Frustated about being locked out of 11 mos booking due to walking

[RescueRanger]

hones
Yep the self fulfilling prophecy of walking. I really dislike it for this it creates anxiety basically which causes more and more to do it.

I honestly believe DVC has a legal responsibility to stop walking. It is a fact that those who do it are circumventing the 11 month window. It is cheating and if you do it you are a cheater plain and simple. It's time to talk to a timeshare attorney and send a strongly worded letter to DVC. It needs to stop like yesterday.

 

[starry_solo]

I could never figure out how people walked the CL studios at AKL, I could never catch a time they were open to do it. (well except for when I got in for two nights, but that is a complete different story there)

I know when I rented, my owner put it on waitlist and about two weeks later, it was filled. It was for 3 nights.

 

[crvetter]

I honestly believe DVC has a legal responsibility to stop walking. It is a fact that those who do it are circumventing the 11 month window. It is cheating and if you do it you are a cheater plain and simple. It's time to talk to a timeshare attorney and send a strongly worded letter to DVC. It needs to stop like yesterday.

I will say why I don't like walking I have yet to hear a solution that wouldn't be more harm than it would fix (the fixes I have seen presented often would benefit the wealthy or larger point owners). Effectively while cancellations are allowed walking will be allowed. I really don't think it affects many units either so unless you need/want Value/Club at AKV anytime or VGF/CCV/BLT(standard)/BWV(standard) studios during Fall Frenzy is the times walking is really active. If they stop walking there will still be an equal number of people who can't get the room. It actually creates a very predictable patter that makes it super easy to follow the walk and grab the rooms with a much higher degree of certainty then gambling right at 8 AM would allow (of course this is until people learn to follow the walk).

Also I think people are quick to blame walking for all short availability issues at the resorts, not that it is obvious but probably less prevalent than we all would believe. Many complaints I see of walking end up not really fitting the pattern of walking, IMO.

 

[Wakey]

After AKL club level I find BLT standard the most difficult to get, 1 beds anyway and this is at 7 months, I can sometimes get AKL value in summer, but never standard BLT.

 

[DDad4]

I actually booked a 2 Bedroom Dedicated standard yesterday at BLT. I was definitely worried about availability with such a small number of room. Are there only 15? Booked right at 8:00.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I honestly believe DVC has a legal responsibility to stop walking. It is a fact that those who do it are circumventing the 11 month window. It is cheating and if you do it you are a cheater plain and simple. It's time to talk to a timeshare attorney and send a strongly worded letter to DVC. It needs to stop like yesterday.

Why? In the old days when you booked based on your departure day and everyone was equal, owners would book a night at a time, getting their first night on day one. Then called every day after that and adding another day. But even that didn't guarantee you got what you needed if someone else beat you out for that one night. With online booking, it would be easy now to book like this.

When you have to book based on your arrival anyone arriving the day before you gets the worm.

 

[Marionnette]

Why? In the old days when you booked based on your departure day and everyone was equal, owners would book a night at a time, getting their first night on day one. Then called every day after that and adding another day. But even that didn't guarantee you got what you needed if someone else beat you out for that one night. With online booking, it would be easy now to book like this.

When you have to book based on your arrival anyone arriving the day before you gets the worm.

How is forcing all owners to get online daily, regardless of the type of villa they wish to book, an acceptable alternative to the current system? There are going to be "losers" and "winners" under both systems but the potential for more individuals to have holes in their reservations means that there will be more "losers" waiting for another "loser" to blink and give up their nights.

I don't like walking but this sounds like the cure is worse than the curse.

 

[n2mm]

I actually booked a 2 Bedroom Dedicated standard yesterday at BLT. I was definitely worried about availability with such a small number of room. Are there only 15? Booked right at 8:00.

I had no problem booking the same room this morning.

 

[lovin'fl]

The only way to truly stop walking is to go to a regular fixed week based timeshare and, well, too late for that. I don't think it's cheating at all. It is there for all to do. We are allowed to modify and cancel. In baseball would you say a bunter is cheating? No. Or stealing a base? No. Those are all viable options to get ahead and that's what walking is. It is not cheating...gaming maybe but not cheating.

 

[Chuck S]

If the number of points you purchased was based solely upon getting a "standard room" view at your home resort for each and every trip, you really did not fully understand the product and the booking rules. Especially given the limited number of "standard view" rooms at most resorts. The DVC system is based upon flexibility. The newer set week option would be the way to go for these folks.

 

[lovin'fl]

Yep, so true @Chuck S . We started going to F&W around 2012 and loved it so much we added 55 BWV direct thinking DH and I could get 3-5 nights in standard studio every Oct. Ha! Soon realized that was not a guarantee in any way so we added more and now have 255. We also found we prefer 1BR anyway so we are good to go. But sometimes we book 2 studios (1 for SIL and 1 for us and she books us at her AKV or SSR for a split stay together). I try my best and if can't get 2 standard I get what I can and then go with P/G view. And, yes, I will walk sometimes...when I feel like being bothered. I also own 70 CCV so that's another one needed to walk.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If the number of points you purchased was based solely upon getting a "standard room" view at your home resort for each and every trip, you really did not fully understand the product and the booking rules. Especially given the limited number of "standard view" rooms at most resorts. The DVC system is based upon flexibility. The newer set week option would be the way to go for these folks.

Yep! In the second year of BLT I attempted to book a 2BR standard view at 8am at 11 months under the old booking system and was shut out. The lowest points rooms and the small room categories were never easy to book and never will be easy. They have been easier at certain times of the year than others but that's as far as you can go with that. One of the selling points for me with DVC was that it was a points system and knowing we could book any length of stay in any available unit. I might be disappointed I don't get the unit that was first on my list but I'd have my second and third choice. It is ignoring the base of the system to assume that you will always get the room you want because it is not a fixed week system so no one was every guaranteed that (with the exception of the few fixed weeks that later came into being).

