DVC v MVC website

[chunkygal]

Hadn't been on DVC reservations for a while, but went on to search for availability for HH July 4th next year (got it)!

But what amazed me is that eve without having any points (because if you think about it, I could borrow them), I was able to see ALL availability for the time period at all resorts!

I realize Marriott has more resorts, but the technology is out there!
It is so frustrating to have to have the points to search.
I have never been able to see an opening at lakeshore. Sometimes I think they must block my account from looking..........someday!

 

[GreenTea]

Marriott does have a very backwards website indeed.

 

[puckmanfl]

good afternoon

MVCD website is prehistoric....

It takes a different search to look for different views and room sizes for the same dates and property. IOW, Lakeshore with 7 different room types and 4 different room sizes takes 28 different searches for the same date interval

Very Sad....

 

[Kburns3761]

Intentional?

 

[SueDonJ]

Intentional?

Could be an IT issue because it certainly cuts down on the amount of users logged in and searching, but it could also be a matter of protecting their inventory allocation metric (if in fact allowing phantom searches would make that metric more transparent.)

It's always been the case that the website doesn't allow phantom searches with Weeks either; if you don't have a Week available then you can't see which weeks intervals are still open. Marriott hasn't responded during all these years to Weeks Owners who've requested that they be allowed so I'm guessing that they'll be as inattentive to Points Members making similar requests.

 

[icydog]

Hadn't been on DVC reservations for a while, but went on to search for availability for HH July 4th next year (got it)!

But what amazed me is that eve without having any points (because if you think about it, I could borrow them), I was able to see ALL availability for the time period at all resorts!

I realize Marriott has more resorts, but the technology is out there!
It is so frustrating to have to have the points to search.
I have never been able to see an opening at lakeshore. Sometimes I think they must block my account from looking..........someday!

What Disney Vacation Club has the Resort Ability Tool which gives owners the ability to see what's available at any resort, any room size for a specific set of nights(up to 14 nights at a time). This is a relatively new development. Not so long ago Disney's site was almost as bad as Marriott's.

I actually like the Marriott site better for doing anything except reserving villas. My whole portfolio is in one place. My points are in the same place. Resort calendars are readily available etc. Again, not being able to reserve efficiently is a BIG drawback but from years using the Disney Site I became used to doing things backwards..
Instead of telling you what's available Marriott, and formerly Disney, makes you search for a resort before you know if there's any villas left there.

As far as Lakeshore, there's not a lot of inventory out there. I have been lucky to exchange in a couple of times, but even as an owner of two weeks, I see very little inventory for reservations. I just bank my 3400 x 2 points and hope for the best. I assume the big point owners are grabbing all the good check in dates. But that's another problem and another can of worms.

 

[JIMinNC]

As far as Lakeshore, there's not a lot of inventory out there. I have been lucky to exchange in a couple of times, but even as an owner of two weeks, I see very little inventory for reservations. I just bank my 3400 x 2 points and hope for the best. I assume the big point owners are grabbing all the good check in dates. But that's another problem and another can of worms.

That's odd that you can't see availability in the DC points system, because out of curiosity I just searched online and Lakeshore has 2BR availability using Points for about 75% or more of the dates from January through July 2016 in "Standard" view rooms. Even for "Deluxe" and "Deluxe Townhouse" views there were full weeks available with points sometime in almost every month in the first 7 months of 2016. There was also excellent 1BR availability.

I couldn't search beyond the end of July 2016 since I was using the 10 month 1+ night search window to search for individual nights because I've used most of my 2016 and 2017 points and can't search for full weeks. This good availability is in spite of the fact that for much of that period, the reservation windows have been open for a long, long time.

 

[BocaBoy]

Hadn't been on DVC reservations for a while..But what amazed me is that eve without having any points (because if you think about it, I could borrow them), I was able to see ALL availability for the time period at all resorts!

The MVCI website has many flaws, but in fact you can see all inventory that you would have enough points to reserve if you borrowed them from a future year.

 

[dioxide45]

The main issue for me is that not only do you have to have enough points to search with, you also need to have elected those points. So just because you possibly have 2,000 points available from an un-elected week, you can't search with those points, even if you could borrow them.

I suspect it is just a poor design sitting on top of their weeks based architecture. We did hear rumored that they are going to revamp their website. They really need to start from the ground up. It would be a huge undertaking, but it seems that MVCI now has the money that they could invest in it. However, most companies won't spend a dollar if it won't make them two. So unless they think it can help them sell more points, they probably won't invest a lot in to it.

 

[chunkygal]

The MVCI website has many flaws, but in fact you can see all inventory that you would have enough points to reserve if you borrowed them from a future year.

But on DVC I can "see" them before I borrow or without "having"enough points.
Might motivate me to get more points.

I used to think MVC website was far superior, but DVC has stepped it up.

 

[SnowDogDad]

I have heard some RUMINT through a MVC sales person there is a new and improved web site coming out later this fall or early winter.

 

[Big Matt]

Let's hope so. The Lakeshore example is the best one to explain how hard it is. I always just call because I give up after not finding things.