# Booking DC Points Misery



## Chase (Mar 10, 2015)

Ok....I know I have a number of posts here that imply that I am having a nightmare booking my Marriott unit using DCs.  Maybe I'm simply doing something wrong.  If so...please help:

1.  I have plenty of points.  Gobs.  Because I have a nightmare booking anything of value.

2.  If I try to reserve online, even in Orlando (where there has to be availability), I always get "no availability". If I play with the calendar to find other dates...absolutely nothing shows up.  Nothing at all.

3.  This might be the worst computerized reservation system on top of an already crappy timeshare program, but clearly there has to be something available some time, right?

4.  So maybe I'm the idiot and doing something wrong.  Is there a trick to using the online reservations and actually finding a unit to book anywhere?  What am I missing?


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## StevenTing (Mar 10, 2015)

How far out are you looking to make a reservation?
How many DC points do you have available to make the reservation?
How many points will it take to make your reservation?

Previously,  if you didn't the points available to make the reservation, the reservation would show up as not available.  Not sure if they've fixed this issue.


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

I have 4100 points.  I've searched for a two bedroom at many resorts for 4 nights from April thru end of year.


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## StevenTing (Mar 11, 2015)

Chase said:


> I have 4100 points.  I've searched for a two bedroom at many resorts for 4 nights from April thru end of year.




And just to make sure, you looked at the points chart to make sure the reservation would be less than 4100 points?


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

Unfortunately, yes.  I'll try again.  This is a horribly user unfriendly reservation system, however.


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## scpoidog (Mar 11, 2015)

Chase said:


> Unfortunately, yes.  I'll try again.  This is a horribly user unfriendly reservation system, however.



Why don't you just call the reservation line?  That's how I've booked all my DC vacations since the program started.


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## BocaBoy (Mar 11, 2015)

I assume you have already converted your weeks to points?  If you haven't, the system will not show you any availability.  I have actually found lots of availability booking with points, although the mechanics of the system are rather inefficient and often frustrating.


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## wuv pooh (Mar 11, 2015)

Call.  Then put in a request and/or get on the wait list.  The system was designed to be the opposite of the old II system where you could browse at certain times of the day and see all kinds of options if you were technically inclined.

The current search system stinks (being nice ) and I almost never find anything on line.  The system is set up to pick what you want and then have them go get it for you, not browse and see what interests you.  Apparently, this is the feedback that they got from the majority of their owners who hated the II system.

If you know what you want they have always been successful getting it for me, just a very different path to get there and no joy in the hunt like before


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## billkoelpin (Mar 11, 2015)

This is our fear with the points program. We have two young kids and my wife is a teacher(school breaks). Right now we are negotiating resale 6500 points(to get grandfathered for the new point levels) for $5-6 all in a point (the marriott transfer fee really hurts) and are terrified we will end up not getting 1st 2nd or 3rd choice. The alternative is to just go on marriott.com and rent the unit or to redweek and rent from an owner. When reading this it gives great pause. Also thinking of just going with 1500points and renting but then concerned we have to rent the points prior to booking then if we rented the points and can't use them would be equally frustrating.      

Any suggestions?


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## TheTimeTraveler (Mar 11, 2015)

billkoelpin said:


> This is our fear with the points program. We have two young kids and my wife is a teacher(school breaks). Right now we are negotiating resale 6500 points(to get grandfathered for the new point levels) for $5-6 all in a point (the marriott transfer fee really hurts) and are terrified we will end up not getting 1st 2nd or 3rd choice. The alternative is to just go on marriott.com and rent the unit or to redweek and rent from an owner. When reading this it gives great pause. Also thinking of just going with 1500points and renting but then concerned we have to rent the points prior to booking then if we rented the points and can't use them would be equally frustrating.
> 
> Any suggestions?






Something doesn't sound right.  Booking in Orlando 12 or 13 months out should ordinarily not be any problem UNLESS your booking an Xmas week or school vacation week.....

Buying more points will not solve the issue unless you start stringing time together and book a day or two before you actually want to begin your vacation.




.


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## GregT (Mar 11, 2015)

Chase said:


> I have 4100 points.  I've searched for a two bedroom at many resorts for 4 nights from April thru end of year.



Have tried checking the "Flexible" box and searching for 1 day reservations?  This will show you exactly what is available.

This is a very funny system, different from other reservation systems I have used.  If there is a very specific reservation you want, I would put in a Waitlist request for it, because they are unconventional sources of inventory.  

However, if you are just kicking tires, I would use the 1 night Flex searching, to show you what is available.  I agree with others, and am surprised by zero availability in Orlando.

I'll do a quick similar check to confirm your findings.

