New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[squirrlygirl]

How do you figure that? I can only book 7 nights to begin with. I can't touch night 8 until 11 months from that day. Many other people can book the same room catagory from 1-6 days ahead of that, so there is no guarantee "my" room will still be availble then.

YOUR room cannot be booked by someone else because YOU already booked it in the previous days. If someone calls on day 2 and books, there will have to availability elsewhere because your room has been taken out of inventory until day 8 (by you)--so they can't book without other availability. So when you call to extend on day 8 is the first time that room would show availability to be booked by anyone.

So, essentially, your room isn't available for others to book because you have snagged those earlier days already. In this case you are the person that everyone else is worried about, because when they called on your day 2, they were told there were no rooms.

 

[Laurabearz]

How do you figure that? I can only book 7 nights to begin with. I can't touch night 8 until 11 months from that day. Many other people can book the same room catagory from 1-6 days ahead of that, so there is no guarantee "my" room will still be availble then.

Because their first days of their reservation have to be available for them to book or they can't book Your 8th day... they can only book your 8th day before you can if there is a room available for them to book... YOUR room is NOT available for them to book, because your in it, therefore there has to be ANOTHER room they are booking in order to book your 8th night.. so they would be in a different room altogether.

 

[AKV707]

Because their first days of their reservation have to be available for them to book or they can't book Your 8th day... they can only book your 8th day before you can if there is a room available for them to book... YOUR room is NOT available for them to book, because your in it, therefore there has to be ANOTHER room they are booking in order to book your 8th night..

This makes perfect sense. Another reason why this change doesn't bother me.

 

[snackyx]

With this system, once you get 7 nights booked, you are virtually guaranteed to ge the next night, then the next, then next, as long as you can DBD. You don't even need to call first thing in the morning as you have essentially blocked anyone else from booking your room, as you are already reserving it for Day 2. I haven't really thought it through, but once you have a 7 day ressie in hand, you may not even need to call DBD as long as you call before Day 8.

--Suzanne

If you are booking a seven day reservation because, in effect, the day you really want to start with is day #7, you would "walk" the reservation through: call to cancel day #1, add day #8, call next day to cancel day #2, add day #9, etc. until you have your desired reservation. HOWEVER, when you call to cancel day #1 and add day #8, unless all the rooms at that resort of that type for that time have been booked exactly the same way by other members, you will be competing for the day #8 reservation at 9am, just like anyone else. Again--if you are booking a limited room catagory (AKV-C, GV) in popular times (Christmas, NY, Thanksgiving) the rooms could have been booked up by others reserving exactly the same way as you--the now fabled "walking" or "rolling" reservation. This method does not guarantee you the day #8, day #9, etc. rooms, it only gives you a much better chance at booking them (assuming, of course, this practice is not clamped down on by MS).

Example: OKW has, I believe, 16 GV's. If 16 people start this process for booking at a popular time a week before they actually want it, THEN the call to book day #8 (and cancel day #1) would be limited to those 16 people with "rolling" reservations AND anyone who is trying to book your day #8 as their day #1. You still must be on the phone at 9am!

The question has arisen "why not start one, two, six months out?" Because you have to have the last day of your initial seven day reservation (which will be "walked" through) the first day YOU ACTUALLY WANT. If you want to start your booking with Dec 25, it makes no sense to start this process months out. When you finally get to add the first day YOU ACTUALLY WANT, you will be competing at 9am with everyone else who is making that day their day #1 (and by that point you could be cancelling day #56 and adding day #64).

 

[Kiderak]

Because with the new system favoring 7 night bookings, by the time I can call on day 8 to add to my week, it is possible that it has already been booked by someone else 6 days earlier.

Not possible, you are still in your room on your day 7, so it could not have been booked prior to. Earlier it was posted that they were not allowing split reservations.

 

[jdg345]

I agree

We just need to share a summary of how to make the system work...A list of suggestions on how to book under the new rules...Yes, we can complain to DVC but for now we have a new policy to work under...I think it would be better at this point to put our energy towards creating a list of suggestions on how to get the vacactions we want...

We have successfully beat the subject to death and most of us are very upset now...It is time to deal with it (until they change it again )...

I have been trying to read all the posts but it has been hard to follow at times...

Anyone else confident they understand the policy well enough to help the rest of us figure out how to book now and create a simple list for us?

The issue is that the policy is still apparently evolving on the DVC side. According to some, adding days cannot be done day by day. I've personally done it, so I don't know.

I think we need to wait for DVC to decide what they're going to as far as rules and regulations for this before we can come up with a 'How to:' type list.

