Why would anyone hold a $$ reservation?

[ILoveMyDVC]

The only reason we are still going is not to throw away 266 points. If I could get my money back (as in a $$ reservation) or my points banked, I would not put up with the crazy radio silence. Airfare, pet care, work vacation and no clue if we will have park reservations - ARE YOU KIDDING - I'm not that kind of fan!

Disney is clearly over capacity yet I keep reading posts about people holding their reservation until the last minute. My favorites are the ones claiming masks are deal breakers but "waiting to see" umm FLA just had their highest number (almost 3,000) cases in one day, the masks aren't going away so there are all these inflated numbers of reservations. I'm sure this is figuring into Disney's apparent paralysis to moving forward.

Other resorts are being squished into DVC resorts - oh joy .... how fun for us .... over crowded pools and no parking.

As DVC, I have to risk everything at 30 days so maybe they should do that with cash guests. 50% refund a 30 days. 0 at 14 days. That will move people into a decision quickly.

It's insane.

I can't be the only one thinking this way.

 

[jennyq87]

People are being so judgmental about this? There are multiple posts about it. Why does it matter? Not everyone has the same priorities with WDW trips.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

People are being so judgmental about this? There are multiple posts about it. Why does it matter? Not everyone has the same priorities with WDW trips.

Because there aren't enough park reservations. Because people have reservations and some of the people in the room don't have tickets yet. BecauseDisney is overbooked. It's why Disney finally had to start charging for no shows for ADRS. People booked everything shutting out others when they had no intention of keeping everything they booked.

 

[Allison]

It is really none of your business why and you have no reason to judge what people do for their own families.

You think your reason is valid. They think their reason is valid.

 

[jennyq87]

Because there aren't enough park reservations. Because people have reservations and some of the people in the room don't have tickets yet. BecauseDisney is overbooked. It's why Disney finally had to start charging for no shows for ADRS. People booked everything shutting out others when they had no intention of keeping everything they booked.

Be mad at Disney. Not guests for hanging onto reservations until they get more clarity.

 

[Sandisw]

DVC has waived holding right now so we have longer to hold our trips as well.

I do think it is frustrating that Disney is slow with getting out the info, and wish they were able to give us more,

However, if a cash guest was given a generous cancel window from Disney during this, then they decided it was something they are okay with allowing It to happen.

We all get to decide when and how we wait this out and I also don’t think as a DVC owner it is really any of our business if Disney is allowing their guests to wait it out or moving them.

 

[icc2515]

Don’t worry you will get into the parks. You may not get in the park you want on the days you want, but you will get in. Disney has said that they will give priority to those with resort reservations with tickets. I know it is very stressful not knowing what is going on and what will happen.

The other thing that we don’t know is if Disney is actually over capacity. It’s just a guess at this point. They may be trying to get guests to cancel to make some room for Fl passholders. There are going to be a lot of really ticked off locals, if they cannot get entry into the parks. And these passholders scream loud. Disney does not want local news outlets running stories that locals have been shut out of the parks for a month or more.

I don’t think that the dvc resorts will be as crowded as you think. I was under the assumption that guests arriving after a certain date, maybe July 3rd, will have to pay for the upgrade to the deluxe resort. Not many value and moderate guests are going to want to pay that difference. I have even read the a Boardwalk Inn guest was being asked to pay for and upgrade to a Boardwalk Villa room.

 

[Sandisw]

Don’t worry you will get into the parks. You may not get in the park you want on the days you want, but you will get in. Disney has said that they will give priority to those with resort reservations with tickets. I know it is very stressful not knowing what is going on and what will happen.

The other thing that we don’t know is if Disney is actually over capacity. It’s just a guess at this point. They may be trying to get guests to cancel to make some room for Fl passholders. There are going to be a lot of really ticked off locals, if they cannot get entry into the parks. And these passholders scream loud. Disney does not want local news outlets running stories that locals have been shut out of the parks for a month or more.

I don’t think that the dvc resorts will be as crowded as you think. I was under the assumption that guests arriving after a certain date, maybe July 3rd, will have to pay for the upgrade to the deluxe resort. Not many value and moderate guests are going to want to pay that difference. I have even read the a Boardwalk Inn guest was being asked to pay for and upgrade to a Boardwalk Villa room.

Guests with check outs up to July 11th who keep their dates are being moved from closed resorts to the open DVc resorts and Ft Wilderness for no additional charge,

The only people who have to pay are those who want to rebook their trips for a different time. Then they will pay whatever rate is in place for the time of the new trip.

