Booking windows or dates and Availability Pools for MVC types?

[SkyBornDancer]

Hi all, I am attending a MVC presentation, and intend to buy resale. I am thoroughly confused by the various Hydra heads in MVC...

What are the booking window / booking inventory of deeds for the various groups?

1) Destination Points?

2) Floating weeks such as Kauai Beach Club Floating week during Platinum Season (weeks 1-52). 2-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom, Oceanfront?

Marriott's Kauai Beach Club Resale $11,000

Lihue, Hawaii / Posting R935790

www.redweek.com

3) Fixed weeks such as Week 38 Kauai Lagoons Kalanipu'u

Marriott's Kauai Lagoons - Kalanipu'u Resale $17,500

Lihue, Hawaii / Posting R906115

www.redweek.com

4) Other groups I haven't seen yet?

I am looking for avoid buying into something I cannot book. I do plan ahead, but I hate waking up crack of dawn or phone calling to get a complete stay.

For example, Do all the Destination points people reserve Kauai Beach Club at the same point as the floating owners?

---
Lastly, Can I book online, or do I need to call?

 

[Pamplemousse]

I assume you are asking about reserving your owned week at your home resort.
You can book your week within your season (season dates vary by resort) at 12 months prior to your check in date (Or 13 months for multiple weeks owners).There is a spot on MVCI where you can enter your desired check in date and it will tell you when you can reserve.
You can book online at MVCI or call- everyone has their own preference.
To stay at another resort or at your home resort in another season you need to exchange through II.
If you buy a week through the resale market you won’t be able to enroll it in the destination club with out a purchase of another week or points from MVC.
There are no seasons/home resorts with Destination points- you just need to use them before they expire or bank them or deposit into II for a non MVC exchange. How far in advance you can book depends on your ownership level. You can book directly online or call.

 

[jwalk03]

If you own more than one week, you can book consecutive or concurrent reservations at 13-months out, otherwise its 12 months from the first check-in day of the week. (i.e. if a resort offers thurs/fri/sat/sun check in options they all open 12 months from the Thursday date (or 13 months from the Thursday date for consecutive/concurrent reservations.)

The booking window for DP points varies based on your status, and how many nights you are trying to reserve.

A fixed week is just that. You own a guaranteed fixed week in your room type and specific week each year.

 

[Fasttr]

Top row on the attached shows the different booking windows, based on ownership level, when using Destination Points.

https://www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com/common/cms/mvc/pdfs/owners/Owner-Benefit-Level.pdf

 

[Dean]

Hi all, I am attending a MVC presentation, and intend to buy resale. I am thoroughly confused by the various Hydra heads in MVC...

What are the booking window / booking inventory of deeds for the various groups?

1) Destination Points?

2) Floating weeks such as Kauai Beach Club Floating week during Platinum Season (weeks 1-52). 2-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom, Oceanfront?

Marriott's Kauai Beach Club Resale $11,000

Lihue, Hawaii / Posting R935790

www.redweek.com

3) Fixed weeks such as Week 38 Kauai Lagoons Kalanipu'u

Marriott's Kauai Lagoons - Kalanipu'u Resale $17,500

Lihue, Hawaii / Posting R906115

www.redweek.com

4) Other groups I haven't seen yet?

I am looking for avoid buying into something I cannot book. I do plan ahead, but I hate waking up crack of dawn or phone calling to get a complete stay.

For example, Do all the Destination points people reserve Kauai Beach Club at the same point as the floating owners?

---
Lastly, Can I book online, or do I need to call?

A couple of additional thoughts. You have to call to book 13 month week reservations or for consecutive 12 month reservations. For 12 months you could book the first week then call for additional weeks. You cannot book 13 month weeks reservations at all online. Some even weeks are not actually fixed so you still have to make a reservation so you can control the start day of the week.

