Midnight booking - is there a trick?

[alwysonvac]

Ugh... two nights in a row I got locked out.

The 1st night, I tried to log in at midnight but that was a big mistake because I couldn't get in. The system appeared to be overloaded. When I finally got in everything was gone.

The 2nd night, I logged in 15 minutes earlier and got to the reservation screen when midnight strike, I was able to select my room but it kept spinning forever to detemine eligible points and gave me the countdown of how much time remained. I completed the task within the timeframe then I got an error. Again back to the drawing board but this time I continue to get multiple errors until everything is gone.

So what's the trick for midnight bookings?

 

[sjsharkie]

Ugh... two nights in a row I got locked out.

The 1st night, I tried to log in at midnight but that was a big mistake because I couldn't get in. The system appeared to be overloaded. When I finally got in everything was gone.

The 2nd night, I logged in 15 minutes earlier and got to the reservation screen when midnight strike, I was able to select my room but it kept spinning forever to detemine eligible points and gave me the countdown of how much time remained. I completed the task within the timeframe then I got an error. Again back to the drawing board but this time I continue to get multiple errors until everything is gone.

So what's the trick for midnight bookings?

Nope. Same here. It seems to be luck of the draw on high demand nights. Sometimes the system just can't seem to handle the load -- and my connection times out before confirming.

Hopefully they will get it sorted out. But it seems to be a case of demand exceeeding supply anyway so it seems to be luck of the draw.

-ryan

 

[pathways25]

Ugh... two nights in a row I got locked out.

The 1st night, I tried to log in at midnight but that was a big mistake because I couldn't get in. The system appeared to be overloaded. When I finally got in everything was gone.

The 2nd night, I logged in 15 minutes earlier and got to the reservation screen when midnight strike, I was able to select my room but it kept spinning forever to detemine eligible points and gave me the countdown of how much time remained. I completed the task within the timeframe then I got an error. Again back to the drawing board but this time I continue to get multiple errors until everything is gone.

So what's the trick for midnight bookings?

Did you check your upcoming reservations to see if you did get the reservation? For me, once I've gotten to the 5:00 minute countdown timer, even if I get an error when I confirm the reservation, I still end up with the reservation in my upcoming reservations list. If I get an error during the "checking eligibility" wait (before the timer appears), then I'm out of luck.

Also, was this a home resort or a staroption reservation? For me, checking eligibility for home resort is *much* faster than checking eligibility for staroption reservations.

 

[alwysonvac]

Nope. Same here. It seems to be luck of the draw on high demand nights. Sometimes the system just can't seem to handle the load -- and my connection times out before confirming.

Hopefully they will get it sorted out. But it seems to be a case of demand exceeeding supply anyway so it seems to be luck of the draw.

-ryan

What's the best way to report issues with the reservation system to make sure this is corrected in the future?

 

[alwysonvac]

Did you check your upcoming reservations to see if you did get the reservation? For me, once I've gotten to the 5:00 minute countdown timer, even if I get an error when I confirm the reservation, I still end up with the reservation in my upcoming reservations list. If I get an error during the "checking eligibility" wait (before the timer appears), then I'm out of luck.

Also, was this a home resort or a staroption reservation? For me, checking eligibility for home resort is *much* faster than checking eligibility for staroption reservations.

No, I didn't check the upcoming reservation list.
However once the system was available again and everything was gone my point balance looked the same

I was making a staroption reservation.

First I was receiving the "checking eligibility" wait followed by a message that an error was encountered please call for assistance. I kept repeating the reservation step of selecting the same room size and dates until I got pass this point.

I finally got to the countdown timer. I selected the number of adults/children which points to use (current/bank) and clicked the checkbox before the time was up and I got another error message. I kept repeating the reservation step of selecting the same room size and dates but it kept giving me the same reservation id and stating an error occurred, please call for assistance. I frantically kept trying as I watch it go from complete availability to low availability to no availability. I even tried reducing the number of nights from 7 to 6.

They really need to fix this.
LOL, at this rate I have as much chance at booking Harborside as winning the lottery

 

[alwysonvac]

Please report your reservation issues

Update.... I contacted Resolution Services to report the issue. They will follow up with their IT Department.

