New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[zulaya]

No more day by day waitlist; you can only waitlist for your whole reservation according the the member website.

 

[LisaS]

I so look forward to waitlisting our entire 14-day vacation because one day isn't available. That'll be wonderful, and work out very well, I'm sure.

If you call to book a 14-night stay and one night is not available, they will book the 13 days that are available and wait list you for that one day. If you call to book a 14-day stay and NONE of the days are available, you can waitlist for the entire 14 days but can no longer do a day-by-day waitlist.

Other scenarios: you are able to get the first 7 nights , cannot get the next 3 nights but can get the final 4 nights: you would have one reservation for nights 1-7, a wait list for all 3 nights in the middle, and a reservation for the final 4 nights. You would not be able to do a day by day wait list for those middle 3 nights, your waitlist would be for all 3 nights.

 

[LisaS]

Why do you think there won't be any holes at the 11 month mark? I think holes are LIKELY for AKV concierge reservations at the 11 month plus 7 mark.

If you call 11 months from your check-in day, if your first night is available, all nights will be available. I don't believe it's possible that your first night(s) will be available, but some in the middle are not but the ones at the end are available. If night 1 is available but night 2 is not, how did someone manage to book that 2nd night more than 11 months out without booking the previous night as well? If they booked several days and then cancelled some of the nights in the middle, the end of their reservation would have to be set up as a new reservation and it would be too early to do that.

So the only way this could happen is if the computer lets MS break up a reservation and allows a new reservation to be created more than 11 months out and/or there is a glitch in the computer software that doesn't put a hold on all 7 days while MS is trying to book them for you and your first night goes through and someone snatches nights 2+ out from under you.

 

[Laurabearz]

YAY!!!! I was just dreading trying to explain what I meant and you(as always) explained it perfectly!!!

Thanks I owe you one!

 

[farmergirl]

If you call 11 months from your check-in day, if your first night is available, all nights will be available. I don't believe it's possible that your first night(s) will be available, but some in the middle are not but the ones at the end are available. If night 1 is available but night 2 is not, how did someone manage to book that 2nd night more than 11 months out without booking the previous night as well? If they booked several days and then cancelled some of the nights in the middle, the end of their reservation would have to be set up as a new reservation and it would be too early to do that.

So the only way this could happen is if the computer lets MS break up a reservation and allows a new reservation to be created more than 11 months out and/or there is a glitch in the computer software that doesn't put a hold on all 7 days while MS is trying to book them for you and your first night goes through and someone snatches nights 2+ out from under you.

Correct me if I am wrong but this will not be the case from what I understood talking to MS this morning if you have a stay longer than 7 nights. She told me i would have to call back on my 8th day to complete the next 6 or 7 days but my 7th day could be someones first day... did that even make one little bit of sense to anyone???? I have no clue what I just said.

 

[alldiz]

If you call to book a 14-night stay and one night is not available, they will book the 13 days that are available and wait list you for that one day. If you call to book a 14-day stay and NONE of the days are available, you can waitlist for the entire 14 days but can no longer do a day-by-day waitlist.

Other scenarios: you are able to get the first 7 nights , cannot get the next 3 nights but can get the final 4 nights: you would have one reservation for nights 1-7, a wait list for all 3 nights in the middle, and a reservation for the final 4 nights. You would not be able to do a day by day wait list for those middle 3 nights, your waitlist would be for all 3 nights.

Thanks for explaining that clearly

Correct me if I am wrong but this will not be the case from what I understood talking to MS this morning if you have a stay longer than 7 nights. She told me i would have to call back on my 8th day to complete the next 6 or 7 days but my 7th day could be someones first day... did that even make one little bit of sense to anyone???? I have no clue what I just said.

Aarrgh....now they would have to have some kind of contigency for this.....or people staying for longer than 7 nights would be at a disadvantage.
Kerri

 

[CheapMom]

Hey LisaS- where did you hear you could book 14 days at once- or would you be booking a 14 day reservation all at once 11/7 months prior to day 8 (or later) of your 14 day reservation in your scenario (above)?

First, I sent an email that basicly supported the changes... I got my response and it was the same canned "We are sorry for your disappointment...." Guess that shows how much they are reading their email...seems like they were somewhat prepared for the backlash.

Ditto- I wrote a basic thumbs up- thAnk you note- saying the new system will make things simpler for me - and I got a "sorry you are disappointed" response. Followed by the most ironic "We appreciate member feedback and will take you suggestions very seriously- WTH- they didn't even read it!

