New perk:Guaranteed ressie request.

[KNWVIKING]

While we all know our contract states ressie requests are not guaranteed, I think it would be a great feature/perk if we had a "wild card' so to speak that would allow us to get exactly what we wanted on a limited basis. Maybe a one time option,maybe once every 3,5,7, etc years. Why would this be of benifit ? Maybe someday you would want to plan a special event- aniversary, graduation, wedding,(divorce ??), whatever, and would like everything to be perfect- view,floor,location,non-handicapped,lock-off unit,etc. On a very limited basis I don't think this is an unreasonable request. DVC apparently has one unwritten perk they honor-the one time banking exemption- why not two.

What do ya'll think ? Do-able, not do-able ? Reasons pro and con.

 

[Terry S]

What I would like to see is either

1) The old 11 month window priority for requests being assigned ahead of time. I really think the this is fair. I have only been "home" 3 times now, but not one of those times had I been assigned a room ahead of time and I made my reservation at the 11 month window each time.

or

2) Choose and assign a room at the time of booking! I know many have thier doubts on this, but I am a computer programmer and I know that this can be done fairly easily.

 

[Chuck S]

I see any "guarantee" as causing problems...

1) Individidual rooms can go out of service at any time for any number of reasons, if a "guarantee" was based on a partcular room being available, and it is not, and the resort is nearly full, how many complaints will they get?

2) Many people are continuously changing their minds on dates. room types, etc, so if I request to be guaranteed room 2345, and someone has it booked what happens if they change their minds? Will the number of calls to MS increase dramatically because of people calling daily to see if "their room" has become available? (Yes, some people are that intense on planning).

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Very interesting concept. I will have to mull over the choices before I vote. It would likely depend on the details. In other words, I would have to know all the "side effect" baggage that came along with it.

Thanx for the interesting topic...

 

[jade1]

SOLUTION: There is a "points fee" to "guarantee" the request (maybe 5 points a night or something) and if it cannot be met, you just use regular points-OR maybe even a "discount" of 5 points per night. Would need to limit request to 2 or something though because people may get really picky hoping to get the "discount". Or maybe its 3 points per request but the first request is free (like non smoking).

 

[timC]

I'm not very familiar with the in-s and outs of the hotel business, but I imagine there are reasons why hotels don't confirm your room# until you actually check in. Perhaps, it makes offering late cancellation service more difficult, or more difficult to juggle large reservations, such as conventions.

My solution is to set ones initial expectations at the reasonable level, up-front (non-smoking, prefered/standard view, wheelchair access if needed).. If you do better during the check-in process, then it's a nice suprise.... and we do get the occasional pleasant surprise, and are never disappointed.

 

[KNWVIKING]

*** I'm not very familiar with the in-s and outs of the hotel business, but I imagine there are reasons why hotels don't confirm your room# until you actually check in. ***

I don't know the answer to this either. But I know I can call down to any one of the hotel/casino's in Atlantic City and ask for an upper floor,ocean view,jaccuzzi tub,etc and know for sure when I get there the room will be everything I asked for or I'll be told when I try to book it that they can't meet my request. I won't arrive for my special occasion to find I have a HC room with an alley view.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I know that some hotels do book rooms in advance--we regularly stay at the same hotel near the airport, and whenever I book I am automatically slotted into room 108, which they tell me along with my confirmation number. However, Disney is much, much larger, and cancellations would really mess up a system like that. Perhaps they could implement a program like this if you were penalized for cancelling special requests other than handicapped and nonsmoking requests. I don't want to vote until I know what the negatives are for this type of plan, but so far I haven't really found it necessary. Of course, I ask for a boardwalk view, and assume I will get a dumpster view, so I am not disappointed.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***Of course, I ask for a boardwalk view, and assume I will get a dumpster view, so I am not disappointed. ***

Maybe next time ask for the dumpster view The upside is that when MS asks are you sure, you can explain the rationale behind the request.

 

[dvc_john]

If there was one guarantee I'd wish for, it would be the smoking/non-smoking room guarantee. Most hotels do this. It's not normally a problem, but the one time we got a smoking room, it was really unpleasant.

 

[HookdonWDW]

I don't like the idea, and I chose that I didn't think it was necessary. One of the things I like about DVC, is that I'm not locked into a specific view/room for each trip, and that I always have that chance of getting that "perfect room" (so what if it doesn't usually happen ).

I believe that there are close to 80,000 DVC members right now. That means that 80,000 people would have the ability to put in a one time request for that perfect request. What happens when 200 people want to use their voucher for a top floor Epcot View at BCV, or a Boardwalk View at BWV? (Think Christmas, Easter, Food & Wine Festival, etc...)