Pretty sure we should hear mid week what is going to happen for those cash guests who have trips starting during park openings.

But, I agree...even with the moves prior to park openings, there is still quite a bit of availability..things won’t be crazy just yet,

I also have heard from others who were told that some guests moving forward may not be moved, but canceled...so it’s a waiting game right now for many cash guests.

 

[Firepath]

If you are going to be mad, be mad at Covid-19. Everyone elses' life/business/travel plans are really messed up and everyone is trying to make the best of a really bad and unexpected event that no one wanted or planned for. I hope it works out well for everyone, but I know it likely won't.

 

[Heather07438]

It's frustrating for sure. Some DCV reservations don't have the luxury of removing their bet as cash reservations do. It's an expensive gamble you'd rather back out from if the choice was available.

It's hard for WDW too. Normally they have a pretty good handle on their numbers. Now everything has gone awry. Uncertainty is coming at them from every direction. So many considerations have to go in to each decision.

What is your trip date? Have you considered trying to rent out this time? Maybe you'd feel more comfortable cutting your losses. Take that rental $ and go somewhere else or apply it to your next DVC trip when hopefully it will be better times.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Paying cash costs more money, and they get some extra flexibility.
It’s like paying extra for a refundable ticket.

 

[Chuck S]

While I wouldn't fly into to Orlando with no guarantee of getting into the Disney parks...I'm not going to judge those that just want to get away for a few days with or without parks. And as others have said, those interested in other Orlando venues like Sea World, Universal and even older local, more historic attractions, this would work fine for them.

I have a January reservation, if the parks aren't operating in a good manner by then, I'll likely cancel and lose the 46 banked 2019 June UY points. They don't need to be fully functional, but at least have it so onsite guests have a basic guarantee of one day in each park before I'll go. Then I'll spend a couple of days elsewhere. I haven't seen Harry Potter, yet. But it is certainly OK for others to travel however they wish.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think there are lots of reasons why someone would hold onto a booking as long as they could. I know we are doing that with a Hawaii trip in late December. We're pretty sure we won't want to spend 20 hours in airplanes to get there and back, but until we pull the plug, we are allowed some hope that we will feel differently when we get closer.

In the cold light of day, we know that's very unlikely, but it doesn't cost us anything to keep the booking in place. Once we drop it, we probably won't be able to get it back. So, we wait.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

It's frustrating for sure. Some DCV reservations don't have the luxury of removing their bet as cash reservations do. It's an expensive gamble you'd rather back out from if the choice was available.

It's hard for WDW too. Normally they have a pretty good handle on their numbers. Now everything has gone awry. Uncertainty is coming at them from every direction. So many considerations have to go in to each decision.

What is your trip date? Have you considered trying to rent out this time? Maybe you'd feel more comfortable cutting your losses. Take that rental $ and go somewhere else or apply it to your next DVC trip when hopefully it will be better times.

I'm a regular DVC member staying on points. Going to lose 266 if I cancel.

 

[Heather07438]

I'm a regular DVC member staying on points. Going to lose 266 if I cancel.

You can try renting out your stay instead of canceling.

Or take the gamble and go. Even though WDW isn't offering their whole game plan yet, I think they'll try to balance onsite guests' interests in a fair way. All the unknowns make it uncomfortable but that's everywhere right now. Most of us are just trying to make the best of the crappy situation we got this year knowing it won't replace what should have been.

 

[Pooh12863]

The only reason we are still going is not to throw away 266 points. If I could get my money back (as in a $$ reservation) or my points banked, I would not put up with the crazy radio silence. Airfare, pet care, work vacation and no clue if we will have park reservations - ARE YOU KIDDING - I'm not that kind of fan!

Disney is clearly over capacity yet I keep reading posts about people holding their reservation until the last minute. My favorites are the ones claiming masks are deal breakers but "waiting to see" umm FLA just had their highest number (almost 3,000) cases in one day, the masks aren't going away so there are all these inflated numbers of reservations. I'm sure this is figuring into Disney's apparent paralysis to moving forward.

Other resorts are being squished into DVC resorts - oh joy .... how fun for us .... over crowded pools and no parking.

As DVC, I have to risk everything at 30 days so maybe they should do that with cash guests. 50% refund a 30 days. 0 at 14 days. That will move people into a decision quickly.

It's insane.

I can't be the only one thinking this way.

