Question re: Changing ressie inside 30 days

[ChickieToo]

I have two rooms booked at BCV April 14-19. Both were waitlisted to add the night of the 19th checking out on the 20th. One came through, so I took it, with hopes that the other would come through too. That room is currently booked at SSR. Since I believe it gets more and more remote to get a waitlist the closer it gets to your travel date, I've begun to explore alternatives.

I gave the waitlist that came through to my sister and her family thinking that if someone had to move we would since we know the drill. Now my sister is saying that maybe we all should move if the waitlist for April 19 doesn't come through. To that end, if say, two weeks out we decide to cancel the ressie at BCV for the 19th and switch it back over to SSR, how is the switch handled? Would it be a simple change to the reservation, or will it be a cancellation with the points for the night of the 19th going into holding since it is less than 31 days out?

If that were the case I'd most likely not use those points as I have a June UY so I'd loose them and I'd have to borrow points from next year back into this year for the last night. That scenario just doesn't make sense to me.

Can someone let me know how such a change would be handled?

Thanks

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Member Services would have to give you the difinitive answer, but my guess is that it would be a cancellation and the points would go into holding. But, you'd then be booking the room at SSR with those same points. There'll be a few points difference between the BCV and SSR room (you didn't say how many bedrooms you had, so I can't say how many). Those few points would be lost if you don't use them by the end of the use year.

SSR's a big place, so you might not have a problem, but you might have a problem getting a room back at SSR that close to when you want it.

 

[Caskbill]

I think it all depends on availability at SSR.

Basically you are cancelling the last day. Those points would go into holding. If SSR has availability, you can go ahead and use the Holding points to make that one day reservation.

If you have Studios, for example, you would probably lose the 1 point difference between BCV (14 pts) and SSR (13 pts). It would remain as 1 holding point and you probably wouldn't have an opportunity to use it.

So before you cancel, verify SSR has a room.

 

[Dean]

You could make this switch up until the day before you arrive if the rooms were available at SSR. I hope it works out for you.

 

[ChickieToo]

Thanks for the info. I will contact MS tomorrow. For some reason I was drawing a blank on the use and availability of holding points. So long as I can use them right away, and there remains availablity at SSR, I should be okay.

Thanks again.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I know you didn't ask this, but it may make sense for both families to have 1 family not move on that last day. As far as I am concerned, the worst thing about switching resorts is being "homeless" on the switch day while waiting for the room at the new resort. With one family staying put, you can share it as a home base for that day. Just a thought.

Also, I think that you still have a chance of getting that waitlist for the last night at BCV. A waitlist for a single night is the easiest to get and people on this Board have reported luck up in such circumstances until the very day before. We once got a BW view during F&W the last day business day before we arrived. Yes, its a very busy time of year, but people do change plans right up until the last minute.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[MarylandMommy]

I agree with SuzanneSLO. Hold out for the waitlist. I know it is very nerve-racking. We went last November and were waitlisted for our first night at VWL - 2 bedroom. I even went to the "7 days out" when you have to call every day. It came through 3 days before we left. When we got there, after we got our room assignment, I asked to be switched closer to the elevator. The CM told me they were completely booked and were giving away free nights at the AKL, if we wanted to move. That is how booked they were! I say hold tight!
Good luck!

 

[ChickieToo]

Thanks again for all the replies. For the record, I do not want to move, so we will try to wait it out until the very end. I became a believer in the waitlist when we used for the first time in our 5 years of owning when planning this trip. I originally had to split my stay between BCV and OKW for three studios. I waitlisted and lo and behold, they all came through for the final two days. DB cancelled so I gave up one studio and that freed up points so I added a night for the other two studios but there was no availability at BCV so I took SSR. Then one of thos came through. Hoping for some pixie dust that the last night comes through soon!

 

[Pennyguy23]

Don't give up on the waitlist. We got our last night while we were at BCVs. We got Thursday night on Tuesday night. Just keep calling or if it still hasn't come through when you get there, just go to the front desk after dinner at night and ask. Thats what we did and it worked. Good luck.

 

[ChickieToo]

This is just an update to those who might be reading this and aren't convinced of the value of waitlisting.

I called MS today to make sure I remained waitlisted because tomorrow will be 30 days from my travel date. When I spoke to the CM she told me that my waitlist had come through. This was about 5:10 tonight, and I hadn't had a call from MS telling me my waitlist had come through, so I don't know if it would have slipped away had I not called for another reason. That is another discussion for a different day. However, the good news is that I made the right call at the right time and I now have all my days for both rooms with no moving which makes us all very happy. I had a feeling that if it were going to come through it would be today as it is the 31 day mark.

Again, this is just a reminder that the waitlist is a good system, and I would encourage anyone who never tried it because they were wary to give it a whirl. I realize it can't be 100%, but the nature of the system including cancellation and banking deadlines provides for quite a bit of success if you can just be patient.

Thanks to all that provided encouraging words.