one bedroom at OKW and a few days later our friends arrived and we had a two bedroom lockoff at OKW. They were able to keep us in the same one bedroom portion. When we arrived, we had to check with the front desk to see if we were blocked into the same one bedroom.

 

[tjkraz]

MS will not link reservations for two different room categories such as 2BR lock-off and studio.

Thanks. I did call member services and that's what they said. Just double-checking.

We've done something similar in the past, but it was just a note on both reservations. We had a one bedroom at OKW and a few days later our friends arrived and we had a two bedroom lockoff at OKW. They were able to keep us in the same one bedroom portion. When we arrived, we had to check with the front desk to see if we were blocked into the same one bedroom.

Thanks. We are looking at something similar...at OKW no less. In our case, we have a lockoff 2B for 8 nights and then some of our group is staying a couple more nights in a Studio. We will be sure to discuss it with the front desk. Would be very convenient to just drag all remaining luggage--and a few groceries--into the neighboring studio after the others have left.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I know Member Services now has greater flexibility to link identical consecutive reservations so that multiple check-ins and room switches are not necessary.

Really? When did that change?

It's been worse in the past 2 years than it used to be.

 

[dmunsil]

We had a series of reservations because of piecing together small waitlists, and when I called MS, the CM first said they would link them, and the only downside would be having to get new room keys. I asked if they could be combined into one reservation so I wouldn't need to do that, and the CM said he'd have to talk to his supervisor.

The supervisor did in fact combine all four segments into one reservation, which had the same reservation number as the first segment. So it can be done, but perhaps they don't want to encourage people to piece together reservations.

I'm not totally sure, but I got the impression from the way the conversation went that the CM knew that combining was possible, but had been instructed to offer linking in that situation. He didn't bring up the idea of combining them into one, but was not fazed in the least when I asked if they could be combined.

 

[LisaS]

We had a series of reservations because of piecing together small waitlists, and when I called MS, the CM first said they would link them, and the only downside would be having to get new room keys. I asked if they could be combined into one reservation so I wouldn't need to do that, and the CM said he'd have to talk to his supervisor.

The supervisor did in fact combine all four segments into one reservation, which had the same reservation number as the first segment. So it can be done, but perhaps they don't want to encourage people to piece together reservations.

I'm not totally sure, but I got the impression from the way the conversation went that the CM knew that combining was possible, but had been instructed to offer linking in that situation. He didn't bring up the idea of combining them into one, but was not fazed in the least when I asked if they could be combined.

That's very interesting because I have had the exact opposite experience recently. I booked a stay online and a few weeks later decided to add another night on the end that I also booked online. I called MS to link the two reservations, was put on hold for a bit and told "it's done". Checked online and discovered they cancelled the one-night reservation and simply added the extra night to my original reservation. Several others have had this experience as well. I thought the recent trend was to combine reservations when the points come from the same membership and only use linking when they have no alternative, i.e., when the reservations are booked under separate memberships (again for the same resort and exact same room type).

ETA: When reservations are linked, guests have to check out and check in again on the transition day so combining rather than linking is better for the guest as well as the front desk.

 

[drusba]

The reality is everything was fine and easy until they put in the new "improved" computer system. Until a couple years ago, if you had two reservations for consecutive days and the same resort and room category, they could link them for all purposes even if you were using two different member contract numbers, and once linked you could check in once for the entire period with no need to do anything on the transition day. Once the new system was in, they could not do that anymore and you had to do a mini check out and check in on the transition day because, as I was told, "the computer would not let them do otherwise anymore." I emailed member services a complaint saying they should be able to do what they did before. The response I got was that they were not able to do it at the time. My conclusion was the same one I have whenever Disney makes changes to its computer systems: Disney has idiots for IT.

 

[Dean]

I know Member Services now has greater flexibility to link identical consecutive reservations so that multiple check-ins and room switches are not necessary. But what about linking a Studio reservation to a lockoff Two Bedroom reservation?

In other words, assume a Studio villa is booked for several nights followed by a multi-day stay in a lockoff 2B. Can those two reservations be linked so that the Studio party is guaranteed to not have to switch rooms?

Thx.

As noted, you can't link them in this manner but you can handle it manually. We've done that several times and others have reported the same. You will need to check in again. What I've done is to have them note the issue on each reservation with a request to stay in the same room. I repeat the request at check in and again when I check in the second reservation. We've never been disappointed. You have to make sure the room types and booking categories match up though.

 

[VLee]

For one of my recent stays, I had made several single night reservations with the idea in mind that i I needed to cancel just one or two nights that I would be able to do so online (without having to call in). As my trip got closer, and I was definite on the dates, I called MS and asked them to combine all the nights into one reservation, having the same reservation number. They did so without any problems.

I am hoping they will still be able to do this, as I have booked my stay (in several reservations for May again.)

 

[Annielkd22222]

The two times I have added a day and tried to link the reservation.....things were totally screwed up. I don't know if its because I did the dining too....but I don't recommend it. I had so many problems, it ruined the trip with the aggrivation. See if you can just re book the entire trip.

 

[pouncingpluto]

I've had no problem getting MS to combine multiple reservations into a single reservation. The only complicating factor was that one reservation was with AKV points at 11 months and the other was with SSR points at 7 months. The fact that the 11-month window had been used for part of it seemed to complicate things a little. But the supervisor did it with no problem.

 

[n2mm]

I've had no problem getting MS to combine multiple reservations into a single reservation. The only complicating factor was that one reservation was with AKV points at 11 months and the other was with SSR points at 7 months. The fact that the 11-month window had been used for part of it seemed to complicate things a little. But the supervisor did it with no problem.

I had the same experience yesterday. I added another day to my reservation using my SSR points. I wanted to link or tie it to my 14 night reservation using my BWV points that I booked at the 11 mo. window. She asked me if I wanted to merge them (never heard that term). I said yes if it's possible. She said it was a little difficult given the fact that I was using 2 different points, but she came back and said it was done and they are all under one reservation. I was nervous the entire time esp. since I was holding a BWV standard studio reservation and feared losing it to a glitch. It took a long time to get it done, but she was willing. I logged on immediately afterwards and it is now one reservation.