11 vs 7 month reservation window.

Cyberc1978

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
So I originally made a BLT reservation which was within the 11 month window and I ofc used my home resort points. Months later we changed our plans and I had to either cancel or move the reservation to a new date.

We found availability within the 7 month window and instead of canceling I moved the reservation. The new dates was also for BLT.

Come now I have some borrowed points I want to apply to that reservation, the borrowed points are not BLT but SSR. MS won’t allow the reallocation since my reservation was originally created within the 11 month window. When I moved it to dates well within the 7 month window the restrictions moved along with them.

Is this correct? My thinking is that since the reservation is moved to dates within the 7 month window the 7 month rules should apply and not the 11 month rules. According to MS had i canceled the reservation and not moved it there wouldn’t have been a problem reallocating.

I already spoke to a supervisor but no dice.

Should I try again or are MS correct?

TIA.
 
Doesn't make sense to me, but doesn't surprise me.

If you talk to them again, ask them HOW it makes any difference that it started off as a Home reservation in the 11 month window? You remade it at the 7 month window. The fact that you modified a previous reservation gave you NO ADVANTAGES. Your home resort priority had NOTHING to do with it. So, ask them to please explain it, and the explanation IS NOT, "Well, that's just our policy."
 
I did and their explanation was that the restrictions follows the reservation.

A lot of people make 11 month reservations and the move them 7 months out, but according to the supervisor the restrictions carries over when they do.

I’m not 100% convinced that the way they are understanding the rules is correct.
 
I did and their explanation was that the restrictions follows the reservation.

A lot of people make 11 month reservations and the move them 7 months out, but according to the supervisor the restrictions carries over when they do.

I’m not 100% convinced that the way they are understanding the rules is correct.

Its not human understanding thats the problem, its the way the computer is setup for the 11 month booking. Apparently its not coded to switch the reservation window from 11 to 7 after you move. To the computer its still an 11 month and thus block points from other properties. It seems like a helpful supervisor could help you switch that, maybe try again for a different supervisor. With their help you "should" be able to cancel and rebook so it s a true 7 month booking.
 


I would push it all the way up the chain. Maybe you could be the catalyst to having them modify their policy.
 
I did and their explanation was that the restrictions follows the reservation.

A lot of people make 11 month reservations and the move them 7 months out, but according to the supervisor the restrictions carries over when they do.

I’m not 100% convinced that the way they are understanding the rules is correct.
Did you try taking care of this yourself? Try modifying the reservation completely (just don't change the dates) and select the SSR and BLT contracts to pull points from. Some have said they have been able to do stuff like this themselves without talking to MS or times MS said it wasn't possible. This of course only works if everything is the same use year. There was a recent report of someone doing something extremely similar, reservation made at 11 months but wanted to use points for available days at 7 months from another resort.

Also I don't think its true the system doesn't know the reservation was modified to something within 7 months. If that was the case then how does it work when you have a reservation at 11 months and simply modify to a different resort at 7 months. The system does keep track of the info at some degree (to know non-resort points could be used).
 
Did you try taking care of this yourself? Try modifying the reservation completely (just don't change the dates) and select the SSR and BLT contracts to pull points from. Some have said they have been able to do stuff like this themselves without talking to MS or times MS said it wasn't possible. This of course only works if everything is the same use year. There was a recent report of someone doing something extremely similar, reservation made at 11 months but wanted to use points for available days at 7 months from another resort.

Also I don't think its true the system doesn't know the reservation was modified to something within 7 months. If that was the case then how does it work when you have a reservation at 11 months and simply modify to a different resort at 7 months. The system does keep track of the info at some degree (to know non-resort points could be used).

Challenge is that the reservation is using transferred inpoints so I have to call. Also normally 7 month reservations don’t have a lock on the selected contracts but mine does. When I moved it I had to call in too.
 


I think by the spirit of the rule, you should be able to reallocate the points. The biggest difficulty though is that when you modify your reservation, the confirmation number stays the same, so I could see why the system wouldn't allow it. "Modifying" a reservation like this is a relatively new phenomenon, so you probably won't be able to find much precedent to back you up. The rules are whatever Disney wants them to be.

If it's really important to you, you'll probably have to fight for it, but you might not be successful. Maybe they'll reconsider their rules, but I suspect it might require reworking their reservation system, so might be difficult to convince them.
 
So I originally made a BLT reservation which was within the 11 month window and I ofc used my home resort points. Months later we changed our plans and I had to either cancel or move the reservation to a new date.

We found availability within the 7 month window and instead of canceling I moved the reservation. The new dates was also for BLT.

Come now I have some borrowed points I want to apply to that reservation, the borrowed points are not BLT but SSR. MS won’t allow the reallocation since my reservation was originally created within the 11 month window. When I moved it to dates well within the 7 month window the restrictions moved along with them.

