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Instant Upgrade Glitch

Sandi Bo

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I've noticed upgrades not working all the time. This solution doesn't work 100%, but close.

If when you search you include accessibility and there are standard and accessible units, your standard units will not upgrade (you'll get a message no upgrade available). You need to unselect the accessibility option and redo your search (assuming you want a standard unit).

Sometimes, the accessible instant upgrade will work, sometimes not. But seems pretty consistent the standard units do not until you exclude accessible from your selection.

For an example right now, the inventory for Jan 4-11 at Bonnet Creek behaves in this manner. (I'm VIPP)

Oops -- one more thing - use the calendar search (not the search by date / book button).
 
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bendadin

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I'm having issues with my opt in being removed. I have to go back in and re-opt in. It happens about five times a week. I just hope that it doesn't reset my place in line.
 

Sandi Bo

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I'm having issues with my opt in being removed. I have to go back in and re-opt in. It happens about five times a week. I just hope that it doesn't reset my place in line.
Uggg. Thanks for the heads up.

I thought it was based on when the reservation was made (not on when you opted in). But how would we ever know? :rolleyes:
 

SNA27

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I thought OPT-IN for VIP upgrade is an option based on your status and comes up even outside the instant upgrade window!

The point protection option disappears during the 15-day window prior to check-in. Seems reasonable but I wonder why they refuse easy money! Home Depot/Lowe's/Best Buy all rake in big bucks selling warranty! Perhaps they are afraid mega-renters may take advantage of it! But I bet mega-renters already buy Point Protection! Or, Wyndham hasn't yet analyzed the numbers since it's quite new! I don't remember seeing the Point Protection option last year!
 

Sandi Bo

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I thought OPT-IN for VIP upgrade is an option based on your status and comes up even outside the instant upgrade window!

The point protection option disappears during the 15-day window prior to check-in. Seems reasonable but I wonder why they refuse easy money! Home Depot/Lowe's/Best Buy all rake in big bucks selling warranty! Perhaps they are afraid mega-renters may take advantage of it! But I bet mega-renters already buy Point Protection! Or, Wyndham hasn't yet analyzed the numbers since it's quite new! I don't remember seeing the Point Protection option last year!
Yes you can opt-in at any time. My understanding is that your upgrade priority is based on when you booked your reservation, not when you chose to opt-in.

You can add points protection at the time of booking, or up until 15 days from checkin. For new reservations booked within the 15 days from checkin, it's not offered. I agree, why not take your money? You are correct, it's fairly new. Tongue in cheek - Wyndham has spent more money adding points protection, than fixing the glitches and bugs we've been seeing for almost 3 years now :) Personally, I wish they would have stabilized the system before making more changes. Seriously, we still have duplicated and missing reservations in our list of reservations. Why is that not a priority to fix?
 

bendadin

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Uggg. Thanks for the heads up.

I thought it was based on when the reservation was made (not on when you opted in). But how would we ever know? :rolleyes:

I hope so. Of course then again I was told that I would retain my upgrade windows when my account was bouncing around from platinum to gold to silver. It did not. I sort of thought that maybe when everything was taken care of that the opt in would stop being removed. So now I stroll through several times a day and make sure that everything is either upgraded, or opted in.

But I just had 2 WBC upgrade opt in for this month disappear. Now one is close to that four day window but still a week away. I did see the upgrade available days ago and when I called in they told me that they couldn't cancel and rebook it because I didn't buy the point protection. Geesh!! I'm giving away those couple of days to a friend but one might think that a 1 bedroom for 2 nights might do something. Nope!
 

SNA27

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Since they keep track of all modifications to a reservation, I would think they have the opt-in date available to them. I don't think the VIP upgrade works on a 'first come, first served' basis. After all, the upgrade kicks in at 60, 45 and 30 days for Platinum, Gold, and Silver respectively! , Perhaps it goes by booking dates w
ithin a particular VIP status. I wonder what happens when an upgrade becomes available in the last 30 days! Platinum johnny-come-lately beats out Silver early bird?;)
They are promising 60% discount for the Founder level in a >60 days discount window. The upgrade window must become >60 too!
Pushy sales guy in Nat Harbor snarkily assured me it will be at least 61! I welcome snarky sales guys! So easy to say NO! Don't they know that?;)
 

Eric B

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...

They are promising 60% discount for the Founder level in a >60 days discount window. The upgrade window must become >60 too!
Pushy sales guy in Nat Harbor snarkily assured me it will be at least 61! I welcome snarky sales guys! So easy to say NO! Don't they know that?;)

If it's a sales guy that promised you the 60% discount I wouldn't be surprised. The official Wyndham position on Founders and all the other Privileges details is that they are currently under development. Wyndham is promising absolutely nothing at present and could even decide not to shift to Privileges from the current VIP structure if they wanted to, though I don't see that happening given the amount of advertising of it they have done through sales.
 