Best,

Greg


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## GregT (Mar 11, 2015)

Chase said:


> I have 4100 points.  I've searched for a two bedroom at many resorts for 4 nights from April thru end of year.



Both Cypress Harbour and Grande Vista are widely available in the summer and fall for a 2BR.  I was searching using the 1 Day Flex search.

Please try again and confirm back -- good luck!

Best,

Greg


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## Bogeygirl (Mar 11, 2015)

GregT said:


> Both Cypress Harbour and Grande Vista are widely available in the summer and fall for a 2BR.  I was searching using the 1 Day Flex search.
> 
> Please try again and confirm back -- good luck!
> 
> ...



Hi I have about 4500 points sitting in my bank so also did a random search - and found both Cypress Harbour for April 18th check in for 7 nights 2675 points and Grande vista June 6th for 2900 points.

Are your points sitting in the 2015 use year?  Cant understand why you wouldn't see these.


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## NboroGirl (Mar 11, 2015)

_[Ad-like comments removed.]_


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

billkoelpin said:


> This is our fear with the points program. We have two young kids and my wife is a teacher(school breaks). Right now we are negotiating resale 6500 points(to get grandfathered for the new point levels) for $5-6 all in a point (the marriott transfer fee really hurts) and are terrified we will end up not getting 1st 2nd or 3rd choice. The alternative is to just go on marriott.com and rent the unit or to redweek and rent from an owner. When reading this it gives great pause. Also thinking of just going with 1500points and renting but then concerned we have to rent the points prior to booking then if we rented the points and can't use them would be equally frustrating.
> 
> Any suggestions?




My suggestion is that you should think very carefully before buying into this system.  At best it's a terribly inefficient Byzantine mess designed to oversell units and prevent access to desired sites without incredible "dialing in" luck.


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

TheTimeTraveler said:


> Something doesn't sound right.  Booking in Orlando 12 or 13 months out should ordinarily not be any problem UNLESS your booking an Xmas week or school vacation week.....
> 
> Buying more points will not solve the issue unless you start stringing time together and book a day or two before you actually want to begin your vacation.
> 
> ...



My Orlando example wasn't only 12 months out....I looked at the entire calendar and found nothing.  Granted I didn't try every Orlando site.  Who would have time to do that given the complete lack of availability that shoes on the calendar. 

I did find a studio at Canyon Villas. But I don't want a studio.


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

GregT said:


> Have tried checking the "Flexible" box and searching for 1 day reservations?  This will show you exactly what is available.
> 
> This is a very funny system, different from other reservation systems I have used.  If there is a very specific reservation you want, I would put in a Waitlist request for it, because they are unconventional sources of inventory.
> 
> ...



Interesting.  Put one night request and all availability shows up if flexible is checked?  I will try this.


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## Chase (Mar 11, 2015)

Okay...I tried the one night availability test as "flexible". I could find 1 night...but only if it fell within 5 days of my requested date.  The rest of the calendar showed no availability.

So I guess you have to keep picking random weeks with a one day "test" to see what's available throughout the year?  What a system.

On Orlando...I don't have a burning desire to go there.  It's just that I figured that is the easiest place to test availability.  Good luck on any desirable location.  Although I did find one night (one) available in Newport Coast.  Wow.


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## NYFLTRAVELER (Mar 11, 2015)

From experience, this is not a system suited for people tied to the school vacation calendar looking to travel to warm weather destinations during the colder months.

Sure traveling to Orlando in the last week of August will show availability but who would want to be in 95 degree humidity then? Try booking such a location Christmas week, Presidents Week, Easter/Passover week and good luck unless you purchase more points.  By a fluke and good timing on the phone on 12/26 we got STT for Christmas week 2015 but otherwise there is generally no shot.

We have 3500 DC Points but with the new "tiers" we are basically at the bottom of the barrel. I have no interest in purchasing more points.

I enjoy the trips but its not so easy getting them for these peak periods which I am tied to for the next 14 years........


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## BocaBoy (Mar 12, 2015)

I don't think the DC availability is all that bad, considering that many of these resorts were sold out prior to DC.  As one example, Ko Olina is a top tier resort where DC availability is extremely good.  Much easier than trading in with Interval.  The mechanics of searching in the system, though, are very inefficient and irritating.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 12, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> I don't think the DC availability is all that bad, considering that many of these resorts were sold out prior to DC.  As one example, Ko Olina is a top tier resort where DC availability is extremely good.  Much easier than trading in with Interval.  The mechanics of searching in the system, though, are very inefficient and irritating.



