Waitlist/Swapping ?

[BriggsBetOnDis]

Hi all -

I am still a newbie so I am trying to understand exactly how the waitlist works. I have 5 nights booked in October in a one bedroom at BWV (pool/garden view). Now my husband who may or may not be afraid of clowns (lol) really doesn't want to stay there. I have a waitlist for a one bedroom at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom for those 5 nights. Now assuming there may be a member staying at Boulder Ridge or Animal Kingdom that wants a one bedroom at BWV - will the waitlist system match us together so they ressies can be swapped or does the waitlist actually only work off of cancellations? If the waitlist just works off of cancellations is there a way to find other members with ressies that want to swap? Not sure if that would just cause mass chaos...but it seems I have a ressie others want and maybe this can work to everybody's benefit?

Any insight would be awesome!!!

Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi all -

I am still a newbie so I am trying to understand exactly how the waitlist works. I have 5 nights booked in October in a one bedroom at BWV (pool/garden view). Now my husband who may or may not be afraid of clowns (lol) really doesn't want to stay there. I have a waitlist for a one bedroom at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom for those 5 nights. Now assuming there may be a member staying at Boulder Ridge or Animal Kingdom that wants a one bedroom at BWV - will the waitlist system match us together so they ressies can be swapped or does the waitlist actually only work off of cancellations? If the waitlist just works off of cancellations is there a way to find other members with ressies that want to swap? Not sure if that would just cause mass chaos...but it seems I have a ressie others want and maybe this can work to everybody's benefit?

Any insight would be awesome!!!

Thanks!

The WL works off of cancellations.

I don't know of any place on the disboards where you can "swap" reservations. I can see a lot of drawbacks, including the high level of trust needed, the inability to control your own reservation and the fact that the number of points used not being equal. There's also a bit of "perceived value" that owners have for their points which goes even further to skew the trade/swap process (i.e. I regard my VGF points which are used to make a reservation at my home resort to be worth more than SSR points used for a reservation at that resort).

 

[zavandor]

Now assuming there may be a member staying at Boulder Ridge or Animal Kingdom that wants a one bedroom at BWV - will the waitlist system match us together so they ressies can be swapped or does the waitlist actually only work off of cancellations?

It doesn't work this way, but I think it's a wonderful idea! Chances that two waitlist match exactly each other for the right resorts and lenght of stay aren't much, so I doubt it will even be implemented, but it would be nice if it would.

 

[supersnoop]

It doesn't work this way, but I think it's a wonderful idea! Chances that two waitlist match exactly each other for the right resorts and lenght of stay aren't much, so I doubt it will even be implemented, but it would be nice if it would.

But it would essentially allow certain people to skip ahead on the waitlist. That wouldn't seem fair to me.

 

[Best Aunt]

But it would essentially allow certain people to skip ahead on the waitlist. That wouldn't seem fair to me.

Well, sometimes people have success stalking the RAT, so they're essentially skipping past the waitlist. I'm not convinced the waitlist is constantly searching. I wonder if it's like the Touring Plans dining resie finder, which searches about once every 45 minutes.

 

[CarolMN]

IMO, there would be a very limited number of Members who could benefit from a waitlist "match and swap" process. For that reason, I don't see DVC ever changing the software to make it possible. IMO, there are other software enhancements to the waitlist system that would be a higher priority for most Members.

FWIW, IMO, the current waitlist system serves the overall system just fine. The objective is to effectively fill the rooms while minimizing calls to Member Services. We may not like that objective or believe that it is "fair", but it does serve the system as a whole.