Looking beyond 8 mo to preview availability

[WI GAL]

Are we no longer able to see beyond the 8 mo point for a possible staroption reservation? It used to show when the window would open and now I only see 8 mo out. Trying to figure out if I should log in right when it opens at 8 mo and look for the 2 consecutive days I'd like to add before my 1 week home resort reservation, but without being able to see beyond 8 mo how do I know if I should dare try for the 2 days? If its not available I have to go all the way back and hope there is still just a 1 day add on available. It just would help to know if 2 days is even a possibility. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[jabberwocky]

Ever since they started merging the backend systems I have not been able to reliably see inventory past 8 months. Sometimes I can see it, and other times I can’t.

I think it was around when we could start reserving a specific view or phase at a resort that I started noticing this.

Would be interesting for someone with plenty of time on their hands to test this out and come up with some possible theories.

 

[alwysonvac]

Wow, thanks for the heads up .

This is a major downgrade. How are folks suppose to plan ahead?
I don’t want to log in multiple nights looking for my desired unit size/type/view


The Search Results page currently states the following…

“You may be searching for dates that do not have villa availability or are outside of the eligible reservation window based on your ownership. Please change your search criteria and try again.”​

“For Vistana Signature Network reservations, arrivals should be within 8 months of today's date.”​

​

 

[SteveS1]

I confirmed this as well.. I checked a few properties that are typically available at 8 months that I'm not eligible for and they weren't returned by Villafinder as they would have in the past. I'm actually happy about this since I was checking inventory for a trip I'm planning to WSJ next March and nothing was coming up now, so thought they were booked already with home reservations. Now I may have a shot at midnight on the 8 month mark.

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

It has been like this since they did the 'upgrade' about 4 months ago. I know it's annoying but as there was no guarantee that you would get the reservation that you was able to see before you could book it I'm not sure making firm plans based upon it was wise anyway as it could lead to disappointment.

There might be a 'market' on TUG for owners doing searches in the 8-12 month window for non-owners but again I'm not sure you would want to bet the house on actually getting anything until you actually see the results yourself and hit the Reserve button.

 

[alwysonvac]

It has been like this since they did the 'upgrade' about 4 months ago. I know it's annoying but as there was no guarantee that you would get the reservation that you was able to see before you could book it I'm not sure making firm plans based upon it was wise anyway as it could lead to disappointment.

There might be a 'market' on TUG for owners doing searches in the 8-12 month window for non-owners but again I'm not sure you would want to bet the house on actually getting anything until you actually see the results yourself and hit the Reserve button.

I’ve been doing this for years. I own multiple weeks in multiple systems. So I always plan ahead based on future availability. This actually becomes critical whenever I need to arrange back to back stays across multiple systems. I always select several possible booking dates based on future availability and it’s never been a problem. But I also don’t travel during high demand periods (aka peak season).

 

[dioxide45]

The less transparency, the easier it is for the house (MVC) to manipulate the inventory behind the scenes.

 

[SteveS1]

I recently purchased DVC (branching out after visiting all Vistana properties other than Cabo and WSJ in the past 10 years), and their booking tool is far superior, it shows future availability I’m not eligible for yet, it shows partial day options in the requested range, it lets you waitlist with automation, and it lets you modify a reservation without canceling and risking losing the original booking. It’s fast too even if you search all their properties. Not to mention I haven’t seen any failures and I’ve been using it regulalry as I’m learning the system. Marriott should use them as a role model.

 

[damianinpa]

I noticed this recently when trying to book something in Hawaii. No availability at all or I just can't see beyond 8 months. Why don't they just make the 'availability calendar' available for each property instead of just your home resort? Very frustrating!

 

[DanCali]

Looks like indeed an issue. Here is a quick test -

SVV 1Br for 1 night search at 8 months away shows available at all phases.

SVV 1BR for 1 night search at 8 months + 1 day and nothing shows up

 

[DanCali]

The less transparency, the easier it is for the house (MVC) to manipulate the inventory behind the scenes.