Overall, from what I've seen in our few short months as DC owners, I would generally agree with this sentiment. The only thing we've booked so far is a four-day Columbus Day weekend 2015 stay in Hilton Head, but I have spent a good bit of time "shopping" the system to get a feel for availability in different resorts at different times to aid in future planning. Overall, I have come away with the impression that, based on current availability, the DC program should work well for us in two years when we are free of the school calendar. In the interim in 2015 and 2016, we'll do our best to be flexible and get the best bookings that we can get.

True prime-time availability is another story, however, and may be what is driving the OP's frustration. Booking in these high demand times is certainly more difficult - but it is the same in virtually every other timeshare system on the planet where trading is involved. So since every DC Points transaction is essentially a trade (no home resort priority), one would expect that the experience would mirror the difficulty of trading through traditional time share weeks systems in prime time - i.e. - waitlists or ongoing searches are mandatory - the inventory rarely is just sitting there waiting to be grabbed.

While I agree that the design of the search process in the MVC system can be frustrating and I would prefer the option to search more broadly than by specific resort/unit/view, I find the DC process more flexible and preferable to II weeks-based exchanging.


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## MALC9990 (Mar 12, 2015)

I just did my standard search approach for one resort in Orlando - Cypress Harbour and find total availability any date for all of July, August and September this year. that was the first resort listed on the Orlando list of resorts - I truly do not understand what the OP is doing wrong.

My approach is 
1. Click on Check Availability.
2. Click on Use my Points.
3. Select a Country.
4. Select a State.
5. Select a City.
6. Select a Resort.
7. Choose a Floor Plan, 
8. Choose a View Type (if appropriate)
9. Enter a check in date 9always a Wednesday)
10. Click on the Flexible? Box.
11. Enter 1 as the number of nights.
12. Input number of guests - I always enter 4.
13. Click on Search Availability.
14. Start moving up and down the calendar clicking on each Wednesday.

Availability will be displayed as appropriate. This approach showed me that Cypress Harbour has availability for every night in July, August and September  2015.

Once I have found the availability when and where I am happy to go - get it booked!


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## chunkygal (Mar 13, 2015)

I think the difference is  that you have to have the availability before you can check. I too have found it ver frustrating and find calling easier


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## Chase (Mar 14, 2015)

I tried MALC990's suggestion (appreciate the explicit instructions). 

I was able to find occasional availability in Orlando...although you have to try one week at a time and whenever you "edit" your search you have to start all over (which I can only assume is intentionally done this way to make booking more difficult). Very very tedious and time consuming. 

So Orlando is possible.  Some weeks.

But I didn't want to go to Orlando.  I was only using Orlando because it is ground zero of the timeshare glut in the US.  I figured that there'd have to be availability there....particularly as you can book a 2 bedroom from most hotels for peanuts. 

So I tried other, more interesting, resorts.  Newport, Carribean in August (hurricane season). I came up dry.  

Now admittedly I didn't try week after week at every resort (again....each search is a whole new data entry experience)...because this would have been an entire night's work.

So the learnings:

-- the booking of less desirous sites is possible if you have a ton of patience and try the "one night" flexible search starting with Wednesday one week at a time.
-- it appears to require a lightening strike of luck to actually get availability at a desirable resort.  Not impossible, but highly highly unlikely.
-- you will waste an incredible amount of time on the system trying in earnest to get to where you want to go only to ultimately book a place you didn't want...or lose the points.
-- Marriott and the DC system (and their website) really really sucks.

I do hope that people considering buying in read this note and are ultimately steered away from the Marriott system.  They sell DC points under the pretext that this will be a currency that will take people where they want to go.  In fact, after an incredible amount of money, you find you can't use them the way you want to.  By any measure this is disingenuous. At worst its corrupt.  And yet us owners patiently allow ourselves to be crapped on by Marriott (despite having invested tens of thousands of dollars). 

And booking a legacy week isn't much less ridiculous. 

It's bad.  Really bad.


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## Chase (Mar 14, 2015)

One other thing.  I tried to duplicate the Cyprus Harbour results.  Not possible with a 2 bedroom.


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## SkyBlueWaters (Mar 14, 2015)

Did you have trouble booking at Mountainside. Did you convert your week to points? It seems that I have better options on the II site with my deposite units compared to what you are experiencing. It's free to change Marriott to Marriott. Can you use your points on II instead?


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## JIMinNC (Mar 14, 2015)

Chase said:


> I tried MALC990's suggestion (appreciate the explicit instructions).
> 
> I was able to find occasional availability in Orlando...although you have to try one week at a time and whenever you "edit" your search you have to start all over (which I can only assume is intentionally done this way to make booking more difficult). Very very tedious and time consuming.
> 
> ...



My experience shopping for availability is not nearly as bad as what you seem to be experiencing. I have actually been pleasantly surprised by immediate availability in the DC system - but then my comparison is to instant availability in the RCI system that we endured for 16 years with another ownership - now THAT is "really bad."

