Do Points from Cancelled Abound Reservations Come Back Instantly?

[dioxide45]

We have a one night reservation using points that we would want to easily change if I can and if a different night shows up as available. If something else does show up and we cancel the one night we have, do the points come back right away?

Also, would it be possible to put the one unit on hold and then go and cancel the other to then come back and finish the first booking? We don't have any points in our account and only have enough transferred points for the one night stay.

 

[Fasttr]

Yes and yes.

 

[dj_drf]

I've done that a number of times without problem.

 

[igopogo]

I think you can’t actually do the second bit online. I believe you get a message from the calendar that says something like “there are nights available but you don’t have enough points” before you even get to see how many points it would take. I tried to verify, but at the moment I can’t find a reservation that would use all my points.

Probably a rep can do it though.

 

[jmhpsu93]

I think you can’t actually do the second bit online. I believe you get a message from the calendar that says something like “there are nights available but you don’t have enough points” before you even get to see how many points it would take. I tried to verify, but at the moment I can’t find a reservation that would use all my points.

Probably a rep can do it though.

This is accurate...you can't reserve/hold a reservation without the points available, so you'll have to cancel first. As noted above, they go back into your account instantly (or what passes for instantly at MVC...).

 

[dioxide45]

I think you can’t actually do the second bit online. I believe you get a message from the calendar that says something like “there are nights available but you don’t have enough points” before you even get to see how many points it would take. I tried to verify, but at the moment I can’t find a reservation that would use all my points.

Probably a rep can do it though.

I just looked and the "Hold & Browse" button is grayed out when I select a date.

 

[DanCali]

I just looked and the "Hold & Browse" button is grayed out when I select a date.

In the case where you see the grayed button, it will be come "ungrayed" when you select a unit.

As for whether you even see the rooms/buttons if you don't have the points, that is not consistent...


Sometimes I will get the buttons and after I select a unit and hit "Continue" the next page will tell me I don't have the points:

But most times I get the message that I don't have points and don't see the rooms/buttons.

In the case of the two examples above, the first search was for a date in 2025 where I do have some points, but not enough for what I selected. The second search was for 2026, when I currently have no points at all. I don't see why that would matter since that can easily be changed by electing or banking, but I'd be unable to hold the room for that 2026 search. Ideally, you should be able to hold a room and then figure out how to fund it - either cancel something or elect a week for points, for example.

 

[Fasttr]

In the case where you see the grayed button, it will be come "ungrayed" when you select a unit.

View attachment 108171

View attachment 108172


As for whether you even see the rooms/buttons if you don't have the points, that is not consistent...


Sometimes I will get the buttons and after I select a unit and hit "Continue" the next page will tell me I don't have the points:

View attachment 108175

But most times I get the message that I don't have points and don't see the rooms/buttons.

View attachment 108174


In the case of the two examples above, the first search was for a date in 2025 where I do have some points, but not enough for what I selected. The second search was for 2026, when I currently have no points at all. I don't see why that would matter since that can easily be changed by electing or banking, but I'd be unable to hold the room for that 2026 search. Ideally, you should be able to hold a room and then figure out how to fund it - either cancel something or elect a week for points, for example.

Agree. It’s spotty. Since folks posted above about inability if you don’t have enough points, I have tried and found the same as you… sometimes it will allow me to put it on hold and sometimes I get the not enough points message.

 

[dioxide45]

It seems though that if you have 0 points available in any use year, the system is consistent. No ability to hold?

 

[DanCali]

It seems though that if you have 0 points available in any use year, the system is consistent. No ability to hold?

Seems so for me for 2026 searches. I can’t “hide” all my 2025 to test for 2025.


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[dioxide45]

Seems so for me for 2026 searches. I can’t “hide” all my 2025 to test for 2025.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It seems that you need to be able to select a radio button for a unit type in order to hold it. Which makes sense. If you can't select a unit type then the system doesn't know what to hold. Without any points, the system doesn't present the list of unit types to select.

 

[daviator]

It seems that you need to be able to select a radio button for a unit type in order to hold it. Which makes sense. If you can't select a unit type then the system doesn't know what to hold. Without any points, the system doesn't present the list of unit types to select.