 

[jade1]

If you are booking a seven day reservation because, in effect, the day you really want to start with is day #7, you would "walk" the reservation through: call to cancel day #1, add day #8, call next day to cancel day #2, add day #9, etc. until you have your desired reservation. HOWEVER, when you call to cancel day #1 and add day #8, unless all the rooms at that resort of that type for that time have been booked exactly the same way by other members, you will be competing for the day #8 reservation at 9am, just like anyone else. Again--if you are booking a limited room catagory (AKV-C, GV) in popular times (Christmas, NY, Thanksgiving) the rooms could have been booked up by others reserving exactly the same way as you--the now fabled "walking" or "rolling" reservation. This method does not guarantee you the day #8, day #9, etc. rooms, it only gives you a much better chance at booking them (assuming, of course, this practice is not clamped down on by MS).

Example: OKW has, I believe, 16 GV's. If 16 people start this process for booking at a popular time a week before they actually want it, THEN the call to book day #8 (and cancel day #1) would be limited to those 16 people with "rolling" reservations AND anyone who is trying to book your day #8 as their day #1. You still must be on the phone at 9am!

The question has arisen "why not start one, two, six months out?" Because you have to have the last day of your initial seven day reservation (which will be "walked" through) the first day YOU ACTUALLY WANT. If you want to start your booking with Dec 25, it makes no sense to start this process months out. When you finally get to add the first day YOU ACTUALLY WANT, you will be competing at 9am with everyone else who is making that day their day #1 (and by that point you could be cancelling day #56 and adding day #64).

I'm glad you wrote this, still havent got my arms around it all.

So if you know you want NY EVE for sure, and any other days around it are gravy, would you recommend (if you have enough points) calling 7 days early (JAN 25), anything earlier will not help at all correct? Then if you really want to add a day or 2 after (and/or drop a few early days), you can call day by day right?

 

[jdg345]

That's my point. I don't want a timeshare up the road. I didn't want a timeshare period. I don't know if I would've still bought had DVC been different-that would take quite a bit of thought that I'm just not willing to invest in over something that doesn't exist.

Exactly! It was at Disney, and it was Flexible. It seems like those two things were important to *you*. The fact that you have to invest thought into it lends credence to the thought that it would be a harder decision to make.

 

[Disney_Villain]

I agree. The DIS DVC boards are busy with Disney/DVC fanatics, and may not be representative of DVC members as a whole. I think the average DVC member will greet this new change with appreciation.

Hi Mike. I was actually the poster who brought up the dramatic increase in membership (according to DVC promo DVDs I've seen since I bought, we've gone from 100,000+ members to 300,000+ members in somewhere between 3-4 years at most). Regardless of the precise count, that's a staggering growth in members!

Yes, we DIS board posters do make up for a very small minority of the total DVC membership. This booking policy change will help the majority of DVC'ers. I even wrote a letter to the DVC Member Satisfaction Team praising them for this change and advising them of several ways they can close the "walking reservation" loophole strategy this being discussed as a workaround to defeat this new policy. MS needs to spend a lot of time/training/staffing/money to keep up their call center with this increase in membership - and we all benefit from not having their telephones tied up with increasing numbers of day-by-day bookers.

 

[jdg345]

Okay...at what point do you stop doing this? So can a person just call eveyday for until they are at the actual dates they want?

Lets say I want a trip 12 months from now...Is anything stopping me from calling now and calling everyday until I actually reach my desired date? That is the part I am getting lost on.

Nope, nothing stops you!

That's exactly where this system becomes a mess. I want the 21st through the 25th (Sun - Thurs) of December. That's when I really want to stay. But I want to make sure I get it. Do I call Friday the 19th? I can do that, sure, and then drop the first days and be done with it.

But ... what if everyone else is thinking like that too?

I know ... I'll start booking the 14th and get in a week early!

Oh, but wait, that's a Sunday and a high arrival time. I know, I'll start booking Friday the 12th!

But ... wait ... what if those trying to get that Sunday stay are booking Friday? I know! I'll book Thursday the 11th!

But ... wait ...

And it's not so difficult to see how:

(a) This becomes a nightmare
(b) It only creates *more* DBD calling as you might end up DBD calling for days you don't even want! With the old system, you only called for days you wanted.

So, yes ... if you really wanted to, you could start booking a December 2009 Vacation Right now.

It's a good thing that this new policy makes booking simpler though!

 

[jdg345]

Actually, I think this will be true for most people, most of the time.

But for people who have figured out how to get prime properties (GVs, standard BWVs) at prime times, it's going to be trouble.

Now, I just had NO trouble booking a Sunday -Saturday stay at OKW during MLK weekend, another busy time.

I may need the Saturday as well, but I started my ressie on the Sunday. I'll add the Saturday later...I figured that's more likely to be available with its high points.

Still though, it's tough to say because most people aren't aware of this new system and are still calling based on departure date, so you didn't have a bunch of pre-bookers in front of you. That said, you might have been fine all along!

And I agree, I think you'll be able to get that Saturday with no issue, especially if you've already locked off the Sunday. The new WL change may help you there as it might not even book the Saturday and waitlist the whole range for someone else.