 

[RobDoc]

Correct me if I am wrong but this will not be the case from what I understood talking to MS this morning if you have a stay longer than 7 nights. She told me i would have to call back on my 8th day to complete the next 6 or 7 days but my 7th day could be someones first day... did that even make one little bit of sense to anyone???? I have no clue what I just said.

In typical MS inconsistent fashion - many members are being told the same thing, but some have reported calling back tomorrow and being allowed to add another day to the same reservation. I would certainly call back and try to add another day. If they still won't allow you to add a day, then cancel all but the first day of the reservation you already have and make another reservation for the 2nd day plus the next 7. You should be able to do that until you have all the days you really want.

So much for doing something to eliminate the need for day-by-day calls to MS.

 

[LisaS]

Correct me if I am wrong but this will not be the case from what I understood talking to MS this morning if you have a stay longer than 7 nights. She told me i would have to call back on my 8th day to complete the next 6 or 7 days but my 7th day could be someones first day... did that even make one little bit of sense to anyone???? I have no clue what I just said.

When you call to book your 8th, 9th, etc nights, you are correct that others had a chance to call before you to book those same nights so it's possible that the 8th night is not available, or that both the 8th and 9th nights are both fully booked, or that all of the nights you need are not available. But if the 8th night is available, then the 9th, 10th, etc. nights will also be available. The only way you could find the 8th available, the 9th not available and the 10th available is if they allowed people to make reservations starting on the 10th and that night would be outside the 11-month window.

 

[zulaya]

See for me, I was disappointed, but the fact that they had a canned message set with the word "disappointed" means that they knew that this was not what Members were asking for.

And I think it's lame that they sent it to those who like this change instead of addressing your approval, even if I disagree with your stance.

 

[LisaS]

Hey LisaS- where did you hear you could book 14 days at once- or would you be booking a 14 day reservation all at once 11/7 months prior to day 8 of your 14 day reservation?

That's right, you can only book 14 days at once if all but the last 6 are already within the 11-month window.

If you wanted to start booking the trip as early as possible, you would call 11 months prior to check in and book the first 7 nights and then call back to book the rest. But don't ask me when you would be allowed to book the remaining 7 nights because MS is giving inconsistent information on that!

 

[RobDoc]

Hey LisaS- where did you hear you could book 14 days at once- or would you be booking a 14 day reservation all at once 11/7 months prior to day 8 (or later) of your 14 day reservation in your scenario (above)?

You can definitley reserve 14 days (or more) with one phone call (based on availability) - you just can't do that 11 months from the check-in day.

It could be done 10 months 3 weeks from the check-in date however. If you wanted 14 days for next May 16 - 30 you could have made that reservation today since you are already past the 11 months for May 16 - 22 and May 23 - 30 could have been reserved using the new 11 month from check-in policy. If any those days were not available, you could reserve all of the others and use the waitlist for the missing dates. It might require several separate reservations, but everything would be lomked together in the end.

 

[jade1]

Could someone answer me this? We were planning a small add on at BLT (If it happens), but only for short occasional stays. In particular NY EVE for 2 or 3 nights. Kind of end the trip near MK after 4 or 5 days at BCV.

Does this pretty much eliminate a MK View (or any view) at BLT arriving NY EVE if you try to call at 11 months? Or is it possible to call for BCV and oh by the way...switch me to BLT for NY EVE and 3 days?

If so, they likely lost an add on from us-even though it was small.

TIA.

 

[CheapMom]

That's right, you can only book 14 days at once if all but the last 6 are already within the 11-month window.

If you wanted to start booking the trip as early as possible, you would call 11 months prior to check in and book the first 7 nights and then call back to book the rest. But don't ask me when you would be allowed to book the remaining 7 nights because MS is giving inconsistent information on that!

Ok Thanks- I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss some crucial update on this. I think I need to stop trying to figure this out- as I think that is an impossible task since DVC hasn't even figured out the details yet. Lucky for me I am not booking anything until September- by then I am sure the dust will have settled and it will be clear what you can/can't do.

I feel for those of you with your 11 or 7 month window approaching as this is a real mess- Ms reps saying one thing- the computer allowing something else... The lack of communication and serious implementation flaws of this change is a bigtime fumble as I see it. Makes DVC look pretty sloppy. They could have done this right and avoided a lot of the backlash.

 

[DVC Mike]

Okay, I have my flame suit on and am ready for all of your flames!!! I REALLY LIKE THE NEW POLICY CHANGE!!! I don't have to worry about calling day-by-day. No waitlisting worries. I will know when I book whether I can get all of my days requested.

