Housekeeping Credits

[DaveNV]

I've looked at those, and will learn them, but I'm not sure how much they'll factor into my usage, at least until I retire. We have to plan so far ahead right now, vacations don't ever seem to be spur of the moment. Even this three-day SF reservation I made yesterday is for nine months from now.

Speaking of that - now that I've used some of the allotment of credits I have available, there are ~8500 credits left in my account from 2016, and the full 12K from 2017. If I make a reservation that uses, say, 11000 credits, will it automatically take the rest of the 2016 credits, and the different from 2017? Or will it take them all from 2017, since there are enough? Someone said the oldest credits are used first - does it automatically roll over from one amount to the next, when the older ones are used up?

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

I've looked at those, and will learn them, but I'm not sure how much they'll factor into my usage, at least until I retire. We have to plan so far ahead right now, vacations don't ever seem to be spur of the moment. Even this three-day SF reservation I made yesterday is for nine months from now.

Speaking of that - now that I've used some of the allotment of credits I have available, there are ~8500 credits left in my account from 2016, and the full 12K from 2017. If I make a reservation that uses, say, 11000 credits, will it automatically take the rest of the 2016 credits, and the different from 2017? Or will it take them all from 2017, since there are enough? Someone said the oldest credits are used first - does it automatically roll over from one amount to the next, when the older ones are used up?

Dave

Yes it will take the oldest ones first. The other thing to note if you do a bunch of booking and cancelling within the same day, every night there is a "shuffle" where the system will make sure the oldest ones are applied to the reservations, releasing the newer/more recent points.

It will just rollover, nothing needs to be done to "bank".

One huge point to note is that if you "park" expired points and you want to change it to a different location/resort/time, make sure you call and the agent to cancel and book in the system at the same time to make sure you don't lose the expired points. The shuffle at night will clean up the bookings. If you cancel expired points booking and rebook at the same time on your own, there is a good chance that you will lose those points. Make sure to call the agent to cancel and rebook.

 

[CO skier]

Well, that was very interesting! I just went through the booking process, and I lived to tell about it.

First, I made a bogus reservation that took my 2017 HK token. Then I made a second bogus reservation, and it prompted me to Borrow the HK token from 2018. I agreed, and it took that one. Then I made the real reservation I wanted, and it said I owed money, but didn't say why. I figured it was to pay for a HK token, since I had none in my account. I agreed, but when I tried to pay for it, the website said I didn't have a credit card on file, and did I want to enter one. I agreed, went through the process, and said Book It. Aaaaanndd...

It failed. Then I tried it again, and it said I had to complete the first reservation before I could enter a second one. Hmm. So I tried a different credit card. Nope. Then I tried PayPal. Nope again. After several more tries, logging out and back in, all with the same failed results, I called WM. The pleasant lady on the phone politely explained that because I didn't have a credit card on file, the website needed one, but the process to register a new credit card online has been broken for over a year. She asked if I'd like her to complete the reservation for me, and I agreed. She took the card number, got it registered to my account, and completed my reservation, including charging me for the HK fee. It was all good, and Confirmation emails were received for all three reservations.

1) Do not use PayPal to pay for reservations. It can lead to future difficulties paying for reservations online.

2) I added my SIL credit card to my account only a few months ago. The account already had three other cc on file, so it may be that the broken process may be related only to the first cc for an account.

Did you ask the reservation agent to save your cc information to the account? You can check this by trying to make a reservation. After you press Book It, a page should be displayed with radio button(s) for cash options, such as FAX. Click one of the cash option(s) and continue. The next page should display radio buttons for "Use current card on file" and "Use new card". Selecting the "Use current card on file" should then display the cc available. Then just cancel out of the reservation.

 

[VacationForever]

I made sure I cancelled all CC on my account before the transfer by calling the help desk. Yes, to make sure you do autopay with the cc stored online.

 

[CO skier]

I made sure I cancelled all CC on my account before the transfer by calling the help desk. Yes, to make sure you do autopay with the cc stored online.

Setting up autopay will not create cc information for an online booking. They are two different processes. Someone could have autopay using one credit card and have a different cc saved for online booking in the account.

