Lock Off Timing

[jbman]

I am wanting to book my 2026 Grand Chateau week which is a 2 BR, will definitely be depositing into II, but I am still a little unsure if I want to lock off or deposit the full 2 BR in case we decide to go to Hawaii and need that trade power, I think I know the answer to this but thought I should ask, is there anyway to book the full villa now and lock off later or vice versa, I'm guessing I need to make a final choice before depositing into Interval.

 

[Dean]

Generally you can do so if you actually book a L/O OR if there is availability to change. If not enrolled, there will be a change fee in addition to the lock off fee.

 

[rthib]

Depend on your resort if they allow you to book a L/O at reservation time or not. Both my lock-offs, when I reserve I have the option of Full Villa or Full Villa Lock Off.
I always try and book Lock Off in case I change my mind. When you call back in later sometimes the rep will not know and will say that you have to book new reservations. Just hand up and call back and you will either get a rep who knows how to do it or knows who to ask. Then they will convert your one reservation into two reservations with unique bonvoy confirmation numbers,

 

[jwalk03]

Depend on your resort if they allow you to book a L/O at reservation time or not. Both my lock-offs, when I reserve I have the option of Full Villa or Full Villa Lock Off.
I always try and book Lock Off in case I change my mind. When you call back in later sometimes the rep will not know and will say that you have to book new reservations. Just hand up and call back and you will either get a rep who knows how to do it or knows who to ask. Then they will convert your one reservation into two reservations with unique bonvoy confirmation numbers,

All 2-bedrooms at Grand Chateau are lockoffs, (with the exception of the 2-bed portion of the 3BR lockoff.) So I would assume GC does not have that same option variance in the drop down the way the resorts you own do.

 

[davemy]

Own multiple weeks at MGC, always lockoff and deposit to Interval and get great trades, most are upgrades! Always pick an early October week. Football season and a little bit cooler for whoever wants to go there.

 

[Danlop88]

Own multiple weeks at MGC, always lockoff and deposit to Interval and get great trades, most are upgrades! Always pick an early October week. Football season and a little bit cooler for whoever wants to go there.

For Hawaii, 2026 MGC 2 BR deposits seem to be needed to pull other 2 BR

 

[Dean]

For Hawaii, 2026 MGC 2 BR deposits seem to be needed to pull other 2 BR

That is likely true for most resorts in HI but not necessarily for Ko Olina or KBC. A 2 BR will be more likely to match for all options all else equal though. Remember that several of the resorts have 1 BR and/or a large number of lock offs with owners more likely to lock off those units in depositing. Personally I'd be willing to take the chance of locking off and depositing if I were truly flexible but not if I my needs were more limited and I needed the 2 BR.

 

[Shiba]

I pulled a two bedroom lock off at KoOlina with my 1 bedroom side of my MGC. We traveled in Dec.

 

[Pamplemousse]

I am wanting to book my 2026 Grand Chateau week which is a 2 BR, will definitely be depositing into II, but I am still a little unsure if I want to lock off or deposit the full 2 BR in case we decide to go to Hawaii and need that trade power, I think I know the answer to this but thought I should ask, is there anyway to book the full villa now and lock off later or vice versa, I'm guessing I need to make a final choice before depositing into Interval.

For Hawaii requesting early is key- get your request in 13 months plus in advance.
Supply and demand are key factors.
If you want Maui or Waiohai 2BR I would request with 2BR, KBC & KoOlina might work with 1BR requesting early and at a lower demand time.

 

[iftravel]

For Hawaii requesting early is key- get your request in 13 months plus in advance.
Supply and demand are key factors.
If you want Maui or Waiohai 2BR I would request with 2BR, KBC & KoOlina might work with 1BR requesting early and at a lower demand time.

Is there a way to “request first” without first booking or locking off a week?

 

[Dean]

Is there a way to “request first” without first booking or locking off a week?

