Marriott 13 Month Reservation Window - Tips for Calling Owner Services

[Terry D]

I recently purchased a 2nd Marriott week and can now book concurrent or consecutive weeks at the 13 month mark. The MVC website states "Reservations in the 13 month window can only be made by calling owners services". Any tips on when to call owners services to get ahead of others who want the same date. I am thinking this would be for a highly desirable week or an event week. For example do I call right at opening, can I leave a message the day before, can I send an email the day before, etc.

 

[GregT]

You do need to call early in the 13 month window, email and website won't help you.

If it is a hot hot reservation (prime ski or prime summer), then I would be calling in right when the call center opens, and would use an atomic clock so that your call is received at 9:00:01am ET, and not 9:00:15am ET. That little bit of time may put you on hold for an extended period and you might miss that reservation.

Best,

Greg

 

[SueDonJ]

I recently purchased a 2nd Marriott week and can now book concurrent or consecutive weeks at the 13 month mark. The MVC website states "Reservations in the 13 month window can only be made by calling owners services". Any tips on when to call owners services to get ahead of others who want the same date. I am thinking this would be for a highly desirable week or an event week. For example do I call right at opening, can I leave a message the day before, can I send an email the day before, etc.

You'll be competing with every other owner who wants the same resort/week as you do, on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the only thing you can do to position yourself as best as possible is to try to book it at the minute the Reservation Window opens.

Use the Helpful Tool on the website to know in advance the opening date of the Reservation Window for your desired stay, and then call in at exactly 9AM Eastern when the phone lines open.

Sign in to your owners.marriottvacationclub.com account:
--> click on "Helpful Tools" under the "RESOURCES" tab
--> click on the "When Can I Reserve?" box
--> click on "Using My Week"
--> Select the Resort for your first Week
--> Navigate through the calendar to input your desired Check-In date, and it will auto-populate the 12-mos and 13-mos Reservation Window dates.

* The online tool for booking Weeks does have an option in the dropdown menu to select a 13-mos consecutive/concurrent multiple-Weeks. This ISN'T the same as automatically booking single Weeks in real time! It can be selected/submitted prior to the window opening but the query doesn't get processed until after the phone queue at the window opening is cleared, so don't use it for any but the lowest-demand reservation requests.

Good luck!

 

[craigc]

Have you tired booking via the web site at 13 mos. Today is 7/31 and I picked Bali and put in August and it is allowing me to book through Aug 29th.

 

[kyaustin]

Have you tired booking via the web site at 13 mos. Today is 7/31 and I picked Bali and put in August and it is allowing me to book through Aug 29th.
View attachment 61375

This is using points, though, isn’t it?

 

[dioxide45]

Have you tired booking via the web site at 13 mos. Today is 7/31 and I picked Bali and put in August and it is allowing me to book through Aug 29th.
View attachment 61375

13 month points reservations can be made online. The same isn't true for weeks based reservations.

 

[craigc]

13 month points reservations can be made online. The same isn't true for weeks based reservations.

Thanks for the clarification, I was not aware of that.

 

[BreakingAway]

Thanks for the clarification, I was not aware of that.

Has anyone had the experience of not being able to reserve a desired high demand week reservation and then call customer service days, weeks or months after and have the week be available? In the past I tried it a couple of times and was not successful so I quit because I thought the chances were very low.

 

[craigc]

Has anyone had the experience of not being able to reserve a desired high demand week reservation and then call customer service days, weeks or months after and have the week be available? In the past I tried it a couple of times and was not successful so I quit because I thought the chances were very low.

Yep.....similar. I tried to get into Los Suenos (points) at 13 mos (9am eastern) there was nothing. Called and was told the same thing, no availability. I randomly checked a couple of weeks later and was able to pick up the 7 nights we wanted. Its only a studio vs. the 1 bed we wanted but for the 2 of us it will do. But, I still don't understand why we were not able to get anything at 13 mos but were able to 2 weeks later. I guess someone could have cancelled but to book and cancel 2 weeks later seems odd.