Every resort has weeks that are more in demand than other and for the highest demand weeks at the most in demand resorts, you will have to be minute one, for weeks and points reservations. The only ways I know around that are for weeks if booking consecutive weeks and the lead in week is easier to book, even better if it has a Thursday start day as that gives you 1 day over most of the membership.

We could probably best answer your real questions if we knew what resorts you wanted and how you were going to use them. There certainly are some resorts and weeks where it's unreasonable to expect to get a reservation consistently but trying to come up with a complete list would be daunting at best.

 

[drlee]

And. to be honest. if you are trying to book a popular resort in peak season, like Valentine's week in Hawaii, ot's best to "play the game" which means a call or on line reservation as close to the date and time inventory becomes available. As mentioned above, you can find that time on the MVCI site for a particular resort. The time frame for destination point reservations and weeks reservations may be the same based on club level, but theoretically the reservations come from different invntories. The "guarantee" for weeks owners is that they have to give you a week in your season with your view, but they may not be able to get the week you want. With points, if the unit is available and you have enough points you can book it. If you read through this forum you'll find lots of tips and ideas. One thing extra: with popular places like Hawaii, owners with multiple weeks can block usage far in advance of the inventory date, because they can start their reservations earlier than the desired week and stay throughout.

 

[SkyBornDancer]

Very helpful everyone, thank you! I am attending a presentation in Ko Alina.

I don't really have specifics to give yet. I am considering buying something in Hawaii, likely on Maui or Kauai. Since I own at Aulani through DVC.

One thing extra: with popular places like Hawaii, owners with multiple weeks can block usage far in advance of the inventory date, because they can start their reservations earlier than the desired week and stay throughout.

Meaning if I owned multiple floating weeks I can book farther out?

New question: If I own a fixed week, can I choose to float it to a different week for a year? How does banking / borrowing work with fixed weeks?

 

[drlee]

If you have multiple weeks, you book the first week at 13 months. Then string additional weeks until you run out. Locking off can provide additional weeks if you have 2 br. If for example you owned 4 weeks of a 2br, you can book 8 week stays. That would make the last stay almost 15 months out. I have no idea about fixed weeks.

 

[SueDonJ]

... New question: If I own a fixed week, can I choose to float it to a different week for a year? How does banking / borrowing work with fixed weeks?

This is the Fixed Week info from the TUG Marriott Vacation Club Timeshare Weeks FAQ & Guide:

>>Marriott's Fixed/"Plus" Weeks - The overwhelming number of Weeks in Marriott's system are floating but there are some fixed Weeks at select resorts. There are different rules (that should be verified with Owner Services) as to whether a particular Fixed/"Plus" Week is also a fixed unit and/or check-in day, and when the reservation windows for particular Fixed/"Plus" Weeks open. Also, some fixed Weeks can be booked into other seasons at the home resort; see this chart from my-vacationclub.com.<<

Unfortunately that link now returns a "404 - Not Found" error message. I've reached out to a Marriott contact to see if that pdf is available anywhere; in the meantime maybe somebody on TUG has it saved??

 

[grupp]

A couple of additional thoughts. You have to call to book 13 month week reservations or for consecutive 12 month reservations.

There were times when I tried to call at 13 months and the lines were so busy I was not even allowed to hold. So, I have started emailing Owners Services with a list of which weeks I want to reserve and that has actually work pretty well. I usually receive the confirmations in a day or two after sending the email. Key is to have the first week being one that you know is not going to booked up immediately that first day and usually the rest will fall into line. Takes little planning, but much less stress than being on the phone forever.

 

[SueDonJ]

There were times when I tried to call at 13 months and the lines were so busy I was not even allowed to hold. So, I have started emailing Owners Services with a list of which weeks I want to reserve and that has actually work pretty well. I usually receive the confirmations in a day or two after sending the email. Key is to have the first week being one that you know is not going to booked up immediately that first day and usually the rest will fall into line. Takes little planning, but much less stress than being on the phone forever.

