Wyndham limiting access by non-owners during most sought-after dates/locations

[Jan M.]

Where is it? I can’t find it. Sigh.

Wes.

Click on Owner Guide and under that Resources. Page down to Reservations and open it. You'll see 4 pictures. The one one the right is Owner Priority Reservations. That's where you'll find both the old and new lists.

 

[regatta333]

I wonder how long it will take for them to expand this to include July/August 2022 weekends?

 

[dgalati]

I wonder how long it will take for them to expand this to include July/August 2022 weekends?

You’re killing me Smalls.
My advice ... stop giving Wyndham bad advice. Based on their track record, they will use it.

Wes.

Hopefully Wyndham doesn't read the post suggesting the expansion of July/August dates into 2022.

 

[VacayKat]

This is where I come down. If you aren’t able to rent out reservations like you normally do, do they think that y’all are just go let your points expire, unused? Obviously not - you’re going to use them one way or another, so there’s no real additional availability for other owners (it just may be shifted slightly).

It’s always seemed to me that what people who rail against renters want is for those points never to get used. That’s the only way true availability will be opened up. Otherwise, you still just have to be faster or luckier, just like always.

That is basically what I was trying to say.

 

[55plus]

You gotta drill, baby, drill!

Priority Reservations for Club Wyndham Owners

Club Wyndham owners get priority access to book timeshare vacations. Explore resort availability and learn more about this exclusive perk to timeshare owners.

clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com

Wow! This is good news for those who have points to use due to the COVID shutdown, but not for those who count on renting to make ends meet. To be fair, there should not be any of the restricted dates, weekends, time-frames, etc., for rent on Extra Holidays or any other rental site. If there is, Wyndham needs to be called out on it for the double standard.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Wow! This is good news for those who have points to use due to the COVID shutdown, but not for those who count on renting to make ends meet. To be fair, there should not be any of the restricted dates, weekends, time-frames, etc., for rent on Extra Holidays or any other rental site. If there is, Wyndham needs to be called out on it for the double standard.

That was exactly what I thought the blocking of holidays was all about, people having points left after Covid last year, so I wasn't terribly concerned back then, but now I know better.

 

[wjappraise]

Question for the IT gurus here:

Do you believe that Wyndham IT is savvy enough to design, install, test (yes this purposely placed after install), modify, support, and maintain a system to truly track whether an owner has a reservation that at a minimum overlaps a guest reservation by one day?

Thanks.
Wes.

 

[Eric B]

Question for the IT gurus here:

Do you believe that Wyndham IT is savvy enough to design, install, test (yes this purposely placed after install), modify, support, and maintain a system to truly track whether an owner has a reservation that at a minimum overlaps a guest reservation by one day?

Thanks.
Wes.

I thought testing it was our job....

 

[55plus]

Question for the IT gurus here:

Do you believe that Wyndham IT is savvy enough to design, install, test (yes this purposely placed after install), modify, support, and maintain a system to truly track whether an owner has a reservation that at a minimum overlaps a guest reservation by one day?

Thanks.
Wes.

I believe they do. I booked a reservation that overlapped by two days and received a warning during the transaction. If the system can warm it can cancel. It's all automated.

 

[r4rab]

Question for the IT gurus here:

Do you believe that Wyndham IT is savvy enough to design, install, test (yes this purposely placed after install), modify, support, and maintain a system to truly track whether an owner has a reservation that at a minimum overlaps a guest reservation by one day?

Thanks.
Wes.

Normally it wouldn't be too hard to do this type of thing. In fact there are off the shelf algorithms to verify if there is a union between 2 arrays (think of a series of reservation dates as an array). Can Wyndham IT do it? I don't know. They have not inspired confidence to date.

 

[dgalati]

I thought testing it was our job....

@ericb owners are the Crash test dummies

 

[HitchHiker71]

Question for the IT gurus here:

Do you believe that Wyndham IT is savvy enough to design, install, test (yes this purposely placed after install), modify, support, and maintain a system to truly track whether an owner has a reservation that at a minimum overlaps a guest reservation by one day?

Thanks.
Wes.

AFAIK there’s a back end process that already performs the GC based cancellations. It’s not related to the front end DT team that manages the website. Two different teams altogether. If there’s already a back end process - I do not see it as difficult to modify the existing process to query the current account record for an overlapping reservation that does not have a GC associated, and to first check to see if the two complimentary GCs have already been used. The logic for these validations is simple.


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[HitchHiker71]

As an aside, if there’s one thing the current iteration of the Wyndham website has done to me, it’s trained me out of trying to drill down through menus to the information I’m looking for, and I just type words into the search bar. What if you don’t know enough to know what to search for? I guess you’re out of luck!

Search using “priority reservations” in the website search box, it’s the first hit that comes up.


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[HitchHiker71]

I believe they do. I booked a reservation that overlapped by two days and received a warning during the transaction. If the system can warm it can cancel. It's all automated.

I haven’t tried this recently - it’s good to know the website has the logic to produce a warning.


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[paxsarah]

Search using “priority reservations” in the website search box, it’s the first hit that comes up.

Because I’m lazy, I just type “guest” and it’s the second result.

My point being, I know what to search for and what terms will work. If a less informed owner doesn’t even know where to start, their searches are going to be far less helpful.

 

[wjappraise]

AFAIK there’s a back end process that already performs the GC based cancellations. It’s not related to the front end DT team that manages the website. Two different teams altogether. If there’s already a back end process - I do not see it as difficult to modify the existing process to query the current account record for an overlapping reservation that does not have a GC associated, and to first check to see if the two complimentary GCs have already been used. The logic for these validations is simple.


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Thank you for your answer.

