Minimum Nights when using Vacation Club Points

[Bunk]

I’m a legacy member. I elected to use my week to obtain Vacation Club Points. I have a question about using those Vacation Club Points. It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods. Is there a chart that shows the minimum nights that may be booked for each resort during various times of the year.

 

[bazzap]

I’m a legacy member. I elected to use my week to obtain Vacation Club Points. I have a question about using those Vacation Club Points. It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods. Is there a chart that shows the minimum nights that may be booked for each resort during various times of the year.

I am not aware of any resort dependent factors.
Ownership Level and Reservation Window are the key factors
https://www.my-vacationclub.com/com...rshipLevelsResources/benefits_at_a_glance.pdf

 

[SueDonJ]

I’m a legacy member. I elected to use my week to obtain Vacation Club Points. I have a question about using those Vacation Club Points. It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods. Is there a chart that shows the minimum nights that may be booked for each resort during various times of the year.

As far as I know there aren't any restrictions at any of the properties on the number of Nights that can be booked.

There are restrictions as to when Nights can be booked according to the open Reservation Windows, based on the status tiers of Members in the DC system. Check out this Benefits At A Glance chart for details.

{eta} What Bazzap said.

 

[jont]

one night minimum as far as I have been able to tell, subject to availabilty.

 

[BocaBoy]

I’m a legacy member. I elected to use my week to obtain Vacation Club Points. I have a question about using those Vacation Club Points. It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods. Is there a chart that shows the minimum nights that may be booked for each resort during various times of the year.

You are undoubtedly trying to book a stay of less than 7 nights earlier than your elite status (or lack thereof) allows.

 

[dioxide45]

I think that the high number of people that can now book 1+ nights at 13 montyhs is really going to impact availability for those wanting to book a week. Breakage is going to go up. I wouldn't have an issue with minimum stays for certain resorts or time periods. Perhaps having to book both weekend nights instead of one unless you are the highest tier. Perhaps then remove the minimums at 10 months out.

That said, as others indicated, no minimums anywhere. All based on your status.

 

[catharsis]

I just wanted to come back to resurrect this old thread and confirm that the information within it is 100% wrong as was just confirmed to me by a marriott representative on a call this morning who queried this matter with web support and her supervisor for me and were told that this was done at the request of Revenue Management in the property and WAS permitted according the terms of the program.

Specifics are always helpful so I will provide a 'live example'.

As a Chairmans club member I should be able to book 1+ days at 13 months if availability exists.

It is not possible to book a 2B OV in Ko Olina on Sat March 30 2019 right now unless it is booked as part of a 7 night stay.

(the same rule applied to another night which is what I queried with the CSR and in my case I simply booked 7 nights knowing I can always cancel later).

However this sort or restriction seriously impacts on the whole 'tiers' benefits offering and I wonder in that context about whether Marriott's authority to do this is described anywhere in the trust documents?

 

[icydog]

I just tried to book a single night in a two bedroom OV on March 30 and the resort is sold out. But on March 31, 2019 I am definitely seeing a two bedroom Ocean View. You were just closed out. NO need to book 7 nights.

 

[dioxide45]

I just tried to book a single night in a two bedroom OV on March 30 and the resort is sold out. But on March 31, 2019 I am definitely seeing a two bedroom Ocean View. You were just closed out. NO need to book 7 nights.

The "if availability exists", it didn't exist.

 

[SeaDoc]

If you are below select level (below 7000 pts), you can book 7 day minimum from 13 months to 10 months from start of booking. At less than 10 months, you can book one day at a time. Only Executive and higher (7000+) can book 13 months in advance one day at a time, i.e. no minimum restrictions... Hope that clarifies your situation in your question. PS, only Ritz Carlton Club - St. Thomas, as far as I have come across, requires three day minimums regardless of status.

I’m a legacy member. I elected to use my week to obtain Vacation Club Points. I have a question about using those Vacation Club Points. It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods. Is there a chart that shows the minimum nights that may be booked for each resort during various times of the year.

 

[catharsis]

I just tried to book a single night in a two bedroom OV on March 30 and the resort is sold out. But on March 31, 2019 I am definitely seeing a two bedroom Ocean View. You were just closed out. NO need to book 7 nights.

Guys you missed my point.

It is entirely possible to book 7 nights including March 30 2019 despite your reports that there is no availability.

I.e. there is availability, it is ONLY available when booking 7 nights plus.

And as noted this is for a chairmans member, and I am perfectly able to book March 31 on it's own. So it has nothing to do with how far out the dates are.


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[icydog]

Guys you missed my point.

It is entirely possible to book 7 nights including March 30 2019 despite your reports that there is no availability.

I.e. there is availability, it is ONLY available when booking 7 nights plus.

And as noted this is for a chairmans member, and I am perfectly able to book March 31 on it's own. So it has nothing to do with how far out the dates are.


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I completely understood what you were saying. What you can do is-- reserve the 7 nights from March 30 on, and then cancel the last six nights by calling member services.

I do not think it is a policy that you MUST reserve 7 nights for any resort except for that Ritz in the Caribbean.

Sometimes the computer makes arbitrary choices for any number of reasons unknown to us humans, but you should be able to do the work around to get what you want.

 

[dioxide45]

Perhaps they only allow the 1+ night reservations if they have an otherwise broken interval? If they have a whole 7 night interval still intact perhaps they don't allow single night bookings against it?

 

[icydog]

I have always been able to cancel nights on a longer reservation without a hitch. I think the OP should try the premise out. What does he have to lose? We are talking a year from now.