I hate to ascribe nefarious motives, but it does seem like an intentional change, and this would be a good reason to do that...

I think most owners realize that what you see at 8+ months may not be there when you actually try to book it at 8 months, but it was a good planning tool that would let you know what you might find, and whether you may need to consider canceling a different booking in advance to free up some Staroptions.

 

[dioxide45]

At least we still have the ability to see availability even if we don't have enough StarOptions. That has long been a gripe on the MVC DC side, it isn't easy to see availability when you don't have enough points or no points at all.

 

[VacationForever]

I hate to ascribe nefarious motives, but it does seem like an intentional change, and this would be a good reason to do that...

I think most owners realize that what you see at 8+ months may not be there when you actually try to book it at 8 months, but it was a good planning tool that would let you know what you might find, and whether you may need to consider canceling a different booking in advance to free up some Staroptions.

Yep, or if there is no availability for a search 8+ months out, then we may book what is now available.

 

[needvaca]

I hate to ascribe nefarious motives, but it does seem like an intentional change, and this would be a good reason to do that...

I think most owners realize that what you see at 8+ months may not be there when you actually try to book it at 8 months, but it was a good planning tool that would let you know what you might find, and whether you may need to consider canceling a different booking in advance to free up some Staroptions.

It's definitely nefarious motives. It takes purposeful strategy and planning to start stripping a system of functionality.
First, they took away the availability calendars for anything except your home resort.
Then, all the system problems people have had in the last year, trying to make reservations at midnight ET at the 12 or 8 month mark, and getting locked out of reservations.
Now, blocking viewing of availability post 8 months.
These are all purposeful, much thought out changes to owners' detriment and MVC's benefit.

I also noticed in the past few days that the availability calendar for WKV shows no availability at all now from Feb 24- May 15, 2023. That has never happened before in my 15 years of ownership in WKV. Either MVC is just blocking viewing, or they have scooped up this highest season at Kierland for their own use.

 

[YYJMSP]

Looks like indeed an issue. Here is a quick test -

SVV 1Br for 1 night search at 8 months away shows available at all phases.

View attachment 58019

SVV 1BR for 1 night search at 8 months + 1 day and nothing shows up

View attachment 58020

I assume you can't book a single night at 12-8mos out with your ownership, so the nothing found makes perfect sense. I was never able to do this type of search with a weeks ownership.

try the searches again, before and after the 8mos mark, but for a full week on a standard checkin day... I was previously able to do this search with a weeks ownership, haven't tried lately though...

 

[DanCali]

I assume you can't book a single night at 12-8mos out with your ownership, so the nothing found makes perfect sense.

I don't own at this resort, but this is exactly the type of search being discussed here.

With this type of search (Staroptions at 8+ months out) it used to show what was available and tell you when the reservation window opens.

Now it seems to always show no availability with a message that you are outside the 8-month window. These are new messages that makes it seems like an intentional downgrade of the search capability. I called Owner Services earlier to ask about that and was told they don't know if that functionality will come back, but she couldn't assist me further because their systems were down... I would maybe add a cynical comment about "5-star service", but it wasn't the agent's fault - she was nice enough and tried her best.

 

[WI GAL]

I don't own at this resort, but this is exactly the type of search being discussed here.

With this type of search (Staroptions at 8+ months out) it used to show what was available and tell you when the reservation window opens.

Now it seems to always show no availability with a message that you are outside the 8-month window. These are new messages that makes it seems like an intentional downgrade of the search capability. I called Owner Services earlier to ask about that and was told they don't know if that functionality will come back, but she couldn't assist me further because their systems were down... I would maybe add a cynical comment about "5-star service", but it wasn't the agent's fault - she was nice enough and tried her best.

