Waitlisting Question - Have current reservation

[Family-of-4]

Hi All - Staying at Jambo Thanksgiving week for 5 nights - arriving Saturday and going home Thanksgiving day. We wanted all 5 nights in 2BR but only the first 4 nights were available - the last night is a separate reservation for a 1BR. What is the best way to waitlist that last night in a 2BR if it comes open? Should we just waitlist the one night & then try to get the ressies linked or should we waitlist the entire 5 nights to ensure we don't have to move rooms. If we waitlist just the one night, is there still a chance we'd have to move from one 2BR to another? Goal is to not have to change rooms. Is this best done online or on the phone? Any help is much appreciated?

 

[JWG]

Call to waitlist the 1 night.
They will put notes on the waitlist to connect it to your existing reservation and if same room size and category you wouldn't need to move.

Also, check the website periodically. Rooms that come up during the day, aren't matched to the waitlist until overnight.

No need to waitlist all nights.

 

[disneynutz]

Wait list the last night and if it comes through, have MS modify your original reservation to include the last night and cancel the new reservation.

No need to link if you get an experienced MS CM.

Bill

 

[Family-of-4]

Thanks JWG and Bill! If the waitlist does come through for that last night, will the 1BR we already have reserved for that night be automatically cancelled and points applied to the 2BR. Or will the full allotment be used with new points (borrowing in our case) for the 2BR? The 1BR ressie was done with borrowed points so don't want to have extra points borrowed that we don't need since when we cancel the 1BR, those borrowed points can't be put back into their original UY (or would this happen & then I'd have to contact MS to fix?). (Sorry, have never waitlisted before so not clear how all this works).

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks JWG and Bill! If the waitlist does come through for that last night, will the 1BR we already have reserved for that night be automatically cancelled and points applied to the 2BR. Or will the full allotment be used with new points (borrowing in our case) for the 2BR? The 1BR ressie was done with borrowed points so don't want to have extra points borrowed that we don't need since when we cancel the 1BR, those borrowed points can't be put back into their original UY (or would this happen & then I'd have to contact MS to fix?). (Sorry, have never waitlisted before so not clear how all this works).

Here is my hint when dealing with MS, never assume or expect anything. Keep track of everything separate from your account online.

You need to tell MS what to do when you make the request. "Use points from this reservation for this reservation". "Use borrowed points first". "Modify reservation 2345763823 to include extra day".

I always make my requests online with the contact form on the member website so I have a record.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks JWG and Bill! If the waitlist does come through for that last night, will the 1BR we already have reserved for that night be automatically cancelled and points applied to the 2BR. Or will the full allotment be used with new points (borrowing in our case) for the 2BR? The 1BR ressie was done with borrowed points so don't want to have extra points borrowed that we don't need since when we cancel the 1BR, those borrowed points can't be put back into their original UY (or would this happen & then I'd have to contact MS to fix?). (Sorry, have never waitlisted before so not clear how all this works).

First - be sure that whatever you waitlist for is EXACTLY the same booking category as your existing 2 bedroom reservation. For example, do not waitlist for a lock-off 2 bedroom if you have a dedicated 2 bedroom.

Make sure the waitlist is set up to cancel the 1 bedroom reservation if the waitlist comes through. There is an option to do this online or you can just call MS and have them do it. Again, be sure to tell them you want the 1 bedroom to be cancelled if the waitlist works.

Either way, you will have to give permission to borrow the extra points needed for the 2 bedroom.

Since the 2 bedroom will take more points than the 1 bedroom (so no danger of extra points going into holding), set up the waitlist to expire 7 days prior to arrival rather than the more common 30 days.

HTH

 

[dismedvc]

What Carol said above is exactly correct.
HOWEVER, if your waitlist does come through, call and have a MS supervisor combine your reservations.

We just had a very similar waitlist situation come through last week.
We had a 1 BR at BWV for the first 2 nights of our trip, and a studio for the last night.
We setup an online waitlist request for the last night, for the exact same 1 BR category as our first two nights, and when the waitlist came through they canceled the studio for that last night and used those points as part of the points required for the 1BR.

At that point we had two reservation numbers. (One for the first two nights and a second for the third night) When I called member services to make sure we would not have to change rooms, the first CM I talked with said she would put in a request that we wanted to stay in the same room, but there was no guarantee. I asked if the two reservations could be combined, and she told me that would require a supervisor. She put me on hold, and the supervisor made it so it so all three nights showed up under one reservation number, which I immediately saw online.

That combined reservation guarantees you will not have to change rooms, but as Carol said, the room category needs to be identical as do the names of the guests in the room for the reservations to be combined.

For your waitlist to come through