Online reservations versus call in

[flyboy0681]

I'm going to attempt to make a reservation at my home resort (Desert Springs I) in a few weeks for Thanksgiving week 2012. If I have the reservation page up in front of me at 8:59am and press the refresh, will the open dates suddenly appear or do the people on the other end of the phone get access to those dates first?

Also, about what time should I be on the phone? I know that calling at 9:00 will result with me being placed on hold for 20 minutes and by that time the inventory would all be gone.

Lastly, what is the consensus out there about which days to reserve for Thanksgiving week in case I want to later trade the week? Is it better to arrive on the previous Friday, Saturday or Sunday? I would think Saturday is the best as that would give someone a day of rest after the holiday and Saturday airfares tend to be cheaper.

 

[sea&ski]

Just hit refresh. Try it a few times before the "magic moment" arrives. I usually find that my atomic clock reads a minute before the appointed hour. Phones have not worked for me since the early days of ownership. I believe them to be pure luck whereas the computer is (mostly) a sure thing.

 

[m61376]

I log into my account, click on reserve full villa, and hit refresh repeatedly starting at about 8:59. The newest dates just pop up and you can click on the date you want. I have done it while hitting redial with my other hand and even with a rep picking up immediately, I find that I can often book it before the rep can bring it up. Booking online is easy as long as you have a fast connection.

Arrival day doesn't really matter for trading, except that in resorts with a Thursday check-in II assigns the trade value of the previous week; I am not sure if Friday arrivals stick with the week. Thus, for holiday weeks, sometimes II assigns a higher trade value for arrivals after the holiday for Thursday arrival days, which of course doesn't seem to make sense.

If you call in, start dialing at about 8:59:45, and be ready to enter the info. a few seconds before 9 so you are one of the first in.

 

[flyboy0681]

I log into my account, click on reserve full villa, and hit refresh repeatedly starting at about 8:59. The newest dates just pop up and you can click on the date you want.

Is there a method to your refresh? I viewed the calendar page of availability and when I pressed "Refresh" (F5), the page got an error. It's as if Marriott isn't allowing it to be used.

I tried this using IE and Firefox, both with identical results.