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[2012] Just lost my reservation when I tried to cancel & rebook

WeLovetoTravel

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I just wanted to let everyone know that I just lost my Bonnett Creek Christmas reservation when I tried to cancel and rebook for the discounted points. This is the first time that I've gotten burned using the cancel and rebook trick. I am really bummed, but at least we have a back up plan. I just wanted to caution others to be careful, especially with holiday bookings. I don't know if something changed with the way Wyndham posts the inventory, or if someone else was looking at the exact same second I cancelled. When I tried to rebook the reservation, the unit was there, then when I clicked to confirm I got the message that the unit ws no longer available.
 

csxjohn

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Is it possible that Wyndham or RCI put it up for rent?

I'm still trying to figure out the Wyndham points game.
 

chapjim

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I lost one at Ocean Walk about a year and a half ago. It was a 3BR unit and the Wyndham reservations guy told me Ocean Walk had overbooked that week. There are, of course, other possible explanations, the most commonly suggested is that Wyndham took the week for Extra Holidays.

It takes me about fifteen seconds to cancel and rebook. Odds of someone hitting the search button for exactly what I'm cancelling is pretty low. I suspect Extra Holidays. Why not check to see if your week is available through Extra Holidays?

I cancel and rebook every reservation I have with Wyndham although always with some trepidation. That's forty reservations so far this year with two to go (one is a December 29 check-in at Bonnet Creek and now I'll be even more nervous than normal!).
 
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brigian

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Where did you see the discount ? I just checked all of December and January and didn't see a single discount. I have BC booked for January.
 

chapjim

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Where did you see the discount ? I just checked all of December and January and didn't see a single discount. I have BC booked for January.

OP is a VIP and was trying to take advantage of a VIP perk by cancelling an existing reservation and rebooking the same reservation and taking the VIP discount for making a reservation with 60 days of check-in. It's pretty well explained in the Wyndham Directory.
 

WeLovetoTravel

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I lost one at Ocean Walk about a year and a half ago. It was a 3BR unit and the Wyndham reservations guy told me Ocean Walk had overbooked that week. There are, of course, other possible explanations, the most commonly suggested is that Wyndham took the week for Extra Holidays.

It takes me about fifteen seconds to cancel and rebook. Odds of someone hitting the search button for exactly what I'm cancelling is pretty low. I suspect Extra Holidays. Why not check to see if your week is available through Extra Holidays?

I cancel and rebook every reservation I have with Wyndham although always with some trepidation. That's forty reservations so far this year with two to go (one is a December 29 check-in at Bonnet Creek and now I'll be even more nervous than normal!).

I called owner relations to ask how the availabilty appeared then disappeared between the reserve and confirm window. There was less than 5 seconds between my cancel and rebook attempt. The supervisor I spoke to told me that extra holidays can not take the week. (I don't know if that's true or not, I would have to do more research) She said they have 2 call centers and agents are constantly being asked to do searches for holiday weeks. She said someone else must have booked it. She also told me that I was the 2nd person she spoke to today complaining that this happened. She reminded me that you always take a chance when you try to cancel and rebook. Jim- I wouldn't take a chance on losing your New Year's reservation, I would just leave it as is, unless you already have it backed up with a 2nd room.
-Deb
 

Rent_Share

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A loophole that might have finally been closed :clap:
 

vacationhopeful

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Most of us have lost reservations over the past 1.5 years - anything that is a rentable unit or likely resort OVERBOOKED period. It is so common that I know it is NOT another caller who gets it - it is programmed into the reservation system to "snatch" it.