…and it’s a GOOD thing that you can’t hold a unit you don’t have enough points to reserve. Imagine the bedlam if people could place holds on weeks they didn’t actually have the points to reserve. There would be all kinds of random short-term holding of units, I think it would be a mess.

It would be nice if you could view inventory that you don’t currently have the points to reserve, but I understand why the system works the way it does.

 

[DanCali]

…and it’s a GOOD thing that you can’t hold a unit you don’t have enough points to reserve. Imagine the bedlam if people could place holds on weeks they didn’t actually have the points to reserve. There would be all kinds of random short-term holding of units, I think it would be a mess.

It would be nice if you could view inventory that you don’t currently have the points to reserve, but I understand why the system works the way it does.

But the hold releases after 10 or 15 minutes so it wouldn't be the end of the world... I don't see why people who really couldn't fund reservations would just wake up at 9am (6am PT) and play the "fastest clicker" game. But it would give owners a chance to convert a week to points, bank points, or cancel a reservation, if they know that what they wanted was available.

A case like the one below simply doesn't make sense to me - that reservation is 600 points and I still have 1000+ unused points left in 2025 that I can simply bank and book this. In this case I can of course bank first and then book it - it won't go away in the next 5 minutes... But we can all imagine high-demand cases at 13 months out where you can't do that reliably since the inventory will be gone in seconds.

Disney also generally works this way - I'm not sure if you can actually cancel a reservation and use the points to fund a reservation you are holding, but you can definitely bank/borrow to fund something you're holding.

On that same note, It would be great is Marriott would implement a "modify reservation" feature like Disney's - you can start with an existing reservation and search for something else. If it's available, you take care of any point difference (if you need to add points) and then it does a "cancel + book" operation which cancels the old reservation and secures the new one at the same time using the points from the original one. This seems like exactly what the OP would have needed... That feature does have some downsides too, probably beyond the scope of the discussion here.

 

[daviator]

But the hold releases after 10 or 15 minutes so it wouldn't be the end of the world... I don't see why people who really couldn't fund reservations would just wake up at 9am (6am PT) and play the "fastest clicker" game. But it would give owners a chance to convert a week to points, bank points, or cancel a reservation, if they know that what they wanted was available.

A case like the one below simply doesn't make sense to me - that reservation is 600 points and I still have 1000+ unused points left in 2025 that I can simply bank and book this. In this case I can of course bank first and then book it - it won't go away in the next 5 minutes... But we can all imagine high-demand cases at 13 months out where you can't do that reliably since the inventory will be gone in seconds.

Disney also generally works this way - I'm not sure if you can actually cancel a reservation and use the points to fund a reservation you are holding, but you can definitely bank/borrow to fund something you're holding.

On that same note, It would be great is Marriott would implement a "modify reservation" feature like Disney's - you can start with an existing reservation and search for something else. If it's available, you take care of any point difference (if you need to add points) and then it does a "cancel + book" operation which cancels the old reservation and secures the new one at the same time using the points from the original one. This seems like exactly what the OP would have needed... That feature does have some downsides too, probably beyond the scope of the discussion here.

View attachment 108229

OK, you've convinced me, if the hold is only for ten or fifteen minutes, that seems like it would not be rife for abuse.

It's also true that sometimes you might find a desired reservation, go away and elect or convert or bank or borrow or whatever you need to do to get the points where they need to be... and then the reservation is no longer available. Now you have converted points that you no longer have a use for, and you probably wish you hadn't taken the irreversible actions you took. So I can certainly see the advantages to owners if you could put something on hold for a few minutes.

Of course, the likelihood that MVC would implement such a change (and allow short holds) seems low.

 

[Hindsite]

Of course, the likelihood that MVC would implement such a change (and allow short holds) seems low.

I understand that MVC customer service can do this, its just not a self service option.

 

[kiko412]

Agree. It’s spotty. Since folks posted above about inability if you don’t have enough points, I have tried and found the same as you… sometimes it will allow me to put it on hold and sometimes I get the not enough points message.

At times, when I knew I was short on points I did place the unit on hold. In the end, when it comes time to start booking the unit the system will prompt you about your points. Spotty? Definitely!