New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[KAT4DISNEY]

Here's a question based on the new recording when calling Member Services. I know at least one other person 'heard' it in a similar fashion because they posted about it. I was just wondering if anyone else 'heard' it as well. While I won't quote the message verbatim, this is more or less what I 'heard':

We've made some existing enhancements to the booking rules! We have now enhanced the way you book reservations in an enhanced way! You can now, through our enchanced changes, book up to 7 days of your stay at 11 months of your arrival in one call. This enhancement was based on requests that we enhance the system! Also, thanks to this wonderful enhancement, we have also enhanced waitlists! With the new enhanced waitlist system, you can now put your entire stay in one enhanced waitlist instead of individual days. Enjoy the new enhancements!

Yep! Exactly what I heard!!!! Aren't you glad to have been so enhanced?!?!?

 

[ransom]

Here's a question based on the new recording when calling Member Services. I know at least one other person 'heard' it in a similar fashion because they posted about it. I was just wondering if anyone else 'heard' it as well. While I won't quote the message verbatim, this is more or less what I 'heard':

We've made some existing enhancements to the booking rules! We have now enhanced the way you book reservations in an enhanced way! You can now, through our enchanced changes, book up to 7 days of your stay at 11 months of your arrival in one call. This enhancement was based on requests that we enhance the system! Also, thanks to this wonderful enhancement, we have also enhanced waitlists! With the new enhanced waitlist system, you can now put your entire stay in one enhanced waitlist instead of individual days. Enjoy the new enhancements!

I think you missed an "enchancement" or two, but that seems about right.

 

[dzorn]

If I cant figure out how to get VWL for XMAS eve-I will take comfort that a fellow VWL owner will be in the room, as you point out though.

Oh not necessarily it could very well be a renter from someone that was lucky enough to snag all 7 days at rent them at a premium.


Denise in MI

 

[bookwormde]

Now that we semi-officially know that they are going to do DBD after 7 the long stay people should be very happy. For us less than 7-day people our situation has gone from bad to worse. Not only do the 7 day members whose vacations overlap ours but start earlier have and advantage but the 7 day + DBD have and advantage over us and the first 7 day bookers.

This does present and opportunity to partially correct the situation without a total change. Here it is.

Let Members book any number of days (contiguous) during the same timeframe as same as a full 7 day reservation, with the acceptance of the restriction that you could no extend the less than 7 day stay DBD until the individual days were within the 11-month window. This essentially opens up the booking window when the end of your initial reservation reaches the 11-month date. Same thing would work at the 7-month area.

This would still put us behind the DBD extenders (except for 1 day reservation) but it is a lot fairer than where we are now unless we have enough points to “game the system”

This would also give everyone a shot at any resort/room at the same time (new years, Christmas Thanksgiving etc.) (with some extending restrictions)

I still think that for both short and full 7 day initial reservation there should be a moratorium of 21 days for a partial cancellation to limit the gaming).

This would also allow members who wanted 7 days but were missing a day on either end to try to pick those days up later.

What does everyone think of these modifications?

I do think that my full rebuild I proposed earlier would be more fair but much less likely to be adopted, and even though I will never book a &7+ reservation I do have some sympathy for those trying to stay at the same place and room for a long vacation, so I could live with this modification.

bookwormde

 

[bookwormde]

Dcamdad

EDIT I just checked the poll I thought you were referring to bet the thread was still active. What is the link? I want to make sure my reply is accurate.

WOW I was almost clairvoyant, for some reason my post are entering 1 hour ahead of time, I checked my profile and I have the right time zone.

I know that the moderators are trying to keep all the post on this subject consolidated into 1 thread (if not it would likely take over the entire first page of planning)

I also know that they are considering requests for threads on this general subject, which cannot be effectively discussed within this thread. I would think that the polls would fall into this category.

bookworm

 

[jdg345]

I agree, except its no longer an "11 month" window, and thats what is confusing. Is it 11 months, 11 months and 7 days, 11 months and 4 days, 11 months and 3 weeks "rolling/walking"?