This strategy would work well, like you say, if you're dealing with low-demand inventory for at least the first resort/check-date that you want. But it's not at all a good strategy if you're trying for high- or even mid-demand intervals (and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with using it unless the beginning of the consecutive string was at least two low-demand intervals.)

E-mailing Owner Services directly to request low-demand inventory isn't necessary because there's a direct link on owner.marriottvactionclub.com to put in a request for 13-mos consecutive/concurrent Weeks reservations:

- Sign in
- Click on "Reserve Week(s)" under "Book" in the "USE WEEK(S)" box
- Click on "Use My Week" for whichever of your multi-owned-weeks will start the consecutive string
- Follow the prompts for the 13-mos Weeks options, and notice the warning that you're placing a request and not confirming reservations.
(I don't have any available Weeks to go through my account to list each step from this point but it's fairly self-explanatory.)

Your message will be handled on the day that the Reservation Window for the first interval in your request opens, but not until after the phone line requests have been cleared. That's why when you're trying for high-demand intervals the only real chance at success is with the phone lines at the minute they open.

And of course to make sure that you know in advance which day is the Reservation Window opening:
- Sign in
- Click on "Helpful Tools" in the "RESOURCES" dropdown menu
- Click on the "When Can I Reserve" box
- Click on "Using My Week"
- Follow the prompts to select the resort/check-in date of the first week in your consecutive string, and the box will auto-populate with all Reservation Window opening dates.

 

[Dean]

There were times when I tried to call at 13 months and the lines were so busy I was not even allowed to hold. So, I have started emailing Owners Services with a list of which weeks I want to reserve and that has actually work pretty well. I usually receive the confirmations in a day or two after sending the email. Key is to have the first week being one that you know is not going to booked up immediately that first day and usually the rest will fall into line. Takes little planning, but much less stress than being on the phone forever.

As noted, this is not likely to be successful for the most in demand weeks either at 12 or 13 months out. For 12 months out for consecutive weeks, you'd still have to call in many situations. I've been on the phone at 9 am on the dot, gotten through but still not been able to get what I needed and in a couple of cases, most days for the wait list was not available as an option.

 

[frank808]

Very helpful everyone, thank you! I am attending a presentation in Ko Alina.

I don't really have specifics to give yet. I am considering buying something in Hawaii, likely on Maui or Kauai. Since I own at Aulani through DVC.



Meaning if I owned multiple floating weeks I can book farther out?

New question: If I own a fixed week, can I choose to float it to a different week for a year? How does banking / borrowing work with fixed weeks?

If you are available tonight, LisaH and I are having a Tug get together and you are invited. We are meeting at the Marriott KoOlina marketplace around 730PM this evening. Drop by and say hello if you can.

I also own Aulani and other resorts in the DVC system.
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[grupp]

That's why when you're trying for high-demand intervals the only real chance at success is with the phone lines at the minute they open.

Not sure I agree with this. My way I am essentially booking at 13 months plus 1 week. If the high demand week is not available at 13 + 1 week, why do you think it will be available when you call at exactly 13 months. Believe me I am booking high demand weeks at the top resorts and never had a problem getting what I want, other than having to accept a Friday or Sunday check-in instead of Saturday.

 

[Dean]

Not sure I agree with this. My way I am essentially booking at 13 months plus 1 week. If the high demand week is not available at 13 + 1 week, why do you think it will be available when you call at exactly 13 months. Believe me I am booking high demand weeks at the top resorts and never had a problem getting what I want, other than having to accept a Friday or Sunday check-in instead of Saturday.

But you're still behind those that call in at 9 am day one and there are still situations where this will not work. But there are others where it will work though it is dependent on the first week or 2 being available which means of low or lower demand.

 

[grupp]

That is true, but there a number of what I would call medium demand weeks that don't book up on day one, which can work. Which one someone would chose to use would depend on how the planned to use that week. Also, there is at least one high demand resort where gardenview weeks don't usually book up on the first day, but the oceanfront most likely do. So, I can lead with the Gardenview to book the Oceanfront the last week in June. I than follow these up with the July 4th weeks at resorts that aren't considered Platinum Plus, That way I am booking my July 4th weeks in early May without spending a minute on the phone. If as you say it may not always work, I still have the option of calling at 13 months or trying to book online at 12 months if this should fail.

