Marriott says wait until Dec 16 to reserve Thanksgiving???

[Garnet]

Hi-

Recently I purchased (off ebay) a Gold Marriott Desert Springs Villas II week. A couple days ago when talking to the resellers I asked them to reserve for me a fall week. My guess was that Thanksgiving week was probably gone in the first 5 minutes of being available. (I gave the reseller a "priority list of weeks I would like reserved". Yes-Thanksgiving was on it-in the off chance he could book one.)

BUT---the reseller said he talked to Marriott and was told they weren't making reservations for Thanksgiving yet and he should call back on December 16th. Was Marriott blowing smoke? (Or Marriott talking about Xmas, which I can't reserve anyway?)

I imagine Thanksgiving is gone and I should get the reseller to book another fall week before they all go...any suggestions?

 

[GrayFal]

The reseller gave you the wrong information.
You can reserve 12 months before the check-in weekend Friday-Sunday.

 

[wa.mama]

Smoke. We just spent Thanksgiving at Ko Olina, having reserved 13 months in advance, and when we tried to add another unit on at 12 months in advance all the friday and saturday check-ins were already gone. Why don't you try calling Marriott yourself and talk to them? Even without a unit you can still get some good info from them.

 

[dioxide45]

Could it be that it is gone and they expect some cancellations when people call to book Christmas and then cancel their Thanksgiving reservation?
Many people will book a good week but then cancel later if they are able to get the week they truely want. This is a good plan if you are trying to book week 52. You could be left with nothing good to pick from if you call to book week 52 and they are sold out already.

 

[rsnash]

Wait, you can change your reservation at your home resort? It never occurred to me before to do this. As I almost exclusively use mine as a trade, so I've never thought about changing my reservation if you can find a better date. Good to know.

 

[davidvel]

Could it be that it is gone and they expect some cancellations when people call to book Christmas and then cancel their Thanksgiving reservation?
Many people will book a good week but then cancel later if they are able to get the week they truely want. This is a good plan if you are trying to book week 52. You could be left with nothing good to pick from if you call to book week 52 and they are sold out already.

Gold weeks in the desert would cover Thanksgiving, but not Christmas. I reserved Thanksgiving 3 minutes after 9am for my desert unit, and all were reserved by 5 minutes past according to another thread.

 

[Garnet]

Could it be that it is gone and they expect some cancellations when people call to book Christmas and then cancel their Thanksgiving reservation?

Thanksgiving is Gold and Xmas/New Year's is Platinum. At one point, I thought maybe the Mar. rep. was not thinking and automatically directing people to the day to call for Xmas.

Anyway--Thank You, Thank You to all who confirmed that Marriott or the reseller was blowing smoke about the reservation date. Didn't think Thanksgiving was in December next year.

I'll be calling first thing Monday to hopefully get a decent fall week.

Just read the post above....
Thanks-my next question was--I know Thanksgiving must go fast-but how fast. Somewhere between 3-5 min. Wow!

 

[ilene13]

don't wait until Monday, they are open on weekends.

 

[aka Julie]

Wait, you can change your reservation at your home resort? It never occurred to me before to do this. As I almost exclusively use mine as a trade, so I've never thought about changing my reservation if you can find a better date. Good to know.

Of course there is a fee to cancel first reservation ($29) before you book the new one.

 

[wuv pooh]

My guess is they called the wrong number

You can book timeshares 12 or 13 months in advance.

You can book hotels 331 days in advance so you cannot yet book Thanksgiving 2009.