And the system design really isn't that bad when you get used to it - once you pick your resort choice, unit size and view, number of people, number of nights and initial check in date - you can quickly check other check-in dates by just clicking on the date on the calendar page that presents the availability. I can check an entire month in under 20 seconds or so. Then as long as you stay within the same resort, you can change unit size or view without going back to the beginning. Only when you change locations do you truly have to start over.

I suspect part of your problem is that earlier in this thread you said you were searching from April 2015 through year end. The problem is those reservation windows have been open for 3 to 11 months. Most of the good stuff has already been picked over. Marriott Vacation Club, like virtually every other timeshare product known to man, depends upon planning and booking well in advance. The early bird does get the worm.

Below is availability I found in Hawaii for the first couple months of 2016 for another post a week or two ago. Not bad really, considering February is very high season in Hawaii and these booking windows had already been open for weeks. Took about 10 minutes to collect this info.

HAWAII

Maui Ocean Club
2BR OF -- Not available in Jan or Feb 
2BR OV -- Not available except for first few days of January
2BR MGV -- Available most of January; Nothing in February
1BR OV/MGV -- Available for almost any Jan or Feb check-in day
1BR OF -- A few scattered check-in days available in Jan and Feb

Maui Ocean Club - Lahaina and Napili Villas
Nothing Available except a few days in late Feb for 1BR IV

Kauai Beach Club
2BR OV -- Available all of Jan and Feb
2BR OF -- Available very early January; Nothing after that
1BR OF/OV -- Available all of Jan and Feb

Kauai Lagoons
2BR IV -- Available anytime in Jan or Feb
2BR OV -- Some available in early Jan; Nothing after that

Waiohai
2BR OV -- Available first 3 weeks of January; Nothing after that
2BR IV -- Available all of January; Scattered in Feb (about half of the month)

KoOlina
2BR OV -- Available first 3 weeks of January; Nothing after
2BR MV -- Available all of Jan and Feb
1BR OV/MV -- Available all of Jan and Feb (a few holes in Jan)


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## MALC9990 (Mar 14, 2015)

Chase said:


> One other thing.  I tried to duplicate the Cyprus Harbour results.  Not possible with a 2 bedroom.



You have got to be doing something wrong. I just went back and looked for Cypress Harbour - they ony offer 2 bed with no view category selectable - I can see total availability across the month of August 2015. 7 nights with check in any date in August.

Now the other thing to be aware of is that if you do not have sufficient points to reserve the full week - even if you gave seen that it is available when checking for 1 night, then the system will just tell you there is No Availability - even though you just saw that there was availability. This is poor - the response should come back - sorry but although there is availability you do not have enough points to make the reservation.

So I can see for example that there is availability at Newport Beach for 7 nights with check in on Fri 21st August, I get no availability if I try t reserve the 7 nights because I have insufficient points for the reservation in my account. I need more points. At this point I would be off hot foot to a points rental site to obtain the points I need and then get back to MVCI hoping to find the availability still there.

Yes the system is not perfect but it is not as bad as some make it out to be. This is not a hotel reservation system that cares not whether you have the money to pay when you reserve the room. Here the system checks your account to see if you have the funds (DC Points) before it will let you make the reservation.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 14, 2015)

Chase said:


> So I tried other, more interesting, resorts.  Newport, Carribean in August (hurricane season). I came up dry.



Odd. I just checked Newport Coast and it is widely available for 7 nights (or shorter) stays from just after Easter 2015 through May - almost any check-in day. There's some summer availability in late June for up to 7 day stays, and then, from late August through mid-November it is wide open with most days/weeks with solid availability.

In the Caribbean, while you are correct that in St Thomas and Aruba availability for the rest of 2015 is limited mainly to week fragments and isolated days, there is extensive full week availability in St Kitts from August through early December. I was only searching for two bedroom units and it only took me about 15 minutes to check through Newport and the Caribbean resorts.


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## skyequeen (Mar 15, 2015)

*Have to have your points in the right year*

Just booked a week with points in early 2016.  I could not "see" the week I needed online.  So I called to make a request.  Forgot you cannot see what you want unless your points have already been banked into the new use year.  But the rep could see what I wanted and I banked just what I needed.  So there are real benefits to using the rep.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 15, 2015)

skyequeen said:


> Just booked a week with points in early 2016.  I could not "see" the week I needed online.  So I called to make a request.  *Forgot you cannot see what you want unless your points have already been banked into the new use year.*  But the rep could see what I wanted and I banked just what I needed.  So there are real benefits to using the rep.



Can someone clarify if this statement above is correct?

I can't see how it can be because we have 3375 combined Trust and enrolled points per year (we've already elected points for our enrolled week for both 2015 and 2016), but have not yet banked our 2015 points into the 2016 use year. 