Is this correct? My thinking is that since the reservation is moved to dates within the 7 month window the 7 month rules should apply and not the 11 month rules. According to MS had i canceled the reservation and not moved it there wouldn’t have been a problem reallocating.

I already spoke to a supervisor but no dice.

Should I try again or are MS correct?

TIA.

MS is not correct. That's a 7 month booking and I've never seen anything written out in booking that states a single thing that relates to the modification step. Since you say this involved transferred points I'd especially push that point even though it shouldn't be necessary. The MS person who set up the new reservation would have made the technical choice on how they handled it. Technical does not equate to rule. Also, they can see when the reservation was done and you should have received a new email confirmation to back up the date it was done along with the original.

If they still say no then request the exact section from the Home resort rules and regulations on booking that outlines this restriction.

IF you had enough points to cover the booking without using the transferred points for a bit of time I think you might be able to unlock the points. The system will want to use the borrowed SSR points if you select that contract and would likely at least use those and you could then call in and have the transferred points also applied I've had some very funny stuff happen with locks on points though. I had booked a couple of nights at CCV and the system locked my points onto it. I do not own at CCV so zero chance I had done it during the home resort priority. Nothing would remove that lock other than cancelling the reservation which I risked since there was still additional availability showing. Then I rebooked and no lock on the points. All of this done within 1 day well within the 7 month window, brand new reservation. If MS is taking that lock as gospel of when a reservation was done then they are trusting the system way too much.
 
Did the full reservation fall within the 7 months window? For example, if the reservation is 8 nights long and you switched on the first day when the 7 months window opened and rebooked a 8 nights stay, you have really still used the 11 months window, because at 7 months you can only book 7 nights.
 
While it seems that the modification is within the rules, Insisting may be risky. Not sure I would do it because transferred points are involved. It sounds like the system itself isn't set up to allow it. That means even MS would have to cancel the reservation and then book a new one to make the change you want. There's a good chance that you could end up losing the reservation. If that is the case and I were the MS CM, I wouldn't do it, either.
 
MS is not correct. That's a 7 month booking and I've never seen anything written out in booking that states a single thing that relates to the modification step.

If they still say no then request the exact section from the Home resort rules and regulations on booking that outlines this restriction.
I actually asked to see it in writing but neither the CM or CM-supervisor knew where to find it.

Also, they can see when the reservation was done and you should have received a new email confirmation to back up the date it was done along with the original.

I also pointed out when the reservation was originally made and when it was moved, I have mails to back it up, but there wouldn't budge.

IF you had enough points to cover the booking without using the transferred points for a bit of time I think you might be able to unlock the points. The system will want to use the borrowed SSR points if you select that contract and would likely at least use those and you could then call in and have the transferred points also applied I've had some very funny stuff happen with locks on points though. I had booked a couple of nights at CCV and the system locked my points onto it. I do not own at CCV so zero chance I had done it during the home resort priority. Nothing would remove that lock other than cancelling the reservation which I risked since there was still additional availability showing. Then I rebooked and no lock on the points. All of this done within 1 day well within the 7 month window, brand new reservation. If MS is taking that lock as gospel of when a reservation was done then they are trusting the system way too much.

Unfortunately I don't have enough points to cover the reservation without the transferred points.
 
Did the full reservation fall within the 7 months window? For example, if the reservation is 8 nights long and you switched on the first day when the 7 months window opened and rebooked a 8 nights stay, you have really still used the 11 months window, because at 7 months you can only book 7 nights.

The original reservation was made 263 days before checkin time or 8 months and 20 days, so the 11 months rules apply.

Then approx 2 months later the reservation was moved to an earlier date, which is 199 days or 6 months and 15 days before checkin.

Reservation is for 5 nights/6days
 
While it seems that the modification is within the rules, Insisting may be risky. Not sure I would do it because transferred points are involved. It sounds like the system itself isn't set up to allow it. That means even MS would have to cancel the reservation and then book a new one to make the change you want. There's a good chance that you could end up losing the reservation. If that is the case and I were the MS CM, I wouldn't do it, either.

MS did offer to cancel and rebook 😳 and added they couldn't gurantee that I got my dates back.

One thing the CM-supervisor said was that even though he had access to overwrite the system, he didn't see anything justifying the overwrite. I understand that as he could make the change if he wanted to, but he dont.

Later today i'll try and give MS a call again, maybe i'm lucky and get a more knowledgeable CM, which understands the issue and are able to assist.
 
I am with @Frederic Civish - I think this is a systems issue. What you are trying to do is too similar to booking home resort at 11 months, then switching and using other points at 7 (something that should never be allowed), but that is not what you are doing at all, I just do not think the computer sees it that way, it sees it as an 11 month reservation.

