linking reservations

[Cinderella1122]

I called member services today to link my reservations together. Is there anyway to tell on the website if the reservations were actually linked?

 

[jambo5564]

I've linked before but have not seen anywhere on the website that shows it.

 

[n2mm]

I linked this week and after it was done I now have only one reservation, not two. It took awhile to get it done. She said it was a little complicated because the reservation I was linking to was done at the 11 month window with BWV points and I was now adding a less than 7 month reservation using SSR points, but she got it done and afterwards I now have 1 reservation.

 

[CarolMN]

I called member services today to link my reservations together. Is there anyway to tell on the website if the reservations were actually linked?

If the reservations were combined, you will end up with one reservation number. Combined means you end up with a reservation that appears to the resort as one continuous reservation. You do not have to check out and back in again (to get new keys) and there is no risk that you have to move.

I believe "linked" means something a little different to MS & the resorts. AFAIK, linked means you will not have to change rooms between reservations, but you will have to check out and then back in again between them.

For both linked and combined, the reservations must be for the exact same booking category at the same resort.

MS may have to link rather than combine if different memberships/contracts were used to make the reservations. Not sure why they can't always combine - maybe someone else will know more.

I recently asked to have two single-night reservations combined and ended up with one two-night reservation. Did it via an email request and it worked like a charm! Both of the single night reservations were made using points from the same membership. One reservation was made online by me and the other came via a waitlist and was done by MS. MS did not combine the two automatically.

 

[LisaS]

MS may have to link rather than combine if different memberships/contracts were used to make the reservations. Not sure why they can't always combine - maybe someone else will know more.

I imagine that the reservation system is designed so that each reservation has one and only one owner.

If Membership A has two separate but contiguous reservations, MS can modify one of them to change the check-out date to include the nights from the second reservation, and then cancel the second reservation. It's probably not that simple in practice because they have to account for the contracts where the points are coming from but the end result is that because both reservations have the same owner they can be combined into one reservation.

If Membership A has booked the first N nights of a reservation and Membership B has booked the remaining nights of the reservation, the best MS can do is have each reservation reference the other in some way. They can't combine them unless they drop one of the two owners from the combined reservation and that might also eliminate the reference to the membership that owns the points used for that part of the reservation.

 

[DebbieB]

I have linked reservations with another member (I did first 3 nights, they did next 3 nights). They show up as 1.

 

[Cinderella1122]

I have 2 memberships...one with AKV and the other with BLT.

I called and she asked for my member number and then asked me for the reservation number on the room for the other membership and went ok they are linked.

Both reservations are for a 2 bedroom savanna view villa at AKV

 

[LisaS]

I have linked reservations with another member (I did first 3 nights, they did next 3 nights). They show up as 1.

Interesting. So you are saying that you see one reservation for 6 nights with one reservation number? And if the other member looks up the reservation, do they also see it as one 6-night reservation and does it have the same reservation number?

 

[Nedlo2]

If the reservations were combined, you will end up with one reservation number. Combined means you end up with a reservation that appears to the resort as one continuous reservation. You do not have to check out and back in again (to get new keys) and there is no risk that you have to move.

I believe "linked" means something a little different to MS & the resorts. AFAIK, linked means you will not have to change rooms between reservations, but you will have to check out and then back in again between them.

I've linked reservations with my son quite a few times for either Tree House Villas or a 2 BR and we've never had to check out and back in again. We were issued our keys at the beginning of one reservation and they were good for the whole stay.

 

[CarolMN]

I have linked reservations with another member (I did first 3 nights, they did next 3 nights). They show up as 1.

I have 2 memberships...one with AKV and the other with BLT.

I called and she asked for my member number and then asked me for the reservation number on the room for the other membership and went ok they are linked.

Both reservations are for a 2 bedroom savanna view villa at AKV

I've linked reservations with my son quite a few times for either Tree House Villas or a 2 BR and we've never had to check out and back in again. We were issued our keys at the beginning of one reservation and they were good for the whole stay.

Was this done recently? AFAIK, the last software update is what changed the combine/link capabilities and introduced the issue. Very possible I am wrong, though.