I think the policy change will benefit more DVC members than it may possibly hurt, so taken as a whole, I do view this as "service enhancement" for the majority of DVC members.

 

[skelooch]

You can definitley reserve 14 days (or more) with one phone call (based on availability) - you just can't do that 11 months from the check-in day.

It could be done 10 months 3 weeks from the check-in date however. If you wanted 14 days for next May 16 - 30 you could have made that reservation today since you are already past the 11 months for May 16 - 22 and May 23 - 30 could have been reserved using the new 11 month from check-in policy. If any those days were not available, you could reserve all of the others and use the waitlist for the missing dates. It might require several separate reservations, but everything would be lomked together in the end.

I was told today by a MS supervisor that the maximum reservation that could be made 11 months from your check-in date was 7 days, and if you wanted additional days you had to call on the 8th day to book additional days. I don't think that is going to work out to well for someone trying to book a GV for 10 or more days for Christmas/ New Years.

 

[Inkmahm]

If you call 11 months from your check-in day, if your first night is available, all nights will be available. I don't believe it's possible that your first night(s) will be available, but some in the middle are not but the ones at the end are available. If night 1 is available but night 2 is not, how did someone manage to book that 2nd night more than 11 months out without booking the previous night as well? If they booked several days and then cancelled some of the nights in the middle, the end of their reservation would have to be set up as a new reservation and it would be too early to do that.

So the only way this could happen is if the computer lets MS break up a reservation and allows a new reservation to be created more than 11 months out and/or there is a glitch in the computer software that doesn't put a hold on all 7 days while MS is trying to book them for you and your first night goes through and someone snatches nights 2+ out from under you.

the first 3 nights of their reservation could be at one resort and the next 4 nights at another. Or some other combination of two resorts for 7 days. Can't that 7 night vacation be booked all on the 11 month date prior to the first night? As far as I know, there's no requirement that all 7 nights are at one resort. That would easily allow for some nights to be booked when I call for my reservation but other nights to be open.

 

[jdg345]

Your first day HAS to be available before you can book the other 7 days? This policy is sounding worse and worse.

Yup.

Hopefully Sally can call week before her desired arrival date and then book day by day dropping each day as she needs.

Not sure what you mean here? Sally could call a week in advance and 'walk' her reservation forward. For example, book 7 days with the intent of really only keeping the last one. But she would need the points to do so.

I'm really glad my dh won't travel over Christmas, because we'd never be able to book what we really wanted.

I think it's going to be much harder to get the prime locations with the new policy.

 

[jdg345]

So, if your Sally... you have to WL your whole trip? Then what if someone is "gaming the system" really doesn't want the 26th they are trying to get the 30th and 31st, cancelling day by day to get what they really want, Poor Sally and the other DVC owners that really didn't want to stay on the 25th are out?
We would never stay on the 25th, but NYE is a possible. This is just unfair to the fullest degree.

Never say never, but I think it would be tough. Folks could always walk the reservation forward, so Sally might not be able to get the 26th, but she could waitlist for days *BEFORE* that. She just can't waitlist day by day anymore, so she would have to wait for her departure date to waitlist the whole trip. So if she wanted to leave the 2nd, she'd have to wait until the 2nd to waitlist the whole trip. Meanwhile, everyone else is way in front of her.

 

[jdg345]

Unless they have made further changes (which is always possible) Sally should be able to waitlist for the first night becuase it is within her Home Resort Priority Period (now 11 months from check-in). What is unclear is if she can waitlist for other nights after that (days 2-6). It also seems to be the case that she cannot book night 7 (which is available) because she does not have reservation for days 1-6.

Nope, as I understand it, the day by day waitlist is to be no more. You can only waitlist your entire stay. So if the 26th is booked and she only wants to stay that day, yes ... she can waitlist the 26th. If her trip is longer, she isn't supposed to be allowed to waitlist for it until her departure date. And you cannot waitlist for Days 2+ if you cannot get Day 1. And if you get Day-1, in theory, you should be able to get 2+ based on previous posts indicating you cannot chop out the middle of a ressie.

So when Joe cancels Day 1, Sally should get her waitlist and get the day.

Nope, cause Joe's Day-1 is the 19th, a day Sally doesn't want.

Also, while we have talked about NYE and walking your reservation forward from mid-December, early Dec should be even crazier because it follows Thanksgiving, another peak time. Will those who want to book limited category rooms in early Dec need to start their bookings in mid-Nov? -- Suzanne

Maybe! And Thansgiving might be early November! Glad this new policy is designed to *REDUCE* MS Calls.