Last Minute Bookings

[chickenDinner]

For people who have Wyndham points, what is availability typically like if you are trying to book last minute, say 2-4 weeks in advance of check-in?

 

[Jan M.]

1. Will you will consistently need weekends? That's not impossible but could be more challenging especially at some resorts.

2.. If you're retired, can work from wherever or have a lot of vacation time and your employer is okay with you taking it that last minute that makes a big difference.

3 Are you able and willing to search multiple times a day for days until you find something that appeals to you? If so then you'll have a greater chance of success in finding stays within that time frame. You may not have to do that every time but persistence can certainly pay off in finding stays.

4. Are you only interested in one specific area or one or two resorts? If so then it may not work out all that well for you. Having a sense of adventure and being willing to try different resorts will make a huge difference.

5. If you don't need anything larger than a two bedroom unit or better yet are fine with a studio or one bedroom unit then what you're thinking of will work for you. Not that you won't ever find a larger unit that close in but the chances are much, much slimmer.

6. Are there at least several resorts within what is to you an acceptable driving distance? Do you live close to a major airport and airlines like Spirit, Frontier or Allegiant that offer cheap flights fly out of that airport to places you might like to go? Again you have to be willing to take the time to search the different airline's websites for good prices on flights. And yes you can still get decent prices on flights that close in. Btw if you don't have experience with using the cheap airlines make sure you pay for your bags when you book your flight. If you add them later it's more expensive and it's outrageous if you add them at the airport.

I don't know how familiar you are with using Wyndham points. You can cancel any reservation as long as there's still 15 full days before the check in date. If you book something that's less than 15 days out you have 24 hours to cancel. If you're looking to use a lot of shorter stays then you can burn through your housekeeping credits. You get one free housekeeping credit per year for each 70k points you own. Each stay you book uses 1 housekeeping credit regardless of the size of the unit. When you've used all your free housekeeping credits for the year then you will pay $159 for each one you need to buy. If you cancel a reservation you will get your housekeeping credit back. You will get one free reservation transaction for every 77k points you own. When you've used them they are $19 each for reservations booked online or $39 each if you call in to have a rep book something for you. You don't get the reservation transaction back, free or paid, if you cancel a reservation.

 

[chickenDinner]

This is very helpful, it's very nice to know that I can always cancel a reservation and get my points back. Reservation transactions are cheap enough to not matter. It's also good to know that availability is pretty good on weekdays, and that studios are generally pretty easy to get.

I'm unclear on how banking and borrowing points works. Is it difficult or uncommon for people to bank several years of points?

 

[chapjim]

This is very helpful, it's very nice to know that I can always cancel a reservation and get my points back. Reservation transactions are cheap enough to not matter. It's also good to know that availability is pretty good on weekdays, and that studios are generally pretty easy to get.

I'm unclear on how banking and borrowing points works. Is it difficult or uncommon for people to bank several years of points?

You can cancel and get your points back if it is 15 days or more before check-in. That doesn't line up well with your hypothetical of booking 2-4 weeks before check-in. If you book two weeks or less before check-in, you have 24 hours to cancel and recover points.

Banking and borrowing points is too complicated for me to try to explain. You should consult the current Wyndham directory.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Great advice/considerations, Jan!

I am very successful in finding last minute reservations. I am also very persistent in checking. I'll watch the resort I am particularly interested in. I have found when inventory comes available, differs by resort. I'll watch in advance for patterns and so when I'm at the opportune time, I'm watching according. Yes, time consuming (now more so than ever). But when I have a reason to watch, it's worth it to me.

We are going to the Orlando area next month. I don't have any rooms booked yet, but I'm not worried. We'll stay at Bonnet Creek, Reunion, Clearwater, and/or Daytona Beach. We're flexible, and there are only 2 of us.

Conversely, when I scheduled our family reunion at Ocean Walk in August of 2021, I booked everything needed in advance for 20 some people. I had no expectation to rebook a 4 BR Presidential. We ended up paying full points for a 4 BR Presidential and 3 BR Deluxe. The think the rest of what I booked I was able to pickup with our VIP Founders discount and cancel the full point stuff I had reserved (I might have kept a lockoff at full points, too). It was about 50/50 getting some nice discounts within 60 days. It's also nearly impossible to pin down that many people early, and I ended up trimming some days and adding one on for someone.

 

[paxsarah]

This is very helpful, it's very nice to know that I can always cancel a reservation and get my points back. Reservation transactions are cheap enough to not matter. It's also good to know that availability is pretty good on weekdays, and that studios are generally pretty easy to get.

I'm unclear on how banking and borrowing points works. Is it difficult or uncommon for people to bank several years of points?

You didn't say if you would be booking shorter stays, but based just on your mention of studios and weekday bookings, housekeeping credits are probably more of an issue than reservation transactions, and they're $159 a piece when you run out. If you'd be booking 2-3 night stays, you'd burn through your free HK (which you receive 1 per 70k use year points) pretty quickly, whereas if you're going for 5 weeknights that might balance out. And if you take some longer trips and/or in larger units (i.e. a higher points cost), that may balance out with your lower-point stays. Basically, as long as your trips on average are about 70k points a piece (whether that's, say, five 70k stays, or one 250k stay and four 25k stays), you won't end up shelling out a lot for housekeeping.

In terms of banking, you can move your points forward to one or two use years in the future. For non-VIPs (including resale-only owners), you have the first three months of your use year to do so. So for instance, I have a January use year, and I have until March 31 to move my remaining 2022 points to either 2023 or 2024 (or some combination of both) in Wyndham. If I don't do that, then I either have to make Wyndham bookings with them for check-in during 2022 or I can deposit them to RCI before the end of the year. You could end up two years of points into the same future year, and when added to that year's points you'd have 3x your regular point allotment to work with. However -- the housekeeping credits don't move forward with the points. On the flip side, if you're out of current year points, you can borrow from the next year if booking within 3 months of check-in.