Modification of Confirmed Reservation for Rental Purposes

[hjlawton]

I am a relatively new owner and this is the first time that I have attempted to rent a confirmed reservation. I had a seven day reservation and was willing to modify this to rent out 4 nights in the middle of that reservation.

I called member services hoping to be able to essentially split the reservation in two so that I could still hold the front end in my name and then put the next 4 days as a separate reservation for my potential renter. I wanted to do this so that if my renter doesn't follow through with payment I would still have a potential consecutive 6 day reservation intact.

After being placed on hold for several minutes, I was told that I would be unable to do this and would have no choice but to drop off the first 2 nights and last night of the existing reservation. This didn't seem right to me, perhaps I should have asked to speak with a lead or called back, but it was already late in the evening and I need a confirmation number for my renter.

After doing this, I was able to go back online and pick up the first 2 nights again. Does this experience make sense to other people? I try to learn as much as I can from all of you that have a wealth of information, but don't recall reading about any similar experiences. Are there any other things that I should be aware of when modifying? Is this why many owners are hesitant to break-up a reservation, other than not maximizing financial benefit?

Thanks for helping me to continue to learn about my DVC membership.

 

[crisi]

No, you can't do what you are asking to do. You can drop days. You can add days if they are available, you can change names on the reservation - you cannot split it into two reservations once its made. Whether this is a system limitation (likely) or a policy limitation, I don't know.

You were lucky to get those two days back. When renting existing reservations, most people choose an "all or nothing" approach because of the booking limitations - its really easy to lose points.

 

[hjlawton]

Thanks so much for the information and clarification on my situation. That's what's so great about these boards, I am constantly learning new things about how to get the most out of my membership!

 

[Marionnette]

I am a relatively new owner and this is the first time that I have attempted to rent a confirmed reservation. I had a seven day reservation and was willing to modify this to rent out 4 nights in the middle of that reservation.

I called member services hoping to be able to essentially split the reservation in two so that I could still hold the front end in my name and then put the next 4 days as a separate reservation for my potential renter. I wanted to do this so that if my renter doesn't follow through with payment I would still have a potential consecutive 6 day reservation intact.

After being placed on hold for several minutes, I was told that I would be unable to do this and would have no choice but to drop off the first 2 nights and last night of the existing reservation. This didn't seem right to me, perhaps I should have asked to speak with a lead or called back, but it was already late in the evening and I need a confirmation number for my renter.

After doing this, I was able to go back online and pick up the first 2 nights again. Does this experience make sense to other people? I try to learn as much as I can from all of you that have a wealth of information, but don't recall reading about any similar experiences. Are there any other things that I should be aware of when modifying? Is this why many owners are hesitant to break-up a reservation, other than not maximizing financial benefit?

Thanks for helping me to continue to learn about my DVC membership.

In my experience, that's the way that it works. You can drop days from an existing reservation but you cannot split an existing reservation into 2 reservations with different confirmation numbers. This would be one reason why owners who have a confirmed reservation will not attempt to split it for a renter.

Another reason would be that in a lot of instances, when an owner is renting out an existing reservation, they are in a position where they don't want to lose the value of their points (either due to banking restrictions, they borrowed to make the reservation and are nearing the end of their UY, or they are so close to their arrival date that the points would go into holding if they were to cancel).

 

[LisaS]

No, you can't do what you are asking to do. You can drop days. You can add days if they are available, you can change names on the reservation - you cannot split it into two reservations once its made. Whether this is a system limitation (likely) or a policy limitation, I don't know.

I suspect it's a system limitation.

OP: A reservation consists of a check-in date, a check-out date, resort, room size, booking category, guests names, etc. The system allows MS CMs to modify those fields (change the check-in date, check-out date, the number/names of the guests, etc.) within the existing reservation record. To split one reservation into two requires creating a new entry in the reservation system to hold those nights that you split off from the original reservation. I suspect that few if any reservation systems include the necessary software to split one reservation into two. Sure it could be implemented but splitting a reservation is done so rarely, it's not worth the cost of writing and maintaining the code to handle it.

So you're left with changing the original reservation to drop off those nights and then try to grab them back again as part of creating a new reservation. I'm glad you got them back again online. MS could have done it for you as well, after you dropped the nights from the original reservation.

 

[drusba]

If, in the future, you are in the process of making a reservation but know you may change part of it or rent part of it later, consider doing two separate reservations with one to cover the time that might switch. If later, you decide not to change anything, you can have the two reservations linked.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

..... you can have the two reservations linked.

