Walking

[Bobby2443]

Hi everybody

New DVC member and still haven’t made my first reservation yet but I’ve been reading about walking a reservation and I don’t feel like I need to do it but I’m having trouble understanding how it actually secures the reservation over someone else.

Example, if you want to reserve for 7 days starting December 1, your first chance to book at home resort is January 1. If you book a week starting November 20 (Booked Dec 20) and then each day you walk it forward a day, couldnt someone book it before you walk at 8am for December 1st (On the morning of Jan 1)? Or are the people walking able to walk it forward to December 1st before January 1st?
I guess what I’m getting at is I don’t understand the mechanics of how it’s giving someone an advantage. If you could share a detailed example with dates it would be greatly appreciated
Also how would this apply to people who want to book trips longer than 7 days?
thanks in advance

 

[Marionnette]

Hi everybody

New DVC member and still haven’t made my first reservation yet but I’ve been reading about walking a reservation and I don’t feel like I need to do it but I’m having trouble understanding how it actually secures the reservation over someone else.

Example, if you want to reserve for 7 days starting December 1, your first chance to book at home resort is January 1. If you book a week starting November 20 (Booked Dec 20) and then each day you walk it forward a day, couldnt someone book it before you walk at 8am for December 1st (On the morning of Jan 1)? Or are the people walking able to walk it forward to December 1st before January 1st?
I guess what I’m getting at is I don’t understand the mechanics of how it’s giving someone an advantage. If you could share a detailed example with dates it would be greatly appreciated
Also how would this apply to people who want to book trips longer than 7 days?
thanks in advance

No. They cannot book a night that you already have booked. So if you booked 11/20-11/27 (7 nights), you have guaranteed that you have all of those nights. Keep moving it forward to 11/24-12/01 and you’ve now guaranteed that the night of 11/30 cannot be booked out from under you. IOW, as long as you have the first night booked, no one else can book it. And it does not need to be done daily. It just needs to be done before the 11 month mark hits for the last night you have booked. You just need to pay attention to shorter months and crossing seasons (like Thanksgiving) that require more points than the final reservation needs. You don’t want to borrow points needlessly.

 

[Sandisw]

If your true dare is Dec 1st, a walk is starting it at 11 months for an earlier date,

So, on Dec 20th, you book 7 nights starting November 20th. You don’t have to change daily, but just before the check out day. So, on Dec 26th, you modify and change it starting November 26th 7 days out,..this allows you to get Dec 1st as part of thst reservstion.

You eventually modify and change it so the 1st is the start date,

Once you get the room at 11 months, and change it before it ends, no one can get that room.

 

[Bobby2443]

Gotcha that makes total sense now, thanks for your replies

Does the same concept apply if you want to make a reservation longer than 7 nights?
So if you have Dec 1st for 7 nights secured but you really want to go for 10 nights on the 8th, 9th and 10th nights are you adding those the same mornings as everyone else trying to start their vacations on those days or can extending happen earlier?

 

[Bobby2443]

You don’t want to borrow points needlessly.

I never thought about this, so the borrowed points to walk would stay in your account even if the trip you actually take is using less?

 

[Marionnette]

Gotcha that makes total sense now, thanks for your replies

Does the same concept apply if you want to make a reservation longer than 7 nights?
So if you have Dec 1st for 7 nights secured but you really want to go for 10 nights on the 8th, 9th and 10th nights are you adding those the same mornings as everyone else trying to start their vacations on those days or can extending happen earlier?

You would modify the reservation to add more nights to the end without subtracting nights from the beginning.

 

[Marionnette]

I never thought about this, so the borrowed points to walk would stay in your account even if the trip you actually take is using less?

Borrowing is non reversible. Once you borrow points into a UY, they stay in that UY. If the final reservation takes fewer points, the borrowed points will be used first and then current UY points.

 

[CarolMN]

I never thought about this, so the borrowed points to walk would stay in your account even if the trip you actually take is using less?

Yes. Borrowing is a final transaction. Borrowed points cannot be returned to their original use year. If not used, they expire at the end of the use year into whcih they were borrowed.

 

[Sandisw]

The way to avoid borrowing when you don’t need to is book only the number of nights you have without it, So, if you can book only 5 days, then do that and move it more often.

 

[Bobby2443]

Thanks everyone appreciate your replies

 

[holyrita]

Borrowing is non reversible. Once you borrow points into a UY, they stay in that UY. If the final reservation takes fewer points, the borrowed points will be used first and then current UY points.

If you wind up borrowing points and the final reservation takes fewer points, since the borrowed points are used first, could you then bank the current UY points (assuming you're still in the window to do so)? So like a borrow then bank swap?

 

[Sandisw]

If you wind up borrowing points and the final reservation takes fewer points, since the borrowed points are used first, could you then bank the current UY points (assuming you're still in the window to do so)? So like a borrow then bank swap?

Yes, this can be done...but you will only be able to borrow right now up to 50% of your allotment...keep that in mind.

 

[CP3uhoh]

I have a question related, I think. How do you walk a reservation when the first night is never available right when the window opens. Example, I go to book and 6 of the 7 nights are available, but it becomes a waitlist because night one which is the first night is not available. Thanks, hope that made sense.

 

[JETSDAD]

I have a question related, I think. How do you walk a reservation when the first night is never available right when the window opens. Example, I go to book and 6 of the 7 nights are available, but it becomes a waitlist because night one which is the first night is not available. Thanks, hope that made sense.

You don't. The first night is needed to make an 11 month reservation that you can then walk.

 

[CP3uhoh]

You don't. The first night is needed to make an 11 month reservation that you can then walk.

I suspected this was the case. So basically we keep trying until that day when our real first day arrives and then just join the waitlist if we haven’t gotten in yet?

 

[JETSDAD]

I suspected this was the case. So basically we keep trying until that day when our real first day arrives and then just join the waitlist if we haven’t gotten in yet?

Exactly. Keep trying to get a walk started otherwise grab the days you can, waitlist, and keep watching for days to become available if others are walking the room.

 

[CP3uhoh]

Exactly. Keep trying to get a walk started otherwise grab the days you can, waitlist, and keep watching for days to become available if others are walking the room.

One more follow up, we only need 4 nights, but have enough points for up to 6 for this room without borrowing if we have the four nights we “need” and the fifth night before our stay puts us on the waitlist because we were unable to start walking, can we call and say “we don’t need that first night, can we have the last four that were available when we joined the waitlist?”

 

[JETSDAD]

One more follow up, we only need 4 nights, but have enough points for up to 6 for this room without borrowing if we have the four nights we “need” and the fifth night before our stay puts us on the waitlist because we were unable to start walking, can we call and say “we don’t need that first night, can we have the last four that were available when we joined the waitlist?”

I wouldn't bother waitlsting dates that you don't need. The entire WL has to come through so the longer it is the less likely it is to come through. Thay being said, assuming the first of the 4 nights are within the 11 month window you could just modify the reservation online to drop the night you don't need.