My waitlist question

[dianeschlicht]

I posted this on another thread, but I thought it might be nice to get my own answers so here is my question.

Okay, so I've never actually waitlisted and may have to when I change my OKW January ressies for AKV next month.

My question has to do with the mechanics of waitlisting. If I waitlist day by day for the reservation, will they cancel my existing ressie day by day too, or will I be best off trying to book the whole thing at 7 months from checkout? Our ressie we want to switch is a 2 bedroom Jan 20-27. There are about 100 banked points used in that ressie, so I need to know what to expect along those lines too. I'm begining to think I should maybe just take my chances at 7 months from check out rather than waitlist day by day. It's important that the banked points be used for this ressie, since it is the last 4 months or our use year.

I would like to get Savanna view AKV for that time to treat our guests who will be staying with us. I would HATE to have to move mid-week though. Since it is January, would I be safe to wait until June 27 and try to book the whole thing and waitlist only the days not then available, or should I call day by day and try to book that way? I have to be careful because it is within the last 4 months of our use year, so I could end up losing points. For that reason, I don't want to double book and cancel.

 

[goldenears]

Hi Diane!
If you do a day by day waitlist they will cancel your nights at OKW as the AKV ones become available. This means that you could end up having a split stay. If you don't want this to happen then you would need to call MS on your checkout date and waitlist the entire vacation at AKV. This means you would not be switched to AKV until all vacation days become available. The safest bet...esp w/your point situation too. From what I have heard, the end of Jan., is a good time to go...low crowds! Best of luck w/ your waitlist.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, and now my decision is to figure out if I should try calling on the first check out day or if I should wait until the checkout day for the whole thing. I'm leaning toward waiting, even though it might mean we don't get it right away and have to waitlist. Then I'll probably waitlist the whole stay, since I don't want to have to worry about the banked points issue.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I've hears enough stories about people ending up with banked points that were not used because of a change like this. That is the advice I want to know about.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I don't know about other people's experiences, since I am still fairly new to the DVC world myself, but we had a similar situation a few months ago. We were booked at SSR and were switching to BWV at the 7 month mark. We also had some banked points that we had to "use or lose", so we wanted to make sure those points were incorporated into our ressie. We called every day at the 7 month mark, and at least for our experience, MS was able to juggle the points around and make sure that all banked points were used and accounted for. It would sometimes involve MS making the ressie, and then going back in to configure points, but it worked out well for us.

I also understand not wanting to move mid-stay, and I would say your decision to call day by day depends on how much you want to stay at AKL. In our situation we called day by day, but we had agreed if at any point we were unable to secure the rooms we needed at BWV, we'd cancel the whole thing and rebook at SSR. We checked with MS before making that decision, to make sure there was plenty of availability at SSR to switch back if need be. The last thing we wanted was to be left with no reservations. You might want to think about calling day by day, and then if you cannot get the whole week together, just rebooking back at SSR. You could waitlist, but there is no guarantee that it will come through, and then you'd have to change rooms.

If I'm learning one thing about DVC, is that it forces you to be crafty and always think on your feet!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think the problem I will have is that if I call day by day and have to cancel OKW day by day as well, they will make the new ressie before canceling the old one. That means they will use new points and not the banked points that have already been used, and I'll lose those points.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I just had this discussion with Dean.....he said those with day-by-day waitlists get preference over those with consecutive days waitlist requests. So you may be next on the list for a specific "day", but they will move those ahead of you that have "day-by-day" waitlist requests, thus reducing your chances unless there is a lot of inventory. Double check this, but I think this is what Dean pointed out.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I just had this discussion with Dean.....he said those with day-by-day waitlists get preference over those with consecutive days waitlist requests. So you may be next on the list for a specific "day", but they will move those ahead of you that have "day-by-day" waitlist requests, thus reducing your chances unless there is a lot of inventory. Double check this, but I think this is what Dean pointed out.

I don't think it is a "preference" for day-by-day WLs, as much as it is a practical issue that any one day is more likely be available than a group of days linked together.

For example, you WL for Sun-Thu as a block and, later than same day, another member WLs for the same days on a day-by-day basis. If only Wed becomes availible, the member who WLd later day-by-day will get that one night. They will not hold it for the earlier WL on the hope that the other nights also come thru.

Of course, the member with the later WL and the Wed reservation still needs 4 more nights to have 5 consecutive at the same resort. That is the risk of a day-by-day waitlist.

Hope that helps. -- Suzanne

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think you'll probably get the whole reservation at once. Be prepared for the "extensive renovations of the savannah and could be no animals on the savannah" warning from MS. I just booked a night for March and after listening to MS, I was ready to change my mind. But it's for my DSis and myself, and we want to stay at AKV for a specific reason and so, I stuck with it.

Bobbi

 

[Starr W.]

Diane, I think you should go with the option that lets you sleep well at night, so you don't need to worry about MS messing up your points or with the possiblity of a split stay(my biggest fear)

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

This is really a matter of personal preference. Which is more important to you: not having to move mid-stay, or getting to try a different resort?

If you're going to try day-by-day bookings, you do run the chance that you're going to hit a day or two that isn't available. Then you're faced with the possibility that the days you've already changed are no longer available at the original resort. Day-by-day gives you a better chance of getting what you want, but opens you to the possibility of having to switch resorts mid-stay (or even multiple times in a stay).

If the prospect of having to pack up bags and change rooms or resorts isn't an issue, than I'd say go for the day-by-day and waitlist the days you can't get. (You need to judge the inconvenience of how many moves you'd have to make in the worst case if none of your waitlist requests come through.)

If one move doesn't sound bad, but you don't want to make multiple moves, call day by day until you hit a day that isn't available. Then, instead of booking day by day from that point on, alter your waitlist request day by day instead. So, for example, if you call for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and are able to successfully get the new resort, but then Thursday isn't available, go on the waitlist for Thursday. On the next day, call back and add Friday to your waitlist request (even if Friday is available to be booked). Do the same for Saturday. This may make it a little less likely that those last days will come through on the waitlist, but ensures that you don't have to change resorts for one night, then move back again the next day.

If you only want to unpack your bags once for the trip and not move at all, a day-by-day booking may not be the thing for you. Give the waiting list a shot with an all-or-nothing request and simply enjoy your home resort if it doesn't come through.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, most of you have missed my point completely, so I'll try again. I am worried about losing the banked points, not having to move resorts. I'm afraid if I waitlist day by day they will cancel the existing day AFTER they have booked the waitlist, and that will mean all those banked points I used will end up still in my account with no way to use them in the next month.

 

[castleri]

I think the problem I will have is that if I call day by day and have to cancel OKW day by day as well, they will make the new ressie before canceling the old one. That means they will use new points and not the banked points that have already been used, and I'll lose those points.

I think I would ask them to check the amount of availability on the first day I could make the reservation - ie are there plenty of the room size I need so you (MS) can cancel my OKW day before making the new one to be able to use the banked points. They may be able to tell you how the availability looks for the whole time frame. I know it can change rapidly but it might give you an idea of how risky it is to wait until the last checkout date.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think I would ask them to check the amount of availability on the first day I could make the reservation - ie are there plenty of the room size I need so you (MS) can cancel my OKW day before making the new one to be able to use the banked points. They may be able to tell you how the availability looks for the whole time frame. I know it can change rapidly but it might give you an idea of how risky it is to wait until the last checkout date.

That's a good suggestion. I also might just call MS this week and ask how that scenario would work. It could be they can reallocate the points later in this case.