They can see my login activity but it doesn't appear that they have access to the actual error messages. I didn't think to take screen captures of the error messages.

 

[DeniseM]

What you have described is typical - with so many people trying to grab reservations at the same time, the system bogs down, gets slow, and generates error messages - every time.

The only thing you can do is to keep trying.

 

[Lingber]

Can someone help me with timing? If I wanted to book New years week for next year and was booking Sunday to Sunday, should I have been on last night at midnight or tonight?

 

[DeniseM]

Can someone help me with timing? If I wanted to book New years week for next year and was booking Sunday to Sunday, should I have been on last night at midnight or tonight?

For a home resort reservation, you make it 12 mos. before check-in, the night before the phone lines open at midnight eastern.

For a Staroption reservation, you make it 8 mos. before check-in, the night before the phone lines open at midnight eastern.

The day of the week doesn't matter - you go by the check-in date.

If you are trying to reserve Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, you would make the reservation at midnight on Dec. 24, 2015.

If you are trying to reserve Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, you would make the reservation at midnight on Dec. 31, 2015.

 

[Lingber]

Ok I was confused. lol Thanks Denise

 

[alwysonvac]

What you have described is typical - with so many people trying to grab reservations at the same time, the system bogs down, gets slow, and generates error messages - every time.

The only thing you can do is to keep trying.

They need to fix it.

Supporting multiple users booking at the same time during high demand timeframes is not a unique problem to SVN. DVC and HGVC are able to manage the demand. Starwood should be able to do the same.

 

[Helios]

They need to fix it...DVC and HGVC are able to manage the demand. Starwood should be able to do the same.

Exactly, not sure what their problem is. They should be prepared for peak times. That's when owners want to reserve and get the most frustrated.

 

[Helios]

Did you check your upcoming reservations to see if you did get the reservation? For me, once I've gotten to the 5:00 minute countdown timer, even if I get an error when I confirm the reservation, I still end up with the reservation in my upcoming reservations list. If I get an error during the "checking eligibility" wait (before the timer appears), then I'm out of luck.

Also, was this a home resort or a staroption reservation? For me, checking eligibility for home resort is *much* faster than checking eligibility for staroption reservations.

I have experienced this before. System crashes during final check but I still get my resie.

 

[Helios]

Ugh... two nights in a row I got locked out.

The 1st night, I tried to log in at midnight but that was a big mistake because I couldn't get in. The system appeared to be overloaded. When I finally got in everything was gone.

The 2nd night, I logged in 15 minutes earlier and got to the reservation screen when midnight strike, I was able to select my room but it kept spinning forever to detemine eligible points and gave me the countdown of how much time remained. I completed the task within the timeframe then I got an error. Again back to the drawing board but this time I continue to get multiple errors until everything is gone.

So what's the trick for midnight bookings?

I feel your pain. Booking my 2BDLO at Harborside was a pain. I was logged and ready to go and system crashed on 12/24. I actually selected the unit but it just kept spinning and availability disappeared within seconds. On 12/25, I got a large 1 BD after system crashing but somehow the resie was created.

 

[GrayFal]

For a home resort reservation, you make it 12 mos. before check-in, the night before the phone lines open at midnight eastern.

For a Staroption reservation, you make it 8 mos. before check-in, the night before the phone lines open at midnight eastern.

The day of the week doesn't matter - you go by the check-in date.

If you are trying to reserve Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, you would make the reservation at midnight on Dec. 24, 2015.

If you are trying to reserve Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, you would make the reservation at midnight on Dec. 31, 2015.

So midnight December 31 soon turns into 12:01 am January 1,2016?
This is how Bluebreen works but wanted to confirm the Same with Starwood.

 

[okwiater]

So midnight December 31 soon turns into 12:01 am January 1,2016?
This is how Bluebreen works but wanted to confirm the Same with Starwood.

Yes, you can make a reservation for January 1, 2017 starting on January 1, 2016 at 12:00:00.00000000001 AM.

I hate the term "midnight" since it is frequently used improperly thus causing confusion about which day to act.