Elara Availability During Club Season For Peak Weeks

[golfdegenerate]

I'm considering buying a HGVC timeshare through resale for the platinum season with my home resort being Vegas Strip to have the cheapest MFs as possible. I want to book a 2br or larger at the Elara from Wed-Sun during the first week of March Madness every year but was wondering if anyone knows what availability is like when booking during Club Season as long as I book as early as possible. If I took next year as an example, I'd want to check-in on Wednesday March 14, 2018 and check-out on Sunday, March 18, 2018. Would that mean that the earliest I can book for the dates I want would be 9 months prior to March 18, 2018 which would be roughly around June 18, 2017? But the Club Season for this year would officially open April 1, 2017?

 

[SmithOp]

I'm considering buying a HGVC timeshare through resale for the platinum season with my home resort being Vegas Strip to have the cheapest MFs as possible. I want to book a 2br or larger at the Elara from Wed-Sun during the first week of March Madness every year but was wondering if anyone knows what availability is like when booking during Club Season as long as I book as early as possible. If I took next year as an example, I'd want to check-in on Wednesday March 14, 2018 and check-out on Sunday, March 18, 2018. Would that mean that the earliest I can book for the dates I want would be 9 months prior to March 18, 2018 which would be roughly around June 18, 2017? But the Club Season for this year would officially open April 1, 2017?

Home season opens April 1, but Home season wouldn't do you any good because it has to be a full week, so get the lowest point cost you can rather than buying Elara.

To get the reservation you want you have to start 270 days prior to the check out date. The "trick" is to book the Mon-Wed before the weekend you want then "walk" it a day at a time until you have Wed-Sun. Club season is 3 day minimum, and all reservations are changeable at no cost. You may have to start even earlier if all the home season owners book the full week, which is Sat-Sat.


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[golfdegenerate]

Home season opens April 1, but Home season wouldn't do you any good because it has to be a full week, so get the lowest point cost you can rather than buying Elara.

To get the reservation you want you have to start 270 days prior to the check out date. The "trick" is to book the Mon-Wed before the weekend you want then "walk" it a day at a time until you have Wed-Sun. Club season is 3 day minimum, and all reservations are changeable at no cost. You may have to start even earlier if all the home season owners book the full week, which is Sat-Sat.

Can you explain the "trick"? Let me see if I understand what you are saying. So I should book the Mon-Wed before the weekend I want to check out at 270 days (or 276?) prior to that Wed. Then the next day cancel that reservation and book Tues-Thurs. Then the next day cancel that and book Wed-Fri? How does this help me get the Wed-Sun reservation I want. Should I do a Mon-Fri reservation instead since that's the # of nights I want, cancel the next day and rebook for Tues-Sat and so on?

And when you say start even earlier how would I do that since if my calculation is correct Club Season opens July 1 since that is 3 months after Home Season.

 

[SmithOp]

Can you explain the "trick"? Let me see if I understand what you are saying. So I should book the Mon-Wed before the weekend I want to check out at 270 days (or 276?) prior to that Wed. Then the next day cancel that reservation and book Tues-Thurs. Then the next day cancel that and book Wed-Fri? How does this help me get the Wed-Sun reservation I want. Should I do a Mon-Fri reservation instead since that's the # of nights I want, cancel the next day and rebook for Tues-Sat and so on?

And when you say start even earlier how would I do that since if my calculation is correct Club Season opens July 1 since that is 3 months after Home Season.

You don't cancel reservations, there is an option to change it. You can add, subtract, or move days. Club season does not "open" on any specific day, its a sliding 270 day window based on the check out day.

Home weeks are loaded into the system as Sat-Sat. Once club season arrives the home weeks can be broken up into less than 7 days. You want to grab a week and break it up as soon as possible so you can get the end of the week. When you change a reservation you retain the hold on that week while its being changed. You may have an issue getting the Saturday night since that is the start of the next week.

Think of it this way, if you and I are competing for the last room available that weekend, if you wait until 270 days before the Sunday (check out date) to book it will be gone because I booked it already and "walked" my reservation into the same dates.


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[Sandy VDH]

At 270 days from checkout book a 3 night Mon thru Wed as a changeable reservation. Next day change the reservation to 4 nights but adding in Thursday night, so now you have Mon to Thurs booked, so do that for each additional day that you need. etc etc.

That process what has been termed "walking the reservation"

You are adding days on to the reservation as each day comes into the 270 booking window.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Can't comment on availability for that time period as I do not watch it, but with the exception of New Year's Eve which is an event week, at 9 months in Vegas nearly all things are available. Don't think you should have a problem.

 

[Nomad420]

Agree with Sandy, last month I booked the Elara 4 nights Labor Day weekend and availability was almost wide open. I don't know how that compares with March Madness but I suspect it has to be a popular weekend as well.

 

[GT75]

At 270 days from checkout

To be exact, it is 276 days from checkout.

 

[golfdegenerate]

Are my dates for how Home Week, Club Reservation and Open Season work correct? My initial assumption was that they occur on the same time period of the year, but after reading SmithOp's reply about Club Reservation being a sliding 276 day window, I'm assuming the Home Week window is also a sliding 365 day to 276 window. So for the purpose of my example, I want Elara check-in 3/14/18, check-out 3/18/18, is this correct?
Home Week 3/14/17-6/11/17 (276 days from check-in)
Club Reservation 6/15/17 (276 days from check-out) - 3/13/18
Open Season 2/16/18 - 3/13/18

The optimal strategy for Club Reservation would be:
on 6/11/17 book Sun 3/11/18 - Wed 3/14/18 (=3 night min)
on 6/12/17 change reservation to Mon 3/12/18 - Thur 3/15/18
on 6/13/17 change reservation to Tues 3/13/18 - Fri 3/16/18
on 6/14/17 change reservation to Wed 3/14/18 - Sat 3/17/18
on 6/15/17 change reservation to Wed 3/14/18 - Sun 3/18/18

 

[seagila]

Are my dates for how Home Week, Club Reservation and Open Season work correct? My initial assumption was that they occur on the same time period of the year, but after reading SmithOp's reply about Club Reservation being a sliding 276 day window, I'm assuming the Home Week window is also a sliding 365 day to 276 window. So for the purpose of my example, I want Elara check-in 3/14/18, check-out 3/18/18, is this correct?
Home Week 3/14/17-6/11/17 (276 days from check-in)
Club Reservation 6/15/17 (276 days from check-out) - 3/13/18
Open Season 2/16/18 - 3/13/18

The optimal strategy for Club Reservation would be:
on 6/11/17 book Sun 3/11/18 - Wed 3/14/18 (=3 night min)
on 6/12/17 change reservation to Mon 3/12/18 - Thur 3/15/18
on 6/13/17 change reservation to Tues 3/13/18 - Fri 3/16/18
on 6/14/17 change reservation to Wed 3/14/18 - Sat 3/17/18
on 6/15/17 change reservation to Wed 3/14/18 - Sun 3/18/18

 

[Sandy VDH]

A picture always helps.....