Will we ever see online booking for dvc resorts?

[smacky1]

Do you think we will ever see online booking for DVC using our membership points?

 

[Chuck S]

Do you think we will ever see online booking for DVC using our membership points?

I really tend to doubt it. It would be an extremely complicated program to idiot proof, given banking, borrowing, home resort priority, transfers, trading options, developers points, multiple contracts & membership numbers, holding points, reservation point status, etc.

 

[vacationman]

The Hilton Grand Vacation Club has reservations on-line and I think it works extremely well.

 

[mel&me]

I have to agree with Chuck S.
With what would have to go into it. I don't see it happening

 

[crisi]

Ever is a long time. I think it will happen eventually. As DVC gets big enough to be able to get ROI on laying off some MS reps it will look more attractive to implement. But it isn't a simple implementation - it will be very expensive.

 

[thepops]

I'm sure Caskbill could do it for them in no time! He's got most of the tricky stuff figured out anyway. But they might not be able to afford him even if they paid him in points

 

[kmurawski]

Then we would be putting that many more people out of a job

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Ever is a long time. I think it will happen eventually. As DVC gets big enough to be able to get ROI on laying off some MS reps it will look more attractive to implement. But it isn't a simple implementation - it will be very expensive.

OMG. That is so funny. Are you in finance or a PM??? I am a PM for a large insurance company and was just getting ready to write the ROI thing!!!

The other thing I think would be key is the ability to see inventory and confirm reservations real time. With folks booking daily at the 11 and 7 month marks, if the internet isn't real time, it's going to drive those calls right back into MS.

Personally, I think it will happen somewhere down the road. I sure hope sooner rather than later. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to book reservations 24 X 7 and to actually see inventory? You'd reduce your handle time considerably. Even if they placed inventory on-line, which wouldn't be that difficult, you could call MS and request the reservation. Though it wouldn't be fool-proof and inventory can change instantly, it would still save MS some time on the phone.

 

[ZekeKelso]

Then we would be putting that many more people out of a job

Oh, I wouldn't go counting on that. Far too many projects have eliminated a handful of (cheap) phone reps, but created a truckload of (expensive) IT jobs (not to mention all the new phone reps jobs created to support the "automated" system.)

 

[simzac]

I shudder to think how many members would have their accounts totally screwed up with an online reservation system. Chuck's post just shows how many different scenarios come into play while making a DVC reservation. I don't believe it will ever happen. JMO

 

[crisi]

OMG. That is so funny. Are you in finance or a PM??? I am a PM for a large insurance company and was just getting ready to write the ROI thing!!!

Professionally an IT PM. My degree is in Accounting.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Professionally an IT PM. My degree is in Accounting.

I knew it!!! I'm from the business side, so as the saying goes...If you have enough time and have enough money, it surely can be programmed! With the $95 exchange fee for booking anything other than a DVC resort and some portion of MFs for servicing and support, I would assume we're well on our way!

I agree with the OPs, though, lots of scenarios to program (and test!!!). Disney would be best to review their policies and determine what business rules are most important to them. Simplify the others and program away. Changing the banking windows like they did this year is a perfect example. Oh my!!! I would LOVE to run this project. I'm already thinking of all the ways to do it! Okay, I know...true geek at heart!

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

I am happy with the system for booking ressies as it is now. I have not found calling MS to be burdensome at all. It would be nice to be able to check availablility online or at least have an idea of which dates and room types are open and which resorts are completely booked before calling MS.

Online booking isn't always wonderful either; it can be frustrating too. Last week my DW and I were using both our computers to book the free flightrs that we earned on JetBlue. We were at home and she was on one computer and I was on the other. We each picked out the same flight and then picked out seats next to each other. She hit the "buy" button and I hit mine one second later and guess what happened? She got the seat and I got the "we are so sorry" error message saying that I could no longer use my free pass on the flight because the last "free' seat had just been taken by someone else!!! I can only imagine all the headaches and complaints from DVC members who thought they were all set to be able to book that studio for NYE online only to find out the room was just snagged by someone else.

 

[Chuck S]

I can only imagine all the headaches and complaints from DVC members who thought they were all set to be able to book that studio for NYE online only to find out the room was just snagged by someone else.

And that is assuming the system wouldn't crash completely during the Thanksgiving to New Year rush.

 

[CarolMN]

And that is assuming the system wouldn't crash completely during the Thanksgiving to New Year rush.

Or that calls to MS wouldn't actually increase due to the complaints and whining (and maybe legitimate programming errors) -

* It's not fair! I had to transfer points between my contracts to make the reservation and it took too long so I lost the room.

*It's not fair! Why can't I borrow the points ahead of time, so that I have a fair shot at getting the room. People who don't have to borrow can reserve faster!

* It's not fair! I still have to get up at whatever to make my reservation. Why can't the system take reservations at 9 am my time

* It's not fair! Why can't I hold the reservation for a few minutes while I cancel something else to get the points - Ticketmaster does that!

* I couldn't read the letters in the box and so I had to refresh and then the room was gone! It's not fair!

* I made a mistake and the system won't let me undo it. Help! Or more likely, the system screwed up my reservation. Fix it!

* I can't get access to my account!

* I promise I canceled that reservation at 11:59 pm last night, but the points went into holding! Take them out! It's not fair!

* And so on and so on .....

 

[Caskbill]

Of course it can be done, it's just a question of money.

I've been an Engineer for longer than I want to admit, and only if you're in a particular field can you appreciate what it would take to actually do something.

We once had a company president who would always say "If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we (meaning Engineering) 'insert project here'.