If I cant figure out how to get VWL for XMAS eve-I will take comfort that a fellow VWL owner will be in the room, as you point out though.

Unless, of course, a spec renter picks up the week and sells it on eBay to some non-DVC owner.

 

[jdg345]

When they were telling people to call back in a week to book the next 7 nights, then the 7-night limit made sense because on day 8 the person seeking to extend their stay was competing for those additional nights. Now that they have decided you can extend your stay via DBD booking starting on day 2, the 7-night limit doesn't make sense -- the person booking the longer stay essentially has blocked anyone else from booking that room so why not just let them book it for their entire stay in one call. This assumes we are correct about what happens if I call and my first night(s) are not available. We've assumed that if we cannot get the first night or couple of nights that we cannot book any nights in that 7-night window. If we're wrong about that and we can waitlist nights 1-N (where N<7) and book the remaining nights we need (up through night 7) then that really changes things. If I call to book 7 nights and can't get nights 1-6 but they let me book night 7 and waitlist nights 1-6, I could take away the room needed by the person trying to extend their stay (or walk their reservation) if I get through to MS first.

So I would like to know, what is their intention here? Did they intend for those staying 7 nights or less to have a shot at booking the same nights someone else needs for a longer stay? And if so, will I be able to book whatever nights I can get on my first call? Or is the goal to maximize the chances of someone getting all of their nights in which case why not just let the person booking a long stay get it over with in one call since they will have the rest of us blocked out anyway?

Or, it could just be that DVC picked some number based on average LOS, and came up with 7. They did this without any regard or thought as to what ripples the change would really create. If the 'Room Lock Theory' holds, then whether you call Day 2 or Day 7 to extend, you should be fine.

Now, if they allow you to waitlist for days beyond the first, then it certainly could create a bit of a mess. Yuk.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I just heard the message from MS about the "enhancements." I also had to laugh, especially at the "enhancement" to the WL. It's like my local ice cream parlor had enhanced its menu by now only offering vanilla so I would have to worry my pretty little head about making a choice!

I think that the new booking policy will reduce some stress by providing members with feedback on whether they needed to book DBD in the past. If you call and can book your reservation at 11 months from check-in, this is good evidence that no DBD was ever needed for a similar reservation.

Unfortunately, if you call at 11 months from check in and cannot book, then this is good evidence that the DBD booking you did in the past was needed! You are now free to get upset about the change in the booking policy and to stress out while trying to modify your vacation plans so that you can use your points before they expire. -- Suzanne

 

[ransom]

I spoke with Joy of DVC's Communications department today. She was responding to an email I sent a few days ago regarding the recent changes.

In regards to booking, she confirmed that the official policy is that one may book the 8th through Nth days of a reservation DBD starting after the first call. So you call and get days 1-7, then call the next day for day 8, and so on. Good enough.

Regarding waitlists, she said that if you call and day 1 is unavailable, you may waitlist that day (and that day only), but you may then not book any additional days until the following day. So, you can't call, wait list day 1, then book days 2-7. You'll have to wait until the next day to try to book days two through (by then) eight.

She also said that one may waitlist individual days, but only if they are non-contiguous. So if days 2, 4, 7, and 8 were unavailable, you could have one waitlist for day 2, one waitlist for day 4, and one for days 7 & 8. You would not be allowed to waitlist days 7 and 8 separately.

Regarding my #1 concern -- that the new system is less equitable than the old one -- she said that they monitor bookings very closely, and listen very carefully to member feedback. So if this doesn't work, they'll make necessary changes. But they do not expect this to be a negative for the members. They expect this change to work out over time to the benefit of the membership. While it may be that members have to wait list when calling at 11 months for certain properties and times, they fully expect (based on prior patterns of member usage) that those wait lists will be filled.

