please explain 11 month + 10 booking to me?

[Sparrow624]

Title says it all. New dvc member and I keep seeing this mentioned. Is this the same as "walking?"

 

[rlovew]

I think you have things mixed up between DVC and dining.

With a DVC reservation you can book up to 7 days at 11 months not 10 days. At exactly 11 months at your home resort you can book any available room for up to 7 days. If you need more days you have to call later to add to your reservation, if you call before the 7 days are out you should have no trouble adding them as you already have that room blocked off for your reservation.

When you book dining you can book at 180 days and you can book for your entire reservation (up to 10 days so that is where +10 comes in).

Walking is booking a room before you need it to lock it in and then modify the reservation as days go by adding to the end and taking off from the beginning until you get to the reservation you actually need. There is a long thread that debates things about it but that is the most simple explanation of what people mean by walking.

 

[Minniesgal]

No such thing as 11 month plus 10

 

[LaurenT]

Yes - its walking. When I book I start at 11 months plus 10 days and drop the first day and add the last until I have all the days I want. Probably not necessary to start that far out, but I prefer the value studio at AKL because it's a few points less - which means I can stay longer for the same points. There are very few of them, so I start early!

 

[Splashboat]

You can only book a max. of 7 days when walking at 11 months.

 

[Sparrow624]

Yes - its walking. When I book I start at 11 months plus 10 days and drop the first day and add the last until I have all the days I want. Probably not necessary to start that far out, but I prefer the value studio at AKL because it's a few points less - which means I can stay longer for the same points. There are very few of them, so I start early!

Thanks. I had seen this mentioned and called "11 months + 10" on a few different sites and wanted to know if it was what I thought. Answered my question.

 

[Splashboat]

Just to be clear, there isn't an "11 months +10". You can only book 7 days at the 11 month mark regardless of walking. If you want to take a trip longer than 7 days you need to call back and add days.

 

[LaurenT]

You can only book a max. of 7 days when walking at 11 months.

True, but you can start whenever you want. If I want to stay from aug 20 to 30, I can start by booking aug 10 to 17 when Aug 10 is 11 months out... And then I can adjust that until I have what I want. So I am starting the process at 11 months plus 10 days out....

 

[tjkraz]

True, but you can start whenever you want. If I want to stay from aug 20 to 30, I can start by booking aug 10 to 17 when Aug 10 is 11 months out... And then I can adjust that until I have what I want. So I am starting the process at 11 months plus 10 days out....

If August 10 is available to book at exactly 11 months, is there some reason to think that August 20 won't also be available at 11 months?

Just seems like a lot of wasted effort to me.

 

[Splashboat]

I am not following how that makes sense. Technically (given your scenario) you don't have to wait until 8/10, you can start booking anytime prior to 8/10 and book more days than 10 days.
Why would 10 be the golden number for walking - you are not limited to 10 if you start early enough? Also worth mentioning, this scenario has a change in season which would mean using and then banking points so people need to be careful when considering walking.

 

[Sparrow624]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am not planning on doing it, just was curious what it was when I had seen it referenced on a few different sites.

 

[LaurenT]

Not saying that 10 is a magic number - just when I start getting nervous, so that's usually when I start so I know I have the unit I want. I think there are only 8 or 10 value studios .... So if/when I see that a full week is available, I book it. The change in season doesn't affect me because my final reservation is two weeks long. So once I have the first seven, I'm adding to it anyway. Is it a waste of time? Maybe. But I've checked the day after in the past and have found that had I waited I would not have gotten all my nights.

 

[tjkraz]

I think there are only 8 or 10 value studios ....

There are 18 value studios.

So if/when I see that a full week is available, I book it. The change in season doesn't affect me because my final reservation is two weeks long. So once I have the first seven, I'm adding to it anyway. Is it a waste of time? Maybe. But I've checked the day after in the past and have found that had I waited I would not have gotten all my nights.

The unfortunate byproduct is that you're likely harming someone else in the process. While you're holding that Value Studio for (approx) 8/10 to 8/19 with no intention of keeping it, someone else is attempting to book those dates at 11 months and finding no availability.

 

[LaurenT]

I hold each progressive date for one day. If someone wants to make sure they get the room they want, they are welcome to walk as well. If I don't walk and someone else does, then I will be the unfortunate byproduct.
But I didn't post to debate walking, I was just answering OPs question.

 

[tasha99]

If August 10 is available to book at exactly 11 months, is there some reason to think that August 20 won't also be available at 11 months?

Just seems like a lot of wasted effort to me.

This. I don't doubt there are times when walking is necessary, but I bet early August is higher demand than late. We travel in late August/early September, and every single resort had rooms at 7 months, even VGF, BLT etc. Walking only makes sense to me when you're walking into a higher demand period (grabbing the week at an Epcot resort before food and wine, for example).

-snip--

The unfortunate byproduct is that you're likely harming someone else in the process. While you're holding that Value Studio for (approx) 8/10 to 8/19 with no intention of keeping it, someone else is attempting to book those dates at 11 months and finding no availability.

It's not really hurting anyone else--the rooms will open back up and someone will get them.

