Trying to make a 13 month reservation

I have been on hold for over one hour with Marriott reservations trying to make my 13 month reservations. This is by far the longest (and most aggravating) wait I have had with them.

Serina said:

I have been on hold for over one hour with Marriott reservations trying to make my 13 month reservations. This is by far the longest (and most aggravating) wait I have had with them.

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You can't make that resie online?

FractionalTraveler said:

You can't make that resie online?

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No, it's not possible to make online reservations for concurrent/consecutive multi-Weeks at the 13-mos mark. Marriott's online system for Weeks only supports single Weeks at the 12-mos mark.

Unless something has changed, you can only make the 13 month reservations via the phone.

I did get through and apparently Marriott had sent some emails out by mistake re:confirming reservations that owners did not make. So, they were flooded with calls from folks asking about those emails as well as calls for regular reservations for 2014. The rep was very helpful & apologetic - clearly, she had a busy morning!

Serina said:

Unless something has changed, you can only make the 13 month reservations via the phone.

I did get through and apparently Marriott had sent some emails out by mistake re:confirming reservations that owners did not make. So, they were flooded with calls from folks asking about those emails as well as calls for regular reservations for 2014. The rep was very helpful & apologetic - clearly, she had a busy morning!

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Ah, that explains this thread.

Ahh...yes!

SueDonJ said:

No, it's not possible to make online reservations for concurrent/consecutive multi-Weeks at the 13-mos mark. Marriott's online system for Weeks only supports single Weeks at the 12-mos mark.

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OK. But I didn't see anywhere the OP stated the resie was for multiple concurrent weeks. My bad.

FractionalTraveler said:

OK. But I didn't see anywhere the OP stated the resie was for multiple concurrent weeks. My bad.

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I took a guess that it was for Weeks, and multi-Weeks are the only reservations you can make at 13-mos out. It would have been "my bad" if the OP was talking about DC Points.

SueDonJ said:

I took a guess that it was for Weeks, and multi-Weeks are the only reservations you can make at 13-mos out. It would have been "my bad" if the OP was talking about DC Points.

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Whenever I see someone referring to making a 13 month reservation, I am always thinking weeks. Points never crosses my mind. I assume if they are talking points, they will point that out (pun intended).

SueDonJ said:

No, it's not possible to make online reservations for concurrent/consecutive multi-Weeks at the 13-mos mark. Marriott's online system for Weeks only supports single Weeks at the 12-mos mark.

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I made mine yesterday using the "chat online" feature on the website, took 45 seconds to connect and about 4 minutes to get confirmed into Aruba Surf Club and Grande Vista for March.
edit - I went online at 10:30 am

Just an example of why I prefer a fully functional online system for owners to make whatever type of reseravtion the system will allow. I often don't have the time to be on the phone for long periods waiting and I'm often not available to speak on the phone during Marriott's "normal" business hours.

It is one of the bright spots for the DC as it stands now of us. I can go online, search and reserve, even at 03:00 AM. Of course, it is still a pain to search for one resort one view and one size unit, then have to re-enter all the parameters to search of any variable of those three AND be required to have the points available, just to shop. I was extremely nervouse exchanging our week for DC points and not having a good idea of availability. This time around, I'm shopping everything I'm interested in before commiting to the reservation we want, just so I have an idea of what's easily available vs what might take a little more effort.

GrayFal said:

I made mine yesterday using the "chat online" feature on the website, took 45 seconds to connect and about 4 minutes to get confirmed into Aruba Surf Club and Grande Vista for March.
edit - I went online at 10:30 am

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Yes, and there's also a button on the website that you can click anytime to send an email to Owner Services. If you're looking to reserve multi-weeks that aren't in high demand and willing to take a chance that what you're trying to get won't be available by the time a rep picks up on either, then those are workable options. But if you don't want to take any chances then calling in at 9AM on the day the 13-mos window opens is important, especially because the "chat online" button doesn't appear to pick up calls in that queue.

It really would be great if we could use the online system at the 13-mos window the same way it can be used at 12-mos but it's just not equipped for us to do that.

SueDonJ said:

Yes, and there's also a button on the website that you can click anytime to send an email to Owner Services. If you're looking to reserve multi-weeks that aren't in high demand and willing to take a chance that what you're trying to get won't be available by the time a rep picks up on either, then those are workable options. But if you don't want to take any chances then calling in at 9AM on the day the 13-mos window opens is important, especially because the "chat online" button doesn't appear to pick up calls in that queue.

It really would be great if we could use the online system at the 13-mos window the same way it can be used at 12-mos but it's just not equipped for us to do that.

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The "chat online" is not the phone option - that is called "cllck to call" - chat online is when a rep communicates with you via 'live chat'.

Aruba Surf Club Spring break IS high demand, I used to wait on the phone lines like everyone else for 45 minutes to an hour - but found a better way.

GrayFal said:

The "chat online" is not the phone option - that is called "cllck to call" - chat online is when a rep communicates with you via 'live chat'.

Aruba Surf Club Spring break IS high demand, I used to wait on the phone lines like everyone else for 45 minutes to an hour - but found a better way.

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I've never found either "click to call" or "chat online" to be functioning the minute a high-demand 13-mos Reservation Window opens, instead I've gotten error messages that the options aren't available at that time. And email requests aren't even looked at until after the jammed phone lines are cleared. If "chat online" is working differently now that can only be a good thing - next time I'm going to try it while calling in at the same time.

Over the years from reports to TUG we've learned that high-demand intervals can be gone within a few minutes of the Reservation Windows opening. If the weeks you got were available at 10:15 then they would have been available to anyone who got through on the phone line before then, wouldn't they? That's all I'm saying, that it still appears the direct phone lines are the best option. At least until they make it possible for us to do 13-mos instant reservations online the same way we can do them at 12-mos.

I love the idea of "chat online" or "click to call" to make my reservation too. But, as SueDonJ mentioned, I get an error message or it displayed a message that all the reps were busy and couldn't assist me...check back later. (sigh)

SueDonJ said:

No, it's not possible to make online reservations for concurrent/consecutive multi-Weeks at the 13-mos mark. Marriott's online system for Weeks only supports single Weeks at the 12-mos mark.

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I believe this is now possible in myvacationclub.com. I can see the option to perform this transaction. Just click on the button "Use my Week" and then select from the pull down menu the usage option "Consecutive or Concurrent".

The help text states: If you own multiple weeks, you have the option of reserving two villas concurrently (during the same week) or one villa consecutively (two weeks back-to-back) beginning 13 months prior to the first check-in day of your requested week.

FT

FractionalTraveler said:

I believe this is now possible in myvacationclub.com. I can see the option to perform this transaction. Just click on the button "Use my Week" and then select from the pull down menu the usage option "Consecutive or Concurrent".

The help text states: If you own multiple weeks, you have the option of reserving two villas concurrently (during the same week) or one villa consecutively (two weeks back-to-back) beginning 13 months prior to the first check-in day of your requested week.

FT

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If you choose "Occupy - Consecutive or Concurrent" in the dropdown menu and then click on the "Select Usage" button, the next page has input fields for your details and has a "Submit" button. Above that button it says, "Note: Please be aware this is a request. Your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation number."

We've talked about this new feature in another thread here. I think this is simply a more-detailed email request option than the one that used to exist, but I still don't think that it offers an instant reservation booking option the way the 12-month online option works. I have a 2014 13-mos window opening in a few days - will experiment and let you know what happens.