 

[Nedlo2]

Was this done recently? AFAIK, the last software update is what changed the combine/link capabilities and introduced the issue. Very possible I am wrong, though.

The last time was Nov 2011. We have linked again for our November 2013 trip. Guess I'll find out then if we have to get new keys.

 

[Minniesgal]

We had linked reservations in August we had to check in and out but not change rooms.

 

[rowlands57]

I just linked two bookings for January at the BCV. I ended up with just one reservation number for the whole thing. It was one of the original booking numbers and the other one is no linger there.

 

[LisaS]

I just linked two bookings for January at the BCV. I ended up with just one reservation number for the whole thing. It was one of the original booking numbers and the other one is no linger there.

Were the two original reservations booked from separate memberships?

When you say "the other one is no longer there", it sounds like the two reservations were booked under the same membership and MS combined them into one reservation. That's what they usually do in that situation. They link reservations when they were booked under two different memberships.

 

[Minniesgal]

I just linked two bookings for January at the BCV. I ended up with just one reservation number for the whole thing. It was one of the original booking numbers and the other one is no linger there.

That isn't a linked reservation it is a combined one. A linked reservation stays as two separate reservations with two reservation numbers.

 

[rowlands57]

That isn't a linked reservation it is a combined one. A linked reservation stays as two separate reservations with two reservation numbers.

Noted. So mine was combined not linked. I had two back-to-back bookings under one contract that I combined.

 

[sargenca]

I am having trouble doing online check-in and was looking around the DIS for some help. I came across this thread, and thought maybe it has something about my res's not being linked.

Here goes...
I have 3 guests reserved for the POP and have done online check-in for 10/4-10/12.

My friend had 33 points in holding that were going to expire, so she added a point and we called and were put on a waitlist for AKV-1br-Savanna for my last night 10/11.

In the meantime, i have received my MB's, have made FP+'s and ADR's based on the POP reservation.

Last week I rose to the top of the waitlist and my friend got an email with the reservation number for AKV.

I logged into MDE online and was able to enter the AKV reservation number. It shows my name, but not my other guests (thats expected since the wait list only had me listed as the guest).

My problem...I cannot do online check-in for the AKV - says invalid credit card. If I enter my card again or use a different card...when I get to the end of the process - it's says "Sorry, cant process the checkin".

And now when I go through the Pop online check-in again...it says the same message about the credit card and I have no luck getting all the way through.

So wondering...Is the problem I have the overlapping day at the POP and AKV that I haven't fixed yet...or is something supposed to be linked that I need my DVC friend to fix...I am a little nervous that my guests are not listed in the AKV res and they will lose their MP/FP+ reservations at the end of the trip.

I usually don't have weird stuff like this. I am usually easy peasy. If anyone has some insight - i would really appreciate it. Sorry if this is a really goofy question!!

 

[LisaS]

I am having trouble doing online check-in and was looking around the DIS for some help. I came across this thread, and thought maybe it has something about my res's not being linked.

I can't answer your question about online check in but I can explain what linking is, at least in the context of a DVC reservation. Some members have multiple membership numbers due to having contracts with different UYs, or perhaps they are sharing the points cost of a reservation with a friend or relative with each of them using their individual memberships to book part of the stay. In this situation, Member Services must create two separate reservations, one from each membership. To alert the room assigner that these two separate reservations for the same resort, room size and booking category are in fact one stay, they link the two separate reservations in the reservation system. If they did not link them, the guests would probably end up having to change rooms between the first part and last part of their stay.

 

[sargenca]

Thank you for this explanation!! Don't think linking is my issue then. I did call and modified my Pop reservation to be one less night - so to not overlap with the AKV. And my DVC friend and I called this morning and added my DD and DH to the guest list. That allowed me to customize an additional set of MB's - which alleviates my fear of losing FP+ reservations when we leave the Pop.

I still cannot get thru online check-in for either resort, but at least it now shows a link to "Change Online Check-in" for both stays...although I get the error at the end of the process every time I try. I think I am close enough now. Both resorts seem to know that I am coming and it's linked to the online MDE and app.

Thanks again!!