. Or merged into a single reservation.

 

[hjlawton]

I suspect it's a system limitation.

OP: A reservation consists of a check-in date, a check-out date, resort, room size, booking category, guests names, etc. The system allows MS CMs to modify those fields (change the check-in date, check-out date, the number/names of the guests, etc.) within the existing reservation record. To split one reservation into two requires creating a new entry in the reservation system to hold those nights that you split off from the original reservation. I suspect that few if any reservation systems include the necessary software to split one reservation into two. Sure it could be implemented but splitting a reservation is done so rarely, it's not worth the cost of writing and maintaining the code to handle it.

So you're left with changing the original reservation to drop off those nights and then try to grab them back again as part of creating a new reservation. I'm glad you got them back again online. MS could have done it for you as well, after you dropped the nights from the original reservation.

Thank you for your post. That really helped to bring additional clarity to the booking process and modification there of. I've read a lot on these boards, but somehow didn't realize you couldn't split a reservation. I'm glad I learned something new. Strangely enough when I had to drop the first 2 days, member services said they went to waitlist, but by the time I drove home from work the nights were showing up again so I grabbed them!

 

[DenLo]

I suspect the limitation was added to prevent someone from use the 11 month advantage and then less than 7 months out do exactly what the OP wanted to make part of the reservation for a second party which is essentially a new reservation.

 

[crisi]

I suspect the limitation was added to prevent someone from use the 11 month advantage and then less than 7 months out do exactly what the OP wanted to make part of the reservation for a second party which is essentially a new reservation.

I suspect its just easier to write the database the way it is. A master record that has a check in date and a check out day. Splitting a reservation would mean a new master record, which would be a new reservation in system terms, which means the rooms would go to the waitlist first.

 

[Dean]

I have done this in the past but it's been a couple of database upgrades since I have.

 

[oldwash]

Soo, I called and asked this exact question today and was told it could be done. Maybe I should call back and talk to another cast member. We have family that can only stay 4 of the original 8. I was told that I could split the reservation and add new names, or just add names to the original reservation (not enthused about the latter)

 

[disneynutz]

As with many things Disney, it depends on who you talk to.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Soo, I called and asked this exact question today and was told it could be done. Maybe I should call back and talk to another cast member. We have family that can only stay 4 of the original 8. I was told that I could split the reservation and add new names, or just add names to the original reservation (not enthused about the latter)

I agree with Bill but would say it's been a while since we've seen reports of success doing so. You can add all names if you have enough spots and that's likely the best but it'll mess you up with any dining plan options. I'd expect difficulty and would not trust the information given unless you actually do it at that time.

 

[oldwash]

Sooo, I called back, and surprise surprise, the answer was no this time. So the question now is, if I continue to call back and get a yes, will they really be able to do it?

 

[Dean]

Sooo, I called back, and surprise surprise, the answer was no this time. So the question now is, if I continue to call back and get a yes, will they really be able to do it?

Can they do it? Yes. Will they do it? Likely not. Will they loose the reservation if they try? Possibly. If you can make a new reservation you can shorten your current one and end up with the same result.

 

[oldwash]

I would hope they could get it back if they did, otherwise that would be very bad unless you really didnt want the inlaws there in the first place.

Studio during Disney Food and Wine, so new won't happen

 

[Dean]

I would hope they could get it back if they did, otherwise that would be very bad unless you really didnt want the inlaws there in the first place.

Studio during Disney Food and Wine, so new won't happen

This is not always possible. If they lose it and it's gone, it's gone. They won't kick someone out in this situation. They can do a priority wait list. Sometimes difficult to get options come available even for the most difficult of options.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would hope they could get it back if they did, otherwise that would be very bad unless you really didnt want the inlaws there in the first place.

Studio during Disney Food and Wine, so new won't happen

They could easily lose it if someone is out there searching for that at the same time. Which happens. And they wouldn’t be able to get it back if that happened.

 

[DenLo]

Soo, I called and asked this exact question today and was told it could be done. Maybe I should call back and talk to another cast member. We have family that can only stay 4 of the original 8. I was told that I could split the reservation and add new names, or just add names to the original reservation (not enthused about the latter)

Sorry it did work for you after all. But I expect that if there is availability at the time you contact Member Services, the CM would be quite willing to set up separate reservations. But if there isn't availability, they have to tell us no they cannot split it into two reservations. Otherwise you are taking advantage of the 11 month home resort advantage at 7 months or less.