I've canceled three trips because the resorts weren't open, 2 DVC and one cash, if the resorts were open at the time I would have shown up for all three of those reservations. I've got another reservation in August, If I can't get the required reservations at the parks, I'll still go and enjoy a week at the Boardwalk. Don't project your needs on other folks.

 

[keishashadow]

The only reason we are still going is not to throw away 266 points. If I could get my money back (as in a $$ reservation) or my points banked, I would not put up with the crazy radio silence. Airfare, pet care, work vacation and no clue if we will have park reservations - ARE YOU KIDDING - I'm not that kind of fan!

As previously mentioned, attempting to rent or gift it is an alternative.

Have you talked to MS & discussed your options? You may be surprised. I’ve found a lot of what DVC is willing to accommodate/grant, depends on one’s delivery and how often a member has ‘gone to the well’. Aside from my minor vents about them, they have always done right by me when something unusual has gone amiss. YMMV

We had trip planned in August, mostly on borrowed points from an Oct UY. I called them late April/early May. Was told to hang in there until the end of May, if I was still nervous to call back and they’d restore the borrowed points. That is what I did & I thank DVC for working with me!

I still wasn’t ready to toss in the towel, booked ASMu. Then after reading touringplans blog’s thots of which properties would be open, changed it to PoP.

So, while it’s not DVC & surely not my favorite value resort, I have a booking & all in my party have APHs. We cancelled the cruise portion of the vacation, will convert to a credit if it’s not cancelled. Booked that portion at Universal.

If truth be told, I’m considering heading down to U in the next two weeks if I can get flights to work out. Just back from Myrtle Beach a week ago, yes we did fly. Wore masks & gloves & doused ourselves in hand sanitizer.

IMO current travel is all about your comfort level and the personal safety methods you employ. Others, are more cautious and that’s their prerogative, not about to judge them based upon my own standards.

I've canceled three trips because the resorts weren't open, 2 DVC and one cash, if the resorts were open at the time I would have shown up for all three of those reservations. I've got another reservation in August, If I can't get the required reservations at the parks, I'll still go and enjoy a week at the Boardwalk. Don't project your needs on other folks.

I cancelled WDW cash nights pre cruise in March, cruise & WBC over Easter.

August is now sitting as a cash res.

Still have Sept/Oct & Nov/Dec booked in the elusive Jambo value studio, I’m hanging on tightly to those two lol

One nice thing for us is we booked SWA for the cancelled disney travel, now an extended credit that i’m Just waiting to convert to points one the system is upgraded.

 

[Pooh12863]

One nice thing for us is we booked SWA for the cancelled disney travel, now an extended credit that i’m Just waiting to convert to points one the system is upgraded.

I had booked SWA for my cancelled April trip, I tried to use the credit to book flights for my August trip but they were only allowing me to use $200 of the $800 credit. I had another credit with Spirit from a cancelled May trip and they covered the full cost of the new flights which left me a $200 credit with Spirit. I gotta get around to calling SWA to see what's up, hopefully I can use that for December.

I have an elusive Jambo value studio for both Christmas and Easter.

 

[Chuck S]

Please post what SWA says. My group of 4 travelers has a big credit with them, too. We're hoping to use it for Thanksgiving 2021. I'm hoping it is something simple, like you have to link the credit to each traveler individually while booking and not try to apply it to a group afterwards.

 

[keishashadow]

I had booked SWA for my cancelled April trip, I tried to use the credit to book flights for my August trip but they were only allowing me to use $200 of the $800 credit. I had another credit with Spirit from a cancelled May trip and they covered the full cost of the new flights which left me a $200 credit with Spirit. I gotta get around to calling SWA to see what's up, hopefully I can use that for December.

The SWA credits match up with the original passenger, you cannot use another person’s credit. They’ve made it easier to check on credits effective the start of this year, a link pops up on your account page where all should be listed.

If the credit includes any price drops you requested after booking via seeing a lower fare, the credits will have different “sub” numbers. Only two credits can be applied toward a fare plus one other form of payment.

It’s possible to combine multiple credits into just one large one, via making a series of dummy bookings & cancellations. Most recently did that will all my various credits once the current extension into next year was announced. I find it much easier to manage just one credit.

Note that once you do use that credit, those funds will take on the expiry date of normal one-year time frame from time of booking.

However, and it’s a real game changer, SWA has stated they are currently working on implementing a change to their systems wherein you can convert pandemic credits into reward points

Points trump credits in that they never expire (do have to keep your rewards account active), can be used to book air for anyone & are easily cancellable