Besides the arguement that there a so many owners looking for a reservation -- HOW many more owners has Wyndham added to their custsomer base in the past 1 and a half years? And it JUST started happening? :ignore:
 

WeLovetoTravel

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Except for Extra Holidays who can rent it cheap.
I did check, there was nothing available in a 3BR on Extra Holidays. So I really am hoping another owner grabbed the Unit, maybe me losing that Unit enabled another owner to book a really great Unit at Bonnett Creek, and that family will have a memorable vacation. Live and Learn I guess... I really do hope my days of discounted bookings and upgrades are not over though! I have learned to stretch our points for maximum usage I am so used to getting that advantage,its a big disappointment when it doesn't work to out :bawl:
 

Explorer7

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I did check, there was nothing available in a 3BR on Extra Holidays. So I really am hoping another owner grabbed the Unit, maybe me losing that Unit enabled another owner to book a really great Unit at Bonnett Creek, and that family will have a memorable vacation. Live and Learn I guess... I really do hope my days of discounted bookings and upgrades are not over though! I have learned to stretch our points for maximum usage I am so used to getting that advantage,its a big disappointment when it doesn't work to out :bawl:

I’ve had a few close calls like that but my reservations have often come back available sometimes within a 15 to 30 min window, I believe one possible explanation is that folks actually enjoy searching for deals and cancel once they don’t get the buy in from their spouse or find other reasons the reservation won’t work out.
A couple of times I wondered it something was put into place to cause the weird “availability glitch” that I’ve experienced. None the less my travel plans are never in stone until I’ve rebooked and often upgraded.
 

Explorer7

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There’s a 3br sitting there right now for 3 night starting the day after xmas perhaps someone just grabbed xmas day and the few days before xmas.
DECEMBER
12/26/2012 3 3 Bedroom Deluxe • 136,000 N/A
 

Sandy VDH

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I am too chicken to try to get the discount at the 60 day mark when the resort is sold out for those dates. I would rather not chance it. But I figure I have plenty enough points to not want to mess with it.

I have no issue with rebooking it if there is plenty of inventory left, and do this frequently.
 

bogey21

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This is the first time that I've gotten burned using the cancel and rebook trick.

The way I see it is that you assumed a risk and got nailed. You had to know it could happen. I think the key question is were you just unlucky or did Wyndham do something to close the loophole you were attempting to use?

George
 

CO skier

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I just wanted to let everyone know that I just lost my Bonnett Creek Christmas reservation when I tried to cancel and rebook for the discounted points.

Everyone knows that VIPs paid plenty for their privileges, but trying to get a Christmas reservation at 50% off, when so many other owners would stand in line to pay full price ... is just greedy.

Discounts are intended for underutilized or surplus inventory, not prime time.


There was less than 5 seconds between my cancel and rebook attempt.

A waitlist would put an end to this nonsense.

(Maybe there is already a "double secret probationary" waitlist in effect).;)
 
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NHTraveler

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Last night, I canceeled and rebooked my 4 days stay at Wyndham Royal Vista without a problem. Arriving on December 21, leaving December 25. Granted, it was not a full week, so not sure how it would have gone if it was. I head to Key West for 3 nights after that and return to Royal Vista for another week. I am a little weary of trying the cancel/rebook thing after seeing your story. That said, I only do the cancel/rebook thing if we are traveling alone. If I lost it, we would just go somewhere else. I would never chance it if people were traveling with us.
 

bnoble

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It could be EV; they are allowed to take inventory within 60 days per the VOA rules. It could also be other owners; there are hundreds of thousands of them, and many presumably want to go to Orlando for Christmas. That's the single busiest time there.

But, the reason why it happens doesn't matter. What does matter is: the more in-demand the unit is, the more likely someone else wants it, whether that someone else is Wyndham or another owner. No matter how short the window is between canceling and rebooking, there's a chance that it will be taken in the interim. So, the word to the wise is that if you are going to do this, either be willing to live without the trip, or have a backup plan in place.

The cancel/rebook trick still seems to work more often than not, though, so it doesn't sound like there is a fundamental change. After all, the feature where inventory reappears in real time is still relatively new; within the last few years. And, we've always heard a few instances of it happening here and there.