Works great for me, but if you all want to keep calling at 13 month, more power to you.

 

[SueDonJ]

Not sure I agree with this. My way I am essentially booking at 13 months plus 1 week. If the high demand week is not available at 13 + 1 week, why do you think it will be available when you call at exactly 13 months. Believe me I am booking high demand weeks at the top resorts and never had a problem getting what I want, other than having to accept a Friday or Sunday check-in instead of Saturday.

That is true, but there a number of what I would call medium demand weeks that don't book up on day one, which can work. Which one someone would chose to use would depend on how the planned to use that week. Also, there is at least one high demand resort where gardenview weeks don't usually book up on the first day, but the oceanfront most likely do. So, I can lead with the Gardenview to book the Oceanfront the last week in June. I than follow these up with the July 4th weeks at resorts that aren't considered Platinum Plus, That way I am booking my July 4th weeks in early May without spending a minute on the phone. If as you say it may not always work, I still have the option of calling at 13 months or trying to book online at 12 months if this should fail.

Works great for me, but if you all want to keep calling at 13 month, more power to you.

I might not be making myself clear but you and I are basically in agreement. If you're using the 13-mos window to book a consecutive string that begins with low-demand intervals, emailing/using the request process on the owners' website should bring success. We might disagree in that you're more comfortable with only one week ahead of a high-demand interval than I would be, but that's a minor detail. (It's also specific to my ownership because I've talked to many owners at my resorts who do the same as me and use multiple early/mid May weeks to lead into a string of late May/early June weeks to get the Memorial Day holiday week, so I still call at 9AM 13-mos in advance of the leading lower-demand first week of my string.)

My point in this thread is that an entirely different strategy should be used when the leading week(s) of a consecutive string are something other than low-demand, in which case the only instant reservation confirmations are available by calling in - and if it's the highest-demand that's wanted then the call should be made at the minute the window opens. This isn't an objection to what you say works for you - it's just a heads-up for people who might not understand the nuance and try the email/online request route only to find that it won't work for them.

 

[Dean]

I might not be making myself clear but you and I are basically in agreement. If you're using the 13-mos window to book a consecutive string that begins with low-demand intervals, emailing/using the request process on the owners' website should bring success. We might disagree in that you're more comfortable with only one week ahead of a high-demand interval than I would be, but that's a minor detail. (It's also specific to my ownership because I've talked to many owners at my resorts who do the same as me and use multiple early/mid May weeks to lead into a string of late May/early June weeks to get the Memorial Day holiday week, so I still call at 9AM 13-mos in advance of the leading lower-demand first week of my string.)

My point in this thread is that an entirely different strategy should be used when the leading week(s) of a consecutive string are something other than low-demand, in which case the only instant reservation confirmations are available by calling in - and if it's the highest-demand that's wanted then the call should be made at the minute the window opens. This isn't an objection to what you say works for you - it's just a heads-up for people who might not understand the nuance and try the email/online request route only to find that it won't work for them.

It also helps if the lead week has a Thursday start date. Tends to be easier to call on those days than when a Friday start with everyone else is also calling.

 

[funNsun]

I am curious to know how the whole Thursday start date works. If I own a week w/ a Thursday start, do the following weeks also need a Thursday start date? Or, is it ok to have a gap day?

Thanks. I am still learning all I can before proceeding down the path of purchasing my first resale week.

 

[SueDonJ]

I am curious to know how the whole Thursday start date works. If I own a week w/ a Thursday start, do the following weeks also need a Thursday start date? Or, is it ok to have a gap day?

Thanks. I am still learning all I can before proceeding down the path of purchasing my first resale week.