You can use your SSR points at BLT at 7 moths, the net effect does not seem to be any different with what you are trying to do, I would call back again, and escalate this.
 
I actually asked to see it in writing but neither the CM or CM-supervisor knew where to find it.



I also pointed out when the reservation was originally made and when it was moved, I have mails to back it up, but there wouldn't budge.



Unfortunately I don't have enough points to cover the reservation without the transferred points.

I'd call back.

They didn't know where to find it because it doesn't exist. :sad2:
 
Quick update.

I called MS today and spoke to a friendly and knowledgeable CM she reallocated all of my borrowed SSR points without questions. So I now have a bunch of bankable BLT points instead :-)

Unfortunately this once again shows that some CM’s get better training than others and also you shouldn’t take the first answer for the correct one.

Thanks everyone for voicing your opinions.

Regards
 
Unfortunately this once again shows that some CM’s get better training than others and also you shouldn’t take the first answer for the correct one.

I NEVER take the first cast member's word for it. Way too often, I have found that one cast member says one thing, but if I call back 20 minutes later and get a different cast member, they say something else. So, I usually keep trying until I either get what I want, or until it becomes abundantly clear that I am NOT going to get what I want.

Not all, maybe not even most, of the Cast Members are DVC owners themselves. So, they don't have the experience and knowledge base that you have. Very few of them frequent boards such as this one, so they don't get exposed to the accumulated wisdom and expert opinions of the people here. Add that to the fact that MOST of their training is actually something they get on the fly, as they get experience solving problems for members, and you can realize that many of them do not know as much as some others. And then, of course, you need to factor in that some of them are smarter, or more committed to helping, or more dedicated and harder working than others. Never accept the answer that doesn't make sense to you. Keep trying.
 
MS did offer to cancel and rebook 😳 and added they couldn't gurantee that I got my dates back.

One thing the CM-supervisor said was that even though he had access to overwrite the system, he didn't see anything justifying the overwrite. I understand that as he could make the change if he wanted to, but he dont.

Later today i'll try and give MS a call again, maybe i'm lucky and get a more knowledgeable CM, which understands the issue and are able to assist.
Just to play devil's advocate for a moment - Here's a '7 month' argument that could be made:
While I am not sure I understand completely what happenned (and feel free to correct me if I am wrong) but it is true you did 'book' the current final arrangement within 7 months, it might be considered a modification rather than a 'new booking' and therefore could be argued did take advantage of home points. Had you completely CANCELLED the 8+ month reservation, then rebooked using the same points to book an entirely NEW reservation at 7 months or less, I don't think they could question that it was not a '7 month' reservation - however IF you had done that, you would have run the risk of losing your '11 month' ressie, something that you did not risk by modifying rathr than cancelling and then rebooking.

However, by modifying an existing reservation using home advantage, one could argue that you DID take advantage of 11 month points - not because you BOOKED at 7-11 months, but because by modifying (rather than cancelling at 7+ and rebooking at 7 or less) you guranteed yourself a reservation beyond the 7 month cutoff even if you had not had availability - something that could NOT have been done had the points been strictly 7 month only.
Again, not sure I completely understand and this is just one opinion you could argue, but it might explain why the rule is there
 
Just to play devil's advocate for a moment - Here's a '7 month' argument that could be made:
While I am not sure I understand completely what happenned (and feel free to correct me if I am wrong) but it is true you did 'book' the current final arrangement within 7 months, it might be considered a modification rather than a 'new booking' and therefore could be argued did take advantage of home points. Had you completely CANCELLED the 8+ month reservation, then rebooked using the same points to book an entirely NEW reservation at 7 months or less, I don't think they could question that it was not a '7 month' reservation - however IF you had done that, you would have run the risk of losing your '11 month' ressie, something that you did not risk by modifying rathr than cancelling and then rebooking.

However, by modifying an existing reservation using home advantage, one could argue that you DID take advantage of 11 month points - not because you BOOKED at 7-11 months, but because by modifying (rather than cancelling at 7+ and rebooking at 7 or less) you guranteed yourself a reservation beyond the 7 month cutoff even if you had not had availability - something that could NOT have been done had the points been strictly 7 month only.
Again, not sure I completely understand and this is just one opinion you could argue, but it might explain why the rule is there

The initial reservation was made within the 11-7 month reservation window and as per the rules only home resort points are allowed. The come the 7 month window and within that the initial reservation was moved to dates that fall within the 7 month window. As per the rules non home resort points are allowed.

So to answer you question I did not cancel the initial reservation and rebooked. I called in and had MS do the modification as the reservation uses transferred in points.

Basically i'm doing or did what a lot a ppl are doing. They make a 11 month reservation to ensure they have a reservation and then at 7 month they modify the same reservation to another resort - most likely they keep the dates. I my situation I kept the resort but modified the reservation so the checkin dates was within the 7 month window.
 

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