So, I'm willing to wait and see how it goes. I'm certainly happier knowing that I'll be able to book days 8-14 without waiting a week. Hopefully it'll all work out!

 

[MichiganMouse1967]

When they were telling people to call back in a week to book the next 7 nights, then the 7-night limit made sense because on day 8 the person seeking to extend their stay was competing for those additional nights. Now that they have decided you can extend your stay via DBD booking starting on day 2, the 7-night limit doesn't make sense -- the person booking the longer stay essentially has blocked anyone else from booking that room so why not just let them book it for their entire stay in one call. This assumes we are correct about what happens if I call and my first night(s) are not available. We've assumed that if we cannot get the first night or couple of nights that we cannot book any nights in that 7-night window. If we're wrong about that and we can waitlist nights 1-N (where N<7) and book the remaining nights we need (up through night 7) then that really changes things. If I call to book 7 nights and can't get nights 1-6 but they let me book night 7 and waitlist nights 1-6, I could take away the room needed by the person trying to extend their stay (or walk their reservation) if I get through to MS first.

So I would like to know, what is their intention here? Did they intend for those staying 7 nights or less to have a shot at booking the same nights someone else needs for a longer stay? And if so, will I be able to book whatever nights I can get on my first call? Or is the goal to maximize the chances of someone getting all of their nights in which case why not just let the person booking a long stay get it over with in one call since they will have the rest of us blocked out anyway?

I would like clarification on this as well. If I want to book 7 nights, but only nights 4-7 are available, I would like the option to book those nights that are available since they're within the 7-night window. Then I would either waitlist for nights 1-3 or extend my vacation beyond the 7 nights I originally wanted by doing DBD booking, if that's what they're allowing. (Did that make sense? )

 

[Joan S.]

There is, of course, a reason why "walking" or "rolling" a reservation is considered, by many, an abuse of the system where DBD booking was not.

If you are booking day by day, a process advised by MS, you are making reservations that you will actually be using. When you "walk" a reservation, you are making a reservation, or more likely MANY reservations, that you know you will not be using and will, in fact, be clogging up days that other members may be legimately trying to book.

But never let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

This I AGREE with!! And how long before DVC- MS does SOMETHING to close this loophole of "walking" a reservation?? Joan

 

[MichiganMouse1967]

Regarding waitlists, she said that if you call and day 1 is unavailable, you may waitlist that day (and that day only), but you may then not book any additional days until the following day. So, you can't call, wait list day 1, then book days 2-7. You'll have to wait until the next day to try to book days two through (by then) eight.


So, I'm willing to wait and see how it goes. I'm certainly happier knowing that I'll be able to book days 8-14 without waiting a week. Hopefully it'll all work out!

I guess that answers my earlier question. I'm willing to wait and see what happens. I'm pretty flexible so as long as I can get my 7-night vacation in the vicinity of the dates I'm shooting for, I'll be happy. If my first night isn't available, then I'll just call each following day until I get the full 7 nights.

 

[jdg345]

I would like clarification on this as well. If I want to book 7 nights, but only nights 4-7 are available, I would like the option to book those nights that are available since they're within the 7-night window. Then I would either waitlist for nights 1-3 or extend my vacation beyond the 7 nights I originally wanted by doing DBD booking, if that's what they're allowing. (Did that make sense? )

They are not allowing this at this time. If Day 1 is not available, you can Waitlist Day-1 and then call back the next day to see if 2-7 (or 8, at that point) are. You cannot waitlist as part of the 11+7 booking 'enhancement'. All 7 days must be available, they must be at the same resort, and in the same category. Stays inside the 11 month window can be split, of course.

 

[mrdiscranky]

In regards to booking, she confirmed that the official policy is that one may book the 8th through Nth days of a reservation DBD starting after the first call. So you call and get days 1-7, then call the next day for day 8, and so on.

Is it just me, or is this just stupid. If you are going to let folks book day 8 on day 2, why not let them book day 8 on day 1?