But when searching in 2015 or 2016, I can see bookings that require 4000 and even 5000+ points, but I do not have that many points banked or borrowed into any one use year. So my assumption is that the reservation system looks at points in the selected use year, plus any points that could be banked or borrowed from a preceding or succeeding year to determine what availability to display.

So the availability I can see would seem to contradict the understanding noted above by skyequeen. Can anyone help confirm which assumption is correct?


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## Fasttr (Mar 15, 2015)

JIMinNC said:


> Can someone clarify if this statement above is correct?
> 
> I can't see how it can be because we have 3375 combined Trust and enrolled points per year (we've already elected points for our enrolled week for both 2015 and 2016), but have not yet banked our 2015 points into the 2016 use year.
> 
> ...



I have always understood it to work like you are suggesting, that the system looks back and forward and will take into consideration bankable and borrowable points when showing availability for any use period.


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## BobG7734 (Mar 15, 2015)

How happy am I?  Just read JIMinNC's post on availability in various places and was able to book 3 weeks at Waiohai, OV, last week of Jan to mid Feb 2016!!!

Points work for me!


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## Quilter (Mar 15, 2015)

rcgrogan said:


> How happy am I?  Just read JIMinNC's post on availability in various places and was able to book 3 weeks at Waiohai, OV, last week of Jan to mid Feb 2016!!!
> 
> Points work for me!



Isn't is nice when you grasp a new tactic in a thread and a light bulb goes off with the thought "I can do that!"  

I remember way long, long ago in a faraway land that there was a thread on converting MR points to a 10 day travel certificate and then converting it to something else and you ended up with a gazillion points.   I thought "yeah, right".   Then I realized I could get in the game.  My hands were shaking, I made some calls to Owner Services . . .    I think within a month's time the program changed and the possibility was deleted.    But I enjoyed the benefits of a good snag for quite some time.   

Hope you can say the same years from now for those weeks in Waiohai.


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## Quilter (Mar 15, 2015)

Fasttr said:


> I have always understood it to work like you are suggesting, that the system looks back and forward and will take into consideration bankable and borrowable points when showing availability for any use period.



Really?  I thought if I didn't have enough points for even one night I couldn't do an online search.    I only have 5 DC points in my account.   For 2016 I have the possibility of turning in weeks to get many points.   All of my weeks are currently books for 2016 reservations and most are locked off and have reservations for 2 weeks.   Does this omit them from being considered for possible points?   I tried a couple sample searches and came up with no availability.   

Can someone please give me a sample search that will be sure to show availability if at all possible?   I'd like to see this work.

Thanks,
Q


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## JIMinNC (Mar 15, 2015)

rcgrogan said:


> How happy am I?  Just read JIMinNC's post on availability in various places and was able to book 3 weeks at Waiohai, OV, last week of Jan to mid Feb 2016!!!
> 
> Points work for me!



Congrats! But one question....

Did you mean to type OV or did you mean IV? I have not been able to see any OV availability myself in that late Jan/early Feb time frame but IV is wide open for me. 

The reason I ask is I have enough bankable/borrowable points in 2015 - 2016 - 2017 to theoretically -- IF Marriott is displaying availability if you have enough points either in the use year or bankable/borrowable from preceding or succeeding years -- to be able to see most any availability for early 2016 up to 8,600 points (3375 points with a 2015 use year that are eligible to be banked, 100 leftover DC Bonus Points, 3375 use year 2016 points, and 1750 trust points in 2017). But when I search, the highest point requirement I've seen available is 5,150 points. No results over that have been returned on any search that I can remember.

So if by some chance Marriott's system is NOT showing all availability for all bankable/borrowable points, that would explain why I cannot see OV accommodations that require 5800 - 6700 points or so at the Hawaii resorts.

But if, for example, for a 2016 search, they were only looking at my 3375 2016 points PLUS my 100 leftover Bonus DC Points, PLUS my 1,750 2017 points that CAN be borrowed into 2016, that would total 5,225 points.

SO, if Marriott was NOT including my bankable 2015 points in their calculations as skyequeen suggests in her post above, but was only considering my 2016 use year points and my 2017 borrowable points, that would explain why I can't see any 2016 availability that requires over 5225 points.

I'm not sure if my explanation is clear or not, but can anyone else shed any more  light on what points go into the availability calculation?


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## dioxide45 (Mar 15, 2015)

JIMinNC said:


> Congrats! But one question....
> 
> Did you mean to type OV or did you mean IV? I have not been able to see any OV availability myself in that late Jan/early Feb time frame but IV is wide open for me.
> 
> ...



Have you converted 2017 to DC points yet?