My experience is that the only way to attach cc information for online reservations is to set it up during an online reservation using the "Save credit card for future use" radio button. (I would think a reservation agent could also set up a card for online booking, but I have not done this).

 

[sue1947]

After several more tries, logging out and back in, all with the same failed results, I called WM. The pleasant lady on the phone politely explained that because I didn't have a credit card on file, the website needed one, but the process to register a new credit card online has been broken for over a year. She asked if I'd like her to complete the reservation for me, and I agreed. She took the card number, got it registered to my account, and completed my reservation, including charging me for the HK fee. It was all good, and Confirmation emails were received for all three reservations.

Dave

This programming bug has been in place since last January. They know about it but don't care to fix it. In the past, you could add in the CC during the reservation. Their IT is by the lowest bidder with no testing before being put into production. I think they are now putting all IT resources into the Wyndham fiasco and ignoring problems at WM. They never notify owners of problems, no matter how egregious. Make sure you take frequent screen shots of your account pages so when your account gets frozen or you can't get access (and this will happen at some point), you have some idea of what is going on. Here are various threads on this issue and related ones:

https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48014
https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=47966
https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=47575
https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=47122
https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=47003

Sue

 

[VacationForever]

Setting up autopay will not create cc information for an online booking. They are two different processes. Someone could have autopay using one credit card and have a different cc saved for online booking in the account.

My experience is that the only way to attach cc information for online reservations is to set it up during an online reservation using the "Save credit card for future use" radio button. (I would think a reservation agent could also set up a card for online booking, but I have not done this).

I am not saying anything differently.

 

[DaveNV]

1) Do not use PayPal to pay for reservations. It can lead to future difficulties paying for reservations online.

2) I added my SIL credit card to my account only a few months ago. The account already had three other cc on file, so it may be that the broken process may be related only to the first cc for an account.

Did you ask the reservation agent to save your cc information to the account? You can check this by trying to make a reservation. After you press Book It, a page should be displayed with radio button(s) for cash options, such as FAX. Click one of the cash option(s) and continue. The next page should display radio buttons for "Use current card on file" and "Use new card". Selecting the "Use current card on file" should then display the cc available. Then just cancel out of the reservation.

Good tips to know. Thanks!

Yes, the agent saved my cc to my account. That was part of why I couldn't do it online, because there were none attached to the account.

Dave

 

[sue1947]

I made sure I cancelled all CC on my account before the transfer by calling the help desk. Yes, to make sure you do autopay with the cc stored online.

I personally would never give Wyndham the information for Autopay. I have seen their disregard for basic IT programming protocols too many times and think it's just too risky.

 

[DaveNV]

My experience is that the only way to attach cc information for online reservations is to set it up during an online reservation using the "Save credit card for future use" radio button. (I would think a reservation agent could also set up a card for online booking, but I have not done this).

This is what was not working online for me, and was what prompted me to call them. The agent said the online set-up process has been broken for over a year, and she set it up for me, and saved the card to my online account. I'll know for sure next time I try to book something. I do not (and will not) have autopay set up.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

This is what was not working online for me, and was what prompted me to call them. The agent said the online set-up process has been broken for over a year, and she set it up for me, and saved the card to my online account. I'll know for sure next time I try to book something. I do not have autopay set up.

Dave

Autopay worked well for me, MF was taken out every quarter.

 

[CO skier]

I personally would never give Wyndham the information for Autopay. I have seen their disregard for basic IT programming protocols too many times and think it's just too risky.

My accounts have been on autopay for many, many years. Very convenient and no problems (knocking on wood). I even received a notice two years ago about my upcoming cc expiration date and that the cc needed to be updated.

 

[DaveNV]

It occurs to me that RCI's website is also full of errors, and never seems to be right. I wonder if RCI/Wyndham/WorldMark all use the same IT staff?

Dave, who works in IT, and wonders if there is a job opportunity here.

 

[ecwinch]

Next step for me will be mastering the magic and mysterious 13-month booking window to snag a reservation in a prime area. But that's a topic for another thread.