It will be interesting to see how it rolls out. I still hold to the opinion that Wyndham should be devoting ALL of its IT attention to stabilizing the website before turning its attention to eliminating Extra Holidays competitors.

Wes.

 

[VacayKat]

Because I’m lazy, I just type “guest” and it’s the second result.

My point being, I know what to search for and what terms will work. If a less informed owner doesn’t even know where to start, their searches are going to be far less helpful.

Or they won’t even know to look. Wyndham changing things with less than reasonable notice is part of the problem.

To be fair, at this point I don’t even consider myself an owner - I’m just a schmuck that gave some money in exchange for points to use in ansystem that promised me the sun and the moon but really gave me Chernobyl. My fault for thinking a corporation would have my interests in mind if they called me an owner. I know better now, I’m just a revenue source.

 

[dgalati]

Or they won’t even know to look. Wyndham changing things with less than reasonable notice is part of the problem.

To be fair, at this point I don’t even consider myself an owner - I’m just a schmuck that gave some money in exchange for points to use in an system that promised me the sun and the moon but really gave me Chernobyl. My fault for thinking a corporation would have my interests in mind if they called me an owner. I know better now, I’m just a revenue source.

That's a pretty harsh synopsis.

 

[wjappraise]

That's a pretty harsh synopsis.

Exactly right.

Chernobyl wasn’t that bad.

 

[lost patience]

I just got off the phone with Wyndham..... I have several units booked for July 2 weekend. Most of the group arrives on July 2. I don't arrive until July 3. I had applied guest names to 2 of the reservations, but not the other 3. The VC told me that my reservations booked prior to June 18 for a group going to Vegas would not be impacted by the new restrictions as they were booked prior to June 18. I read him the words from the website and he retracted his statement and told me I had to arrive on July 2 and leave one in my name. I then booked a 2N starting July 3 in my name - I likely will not use it as I'll be staying in the 2br. We booked these so that each of us had our own rooms already. I asked if adding this unit would solve the problem that was created by a short notice policy change. He transferred me to owner care. Owner care said that would not work as I had to check in on the same night as everyone else. I then read the words to her from the email. She put me on hold and asked someone else. She returned with "yes" that will work. End result - I'm out additional points. There is one less unit available for the July 2 weekend at one of the resorts on the restricted list. Plus vacation counselors and owner care are not sure what's going on either.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I just got off the phone with Wyndham..... I have several units booked for July 2 weekend. Most of the group arrives on July 2. I don't arrive until July 3. I had applied guest names to 2 of the reservations, but not the other 3. The VC told me that my reservations booked prior to June 18 for a group going to Vegas would not be impacted by the new restrictions as they were booked prior to June 18. I read him the words from the website and he retracted his statement and told me I had to arrive on July 2 and leave one in my name. I then booked a 2N starting July 3 in my name - I likely will not use it as I'll be staying in the 2br. We booked these so that each of us had our own rooms already. I asked if adding this unit would solve the problem that was created by a short notice policy change. He transferred me to owner care. Owner care said that would not work as I had to check in on the same night as everyone else. I then read the words to her from the email. She put me on hold and asked someone else. She returned with "yes" that will work. End result - I'm out additional points. There is one less unit available for the July 2 weekend at one of the resorts on the restricted list. Plus vacation counselors and owner care are not sure what's going on either.

Curious - why not just use the add nights function and add one night to your existing reservation that started on July 3 so it aligned with the July 2 requirement? I assume this one was in your own name already since you stated you would be using it. That said, I might be misunderstanding your multi room reservation setup and requirements, or perhaps there wasn’t availability for that room type to add a night.

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[lost patience]

The extra room is a waste. I don't need nor want it. It will sit empty. July 2- 4 is Fri/Sat and would waste more points as compared to July 3-5 which is Sat/Sun.

 

[55plus]

I understand how frustrating this must be for owners, especially those who didn't receive notification of the change. One would think Wyndham would have IT remove the guest check box from the specific resorts during the specific timeframes and put a message/link in place of the policy change. Overall, the change does benefit owners who want to travel during restricted periods. I noticed Bonnet Creek had numerous units available over the Fourth. That's great for owners who couldn't never get in there over the Fourth of July holiday. Personally, I'd like to see these restrictions continue, maybe with a few tweaks, indefinitely.

 

[paxsarah]

The extra room is a waste. I don't need nor want it. It will sit empty. July 2- 4 is Fri/Sat and would waste more points as compared to July 3-5 which is Sat/Sun.

It took me a couple times reading the original post to understand (I think) what's going on. There were originally five units, and your name as an owner was never going to be on any of them - you were going arrive later and stay in a unit that a guest had already checked into the day before, is that correct? So now you've created a dummy reservation in your own name that overlaps, thus "blessing" the remaining guest units.

Sigh. Unfortunately, I think that's the best you could have done in this situation. Even in trying to make things easier for owners with guests, they've missed some situations.

 

[paxsarah]

I understand how frustrating this must be for owners, especially those who didn't receive notification of the change. One would think Wyndham would have IT remove the guest check box from the specific resorts during the specific timeframes and put a message/link in place of the policy change. Overall, the change does benefit owners who want to travel during restricted periods. I noticed Bonnet Creek had numerous units available over the Fourth. That's great for owners who couldn't never get in there over the Fourth of July holiday. Personally, I'd like to see these restrictions continue, maybe with a few tweaks, indefinitely.

This would be helpful (having read stories of people who added guests after the March restrictions and weren't warned, and lost the reservation) - but only if the programming can check the particular owner's account to see if they are eligible to add a guest or not. You and I could both book a 4th of July Bonnet Creek reservation, and one of us could be eligible (not having used either of our two unaccompanied guests), and the other one could not be. And then it would also have to work correctly.