You have to have a valid reservation to do request first but you could book then change the reservation later if you have not matched or later deposited. Once you hit 75 days out your request first unit could be deposited depending on the options chosen when set up. If the week is not enrolled you'd have charges to change the reservation.

 

[iftravel]

You have to have a valid reservation to do request first but you could book then change the reservation later if you have not matched or later deposited. Once you hit 75 days out your request first unit could be deposited depending on the options chosen when set up. If the week is not enrolled you'd have charges to change the reservation.

Yeah that’s annoying. I guess if you have a fixed week you don’t have to have a reservation first but that’s rare.

 

[Dean]

Yeah that’s annoying. I guess if you have a fixed week you don’t have to have a reservation first but that’s rare.

I can't speak to how it works with a fixed week but I'd point out that Plus or event weeks wouldn't work, it'd have to be a truly fixed week. Those can be deposited 18 months in advance so I'd assume that same limitation would apply to either the regular or special request first. But the L/O question would not be applicable in that situation I don't believe.

 

[iftravel]

I can't speak to how it works with a fixed week but I'd point out that Plus or event weeks wouldn't work, it'd have to be a truly fixed week. Those can be deposited 18 months in advance so I'd assume that same limitation would apply to either the regular or special request first. But the L/O question would not be applicable in that situation I don't believe.

I have a fixed week in another system and in II, I could request first with lock off or the whole unit, without making a reservation first, lock off or not. A fixed Marriott week could work differently but again why not this easy way?

 

[Dean]

I have a fixed week in another system and in II, I could request first with lock off or the whole unit, without making a reservation first, lock off or not. A fixed Marriott week could work differently but again why not this easy way?

The ones I know for certain with true fixed weeks are not lock offs (Harbour Point, Monarch). I don't believe Streamside has lockout's. The only other one I can think of with true fixed week units is Maui and I am not well versed in the specifics there. Even though MVC uses the term fixed weeks for event/Plus weeks, they still require a reservation and thus be limited as above. Maybe there are others with true fixed weeks I'm not aware of (?non US, ? Crystal Shores). To be a fixed week in this sense it'd have to be a fixed unit as well.

 

[Danlop88]

I pulled a two bedroom lock off at KoOlina with my 1 bedroom side of my MGC. We traveled in Dec.

Was it a 2025 or a 2026 reservation. There is a thread somewhere specially 2026 weeks could not see them but the 2025 weeks could.

 

[dioxide45]

That is likely true for most resorts in HI but not necessarily for Ko Olina or KBC. A 2 BR will be more likely to match for all options all else equal though. Remember that several of the resorts have 1 BR and/or a large number of lock offs with owners more likely to lock off those units in depositing. Personally I'd be willing to take the chance of locking off and depositing if I were truly flexible but not if I my needs were more limited and I needed the 2 BR.

We found that Ko'Olina was the hardest exchange for our recent Hawaii trip. Kauai Beach Club was the easiest and Maui Ocean Club was in the middle. We were able to secure 2BR units in both Maui and Kauai not not Oahau. We tried for a year to secure a 2BR exchange into Ko'Olina using a 2BR low season Marriott deposit and it never happened. Perhaps if we had our request in a full year out, it might have worked. It was also for June, so a higher demand time of the year.

We diligently searching multiple times a day turned up no 2BR or even 1BR units. We only got a studio and had to rely on manual searches after confirming the studio. I think, after the Lahaina fires, that demand for Maui isn't the same and some of that demand has transitioned to Ko'Olina. We saw multiple 2BR units show up ad different times for both sections of Maui Ocean Club.

 

[Dean]

We found that Ko'Olina was the hardest exchange for our recent Hawaii trip. Kauai Beach Club was the easiest and Maui Ocean Club was in the middle. We were able to secure 2BR units in both Maui and Kauai not not Oahau. We tried for a year to secure a 2BR exchange into Ko'Olina using a 2BR low season Marriott deposit and it never happened. Perhaps if we had our request in a full year out, it might have worked. It was also for June, so a higher demand time of the year.