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## JIMinNC (Mar 15, 2015)

dioxide45 said:


> Have you converted 2017 to DC points yet?



Right now our only 2017 points are our 1750 use year 2017 Trust points. We have not yet elected our 2017 week for points. Here's what we have:

2015 use year: 1750 Trust + 1625 elected = 3375 (not yet banked to 2016, but probably will)
2016 use year: 1750 Trust + 1625 elected = 3375
DC Bonus Points usable in 2015 or 2016: 100
2017 use year: 1750 Trust

So if we are searching for 2016 availability, I have been able to see reservations that require as many as 5150 points but nothing over that. So I guess my question is, does Marriott include "bankable" 2015 points in the points "available" for 2016 if we have not yet actually banked those points into 2016? It appears they are considering some points from other years since we can see availability that requires more than the 3475 points that are currently in 2016 use year. But if they are factoring in all bankable and borrowable points, we should be able to see bookings that require up to 8600 points - but we can't. I had assumed they just weren't available - but rcgrogan says he booked Waiohai 2BR OV in late Jan/early February that according to the points chart requires at least 5875 points. If all our bankable/borrowable points are included in the "points available to book" calculation, we should have been able to see it too. Hence my question trying to clarify what points Marriott includes when you do a search.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 15, 2015)

JIMinNC said:


> Right now our only 2017 points are our 1750 use year 2017 Trust points. We have not yet elected our 2017 week for points. Here's what we have:
> 
> 2015 use year: 1750 Trust + 1625 elected = 3375 (not yet banked to 2016, but probably will)
> 2016 use year: 1750 Trust + 1625 elected = 3375
> ...



I may have just answered my own question. I searched a little more at some other locations and finally got a result returned that required 5875 points. Given the points we have available, that would seem to validate Fasttr's post that Marriott looks both back and forward and will take into consideration both bankable and borrowable points when showing availability for any use period.

That still leaves the unanswered question of how rcgrogan booked a 2BR OV at Waiohai for 3 weeks when all that I can see are IV for that time period?


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## Quilter (Mar 16, 2015)

Quilter said:


> Really?  I thought if I didn't have enough points for even one night I couldn't do an online search.    I only have 5 DC points in my account.   For 2016 I have the possibility of turning in weeks to get many points.   All of my weeks are currently books for 2016 reservations and most are locked off and have reservations for 2 weeks.   Does this omit them from being considered for possible points?   I tried a couple sample searches and came up with no availability.
> 
> Can someone please give me a sample search that will be sure to show availability if at all possible?   I'd like to see this work.
> 
> ...





MALC9990 said:


> You have got to be doing something wrong. I just went back and looked for Cypress Harbour - they ony offer 2 bed with no view category selectable - I can see total availability across the month of August 2015. 7 nights with check in any date in August.need more points. At this point I would be off hot foot to a points rental site to obtain the points I need and then get back to MVCI hoping to find the availability still there.
> 
> .



I went for your Cypress Harbour example.   Looked for the entire month of August.  Nothing.   Is that because my points are tied into reservations? I could just cancel the amount of reservations necessary to get something with points.


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## BobG7734 (Mar 16, 2015)

Probably becuz your points are tied to a reservation.  For my search to work I had enough available points in current year, banked and future elected; so had enough to pull 3 weeks.

I did pull OV, in fact, I used the flexible option and had multiple day checkin choices available.

Also, before confirming, the system displayed what bucket the points would come from and "asked" to confirm that I did want to borrow from the future year (where my elected points sat).  That I feel is a good feature.

Now that I have these weeks I may try the "Puck" trick at some point.


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## Squan66 (Mar 16, 2015)

Chase,
Sorry you are experiencing such issues using your points.  I would suggest you have patience and call Marriott.  Figure out in advance where you want to go and how many points the reservation needs.  If you follow the directions provided you should be able to view availability on line. Keep in mind that Timeshares require planning.  I booked 3 weeks in Aruba with points (prime weeks) in January and February.  I called at exactly 12 months out at 9:00 AM when the phone lines opened.
If you decide this is all too much for you try renting your points for this year on vacationpointexchange.com
Next year call and book the week you own.  Hopefully you bought somewhere you enjoy.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 16, 2015)

rcgrogan said:


> Probably becuz your points are tied to a reservation.  For my search to work I had enough available points in current year, banked and future elected; so had enough to pull 3 weeks.
> 
> I did pull OV, in fact, I used the flexible option and had multiple day checkin choices available.
> 
> ...



The points in my DC account are not tied to an existing reservation at all. I have 3375 combined elected/trust points in the 2015 use year, the same amount in 2016, 100 bonus points that can be used in 2016, and 1750 Trust points in 2017. In theory, that is 8600 points that are unused and could be used to book a 2016 reservation *IF* Marriott looks both forward and back as Fasttr suggested above. But while I can see plenty of IV availability at Waiohai in late Jan/Early Feb, I can see no OV as you could. 