 

[tjkraz]

It's not really hurting anyone else--the rooms will open back up and someone will get them.

Tell that to the AKV owner who logs-in the afternoon of 9/10 and finds that there are no rooms available in their desired booking category for a reservation starting 8/10 of the next year. When the unwanted / unneeded 9/10 room is finally cancelled, there is no way to guarantee it will land in the hands of the owner who would have otherwise gotten it.

I hope DVC takes action to stop this practice sooner rather than later. As more and more members fall under the perception that "if I don't walk, someone else will and they'll get my room", we will all be harmed in the long run.

Every single time an owner logs-in and cannot get the room they seek...particularly at 11 months...they should be really angry knowing there's a high probability some "walker" is tying up a room they have no intention of using. Hopefully that anger will manifest itself in the form of complaints to member services.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Tell that to the AKV owner who logs-in the afternoon of 9/10 and finds that there are no rooms available in their desired booking category for a reservation starting 8/10 of the next year. When the unwanted / unneeded 9/10 room is finally cancelled, there is no way to guarantee it will land in the hands of the owner who would have otherwise gotten it.

I hope DVC takes action to stop this practice sooner rather than later. As more and more members fall under the perception that "if I don't walk, someone else will and they'll get my room", we will all be harmed in the long run.

Every single time an owner logs-in and cannot get the room they seek...particularly at 11 months...they should be really angry knowing there's a high probability some "walker" is tying up a room they have no intention of using. Hopefully that anger will manifest itself in the form of complaints to member services.

I understand the sentiment you are expressing but do disagree that an owner that can't get exactly the room they want has a right to be angry. Other than the few people that bought fixed weeks none of us are guaranteed to get a room at 11 months anytime we wish. The good thing is that we most likely will but still, it's not guaranteed. I also think the fix would probably hurt more. Since it's equal for everyone to walk a reservation if they wish I don't feel anyone is at a significant disadvantage.

However I also believe that most reservations are bookable at 11 months. The ones that are difficult were difficult under the previous booking system too.

 

[tasha99]

Tell that to the AKV owner who logs-in the afternoon of 9/10 and finds that there are no rooms available in their desired booking category for a reservation starting 8/10 of the next year. When the unwanted / unneeded 9/10 room is finally cancelled, there is no way to guarantee it will land in the hands of the owner who would have otherwise gotten it.

I hope DVC takes action to stop this practice sooner rather than later. As more and more members fall under the perception that "if I don't walk, someone else will and they'll get my room", we will all be harmed in the long run.

Every single time an owner logs-in and cannot get the room they seek...particularly at 11 months...they should be really angry knowing there's a high probability some "walker" is tying up a room they have no intention of using. Hopefully that anger will manifest itself in the form of complaints to member services.

Right--it may land in the hands of another owner who has just as much right to the room as the person who looked earlier. If the first person used the wait list, maybe they will get it. During the busiest times, there will always be people who don't get a room--that's going to happen whether people walk or not. Walking is a smaller phenomenon than people seem to think--it works for very high demand rooms during high demand times at 11 months. It's only for the rarest room categories--GV's, club level, standard rooms etc.

I think people walk unnecessarily, but people also blame a lot of availability problems on walking that they shouldn't. There's a new thread somewhere on the internet every week or two about walking at 7 months at VGC (or more likely--"I couldn't get a room because of walking"). That's not the issue at all. Walking at VGC at 7 months is futile--people can't get rooms there because it's small and the only DVC resort in the area.

But . . . as for the OP, 11+10 doesn't mean anything. You can walk 11+7, but unless you're trying for something like a grand villa at BWV during food and wine, it's probably a waste of time.

(Edited to add this is obviously all "in my opinion.")

 

[Missyrose]

Tell that to the AKV owner who logs-in the afternoon of 9/10 and finds that there are no rooms available in their desired booking category for a reservation starting 8/10 of the next year. When the unwanted / unneeded 9/10 room is finally cancelled, there is no way to guarantee it will land in the hands of the owner who would have otherwise gotten it.

I hope DVC takes action to stop this practice sooner rather than later. As more and more members fall under the perception that "if I don't walk, someone else will and they'll get my room", we will all be harmed in the long run.

Every single time an owner logs-in and cannot get the room they seek...particularly at 11 months...they should be really angry knowing there's a high probability some "walker" is tying up a room they have no intention of using. Hopefully that anger will manifest itself in the form of complaints to member services.

Do we really believe walking has become that plentiful that every time we don't find the room we want, it can automatically be blamed on walking? Really? I think walking gets talked about a lot on these boards. But I really don't think the practice is used nearly as much as people assume.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Do we really believe walking has become that plentiful that every time we don't find the room we want, it can automatically be blamed on walking? Really? I think walking gets talked about a lot on these boards. But I really don't think the practice is used nearly as much as people assume.

I tend to agree aside from the fact that there are < 20 value studios at AK. It doesn't take but just a few people smart enough to know how to work the system to screw the pooch on this one. Again, I Agree in most cases, but this is a prime example of why it doesn't work as intended, unless, of course; you're the one working the system.

I'm not bad-mouthing walking in general. I've actually considered doing it a couple of times too, but have just never had to.