We diligently searching multiple times a day turned up no 2BR or even 1BR units. We only got a studio and had to rely on manual searches after confirming the studio. I think, after the Lahaina fires, that demand for Maui isn't the same and some of that demand has transitioned to Ko'Olina. We saw multiple 2BR units show up ad different times for both sections of Maui Ocean Club.

I've followed the HI resorts long enough to be confident that Ko Olina is the second easiest to book, KBC being the easiest. I've had a number of exchanges but mostly with an OGS. Certainly a 2 BR is going to be more difficult in general than smaller units. I'm only looking at MVC resorts, not Westin/Sheratin. In general I'd say the following order is what one can expect.

1. Waikiki
2. Waikoloa
3. Kauai Lagoons
4. Waiohai
5. Maui newer Towers
6. Maui older towers
7. Ko Olina
8. KBC

For a 2 BR you drop out Waikiki, otherwise I think the order remains pretty much the same with Waiohai really only having 2 BR units. Manual searches are going to depend on the luck of the draw. An OGS is the way to go if possible but for a retrace that's not possible.

 

[dioxide45]

I've followed the HI resorts long enough to be confident that Ko Olina is the second easiest to book, KBC being the easiest. I've had a number of exchanges but mostly with an OGS. Certainly a 2 BR is going to be more difficult in general than smaller units. I'm only looking at MVC resorts, not Westin/Sheratin. In general I'd say the following order is what one can expect.

1. Waikiki
2. Waikoloa
3. Kauai Lagoons
4. Waiohai
5. Maui newer Towers
6. Maui older towers
7. Ko Olina
8. KBC

For a 2 BR you drop out Waikiki, otherwise I think the order remains pretty much the same with Waiohai really only having 2 BR units. Manual searches are going to depend on the luck of the draw. An OGS is the way to go if possible but for a retrace that's not possible.

I would agree in general and that may have been how it has been historically, but I think since 2023, things have changed with 5, 6, and 7. KoOlina just seems to have much more demand. Even picking through the Sightings forum seems to indicate a lot more Maui Ocean Club sightings vs. KoOlina. Certainly our searches and results are mostly anecdotal, but we never saw a 1BR or 2BR unit for the dates we were searching for while several showed up for MOC. Perhaps it would have come through had we kept an OGS out there, but we had to keep something confirmed as a fall back as we kept watching for retrades.

 

[Dean]

I would agree in general and that may have been how it has been historically, but I think since 2023, things have changed with 5, 6, and 7. KoOlina just seems to have much more demand. Even picking through the Sightings forum seems to indicate a lot more Maui Ocean Club sightings vs. KoOlina. Certainly our searches and results are mostly anecdotal, but we never saw a 1BR or 2BR unit for the dates we were searching for while several showed up for MOC. Perhaps it would have come through had we kept an OGS out there, but we had to keep something confirmed as a fall back as we kept watching for retrades.

No doubt 2 BR units are more difficult than smaller ones at places that have a lot of smaller units and/or mostly lockout's, esp for higher demand locations. The OP appears to have a ton of flexibility in terms of number of weeks to include and during a slower time of the year for HI. Assuming they are looking for a 2 BR for Maui (old & new), Ko Olina and Waiohai, I am comfortable they can get a 2 BR using a 1 BR from GC though maybe not using a studio unless it's under 2 months out.

 

[jbman]

No doubt 2 BR units are more difficult than smaller ones at places that have a lot of smaller units and/or mostly lockout's, esp for higher demand locations. The OP appears to have a ton of flexibility in terms of number of weeks to include and during a slower time of the year for HI. Assuming they are looking for a 2 BR for Maui (old & new), Ko Olina and Waiohai, I am comfortable they can get a 2 BR using a 1 BR from GC though maybe not using a studio unless it's under 2 months out.

We definitely have lots flexibility, honestly keep changing our minds with what we want to do, while we really want to take the kids to Hawaii at some point, it is such a long flight, we end up all over the place with our plans.