GRapuser

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Regarding the Points Protection disappearing during the last 15 days before check-in, if it were offered up until the day of check-in nobody would buy it unless you needed it. You could discover that you needed to cancel at the 10 day mark, buy points protection, and then cancel for a points rebate. With the current set-up there is an incentive to buy the protection before the time you would actually need it.

As for the 60% discount, in the latest discussions it seems as though this has been eliminated. Something that has me a bit upset that doesn't get much mention is the rather large increase in the Program Fee this year. It is the program fee that pays for the VIP benefits, so if we want more benefits, the fee will keep increasing. I'm just guessing that the 4-cent increase this year was in preparation for the change in VIP levels next year, and we will probably have another large increase next year. I am VIP Gold, so I benefit from the program, but I am surprised we haven't heard more complaints from the non-VIP's about this.
 

Sandi Bo

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Regarding the Points Protection disappearing during the last 15 days before check-in, if it were offered up until the day of check-in nobody would buy it unless you needed it. You could discover that you needed to cancel at the 10 day mark, buy points protection, and then cancel for a points rebate. With the current set-up there is an incentive to buy the protection before the time you would actually need it.

As for the 60% discount, in the latest discussions it seems as though this has been eliminated. Something that has me a bit upset that doesn't get much mention is the rather large increase in the Program Fee this year. It is the program fee that pays for the VIP benefits, so if we want more benefits, the fee will keep increasing. I'm just guessing that the 4-cent increase this year was in preparation for the change in VIP levels next year, and we will probably have another large increase next year. I am VIP Gold, so I benefit from the program, but I am surprised we haven't heard more complaints from the non-VIP's about this.
I was thinking if you were booking a new reservation, less than 15 days from checkin. Say 10 days from checkin -why not allow insurance to be purchased at the time of booking? I agree it wouldn't make sense to let someone add insurance to an existing reservation.
 

SNA27

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Regarding the Points Protection disappearing during the last 15 days before check-in, if it were offered up until the day of check-in nobody would buy it unless you needed it. You could discover that you needed to cancel at the 10 day mark, buy points protection, and then cancel for a points rebate. With the current set-up there is an incentive to buy the protection before the time you would actually need it.

As for the 60% discount, in the latest discussions it seems as though this has been eliminated. Something that has me a bit upset that doesn't get much mention is the rather large increase in the Program Fee this year. It is the program fee that pays for the VIP benefits, so if we want more benefits, the fee will keep increasing. I'm just guessing that the 4-cent increase this year was in preparation for the change in VIP levels next year, and we will probably have another large increase next year. I am VIP Gold, so I benefit from the program, but I am surprised we haven't heard more complaints from the non-VIP's about this.

Very logical! After all, it's protection against forfeiture. I wonder how they arrived at the 15-day forfeit window.
Interestingly, the minimum stay requirement is waived and you can book a single night during the forfeit window!

If they don't offer 60%, what would be the difference between Founder and Legend levels? Why are they pushing Platinum owners to buy more to reach the Founder level?
I thought the Program fee was akin to the management/fee expense ratio of a mutual fund! I didn't know it was in any way tied to VIP benefits.
Could you please provide a link where I can read about this subject and program fee increase? Thx.
 

SNA27

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I was thinking if you were booking a new reservation, less than 15 days from checkin. Say 10 days from checkin -why not allow insurance to be purchased at the time of booking? I agree it wouldn't make sense to let someone add insurance to an existing reservation.

Good point! I have never bought protection for personal reservations. I usually cancel before the forfeit window.
In my second Airbnb rental, I had not set the correct cancellation policy (had it as Fully refundable), so I added point protection in case the renter canceled and got a full refund. I have since made the policy strict.
In a recent Grand Desert rental, I added point protection just before the forfeit window began because I had no takers for my reservations by that time.
Just playing around to see what works!;)
 

paxsarah

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Something that has me a bit upset that doesn't get much mention is the rather large increase in the Program Fee this year. It is the program fee that pays for the VIP benefits, so if we want more benefits, the fee will keep increasing. I'm just guessing that the 4-cent increase this year was in preparation for the change in VIP levels next year, and we will probably have another large increase next year. I am VIP Gold, so I benefit from the program, but I am surprised we haven't heard more complaints from the non-VIP's about this.

It's probably because even if you own a million points, the increase in program fee would be $40 per year. For me as a small potatoes non-VIP, it's 12 bucks. Compared to most people's maintenance fee burden, it's not even a drop in the bucket.
 
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