 

[jdg345]

I spoke with Joy of DVC's Communications department today. She was responding to an email I sent a few days ago regarding the recent changes.

In regards to booking, she confirmed that the official policy is that one may book the 8th through Nth days of a reservation DBD starting after the first call. So you call and get days 1-7, then call the next day for day 8, and so on. Good enough.

Regarding waitlists, she said that if you call and day 1 is unavailable, you may waitlist that day (and that day only), but you may then not book any additional days until the following day. So, you can't call, wait list day 1, then book days 2-7. You'll have to wait until the next day to try to book days two through (by then) eight.

She also said that one may waitlist individual days, but only if they are non-contiguous. So if days 2, 4, 7, and 8 were unavailable, you could have one waitlist for day 2, one waitlist for day 4, and one for days 7 & 8. You would not be allowed to waitlist days 7 and 8 separately.

Regarding my #1 concern -- that the new system is less equitable than the old one -- she said that they monitor bookings very closely, and listen very carefully to member feedback. So if this doesn't work, they'll make necessary changes. But they do not expect this to be a negative for the members. They expect this change to work out over time to the benefit of the membership. While it may be that members have to wait list when calling at 11 months for certain properties and times, they fully expect (based on prior patterns of member usage) that those wait lists will be filled.

So, I'm willing to wait and see how it goes. I'm certainly happier knowing that I'll be able to book days 8-14 without waiting a week. Hopefully it'll all work out!

Which means you can also Book days -7 through 0 as well and then walk forward.

 

[jdg345]

This I AGREE with!! And how long before DVC- MS does SOMETHING to close this loophole of "walking" a reservation?? Joan

Considering that the 'Official Word' appears to be that you can book Day-8 on Day-2, it doesn't look like the loophole is being closed -- more like officially allowed.

 

[jdg345]

Is it just me, or is this just stupid. If you are going to let folks book day 8 on day 2, why not let them book day 8 on day 1?

Because 8 is more than 7, and 7 is the max! Duh!

 

[LisaS]

I spoke with Joy of DVC's Communications department today. She was responding to an email I sent a few days ago regarding the recent changes.

In regards to booking, she confirmed that the official policy is that one may book the 8th through Nth days of a reservation DBD starting after the first call. So you call and get days 1-7, then call the next day for day 8, and so on. Good enough.

Regarding waitlists, she said that if you call and day 1 is unavailable, you may waitlist that day (and that day only), but you may then not book any additional days until the following day. So, you can't call, wait list day 1, then book days 2-7. You'll have to wait until the next day to try to book days two through (by then) eight.

Thanks for asking about this. So given these two pieces of information, they may as well let people book longer stays on the first call. Once those members secure their first 7 nights they have other members blocked out. The end result will be the same either way, they are just forcing them to make more calls to MS.

 

[bookwormde]

I am preparing to mail a copy of my Ideas to Members Satisfaction Team since I received no reply to my first email.

I am still looking to the mailing address.

Can anyone help before I call MS to get it.

bookwormde

 

[zulaya]

I just heard the message from MS about the "enhancements." I also had to laugh, especially at the "enhancement" to the WL. It's like my local ice cream parlor had enhanced its menu by now only offering vanilla so I would have to worry my pretty little head about making a choice!

I agree with your analogy.

I think that the new booking policy will reduce some stress by providing members with feedback on whether they needed to book DBD in the past. If you call and can book your reservation at 11 months from check-in, this is good evidence that no DBD was ever needed for a similar reservation.

Unfortunately, if you call at 11 months from check in and cannot book, then this is good evidence that the DBD booking you did in the past was needed! You are now free to get upset about the change in the booking policy and to stress out while trying to modify your vacation plans so that you can use your points before they expire. -- Suzanne

I think this is an excellent point, even if I don't agree with the new policy. This may prove to the members who complained about DBD booking that it wasn't the big deal they thought it was, for the majority of the time.