 

[lawboy2001]

Well if you are booking at exactly 11 months to your check in you either can or can't book your entire reservation that day. There is no partial booking that would be possible. So another person walker or not was simply quicker to booking your check in day. If it is truly walking a simple day by day waitlist approach (waitlist the 11 month day each day, likely it will fulfill the next day early in the morning) will help you get the room (and stalking the site even helps more)

As for short notice trips that simply isn't the nature of a timeshare and DVC was a bit different, from my understanding, in the beginning but it should have always been expected that a timeshare requires months in advance planning and/or extreme flexibility. I rent a Vistana timeshare quite frequentl. Likely shorter trips are getting harder to find for many reason: 1) Easier visibility into available rooms leading to maximum point usage, 2) renting leading to maximum point usage, 3) Disney in general requires at least 180 days of planning if you want that dining reservation, 4) cyclical nature of festivals and parties (which are increasing popularity), and 5) an extremely healthy economy. But none of the reasons for short notice trips being harder to get is because of walking. I would even say people being told buy where you want to stay (which is great advice) is leading to less availability at 7 months because people book right at 11 months and are happy where they are at.

Now I'm not a fan of walking but I did buy-in realizing right away the loophole existed and mentioned it during the sales pitch so I can't complain too much. But I really don't like it because it really is a self-driving system. People walk because they see availability disappear right at 11 months so they grab when they can which leads to more availability disappearing scaring more people; plus I think the boards and other similar places mentioning it as being necessary don't help either. But MS does know about walking doesn't care and in fact they bring it up to some, by accounts on here.

The poster is commenting that the booking patterns have recently changed, making 11 month availability more scarce, and therefore attributes it to walking, i.e. the easier ability to walk a reservation by modifying online. A recent deviation from past booking experience would seem to exclude it simply being a matter of tight 11 month availability at a resort...

 

[bobbiwoz]

I honestly believe DVC has a legal responsibility to stop walking. It is a fact that those who do it are circumventing the 11 month window. It is cheating and if you do it you are a cheater plain and simple. It's time to talk to a timeshare attorney and send a strongly worded letter to DVC. It needs to stop like yesterday.

I agree with you, but every time I bring it up with the powers that be, I generally get the idea that it’s here to stay. Even talking to whomever it was that was answering for Terri regarding the point chart fiasco, she thought waking was preferable to anything else.

 

[Chuck S]

I agree with you, but every time I bring it up with the powers that be, I generally get the idea that it’s here to stay. Even talking to whomever it was that was answering for Terri regarding the point chart fiasco, she thought waking was preferable to anything else.

I really don't see a workable solution, either, except perhaps going back to booking on check-out day instead of check-in day. But still there'd be no guaranteed of a room, and I like booking my first day of stay plus up to 7 better. Putting more restrictions, like no modifications for a month or whatever, would be a problem. Say you plans changed completely, and you want to use the point for something other than DVC...prohibiting changing for a month could also make you lose an RCI reservation or a Disney collection venue. There's no easy answer...and better to work with what we know, even with walking issues, IMO. No system would be perfect for everyone.

 

[freediverdude]

My suggestion, although not perfect, would be to allow a couple of modifications for free, and then, especially if you are trying to modify the dates at the same resort again, have a progressively higher fee for the next couple modifications, and then after 4 or 5 total say the dates at the same resort cannot be modified again. You could still cancel or change resorts at that point, but it would limit the walking to just a few days. This walking for months stuff is absolutely ridiculous and they can do something about that if they want to.

 

[Louis morrell]

Walking appears easy to stop to me. If you book you are not allowed to modify until 11 months and 2 days from the last day of your stay. For example, if you book April 1st -5th 2020 you can not modify before May 7th 2019. That would give an opportunty to block the walk thereby discourage the practice.

 

[DVCDisneyRunner]

Don't like the idea of opening the door to fees at all.

Not saying any changes will or should be made but something like...

You can't modify (add on is ok so you can extend reservation past 7 days), and you can not drop the first day until last day is past the 11 month window unless the entire res is being canceled. Walking would be limited by the max number of days allowed in a reservation minus length of stay. So, no real long term walking and it would not negatively impact the overwhelming majority in anyway. But as many have said it will not guarantee you a specific room or category any more or less than you get now. Some would get the limited high demand rooms most would not.

Fees are not the answer. IMHO

 

[DVCDisneyRunner]

Walking appears easy to stop to me. If you book you are not allowed to modify until 11 months and 2 days from the last day of your stay. For example, if you book April 1st -5th 2020 you can not modify before May 7th 2019. That would give an opportunty to block the walk thereby discourage the practice.

You need to account for the res that go beyond 7 days otherwise we are in the same page... but again still to few rooms for to many trying to book so many would still be demanding change.

 

[Chuck S]

My suggestion, although not perfect, would be to allow a couple of modifications for free, and then, especially if you are trying to modify the dates at the same resort again, have a progressively higher fee for the next couple modifications, and then after 4 or 5 total say the dates at the same resort cannot be modified again. You could still cancel or change resorts at that point, but it would limit the walking to just a few days. This walking for months stuff is absolutely ridiculous and they can do something about that if they want to.

There maybe so many restrictions from the state for charging us for reservations, even after a number of modifications, that DVC may not deem it worth it. Especially considering it involves a small percentage of members, and really walking only actually works during the home resort priority booking window. Starting to walk a reservation at 7 months is pointless, so any actual impact would be right at 11 months.