 

[dioxide45]

Yep.....similar. I tried to get into Los Suenos (points) at 13 mos (9am eastern) there was nothing. Called and was told the same thing, no availability. I randomly checked a couple of weeks later and was able to pick up the 7 nights we wanted. Its only a studio vs. the 1 bed we wanted but for the 2 of us it will do. But, I still don't understand why we were not able to get anything at 13 mos but were able to 2 weeks later. I guess someone could have cancelled but to book and cancel 2 weeks later seems odd.

Much of it has to do with how Marriott opens up inventory and also with owners releasing their weeks. Los Suenos is being sold as weeks, so you are relying on owners to convert their week to Club Points in order to book. But Marriott also holds a lot of unsold inventory and they are more likely to want to rent it out than give it away to those using points. Also realize that points inventory is released at midnight online, not 9am eastern time

 

[vol_90]

Much of it has to do with how Marriott opens up inventory and also with owners releasing their weeks. Los Suenos is being sold as weeks, so you are relying on owners to convert their week to Club Points in order to book. But Marriott also holds a lot of unsold inventory and they are more likely to want to rent it out than give it away to those using points. Also realize that points inventory is released at midnight online, not 9am eastern time

I have booked several weeks at 13 months out via points this year and the calendar's of the resorts I'm interested in (Surf Club, Ko Olina, Crystal Shores) do not open up until 9AM EST on Tuesday's. Last week checking 8:59AM not available then refresh at 9AM and the week opens up. May not be all resorts but my experience using enrolled week points.

 

[SueDonJ]

I have booked several weeks at 13 months out via points this year and the calendar's of the resorts I'm interested in (Surf Club, Ko Olina, Crystal Shores) do not open up until 9AM EST on Tuesday's. Last week checking 8:59AM not available then refresh at 9AM and the week opens up. May not be all resorts but my experience using enrolled week points.

To clarify, this particular OP is questioning Weeks inventory/rules, but below is a basic rundown of both Weeks and Points.

The difference is strictly whether you are using Weeks or Points to book reservations and if it's Points, it doesn't matter whether they're purchased Trust Points or Exchange Points from Enrolled Weeks. The first step is to determine the Inventory Release Date for your particular desired usage/stay:

--> sign in to your owners.marriottvacationclub.com account
--> click on "Helpful Tools" under the "RESOURCES" tab
--> click on the "When Can I Reserve?" box
--> select either the Weeks or Points option (again, makes no difference if Points are purchased Trust Points or Exchange Points from Enrolled Weeks) and follow the prompts to input your desired resort/check-in date, after which the various release dates will be auto-populated.

After you've learned the release dates using Weeks:
- the inventory is released at 9AM Eastern time and the high-demand inventory goes very quickly
- single Weeks can be booked using the 12-mos Reservation Window and the system supports online confirmation
- multiple consecutive/concurrent Weeks can be booked using the 13-mos Reservation Window and the system does not support online confirmation; high-demand inventory requires calling in to Owner Services at the moment of release

Or using Points:
- the inventory is officially released at 9AM Eastern time but the online system may load very shortly after midnight on the Release Dates, and high-demand inventory goes very quickly
- the Reservation Windows are determined according to status tiers; see this Benefits At A Glance chart
- all bookings are supported by the online system

If there's no availability at the opening of any Release Date, you should continue to search at any time after the window opens because other owners/members as well as Marriott may make changes any time that impact availability - inventory remains fluid until the moment of check-in. Note also that when using Points there's a Wait List option, but not with Weeks.

 

[SkyBornDancer]

For the multi week booking, if I book consecutive weeks (which MVC defined as two or more weeks back to back) can the booking end date go past the 13 month window?

And if so, therefore people could potentially own multiple weeks and chain weeks to book out to the popular weeks? Yes?

Lastly, can reservations and weeks be split and used different? For example, If I owned two weeks of lock-offs, I could book two weeks of one half size and a third week with one whole usage?

