Why Are There Cash Rooms Available But No DVC Rooms?

[ccbloom]

I'm trying to make a reservation for the end of January, and there are basically no rooms available. I call Member Services today, and they tell me that there is a cash room available for a discount at BWV (where we want to stay), but there are no DVC rooms available. How is that possible and how is that even fair?

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm trying to make a reservation for the end of January, and there are basically no rooms available. I call Member Services today, and they tell me that there is a cash room available for a discount at BWV (where we want to stay), but there are no DVC rooms available. How is that possible and how is that even fair?

From my understanding it is to offset when someone trades their points in for say a cruise or adventures by Disney. DVC has to come up with the money some how so they put those rooms into the cash pot. That way DVC makes the money they need to now pay DCL, Avengers By Disney or any of the other tradeable entaties.

 

[ccbloom]

That's great that they want to make money, and they already have my money! Seeing as there are NO rooms anywhere for the full week of Jan 26-Feb 2 for DVC members to rent, you'd think that they would free some of them up

 

[chalee94]

That's great that they want to make money, and they already have my money! Seeing as there are NO rooms anywhere for the full week of Jan 26-Feb 2 for DVC members to rent, you'd think that they would free some of them up

it's a common source of confusion.

but when DVC owners trade their pts for cruises and wdw hotels, DVC has to turn those pts into cash to give the other disney divisions (which have no use for the points). so those cash rooms are typically booked with DVC pts already which DVC is trying to turn into cash to pay for DVC owners' trades.

sometimes the cash rooms are booked with disney's points (that they own from foreclosures, ROFRs or just unsold pts). they have a right to book rooms with their pts to rent for cash just like any other owner.

in short, you are asking them to book with your pts what is already booked on pts. that's not going to work.

there is a case where DVC gives all available short-term inventory to disney to rent for cash (called "breakage" inventory) - this can be pulled back into points inventory but it's pretty rare. if you've already talked to MS, then this is not breakage inventory that we are talking about.

DVC will never work well if you are trying to book a month or 2 out. larger resorts like SSR or OKW or AKV may have something available but disappointment is pretty common when you are looking at the last minute.

but as the guy at maelstrom used to say, "you are not the first to pass this way":

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2688789

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2508169

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2334576

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3201387

 

[MountainMouse]

Those rooms that DVC has available for cash are booked with points from somewhere, traded in or whatever. I'm fine with that and I feel comfortable its on the up and up. What I don't understand and haven't been able to get a straight answer on is how do they decided which rooms to book. Is it based on their expected demand? Are there any rules governing it? Can they book at exactly 11 months? Do they have a booking advantage? If no one rents that room and they hold it to less than 30 days are those points in holding? If someone wants to book a last minute room are holding points used even if that's not the type of point that was reserving the room. My guess is they have no rules but that they self manage to allow enough room availability far out to not anger too many members but to still hold enough high demand rooms and times to meet the needs of cash renters. Would be nice to get inside information on how it works.

 

[DebbieB]

I think one of the reasons they stopped resales from booking The Disney Collection is because these rooms are hard to sell for cash and get the reimbursement for the trade. Especially SSR, which they sometimes use as free upgrades when they overbook the values. Plus they added the $95 to discourage members from trading out.

 

[ccbloom]

Normally, we wouldn't be booking this close to our trip, but we just purchased our points. And with the trip already planned, plane tickets book, and it not being a high-demand time, I didn't think it would be such a big deal. Guess I was way off. :/

 

[CMOORE185]

Normally, we wouldn't be booking this close to our trip, but we just purchased our points. And with the trip already planned, plane tickets book, and it not being a high-demand time, I didn't think it would be such a big deal. Guess I was way off. :/

You have learned that DVC does not work for last minute trips. Sometimes you need to call right at the 7 month mark to get the non home resort and room you are looking for. For the most part the system works well right at the 7 month mark.

 

[ccbloom]

I'm guessing that we will be staying at our home resort 9 out of 10 stays, so 11 months it is, I guess. We always travel the same weeks.

 

[paults]

That's great that they want to make money, and they already have my money! Seeing as there are NO rooms anywhere for the full week of Jan 26-Feb 2 for DVC members to rent, you'd think that they would free some of them up

Okw and SSR have rooms open all that wk. You never said what size room

 

[supersnoop]

I'm trying to make a reservation for the end of January, and there are basically no rooms available. I call Member Services today, and they tell me that there is a cash room available for a discount at BWV (where we want to stay), but there are no DVC rooms available. How is that possible and how is that even fair?

DVC is a timeshare. That means rooms have been purchased by the members. DVC does not overbook like a hotel. Only rooms that have been purchased are available for members. DVC operates at 95%-98% occupancy. When a member trades out for a cruise, RCI, or any other outside option, they effective rent out their time (their room) to Disney, who then sells it on the open market. Once Disney holds the room, it doesn't belong to DVC members anymore. That's why there are cash rooms available, but no points rooms.

The entire points schedule is designed to make sure there is no "low" season. When there is typically less demand, prices (points costs) are lower. When demand is higher, so are prices. Don't expect there to be a low season, and, if you need a last-minute reservation, you'll need to be flexible.

 

[MulanMom]

Normally, we wouldn't be booking this close to our trip, but we just purchased our points. And with the trip already planned, plane tickets book, and it not being a high-demand time, I didn't think it would be such a big deal. Guess I was way off. :/

I haven't seen it brought up yet....typical off season times can actually be higher demand for DVC resorts because members are looking to use their points economically. If you are booking a month or two out, you need to be flexible. Hope you are able to find a solution that works for you!