It's okay to have gap days. The 13-mos Reservation Window can be used when you're booking multiple consecutive/concurrent Weeks at different resorts and in different seasons, as long as the intervals being booked line up consecutively/concurrently on the resort calendars.

I've booked strings at different Hilton Head resorts that straddle the Gold/Plat seasons, some years deliberately leaving a gap or two and then using Bonvoy Points to book the interim weekend(s) at a Savannah hotel.

 

[Dean]

I am curious to know how the whole Thursday start date works. If I own a week w/ a Thursday start, do the following weeks also need a Thursday start date? Or, is it ok to have a gap day?

Thanks. I am still learning all I can before proceeding down the path of purchasing my first resale week.

Everything I own is Platinum but they have different seasons (Aruba, HI, HHI, Branson, Orlando). Just to clarify, for weeks one can book any start day of the timeshare calendar week once the booking window opens. So one can book a Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon start once 12 or 13 months out from the Thursday for that week of the calendar for applicable resorts. Thus if you can lead with a resort that has a Thursday start you get an extra day over those that don't.

 

[SueDonJ]

Everything I own is Platinum but they have different seasons (Aruba, HI, HHI, Branson, Orlando). Just to clarify, for weeks one can book any start day of the timeshare calendar week once the booking window opens. So one can book a Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon start once 12 or 13 months out from the Thursday for that week of the calendar for applicable resorts. Thus if you can lead with a resort that has a Thursday start you get an extra day over those that don't.

Thinking more about this and using the "When Can I Reserve" tool on the website, it doesn't seem that there's a Reservation Window advantage to leading a consecutive string with a Thursday check-in, at least not all of them. Here's a one-off example using Grande Vista which has Thursday check-ins and SurfWatch which doesn't (assuming you own Weeks in the seasons that line up consecutively at each resort) :

For a GV/SW consecutive string beginning in late November, 2022:
For GV check-ins any day between Thur-11/24/22 and Mon-11/28/22, the 12-mos window for all five days opens Wed-11/24/21 and the 13-mos window opens Mon-10/25/21.

For a SW/GV consecutive string of the same intervals:
For SW check-ins any day between Fri-11/25/22 and Sun-11/27/22, the 12-mos window for all three check-in days opens Fri-11/28/21 and the 13-mos window opens Mon-10/25/21.

So in this example there's an advantage for the 12-mos window but the 13-mos window is the same?

 

[Dean]

Thinking more about this and using the "When Can I Reserve" tool on the website, it doesn't seem that there's a Reservation Window advantage to leading a consecutive string with a Thursday check-in, at least not all of them. Here's a one-off example using Grande Vista which has Thursday check-ins and SurfWatch which doesn't (assuming you own Weeks in the seasons that line up consecutively at each resort) :

For a GV/SW consecutive string beginning in late November, 2022:
For GV check-ins any day between Thur-11/24/22 and Mon-11/28/22, the 12-mos window for all five days opens Wed-11/24/21 and the 13-mos window opens Mon-10/25/21.

For a SW/GV consecutive string of the same intervals:
For SW check-ins any day between Fri-11/25/22 and Sun-11/27/22, the 12-mos window for all three check-in days opens Fri-11/28/21 and the 13-mos window opens Mon-10/25/21.

So in this example there's an advantage for the 12-mos window but the 13-mos window is the same?

There isn't if it falls on a day they would be closed like a weekend or holiday but there is when it doesn't.

 

[SkyBornDancer]

If you are available tonight, LisaH and I are having a Tug get together and you are invited. We are meeting at the Marriott KoOlina marketplace around 730PM this evening. Drop by and say hello if you can.

Thank you for the kind invite. I missed this. For future, where to people usually post meet ups on this forum?

 

[frank808]

Thank you for the kind invite. I missed this. For future, where to people usually post meet ups on this forum?

So sorry you did not see the posttill today. If you still want to meetup, that can be arranged. I am in unit 10411. Give me a ring there. Thanks

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