Yes, this was what my question/situation was about. We used to be able to search for a staroption reservation more than 8 mo out for any length of time 1 night, 2 nights, 10 nights because there is no requirement for it to be a 7 day once under the 8 mo mark. The over 8 mo away search just gave the ability to have an idea of whether or not there was a chance, that it was not completely sold out already for a certain day or length of time. I'm not looking to book more than 8 mo out, just be able to search and see when window to book opens if it is then available.

 

[Kimberly614]

Yes, I am sure this was a purposeful downgrade and it makes planning so much more difficult. I counted down the days last year, watching that there was still availability for the 3bd pool villa at WSJ for my upcoming booking window. It consistently showed it would be available and I snagged it at exactly 11pm (midnight EST) once the 8 month window opened. Now, I am looking for 5 nights at WPORV to tack on to the beginning of an Interval confirmed week at WKORVN in early March and I cant see if it is currently available. I would guess "yes" as WPORV is usually easy to get at 8 months, but not having the visibility is a definite negative to the user experience.

 

[dioxide45]

ANother thing you could see was if there was limited availability. If there were only a few units left, the search result would indicate that. A few days out from 8 months if a specific unit/date didn't have that indicator, it seemed pretty safe it would still be there at midnight 8 months out.

 

[DanCali]

ANother thing you could see was if there was limited availability. If there were only a few units left, the search result would indicate that. A few days out from 8 months if a specific unit/date didn't have that indicator, it seemed pretty safe it would still be there at midnight 8 months out.

True, but if I am not mistaken this feature disappeared further back in time? I haven't seen it in quite some time even in cases that were certain to be "low availability".

 

[DanCali]

Yes, I am sure this was a purposeful downgrade and it makes planning so much more difficult. I counted down the days last year, watching that there was still availability for the 3bd pool villa at WSJ for my upcoming booking window. It consistently showed it would be available and I snagged it at exactly 11pm (midnight EST) once the 8 month window opened. Now, I am looking for 5 nights at WPORV to tack on to the beginning of an Interval confirmed week at WKORVN in early March and I cant see if it is currently available. I would guess "yes" as WPORV is usually easy to get at 8 months, but not having the visibility is a definite negative to the user experience.

I'm going to have a similar issue coming up later this fall. I have a few nights confirmed on St. Thomas via MVC and wanted to add a few nights at WSJ either before or after at the 8 month mark. Would have been super helpful to know in advance what the options might be... if it's a studio, I have the SOs if but it's a 2BR (which I'd prefer) I may need to cancel a home resort reservation to have the extra SOs. This downgrade now has us driving blind and there is really no justification for it that makes sense from a user standpoint.

 

[dioxide45]

True, but if I am not mistaken this feature disappeared further back in time? I haven't seen it in quite some time even in cases that were certain to be "low availability".

You are probably right, I thought I recall seeing it a week or so ago, but I could be mistaken. I think they may have stripped that away when they started breaking out availability based on phases and views.

 

[iqmavin]

Aloha I called and spoke w a vacation specialist. They advised they had access to the same info/screens we do. Nothing more. so I’m guessing high demand properties like Maui for non-owners will be a total crap shoot. They also advised offered to have someone call me back to explain what the new program will look like when it’s implemented at the end of the summer. I agreed since my most recent owners update in May didn’t answer/explain what this will look like for me going forward. Oh well. It is a timeshare business.

 

[needvaca]

We should start an ongoing thread, perhaps in Sightings/Distressed, for TUG members only, where Vistana owners can ask other owners to look up availability for them for Staroption reservations.

 

[WI GAL]

We should start an ongoing thread, perhaps in Sightings/Distressed, for TUG members only, where Vistana owners can ask other owners to look up availability for them for Staroption reservations.

I might be missing something but I'm not sure how that would work at least within Vistana owner to Vistana owner. Even at my home resort, where I'm looking to add on 2 days to my 7 day home resort reservation, I can't see availability beyond 8 mo from now to have an idea if there is availability. I could test with my remaining studio to see if I could pull a full week but it would only show option of studios even if others are available, and it would only show if a full 7 day reservation starting on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday as a weeks owner.