On the topic of "fairness": As a low-point resale peon, I don't have any problem with VIP owners working the current system to their advantage. When I want a high-demand reservation, I book it right at 7AM the day the Standard Window opens, and that has always worked for me so far. I don't care what people do at 60 days, because I've had my reservation for months and months by then. What's more, whether a VIP does or doesn't get a discount doesn't really affect me at all---Sales pays for VIP benefits. At the end of the day, we each do what we can to maximize our own vacations.
 

ronparise

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Everyone knows that VIPs paid plenty for their privileges, but trying to get a Christmas reservation at 50% off, when so many other owners would stand in line to pay full price ... is just greedy.

Discounts are intended for underutilized or surplus inventory, not prime time.




A waitlist would put an end to this nonsense.

(Maybe there is already a "double secret probationary" waitlist in effect).;)

You are wrong about VIP discounts. They are there not to fill empty rooms, they are there to help salesman sell more points


You are right, of course, about the greed, but Wyndham's sales staff has been taking advantage of this greed by promoting this "loophole" for some time to help folks get some benefit from their high priced VIP membership (and of course help them sell more points)

None of the VIP benefits have been cast in concrete and any can be reversed at any time, but I think its understandable that those that have been sold the product with something included (and have paid those big bucks) feel cheated when its taken away.

And a wait list would put an end to it. but a wait list will take away one of the sales staffs most powerful tools they have to upsell existing owners...I dont think they will do it. But if they do I not only wont upgrade (or upgreed) from Silver to Platinum as is now my plan and Wyndham will have several million more points to sell when I default on my higher mf contracts

With Wyndhams VIP discounts, besides using underutilized or surplus inventory, there is another intention and thats to help them sell more points at 20 cents each.

***​

If this continues to happen (and if there is no waiting list) the way to play it is to make two reservations early. thereby putting a back up plan in place...and if things work out right you can not only get a discount but also an upgrade.

Make one for a one bedroom and one for a three bedroom. Then in the discount/upgrade window, cancel the one bedroom and re book at a discount,,,,if you lose it you have your 3 bedroom to fall back on. But if you get your one bedroom at a discount, the next day you can cancel the three bedroom and up grade the one bedroom into it. If it works you have a three bedroom at a discounted one bedroom price. If it doesnt work, you have the one bedroom to fall back on.

This wont work at all unless you have lots of points and it wont work at the end of a use year (because there will not be enough time to use the "freed up" points)
 
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tugger2020

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Maybe I'm missing something here. Do you have to cancel the original reservation first to re-book using the discounted points for < 60 days out? Or could you just book another reservation with the discounted points first?

Once the second reservation is confirmed, could you not go back and cancel the original reservation that cost full points?
 

capital city

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What your missing is there is no inventory to book until you cancel your original reservation
 

bnoble

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And a wait list would put an end to it. but a wait list will take away one of the sales staffs most powerful tools they have to upsell existing owners
Nothing says that the sales staff has to get into how some hypothetical waiting list would work when selling a new prospect on the program. They stretch the truth everywhere else, this would just be one more lie.
 

WeLovetoTravel

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Everyone knows that VIPs paid plenty for their privileges, but trying to get a Christmas reservation at 50% off, when so many other owners would stand in line to pay full price ... is just greedy.

Discounts are intended for underutilized or surplus inventory, not prime time
.


I do not agree. I am not GREEDY! I am only using a benefit that we paid for. We paid dearly for our points. We bought years ago at full freight. I take advantage of every discount/ upgrade/perk I can get. We will never recoup the thousands of dollars we unwisely invested in the timeshare, but we always try to squeeze as much use as possible out of our points. I am so glad that I discovered TUG and have learned to use my membership to all of it's advantages.
Am I disapointed that I lost the reservation? Of course! But, I would never have tried it without a back-up plan already in place! I only posted for the benefit of other tuggers warning them that they might lose their holiday plans if they try to do it. I have never lost a reservation before. The VIP owners should all know that there is always a possibility the inventory might disappear when they try to do this, but it has always worked for me in the past.
-Deb
 
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