How does the Elite waitlist work?

It seems to be generally understood that 4- and 5-star Elite members can waitlist for SVN reservations, so that any inventory matching the waitlist criteria will first be offered to the Elite member before going into the general availability pool. However, I tried this feature the other day, for a Labor Day reservation at SBP where there was no inventory available. But then a few days later, on a whim, I did a new online search and saw that a unit had become available. I was never called.

Although I was able to reserve the unit, I found it strange that this occurred, and it got me wondering if the waitlist doesn't actually provide true "priority" access to SVN inventory. Instead, I'm wondering if there is some sort of manual process, by which reservations or inventory specialists regularly review waitlist entries and search the same general availability pool as everybody else. If they happen to find a unit, perhaps then they can remove it from inventory so that it can be offered to the Elite member. But it seems like it might be possible for a unit to skip the waitlist if it enters the inventory pool and is snatched up quickly enough.

Does anyone else have other corroborating or contradicting information about how this works (or is supposed to work)?

If true, that certainly dilutes the benefits of a Wait List! I'd call and complain. They should be filling Wait List inventory first, or they shouldn't advertise it as a benefit.

Yet another reason to question the perks that are included with Elite status. Good info to have, thanks for posting your experience.


Sent from my iPad

We've used it a number of times, the largest one was to get 7 units of various sizes at WKORV a few years back, that one predating the online reservations system.

We booked what was available, with lots of different check-in days and two off by a full week from the others, as the back up plan. We wanted them to all arrive the same day if possible.

We got calls at various times from 7mos to 4mos out as individual units became available. We were given 24hrs to call back in and accept the unit (and cancel one of our no longer wanted bookings). Otherwise it goes to the next person on the list.

in the end we still ended up with one unit off by one say, but otherwise we were pleased.

In other cases, we usually got the desired dates by the 6mos point.

I suspect the process is manual. When a unit becomes available someone is supposed to check the waitlist before sticking it in general inventory. This was probably fine before online bookings, but I suspect it might not work any longer as released units appear to become available in a few minutes.

YYJMSP said:

I suspect the process is manual. When a unit becomes available someone is supposed to check the waitlist before sticking it in general inventory. This was probably fine before online bookings, but I suspect it might not work any longer as released units appear to become available in a few minutes.

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^^ Exactly. I'm thinking the process is manual, and the deficiencies of that process were obscured by the fact that nobody was calling the reservations line over and over again to ask for something they were already waitlisted for. Now that the reservations process is more or less automated, it's much more transparent and these sorts of shortcomings are more obvious.

As another point of reference, I cancelled an SVN reservation for a high-demand holiday ski week at Sheraton Steamboat. I would have imagined there would be someone on the waitlist for it, but much to my surprise, the inventory was immediately searchable -- which is a good thing IMO, unless of course somebody was in fact waitlisted for it.

With the online system in place they'd have to be pulling inventory in to the waitlist just before the 8mos in advance point it becomes available to general booking.

There would have to be a moment in time between where inventory is Home Resort and when it becomes SVN. During that moment, it would pull that inventory for the wait list and cycle through people one day at a time. If there are no takers then it becomes SVN inventory, potentially many days after the 8mos point.

I suspect the system is not doing that.

But it must have knowledge of the waitlist because every time I made a booking it reminded me to cancel my wait lists if I didn't need them any longer...

YYJMSP said:

With the online system in place they'd have to be pulling inventory in to the waitlist just before the 8mos in advance point it becomes available to general booking.

There would have to be a moment in time between where inventory is Home Resort and when it becomes SVN. During that moment, it would pull that inventory for the wait list and cycle through people one day at a time. If there are no takers then it becomes SVN inventory, potentially many days after the 8mos point.

I suspect the system is not doing that.

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There would also have to be a moment in time between any SVN reservation being cancelled and when it goes into the general inventory pool. Similarly, that "moment" should be anywhere from a nanosecond to many days, depending on how many waitlist requests there are.

YYJMSP said:

But it must have knowledge of the waitlist because every time I made a booking it reminded me to cancel my wait lists if I didn't need them any longer...

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Yeah that was the funny part. The system also gave me the waitlist reminder, while I happened to be booking the exact unit I had supposedly waitlisted!

One promising thing is that the online reservations system is at least "aware" that the waitlist exists. I suppose it's possible that they will eventually be fully integrated so that Elite members can waitlist and even confirm filled waitlist requests automatically and entirely online.

My suggestion… contact the SVP of Owner Services - succinctly explain the situation and get the real scoop, and make constructive recommendations on how to better improve their system. They move slow - but they do listen and can be appreciative.

Based on these comments, it sounds as though the system is aware of the wait list but not yet able to hold units for requests automatically. Perhaps this will be a future improvement.


Sent from my iPad

I've been told by two reps that the wait list process is manual. It requires a rep to check for wait list request availability twice a day.

moto x said:

I've been told by two reps that the wait list process is manual. It requires a rep to check for wait list request availability twice a day.

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If that's true, the wait list is basically useless (for high demand resorts/weeks) since online booking became available...

DavidnRobin said:

My suggestion… contact the SVP of Owner Services - succinctly explain the situation and get the real scoop, and make constructive recommendations on how to better improve their system. They move slow - but they do listen and can be appreciative.

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Do you have direct contact info? I'd rather not work my way up the phone tree...

YYJMSP said:

If that's true, the wait list is basically useless (for high demand resorts/weeks) since online booking became available...

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Like I said, I was told this by two different reps. I know rep responses are never consistent but I find it hard to believe they would be misinformed about something like this.

And I agree, for hard trades it is virtually useless, at least IMHO.