 

[catharsis]

In my first message on this post I identified that I was not actually trying to book March 31, that I had identified this problem for the dates I was booking, had already booked 7 nights knowing I would be able to cancel in the future (meaning that this was not in any way a problem for me) and confirmed that I could see the same behavior on March 31 2019 in case anyone wanted to examine it.

I also noted that the Marriott CSR had confirmed after speaking to support to investigate the 'bug' that the restriction had been put in place "at the request of Revenue Management in the property and WAS permitted according the terms of the program."

The issue for me is the fact that people trying to book may be given the mistaken impression that the night was sold out, when they have in some cases paid Marriott a large sum of money to buy additional points for the supposed benefit of being able to book a single night at 13 months out if it is available - which is now NOT being fulfilled.

 

[icydog]

In my first message on this post I identified that I was not actually trying to book March 31, that I had identified this problem for the dates I was booking, had already booked 7 nights knowing I would be able to cancel in the future (meaning that this was not in any way a problem for me) and confirmed that I could see the same behavior on March 31 2019 in case anyone wanted to examine it.

I also noted that the Marriott CSR had confirmed after speaking to support to investigate the 'bug' that the restriction had been put in place "at the request of Revenue Management in the property and WAS permitted according the terms of the program."

The issue for me is the fact that people trying to book may be given the mistaken impression that the night was sold out, when they have in some cases paid Marriott a large sum of money to buy additional points for the supposed benefit of being able to book a single night at 13 months out if it is available - which is now NOT being fulfilled.

Oh, Now I get it. I thought you were trying to reserve a one night stay and couldn't do it. But in actuality, and not having anything to do with your initial post, you were able to reserve a 7 night stay for your specific week.

The original post was strictly informational.

Sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusions when I read this "It seems that many resorts require a minimum of 7 nights, at least during the peak periods"

I thought this was a problem you actually had. I still have issues with this supposition though. I have never encountered a single night that was unavailable except when it was available as part of a weekly reservation.

I know I could be wrong, but in my experience, I have never run into this. But thanks for the information since it could pop up one of these days.

 

[Quilter]

I can’t verify this with any specific example but I think I have run into it on occasion.

I’m also chairman level.

I’m pretty sure there have been times when I searched for inventory that 1 night would not show available but when I looked for, let’s say 3 nights, the original date showed available.

I’ll be on the watch for this again.

But to the question posed by catharsis, has anyone read in the DVC documents a clause allowing resorts to override the ability to reserve just 1 night when specific levels claim to have this as a perk?

 

[jeff76543]

In a Tug thread from December 2016, I noted several instances where at Pulse locations 1 night (or 2-3 night) reservations were unavailable for specific dates, but longer reservations were available for the same dates. See these posts:
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?posts/1953762/
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?posts/1953773/

 

[VacationForever]

It certainly is not unusual to see that a resort is available for a 7-night stay but not for a 3-night stay.

I have been playing with the points booking system these past couple of days. For instance, Newport Coast is blocked off for 3-night booking with a check-in for any of these dates: Sep 16, 17, 18 check-in but those dates are open for check-in if you want a 7-night booking. You can check this out.

 

[dioxide45]

I suspect they probably don't want single night bookings breaking a full interval and want to be able to meet the needs of those wanting to book full 7 night stays without all of them getting broken by single nights 13 months out.

 

[VacationForever]

I suspect they probably don't want single night bookings breaking a full interval and want to be able to meet the needs of those wanting to book full 7 night stays without all of them getting broken by single nights 13 months out.

It makes sense. That means MVC designates only x number of units that are allowed to be broken up for fewer than 7-night stay.

 

[catharsis]

This seems to be becoming a bot of an epidemic though - I had a look around doing some random searches.

Sabal Palms 8 June 2018 shows as not available if booking 1 night or 2 nights - only if you book 3 nights or more (surely Orlando in June at less than 60 days out is hardly a 'desitrable full interval' needing to be protected?)

If these nights ARE actually available and should be offered to an owner with the points required to book them (even if he only has for example points enough for one night) do we know on what basis Marriott are refusing to allow that (hypothetical) owner to book these nights? I'm starting to see DC points as becoming more of a Marriott Rewards points program subject to all sorts of 'revenue management' shenanigans' than an 'ownership share' entitling one to use by right.

 

[dioxide45]

This seems to be becoming a bot of an epidemic though - I had a look around doing some random searches.

Sabal Palms 8 June 2018 shows as not available if booking 1 night or 2 nights - only if you book 3 nights or more (surely Orlando in June at less than 60 days out is hardly a 'desitrable full interval' needing to be protected?)

If these nights ARE actually available and should be offered to an owner with the points required to book them (even if he only has for example points enough for one night) do we know on what basis Marriott are refusing to allow that (hypothetical) owner to book these nights? I'm starting to see DC points as becoming more of a Marriott Rewards points program subject to all sorts of 'revenue management' shenanigans' than an 'ownership share' entitling one to use by right.

Perhaps they are putting these out as "Escapes" or whatever they call their newish heavily discounted last minute deals. I think they had to be booked in 3-5 night increments?

 

[Quilter]

Not trying to be negative but need to remind people that the last couple posts are speculation, not fact.

I went to the documents at owners.marriottvacationclub.com and looked for special small print that would change the ability for Chairman level to reserve 1 night if the availability was there. There is no small print saying a resort can overrule the ability for Chairman level to reserve 1 night.

 

[VacationForever]

Not trying to be negative but need to remind people that the last couple posts are speculation, not fact.

I went to the documents at owners.marriottvacationclub.com and looked for special small print that would change the ability for Chairman level to reserve 1 night if the availability was there. There is no small print saying a resort can overrule the ability for Chairman level to reserve 1 night.

However, when you do it online, you will find that there are many instances which show that you can book for longer stay but not for shorter stays. Real life vs. documentation.