I'm not actually looking for an early 2016 Waiohai rez (I was just shopping the system to learn what I could about availability), so I haven't actually banked the 2015 points into 2016 yet. That may, in fact, be the reason I can't see what you can see and would validate what skyequeen posted above that Marriott doesn't factor in "bankable" points unless they have already been banked. If that is the case, for a 2016 rez, they would only use the 5225 points I have in 2016 and 2017 to search with for a 2016 rez - and that's enough for a Waiohai IV, but not enough for OV.

I was able to see a 5800 point booking for Newport Coast that required more than 5225 points, but it just dawned on me that was a 2015 date, so since I have 3375 in 2015 and another 3375 that can be borrowed from 2016 -  that would explain why I can see 5800+ point bookings for 2015, but not for 2016: Marriott only looks forward - not back.

Does that make sense and can anyone else validate that my logic is accurate?

I will likely bank my 2015 points to 2016 soon anyway, and will likely be able to validate this then, but I've been waiting to make sure I didn't have a use in 2015 before doing so.


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## Quilter (Mar 16, 2015)

rcgrogan said:


> Probably becuz your points are tied to a reservation.  For my search to work I had enough available points in current year, banked and future elected; so had enough to pull 3 weeks.



Jim,  not trying to be vain but I think rcgrogan was responding to my question with his first sentence and to yours with the rest of his/her post.


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## Quilter (Mar 16, 2015)

I called the new phone line listed for the upper tiers.  I asked the rep if she was trained for the new levels and she said she was a senior advisor.

She said points have to be readily (she stressed "readily") available in the account to be used as a search.  The computer wouldn't guess if I would consider changing my mind about the reservations.

As in Jim's case, would "readily available" be the missing factor for "bankable" points not yet banked?


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## Fasttr (Mar 16, 2015)

Quilter said:


> Would "readily available" be the missing factor for "bankable" points not yet banked?



I don't see why bankable points not yet banked would be any different than borrowable points not yet borrowed.....that said, we all know MVC's website stubs its toes in certain areas.  

Could it be possible this is a new website issue as a result of the MVC IT techies attempting to deal with the new issues MVC has created for themselves with allowing banking for 1, 1.5 and 2 year periods under the new tiers???  Perhaps they realized they could not easily accommodate online ressie searches using potentially bankabe points under the new multiple banking lengths, so they just removed that functionality altogether and the only way to get that is via the call in to a VOA.  Ahhh....more confusion, just what we need.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 16, 2015)

Fasttr said:


> I don't see why bankable points not yet banked would be any different than borrowable points not yet borrowed.....that said, we all know MVC's website stubs its toes in certain areas.



That was my thought as well, but after the information from rcgrogan, the only explanation that I can logically come up with for the different availability we each see is that bankable points not yet banked are not included in the search, but borrowable points not yet borrowed are included.

I think we are going to make the decision to bank 2015 very soon, maybe in the next day or so. When we do, if more 2016 availability suddenly appears in my searches, then we may have the answer to the question. I will report back when we do.


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## skyequeen (Mar 17, 2015)

*Not just opinion about how MVC search works*

It is not just my opinion that the points needed for a reservation must already  be in the year of a desired reservation to be "seen."  The MVC rep told me that was why I was not seeing what she sees.  Since first writing I've also learned that an ambitious rep can also do a query to see if Interval is willing to relinquish the desired unit if none are in MVC inventory.  This was done for me behind the scenes and believe me I'm happy about it.


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## dioxide45 (Mar 17, 2015)

skyequeen said:


> It is not just my opinion that the points needed for a reservation must already  be in the year of a desired reservation to be "seen."



I don't think this is the case. It seems based on JIMinNC experience, available points that are able to be borrowed from future use years can be used to see available reservations. The question is, are bankable points treated the same or not.


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## Fasttr (Mar 17, 2015)

skyequeen said:


> It is not just my opinion that the points needed for a reservation must already  be in the year of a desired reservation to be "seen."  The MVC rep told me that was why I was not seeing what she sees.  Since first writing I've also learned that an ambitious rep can also do a query to see if Interval is willing to relinquish the desired unit if none are in MVC inventory.  This was done for me behind the scenes and believe me I'm happy about it.



I think JIMinNC has proven that borrowable points from a future year can be seen by the system, so your rep was either incorrect, or was just replying to your specific instance in that you only had bankable points that could not be seen.  Jim's testing and rcgrogan's recent ressie does seem to prove out that bankable points are not seen.  