 

[ccbloom]

I haven't seen it brought up yet....typical off season times can actually be higher demand for DVC resorts because members are looking to use their points economically. If you are booking a month or two out, you need to be flexible. Hope you are able to find a solution that works for you!

Yes, we are trying to be a little bit flexible; however, last night when I see a room pop up for a day or two at our home resort, and I'm unable to modify our reservation online, it's very annoying. Even more annoying is that the room is gone now. I don't know why I can't do anything to our reservations online.

 

[jerseyduke]

DVC is a timeshare. That means rooms have been purchased by the members. DVC does not overbook like a hotel. Only rooms that have been purchased are available for members. DVC operates at 95%-98% occupancy. When a member trades out for a cruise, RCI, or any other outside option, they effective rent out their time (their room) to Disney, who then sells it on the open market. Once Disney holds the room, it doesn't belong to DVC members anymore. That's why there are cash rooms available, but no points rooms.

The entire points schedule is designed to make sure there is no "low" season. When there is typically less demand, prices (points costs) are lower. When demand is higher, so are prices. Don't expect there to be a low season, and, if you need a last-minute reservation, you'll need to be flexible.

That is a key point. You can equate DVC slow periods to mean times when the rooms do not book up as fast, but in the end, the occupancy rate will be up in the high 90s. When people trade out (cruises, RCI, etc) the rate can drop, and banking can affect it a tad. Outside of that, it is breakage.

Also realize that DVC also owns (at least) 2% of a given resort, and they only sell 51 weeks worth of points.

 

[wdrl]

Yes, we are trying to be a little bit flexible; however, last night when I see a room pop up for a day or two at our home resort, and I'm unable to modify our reservation online, it's very annoying. Even more annoying is that the room is gone now. I don't know why I can't do anything to our reservations online.

The DVC Online reservation system lets you make a new reservation or to cancel an existing reservation. You cannot modify an existing reservation via the Online reservation system. That requires intervention by Member Services.

There is a way to work around this limitation if your intent is to add days to an existing reservation. Let's say you already have booked 5-nights in a BLT Theme Park studio for June 20-25, 2014. Then, a few days later you see that two additional nights become available for the nights of June 18 and 19 for the same accommodation type you already have. You could use the Online reservation system to make a new reservation for June 18 and 19. Then, once you have secured that reservation, you can call Member Services the next day and ask them to merge the two reservations into one. You will end up with one reservation that runs from June 18 to June 25.

 

[ccbloom]

The DVC Online reservation system lets you make a new reservation or to cancel an existing reservation. You cannot modify an existing reservation via the Online reservation system. That requires intervention by Member Services.

There is a way to work around this limitation if your intent is to add days to an existing reservation. Let's say you already have booked 5-nights in a BLT Theme Park studio for June 20-25, 2014. Then, a few days later you see that two additional nights become available for the nights of June 18 and 19 for the same accommodation type you already have. You could use the Online reservation system to make a new reservation for June 18 and 19. Then, once you have secured that reservation, you can call Member Services the next day and ask them to merge the two reservations into one. You will end up with one reservation that runs from June 18 to June 25.

I can't cancel or make any reservations at all. This has been happening since I received my membership number. I just called and went over everything with MS and let them know my issues.

 

[disprincess2213]

I looked at the last week of January and there is extremely limited availability compared to the few weeks before and after. But there is availability at SSR if you didnt want to hop around.... being a new member myself, I see that if I want to take a "last minute trip", I just have to be flexible and prepared to move! Even a split stay Disney trip is better than no Disney trip!! Good luck!! Maybe something will open up in the next week or so...havent been a member long enough to see if weeks/days open closer to desired check in date, kinda like those ADRs!! Good luck!!

 

[com_op_2000]

DVC still owns at least 2% of all resorts. These are ment to be used in case of maintenance issues with a room and you have to be moved. DVC can rent those rooms for cash, if they are not expecting any issues or scheduled down time for any rooms in a particular resort.

 

[ilovebassets]

this is one of the main reasons I can't bring myself to buy into DVC yet. I booked HHI 2 bed villa 11 months out with cash for Aug 2015 back in Sept 2014. In a way, I feel bad because I know those with points at other resorts may want to stay here, and they won't have the oppurtunity to book until January, yet I've already taken up one room in the inventory.

Ultimately, cash is still king for flexibility. And my money isn't tied up if my family's interests change over the years or if our financial situation suddenly changes. I have looked into buying A LOT, but can't get over the relative inflexibility of they system.

 

[paults]

this is one of the main reasons I can't bring myself to buy into DVC yet. I booked HHI 2 bed villa 11 months out with cash for Aug 2015 back in Sept 2014. In a way, I feel bad because I know those with points at other resorts may want to stay here, and they won't have the oppurtunity to book until January, yet I've already taken up one room in the inventory.

Ultimately, cash is still king for flexibility. And my money isn't tied up if my family's interests change over the years or if our financial situation suddenly changes. I have looked into buying A LOT, but can't get over the relative inflexibility of they system.

You didn't take any rooms from DVC members. What you booked was out of Disney's cash rooms. they don't belong to DVC. At all DVC resorts Disney retains a percentage of rooms for cash ressies. No need not to buy because your not taking a DVC room away. Maybe you don't understand the system yet. Have fun at HHI