 

[jdg345]

I understand that it might be hard to do my point was do you think ms would give us details of the type of reservations they get. I am not defending the change just pointing out that I have since 1993 never did the call day by day maybe I am lucky in the weeks I wanted. I have to admit I never have gone at christmas day but I have been in december. do you think reservations are getting harder to get with more sales happening.

Smaller resorts will be impacted as membership grows ... to what extent is still to be determined. I can tell you from past experience, December 2008 was harder to book at 7 months this year than in the past. Maybe due to the greater amount of developer points in the system.

 

[farmergirl]

I remember reading many posts back that people were getting call backs from DVC. Did they happen to mention if they would be rethinking this new booking rule? Sorry I have no idea how many posts back it was. Thanks

 

[jdg345]

I think thats right Diane, at least I hope so. Day 8 at 9AM should be the first moment your room is available-I cant see how a WL or anything could interfere, still will be an important call to get in right away.

Assuming the 'Hard Booked Room Theory' is correct, then technically, you still don't want to wait until Day-8 to book that because then someone else might get the continuation of your vacation if it happens to be the start of theirs. The only way to give yourself the best shot of extension is to begin trying to get Day-8 on Day-2 for the reasons Diane mentioned ... other people might have gotten your Day-8 in all the available room types before that day.

For example, if that week is booked solid, on Day-8, the only room available might be yours! What if someone sneaks in the phones before you? Uh oh.

 

[jdg345]

I feel the same as you. I'm a fairly new member so I don't have as much experience as most, but so far I've been able to secure reservations for the dates I wanted without any problems and without using DBD, including Christmas and New Years. I would just call at my check-out dates at the 11 month window. Granted I own at SSR where there are plenty of rooms available, but after reading all of these posts, I'm wondering if I'll need to come up with a plan to outsmart other members wanting the same dates as me.

And herein lies one of the big issues with the new system. As we all try to outsmart each other in getting the dates we want, how early do we end up pre-booking? And how many additional calls are we going to make for rooms we don't really need?

It becomes a vicious cycle, if you think everyone is going to call Monday, then you better call Sunday. But what if you think everyone else is thinking that, so you call Saturday. But what if most people are thinking that? So call Friday. But what if people are thinking that? It becomes a mess of epic proportion!

I'm glad this new system is easier.

 

[jdg345]

YOUR room cannot be booked by someone else because YOU already booked it in the previous days. If someone calls on day 2 and books, there will have to availability elsewhere because your room has been taken out of inventory until day 8 (by you)--so they can't book without other availability. So when you call to extend on day 8 is the first time that room would show availability to be booked by anyone.

So, essentially, your room isn't available for others to book because you have snagged those earlier days already. In this case you are the person that everyone else is worried about, because when they called on your day 2, they were told there were no rooms.

Yes yes, if the Theory of the Hard Book is correct, but as I said, if all the other room types were taken between days 2-7, the only room available on Day-8 is yours! 1 room, for how many members calling and trying to get it to either extend their stay or begin a new one? In prime season? I don't know how much Pixie Dust it would take, but it's got to be a lot.

 

[farmergirl]

Does anyone think this will be a problem for booking say a savanna view in slower times like the beginning of November? Or even possible to get concierge? I know everyone seems to be mentioning busy times being a problem but what do ypu all predict for slower times if there really are any slow times anymore.

 

[jarestel]

I remember reading many posts back that people were getting call backs from DVC. Did they happen to mention if they would be rethinking this new booking rule? Sorry I have no idea how many posts back it was. Thanks

The DVC folks doing the callbacks are Member Services CMs or other Disney call center employees, not management types. They are basically calling to let you vent/praise the new system and of course they say they will pass along your comments to the management team. But they have no more idea than we do whether changes will be made or not.

 

[farmergirl]

The DVC folks doing the callbacks are Member Services CMs or other Disney call center employees, not management types. They are basically calling to let you vent/praise the new system and of course they say they will pass along your comments to the management team. But they have no more idea than we do whether changes will be made or not.

Thank you very much Jarestel. You answered my question and saved me from having to go back and look through all the posts!

 

[robinb]

I
Example: OKW has, I believe, 16 GV's. If 16 people start this process for booking at a popular time a week before they actually want it, THEN the call to book day #8 (and cancel day #1) would be limited to those 16 people with "rolling" reservations AND anyone who is trying to book your day #8 as their day #1. You still must be on the phone at 9am!

But ... if you can do a "rolling reservation" the people whose "Day 1" is your "Day 8" can't book that for another week. Let's take 12/24 - 12/30 for example as days 1-7 and 12/31 for day 8 ..

2/24: book "Day 1 - Day 7" 12/24 - 12/30.
2/25: cancel "Day 1" 12/24 and add "Day 8" 12/31

The person who really wants 12/31 as the start of their vacation can't book until 3/1. The only people you are competing with on 2/25 are people who already have 12/30 booked in the same category you do!