Waitlisting

[Mark Thornhill]

Long time DVC member, but never really tried or needed to waitlist. I am certain many factors determine the success rate of getting the desired resort.... time of year, resort popularity, etc. Just wondering a few things as this is my first go:

Trying to book 2 BR BCV for 6 nights in March. Got a few nights on the front end booked and will waitlist the last few days.

1. What are my chances?
2. Any pointers? Waitlist one night at a time (up to 2)?
3. How successful were you in the past?

 

[jshadd]

I've had good results with wait listings. These may not apply to you this time, but this has been my experience.

• Make the waitlist as soon as possible. Waitlists are prioritized based on the date the waitlist was made. The waitlist search will also have more opportunities to match up.

• If you have another waitlist available, use them to request other choices.

• Make sure you regularly look at the reservation you want. Sometimes you may find a booking before the waitlist search has taken effect.

• Shorter waitlists have a better chance of being successful. If you can split the reservation into two date ranges on the front and then waitlist both of them, you may have a better chance over time than trying to waitlist the entire vacation.

• Make the reservation at eleven-months at your home resort first. This guarantees a room for your stay. Then make your waitlist(s) to the location(s) that you prefer. If the accommodation is not at your home resort, you won’t be able to make the waitlist until eligible at the seven-month window.

• The best time to make sure that you have a waitlist for a preferred location is when people are making changes to their reservation. This usually happens around the seven-month window and can occur 30 days from a reservation as members will be making final decisions regarding their booking. Don’t lose hope your reservation may come in at the last minute.

If you are looking to book a Two-Bedroom, you’ll have a better chance to waitlist a Dedicated Two-Bedroom than a Lock-Off unit. For many resorts, there are two kinds of Two-Bedroom accommodations. The Lock-off units are named because they are made by adjoining Studios and One-Bedroom units, while the dedicated units are stand-alone Two-Bedrooms. For a Lock-off to be available, both the Studio and the One-Bedroom have to be available. Since Studios are the most in-demand accommodation, the Lock-off units will usually follow the studio availability.

 

[Sandisw]

When we have part of the days, we do waitlist for the connecting day on its own and then stalk.

If we get that, we waitlist the next connecting day and follow that pattern.

 

[EatMoreVeg]

I think your best bet is probably to waitlist one night at a time since my understanding is that the waitlist tool will only pick up your full wait list. So if you've got 3 days under 1 waitlist, but only two of the nights become available, you'd be skipped in favour of someone who might have those exact two nights waitlisted, or if no one did, it would go to the person who had one of those nights waitlisted. You've got a good chunk of time until March 2023, so I'd be optimistic that they come through eventually! My other advice would be to stalk the system, check daily if you can to see if any of those nights pop up and snag them as you can as well.

I have been fairly lucky with waitlist success. I waitlisted both an AKL club level studio and AKL value studio, one night at a time for our last trip in May 2022 and I think they all came through by the end of March. I think I even had to waitlist within the 7 month window as we had to add some days due to flight cancellations, and points were tight which is why I was hoping for the value studio, but sure enough, it came through one day at a time until we had a total of 5 days.

 

[Huskerpaul]

When we have part of the days, we do waitlist for the connecting day on its own and then stalk.

If we get that, we waitlist the next connecting day and follow that pattern.

Great advice! This is the method I used to get three nights in a studio at VGC at less than 90 days from check-in (we leave Sunday). It was a combination of stalking and waitlist coming in. Can't stress enough checking for reservations regularly. I'm still checking today just in the off chance I can add a day on the front end of my reservation.

 

[RoseGold]

This is a tough one because BC is so small. I would waitlist one day at a time and assume it will not happen. This is very few rooms at a peak time. If BC does become available, it could be in the 30-40 day range as people cancel and move stuff around. That's when stalking can really help.

I would want the last part of the trip in one day segments, so it is easy to swap and cancel. You can always combine later. I would do one day at a time always for a peak season. If you have the points, you can do something like two one-day waitlists, knowing you'll have to cancel something eventually. When Day 5 opens, you can fill it, and hope you get Day 4 also.

If you don't like the other booking, with the other waitlist, the other school of thought would be to waitlist something for the last 3 nights that you like and is likely to fill, like Kidani 2BR savanna.