 

[Dean]

Yes, it's 13 months from the reservation day for the first reservation and many do go well beyond 13 months out to ensure popular week reservations. You can also lock off as long as your using different owned weeks in the string. You say you owned 2 lock off's, you could book 2 studios then 2 1BR consecutively or as your example, a studio, then a 1 BR then a 2 BR.

 

[Fasttr]

I thought the first 2 could not be from the same unit, so the Studio then a 1BR then a 2BR would not work.

 

[Dean]

I thought the first 2 could not be from the same unit, so the Studio then a 1BR then a 2BR would not work.

Never mind… I see you tweaked your reply.

I didn't make any changes but yes, they can be from the same week owned as long as combined with other weeks.

 

[Fasttr]

I didn't make any changes but yes, they can be from the same week owned as long as combined with other weeks.

So if they only have two 2BR lockoffs, they can book?…
Week 1 Studio from unit 1
Week 2 1BR from unit 1
Week 3 Full 2BR from unit 2

 

[Dean]

Yes, done it many times

 

[Terry D]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am new to Marriott floating reservations so still trying to understand all the nuances of booking. Let me use some example dates to help clarify booking 13 months out. Assumptions - I own two 2 bedroom floating weeks and split both and now have 4 weeks to reserve (2-1B & 2-Studios). I want to book 4 consecutive weeks starting May 24/24.
On April 24/23 (13 months out) I can book consecutive weeks May 24/24, May 31/24, June 7/24 and June 14/24. Is this correct?

 

[jwalk03]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am new to Marriott floating reservations so still trying to understand all the nuances of booking. Let me use some example dates to help clarify booking 13 months out. Assumptions - I own two 2 bedroom floating weeks and split both and now have 4 weeks to reserve (2-1B & 2-Studios). I want to book 4 consecutive weeks starting May 24/24.
On April 24/23 (13 months out) I can book consecutive weeks May 24/24, May 31/24, June 7/24 and June 14/24. Is this correct?

Yes- with the caveat that 5/24/24 is a Friday- if the resort you are booking has Thursday check-in as an option than the date your booking window opens would be 4/23/23- even if you want to book the Friday. All the available check-in days open on the first date. If the resort in question only has Fri/Sat/Sun check-in then ignore the caveat.

 

[bizaro86]

Can you book multiple units at the end of a string?

Ie
Week 1: lockout A side
Week 2: lockout B side
Week 3: three 2br units

 

[dioxide45]

Can you book multiple units at the end of a string?

Ie
Week 1: lockout A side
Week 2: lockout B side
Week 3: three 2br units

Yes

 

[Terry D]

Let's say on April 24/23 I have booked 4 consecutive weeks (May 24/24, May 31/24, June 7/24 & June 14/24). Can I one week later on May 1/23 move the May 24/24 booking to June 14/24 so I have two weeks on that date. Can I do that each following week to end up with 4 weeks on June 14/24? If yes, is there a cost to changing the reservation?

 

[jwalk03]

Let's say on April 24/23 I have booked 4 consecutive weeks (May 24/24, May 31/24, June 7/24 & June 14/24). Can I one week later on May 1/23 move the May 24/24 booking to June 14/24 so I have two weeks on that date. Can I do that each following week to end up with 4 weeks on June 14/24? If yes, is there a cost to changing the reservation?

There is a fee to cancel and re-book each week. $35 last I knew.

Not sure how they handle a request to cancel part of a reservation that was made as part of a consecutive string.

What resort are you trying to book? Are all of the dates in question within your season for the weeks you own? One other thing to keep in mind is that not all inventory will be released at the 13-month mark; i believe its up to 50% with the rest released at the normal 12-month mark.

 

[ACP]

I was in this exact position today, I live in the UK and wanted to book Spain for next September for 3 weeks (which I own), after holding on the line I selected the option for MVC to call me back. I received a call back from an agent based in Mexico !! A surprise in itself. There was no problem in booking what I wanted, so happy chappy, however I asked the agent if he could escalate the need for multi weeks owners to book at 13 months via the website (as you can with DP), it seems crazy in this day and age to be hanging on a phone line in the hope that you get through and get the resort you want on the dates you want - but as we all know IT and MVC don't go together!!