Dave

It will be a rather short thread - other than the posts lamenting that you cannot game the system anymore.

Mastering the 13-month booking window to snag a reservation in a prime area requires you to wake up at 6am PST and to be on-line clicking away like everyone else. You used to be able to use grouped reservations to reach past the 13 month booking window, but that loophole closed a few years back.

 

[DaveNV]

It will be a rather short thread - other than the posts lamenting that you cannot game the system anymore.

Mastering the 13-month booking window to snag a reservation in a prime area requires you to wake up at 6am PST and to be on-line clicking away like everyone else. You used to be able to use grouped reservations to reach past the 13 month booking window, but that loophole closed a few years back.

Oh, okay. I had heard sometime back about the grouping thing - making a single night reservation ahead of time, then calling and asking a Guide to add on to it. So that's no longer a thing?

And regarding that 6AM PST clicking thing - if you get availability on the date you want, it normally gives you the 15-minute window to complete the reservation. Does that happen then as well? In other words, if I see availability, nobody can steal it out from under me while I'm completing the booking, right? (Shades of RCI exchanges disappearing in the middle of confirming it come to mind.)

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Oh, okay. I had heard sometime back about the grouping thing - making a single night reservation ahead of time, then calling and asking a Guide to add on to it. So that's no longer a thing?

And regarding that 6AM PST clicking thing - if you get availability on the date you want, it normally gives you the 15-minute window to complete the reservation. Does that happen then as well? In other words, if I see availability, nobody can steal it out from under me while I'm completing the booking, right? (Shades of RCI exchanges disappearing in the middle of confirming it come to mind.)

Dave

IN THE PAST, say you want to book a "grouped" reservation, say in my example, Solvang, Marina and Pismo Beach. Marina and Pismo Beach are really hard to book, these are the resorts that I really want to go to. Since Solvang is easy to book into, I used Solvang at the start of the grouped reservation as the first day at 13th month. Marina and Pismo Beach would not have hit 13th month yet and I used Solvang-Marina-Pismo booking to give me an advantage over others who did not know of the workaround.

A year ago, WM closed this workaround and every resort in a grouped reservation needs to be within the 13th month. So my workaround no longer works. I can still book a grouped reservation but Marina and Pismo Beach may no longer be available by the time 13th month comes around for all of them.

You can still workaround this problem if you are willing to throw away a few days ahead of your stay. Let's say July 4th is high demand. You may want to book many more days before July 4th and forfeit the points for the days that you won't be staying.

 

[ecwinch]

Oh, okay. I had heard sometime back about the grouping thing - making a single night reservation ahead of time, then calling and asking a Guide to add on to it. So that's no longer a thing?

And regarding that 6AM PST clicking thing - if you get availability on the date you want, it normally gives you the 15-minute window to complete the reservation. Does that happen then as well? In other words, if I see availability, nobody can steal it out from under me while I'm completing the booking, right? (Shades of RCI exchanges disappearing in the middle of confirming it come to mind.)

Dave

Grouped reservations are still a thing, but you cannot use them to reach past the 13th month window. You used to be able to use "lead-in" days at one resort booked 13 months out and then add-on days at another resort - not within the 13th month window - to create a 7+ day reservation in red season. It is no longer possible.

 

[ecwinch]

Dovetailing into VacationForever's post - the best you can do is throw-away days and walking a reservation to minimize the throw-away days.

So in his example you book June 30 to July 10th, intending "throw-away June 30-July 2nd because all you really want is July 3-10th. So after you book it at the 13th month mark, the next day you check to see if July 1-July 10 is open and if so, you book it. Then cancel June 30-July 10th. Then the next day you check to see if July 2-July 10 is open, and repeat the process until you have your ideal "reservation" or nothing is available.

 

[VacationForever]

Dovetailing into VacationForever's post - the best you can do is throw-away days and walking a reservation to minimize the throw-away days.

So in his example you book June 30 to July 10th, intending "throw-away June 30-July 2nd because all you really want is July 3-10th. So after you book it at the 13th month mark, the next day you check to see if July 1-July 10 is open and if so, you book it. Then cancel June 30-July 10th. Then the next day you check to see if July 2-July 10 is open, and repeat the process until you have your ideal "reservation" or nothing is available.