Remember, you're not talking about tying up a night or two. Trips overlap, and some people stay for 14 days or longer. It just seems like this system wouldn't work. People would be mad that they couldn't use their one time voucher when they want, and others would be ticked that the "good views" were never available without a voucher.

As for the idea of a "points fee", I would be more than ticked off if they ever tried to institute this. First off, it's not in the contract, and second of all, how in the world would you be able to adjust the points to accomodate for this (remember... the total number of points at a given resort must stay constant). I've read many times on this board that MS regrets offering Standard/Preferred Views at BWVs because it's a nightmare. This would make that look like a walk in the park by comparison.

JMHO.

 

[KNWVIKING]

I'd thought about your argument against the idea before I posted the poll and my only answer to myself was that if two people wanted the exact same thing at the exact same time,then it would have to be on a first come-first served basis.

It wouldn't be a perfect system. And even if the one time feature were availible I wonder how many of us would even use it. I guess I'm more disappointed with the inflexibility of the current system more then anything else. And by inflexible I mean the inability to get MS to commit to anything other then "no guarantee". Like I said earlier, I've never really cared about anything but non-smoking. I've accepted HC rooms and I would accept the dumpster view at VWL under most circumstances. But maybe on my 50th anniversary I want "perfect". I would rather not have to worry about getting the dumpster.

 

[DemoBri1]

What I would like to see is the randomness of when you check-in taken out of the equation. I don't feel that someone who books a room @ say the 7 month window, should be allowed to override someon who booked @ 11 month window just because they arrive at the resort earlier in the day than the 11 month booker.

I have seen countless numbers of posts on these boards of people stating that they have secured a cheap motel room outside the world the night before their arrival date just so they can get to the resort to check-in early the next day. What is that?

To me it should go by when the reservation was booked. Rooms should be pre-assigned based on requests at the time it is booked, not at the time someone checks in.

I think that would be a preferable perk in my mind. Granted it would be nice to have all of your requests met, but that can only happen in a perfect world.

Brian

 

[Granny]

KNWVIKING...thanks for posting the thread! I told you you'd get some interesting feedback!

I kind of like the idea on a "once in a lifetime" basis. I read posts here about a specific trip needing to be perfect for a specific reason....and I think that's a bit of magic that DVD might be able to figure out how to handle.

Conflicting "ideal requests" would need to be on a first come, first serve basis.

It may be impractical. It might not work at all. But I think it's a fun topic for these boards! Thanks for the poll.

 

[TiggerFreak]

Look out!

Flames on the way

I got incinerated when I made a mention of this being a "possible" feature when we get the much anticipated "online" account access.

Remember what they told the Wright Brothers

 

[anniet]

I don't see it as necessary. I always think of room requests as "nice to have" but not "need to have"- the only exception being smoking or non-smoking. While I have not stayed in all of them, I cannot imagine that any of the accomodations at DVC are so bad as to ruin a "perfect vacation". And let's face it, the "perfect vacation" is created by the people who are on it, not by the room assigned to you IMHO. And if you absolutely cannot STAND the room you are in, ask to be changed, I'm sure if there is availability they will at least attempt to accomodate.

And if conflicts are resolved on a first come, first served basis, then it can't really be a guaranteed request can it?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Terry S
or

2) Choose and assign a room at the time of booking! I know many have thier doubts on this, but I am a computer programmer and I know that this can be done fairly easily.

It can be done fairly easily on a cruise ship, where everyone checks out and checks in on the same day.

It can be done fairly easily at an airport hotel, where many people only stay one night.

It can be done fairly easily at a hotel where the occupancy level hovers around 60%.

But... it can not be done easily at a DVC resort, where guests check out and check in every day of the week, where guests have multi-day, variable length stays, and where occupancy is at or near 100% most of the time.

The first batch of guests for a given month would be easy to assign. But pretty soon, Member Services would be telling guests, "Yes, we have seven nights available for dates you want, but you'll have to move four times during your stay."

For room assignments to be done efficiently, they need to be done only a day or two in advance, with guests who are checking in assigned to rooms where guests are known to be checking out.

The issue is how to respect legitimate requests in fair manner.

 

[skelooch]

The whole system stinks, If I request room 422 at the 11 month window and someone else requests the same room but they arrive the day before I do, I probabaly don't get the room do I. They certainly aren't going to hold the room open for 1 night just for me, are they.
I'm afraid there ain't no easy answers to the room request problems, and it ain't going to be solved here.