Interesting factiod about the quick looksy into II with a points ressie inquiry as we were bantering about that in another recent thread...wondering if that was automatic or was only done as necessary.


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## jeepie (Mar 17, 2015)

*Some of us need to be careful about timing...*



JIMinNC said:


> I think we are going to make the decision to bank 2015 very soon, maybe in the next day or so.


With the program changes effective 4/30, depending on one's ownership level, it could pay to wait and not bank yet. Some may be able to bank for 1-1/2 years, others two years. I apologize for not knowing if this applies to you, but felt it may be applicable to some TUGgers as well. Cheers.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 17, 2015)

jeepie said:


> With the program changes effective 4/30, depending on one's ownership level, it could pay to wait and not bank yet. Some may be able to bank for 1-1/2 years, others two years. I apologize for not knowing if this applies to you, but felt it may be applicable to some TUGgers as well. Cheers.



Doesn't affect us. Have less than 4000 available points/year in DC.


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## GrayFal (Mar 18, 2015)

Chase said:


> One other thing.  I tried to duplicate the Cyprus Harbour results.  Not possible with a 2 bedroom.



Oops.  Addressed in posts 28,29, etc.


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## JIMinNC (Mar 18, 2015)

*I think we have our answer...*

I just banked our 2015 DC Points into the 2016 use year.. and voila!...all that 2BR Ocean View inventory that came up as "Not Available" prior to banking is now there for the taking. If I wanted to, I could book many, many check-in days (almost ANY check-in day, in fact) in February or March 2016 in a 2BR OV at Maui Ocean Club Original (also some OF check-in days available) and I could even see some availability in the Lahaina and Napili Towers. Before banking, I could see none of this.

By banking, I now have 6750 Trust/Elected points available in the 2016 use year and 1750 Trust points in 2017. I am able to see bookings that require over 8000 points, so that proves that Marriott is looking forward to my 2017 borrowable points in assessing "available points to book". But since I never saw any of this inventory until I actually banked, I think it proves the system is not looking at bankable but unbanked points.

I'm not sure I really understand the rationale for Marriott doing it this way, but it does appear that is what is happening.


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## dioxide45 (Mar 18, 2015)

JIMinNC said:


> I just banked our 2015 DC Points into the 2016 use year.. and voila!...all that 2BR Ocean View inventory that came up as "Not Available" prior to banking is now there for the taking. If I wanted to, I could book many, many check-in days (almost ANY check-in day, in fact) in February or March 2016 in a 2BR OV at Maui Ocean Club Original (also some OF check-in days available) and I could even see some availability in the Lahaina and Napili Towers. Before banking, I could see none of this.
> 
> By banking, I now have 6750 Trust/Elected points available in the 2016 use year and 1750 Trust points in 2017. I am able to see bookings that require over 8000 points, so that proves that Marriott is looking forward to my 2017 borrowable points in assessing "available points to book". But since I never saw any of this inventory until I actually banked, I think it proves the system is not looking at bankable but unbanked points.
> 
> I'm not sure I really understand the rationale for Marriott doing it this way, but it does appear that is what is happening.



Thanks for posting the results of your test after you banked. I do find it odd that the reservation system will look forward to find borrow-able points, but not look, back to find bankable points. This could get someone in trouble and leave them with some orphaned points if they are not careful.


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## icydog (Mar 19, 2015)

Chase said:


> Interesting.  Put one night request and all availability shows up if flexible is checked?  I will try this.



I tried this too and it works.  Thanks to the Tugger who recommended this search method.  One caveat though, during prime season many Marriott's require 7 day stays. You can only search in increments of 7 nights x 3 weeks aka 21 days.


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## icydog (Mar 19, 2015)

JIMinNC said:


> I just banked our 2015 DC Points into the 2016 use year.. and voila!...all that 2BR Ocean View inventory that came up as "Not Available" prior to banking is now there for the taking. If I wanted to, I could book many, many check-in days (almost ANY check-in day, in fact) in February or March 2016 in a 2BR OV at Maui Ocean Club Original (also some OF check-in days available) and I could even see some availability in the Lahaina and Napili Towers. Before banking, I could see none of this.
> 
> By banking, I now have 6750 Trust/Elected points available in the 2016 use year and 1750 Trust points in 2017. I am able to see bookings that require over 8000 points, so that proves that Marriott is looking forward to my 2017 borrowable points in assessing "available points to book". But since I never saw any of this inventory until I actually banked, I think it proves the system is not looking at bankable but unbanked points.
> 
> I'm not sure I really understand the rationale for Marriott doing it this way, but it does appear that is what is happening.




I found the same thing. Once I banked my points to 2016 on Wednesday I've been able to see tons of availability that wasn't there before I banked.


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