Yes, great strategy.

 

[DaveNV]

Dovetailing into VacationForever's post - the best you can do is throw-away days and walking a reservation to minimize the throw-away days.

So in his example you book June 30 to July 10th, intending "throw-away June 30-July 2nd because all you really want is July 3-10th. So after you book it at the 13th month mark, the next day you check to see if July 1-July 10 is open and if so, you book it. Then cancel June 30-July 10th. Then the next day you check to see if July 2-July 10 is open, and repeat the process until you have your ideal "reservation" or nothing is available.

Yes, great strategy.

Ok, let me see if I have this right: By "throw-away days" you're referring to the few days ahead of the time you actually want, that may or may not become available. By doing it your way, you can capture the time you want, before waiting for the starting date you truly want to arrive. If the later time doesn't open up, you just keep the previous reservation, and throw away the leading days that don't fit. (If I have this right, it's actually very smart.) Do booking dates open day-by-day, one day at a time? And am I right that you can't delete leading days of a reservation without cancelling the whole thing? That's why the days are thrown away?

My Weeks timeshare internal exchange company (Grand Pacific) does deposits whenever they feel like it, and may do an entire month on the same day. Frustrating, if you're looking for a certain exchange.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Ok, let me see if I have this right: By "throw-away days" you're referring to the few days ahead of the time you actually want, that may or may not become available. By doing it your way, you can capture the time you want, before waiting for the starting date you truly want to arrive. If the later time doesn't open up, you just keep the previous reservation, and throw away the leading days that don't fit. (If I have this right, it's actually very smart.) Do booking dates open day-by-day, one day at a time? And am I right that you can't delete leading days of a reservation without cancelling the whole thing? That's why the days are thrown away?

My Weeks timeshare internal exchange company (Grand Pacific) does deposits whenever they feel like it, and may do an entire month on the same day. Frustrating, if you're looking for a certain exchange.

Dave

Yes... and yes, it opens day by day, 6am Pacific time.

 

[DaveNV]

Perfect. Thanks. Now I just need the calendar to go by faster. LOL!

If you have a reservation that starts on a certain day, but you won't be there till two days later, do you need to tell somebody, or just show up on the day you want? With a Weeks exchange, they'll forfeit the unit if the guest doesn't show up.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Perfect. Thanks. Now I just need the calendar to go by faster. LOL!

If you have a reservation that starts on a certain day, but you won't be there till two days later, do you need to tell somebody, or just show up on the day you want? With a Weeks exchange, they'll forfeit the unit if the guest doesn't show up.

Dave

You just need to call up prior to your stay to let them know that you will be checking a couple of days later. I have never gotten a week's exchange forfeited... I also just tell them within a week before to let them know that I would be late.

 

[ecwinch]

And am I right that you can't delete leading days of a reservation without cancelling the whole thing? That's why the days are thrown away?

Correct - you generally cannot delete days off the beginning of a reservation. The general rule of thumb is that you cannot modify a reservation to violate any booking rule that was in effect when you originally made that reservation.

So if booking something 13 months out for seven days, I cannot drop days off the end of the reservation at the 10 month mark when reservations no longer need to be 7 days. However if I made the reservation for 10 days, I can drop off the last three days at any time, as the remaining reservation would still comply with the length of stay requirements when the reservation was first made.

 

[sue1947]

My accounts have been on autopay for many, many years. Very convenient and no problems (knocking on wood). I even received a notice two years ago about my upcoming cc expiration date and that the cc needed to be updated.

There are 2 types of WM owners: those whose accounts have been screwed up by Wyndham and those whose accounts will be screwed up by Wyndham. I've been at this a long time and make a lot of reservations each year so I've seen it all. I'm also a former IT professional and tried many times to notify them of issues. Wyndham just isn't interested. I have zero confidence in their ability to keep my financial information secure from hacking or misuse.

Dave, you don't want to work for Wyndham. My impression is they hire too few people without adequate time or resources to do the work. A pressure cooker situation.

Sue