Of course, among ourselves the answer was simple: "Give us NASA's budget, and we can do the project...." (Of course we wouldn't get the budget, it'd be more like here's $20,000...go make it happen)

The answer for DVC is the same....Commit enough funds and it can be done. The issue is whether it's cost effective. How much would it cost, and how many people would actually use it. How much would we save???

Here are some of the things the program would have to address if you just wanted to make a reservation on-line:

1. Your Account: It would have to check your personal account and ensure your dues were up to date and paid. If you have a mortgage loan through DVC, it would also have to check to make sure your payments were up to date.

2. Availability: It would need to examine every resort, every villa type, every option, and see what is available. Some things are:

Room types: Studio, 1-B/R, 2-B/R, GV, Inn, Cottage, Lodge, etc., with of course HA categories.

2-B/R unit: Some are dedicated, some are Lock-Off's. If you want a 2-B/R it would have to look at available dedicated units, and also at the 1-b/r and Studio and find all combinations where both are available, and connected to each other, so it could confirm it as a 2-b/r.

Then there are views or areas: Boardwalk View, Near OKW HH, BWV standard/preferred, VB Inn or Studio, and AKV is going to be a nightmare: Kidani or not, and which of the multiple of room types do you want.

3. Your Points: You can have 6 different classifications of points: Regular, Banked, Borrowed, Holding, Reservation, Developer, and the rules for using these points differ. AND, these points are divided into different Use Years, and can only be used for reservation dates within their particular use year.

Contracts: You can have multiple contracts (under the same membership number), with different home resorts. Points at the same resort can be combined to make reservations. Points at different resorts can only be combined at 7-months. Some points cannot be combined at all.

4. Waitlist: They would need to incorporate the waitlist into the system somehow. You have a waitlist for December. A unit becomes available. The system would need to assign that unit to you and NOT make it available to someone on line.

5. Reservation: All of the above has to be combined. Total points need to be calculated (Resort, room type, dates) (That's actually the easiest part), and you have to 'pay' for the room using points.

"Dear computer, I want a 2-B/R villa at BWV, with a boardwalk view, for September 3rd to 7th. I have 20 banked points in my SSR contract, 32 banked points in my VWL contract, 42 Reservation points in my VB contract. I want to use these points, plus I will need to borrow 45 points from my BWV contract. What, I can't use the reservation points? OK, I'll use some developer points. What, I can't use the developer points for those dates? OK, just borrow some points from my other membership number. What, I can't use points from two different memberships for the same reservation? OK, let me make the Sept 3rd to 6th with the points I mentioned, and make the Sept 7th reservation with points from my other membership number, and then I want you to link the two reservations. Oh, BTW, I also want to add ME, and the DDP to all of this. Here are all our names and ages......

Hello? Computer? Computer? Are you still there...."


The thing is, that what may seem simple (You want to reserve a Studio at OKW using your current UY OKW points), the computer system has to be developed to handle things that can get very complex. And it has to be idiot-proof. This means the developer has to think of EVERYTHING someone could possibly do wrong, and write code to intercept it and present error messages.

Can it be developed and implemented? Sure! If it will raise your dues $1.00/point are you still for it? I doubt it. But you'd be willing to pay $0.02/point I bet. The answer we don't have is how much of "NASA's" budget would it take?

There's other issues I haven't mentioned yet, but this post is already long enough as is....

My .02

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for taking the time to typee all that in, Bill. Well written.

I'm bookmarking it for the next time someone posts that such a system would be simple to do, LOL.

 

[salmoneous]

Of course it can be done, it's just a question of money.

Typical engineer thinking

If there's one thing I've learned in dealing with "systems" projects, it's that throwing money at a project isn't enough. You need good people.

Disney may be great at many things. But they are lousy at systems. Spend a few days on the DIS's resorts board, and you'll see the following exchange come up at least once:

Q: I checked online, and <my choice of> resort is sold out. What should I do?
A: Don't trust the online system. It's unreliable. Call-up and ask a CM.

Disney's problem with systems isn't a lack of money. Their websites have every sound/movie/animation gizmo there is. But not only are the unreliable, they are poorly laid out, difficult to navigate and make it tough to find basic information.

The good news is that, while they might not be great at systems, Disney is great at training CM's.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Access to MS is much better now with them being open 7 days. I would not count on seeing online booking for us in my lifetime, lol!

 

[Inkmahm]

Typical engineer thinking

If there's one thing I've learned in dealing with "systems" projects, it's that throwing money at a project isn't enough. You need good people.

Disney may be great at many things. But they are lousy at systems. Spend a few days on the DIS's resorts board, and you'll see the following exchange come up at least once:

Q: I checked online, and <my choice of> resort is sold out. What should I do?
A: Don't trust the online system. It's unreliable. Call-up and ask a CM.

Disney's problem with systems isn't a lack of money. Their websites have every sound/movie/animation gizmo there is. But not only are the unreliable, they are poorly laid out, difficult to navigate and make it tough to find basic information.

The good news is that, while they might not be great at systems, Disney is great at training CM's.

Exactly! You know which Disney online system is even worse? Go try to figure out the Disneyland Paris site! I've got a trip there next month and the planning for it has been a nightmare just trying to find basic information on tickets, ADRs etc. compared to my normal easy planning at WDW.

Back when I made reservations at the resorts (preDVC ownership) I NEVER booked them online. I always called to talk to a CM to get the best deal possible. If DVC ever did automate, I might try it to book if I saw exactly what I wanted was available AND it would be an easy use of points with no borrowing or banking involved. Maybe. Most likely, I'd look up online to try to see in advance if what I wanted was available but I'd still call a CM to make the reservation.