We do have a rough idea which is to fly in and out of Oahu (from Toronto) and start the trip with some nights at Waikiki Beach Walk using Wyndham points and end with a few nights at Aulani using DVC points, with a middle section we're unsure about.

We really could go for either Ko Olina, MOC, or Waiohai, or even use more Wyndham points for somewhere on the Big Island, whether one of the Wyndham's or exchange through RCI into Kingsland.

Sometimes we think we're not going to want to deal with more flights once we're there and so stick to Oahu, in which case we would need Ko Olina.

Other times we're worried we may only go to Hawaii the one time and so should really try and fit in at least one other island, which could be any of the other three, with a preference I think toward Waiohai.

Then other times we think, accept we'll only have one Hawaii trip with the kids and just go big and plan a three-week trip with two additional islands, with a preference toward Waiohai and Kingsland.

And then we also think, it really is a long flight, and there are lot's of other places much closer we also want to go, should we even go at all.

 

[Dean]

We definitely have lots flexibility, honestly keep changing our minds with what we want to do, while we really want to take the kids to Hawaii at some point, it is such a long flight, we end up all over the place with our plans.

We do have a rough idea which is to fly in and out of Oahu (from Toronto) and start the trip with some nights at Waikiki Beach Walk using Wyndham points and end with a few nights at Aulani using DVC points, with a middle section we're unsure about.

We really could go for either Ko Olina, MOC, or Waiohai, or even use more Wyndham points for somewhere on the Big Island, whether one of the Wyndham's or exchange through RCI into Kingsland.

Sometimes we think we're not going to want to deal with more flights once we're there and so stick to Oahu, in which case we would need Ko Olina.

Other times we're worried we may only go to Hawaii the one time and so should really try and fit in at least one other island, which could be any of the other three, with a preference I think toward Waiohai.

Then other times we think, accept we'll only have one Hawaii trip with the kids and just go big and plan a three-week trip with two additional islands, with a preference toward Waiohai and Kingsland.

And then we also think, it really is a long flight, and there are lot's of other places much closer we also want to go, should we even go at all.

If you can I'd recommend the 3 week trip. If you're going to do Waikiki and Aulani then I'd make that the Oahu portion and then look at Maui and Kauai for the rest. Just wait on air with the possibility of shortening the trip or plan a cash option in case you don't get the exchanges needed for the trip. If you're not set on Aulani AND Waikiki then I'd consider Ko Olina as that's more likely to match than most of the rest. I didn't include the Westin & Sheraton options in my thoughts as I don't have much info there but of course you'd want to list any options that you think you'd be happy with then adjust your requests accordingly once a given match comes through. Of course if you don't have Aulani points then you can't book until 7 months out anyway and even if yo do, you're limited to 11 months out and you very well may have matched by then.

Do you have other deposits besides this 2BR vs L/O at GD? let us know how it goes.

 

[claraj]

I just want to confirm my understanding that if I reserve a 2BR at a resort where all the 2BRs are lock-offs, I can deposit the 2BR into II and will be able to split the week into 1BR and studio after depositing if I change my mind? Does it make a difference if it is Deposit First or Request First?

 

[jwalk03]

I just want to confirm my understanding that if I reserve a 2BR at a resort where all the 2BRs are lock-offs, I can deposit the 2BR into II and will be able to split the week into 1BR and studio after depositing if I change my mind? Does it make a difference if it is Deposit First or Request First?

No. The deposit is final. So if you deposit a 2-bedroom to interval it stays a 2-bedroom. If you lock it off and deposit the parts in cannot be combined later into a 2BR deposit.

 

[claraj]

No. The deposit is final. So if you deposit a 2-bedroom to interval it stays a 2-bedroom. If you lock it off and deposit the parts in cannot be combined later into a 2BR deposit.

Thanks for clarifying! I think I misread that these decisions had to be made before depositing (which is probably understood on the board.) Still new to all this so thank you!