13 vs 12-month Booking Experience

[Wahoo]

I am relatively new to Marriott Vacation Club, having picked up 4 platinum resale weeks a little over a year go (2 Ocean Pointe and 2 Summit Watch). We traveled to both for the first time last year, and had a wonderful time.

This year was the first time I attempted to book a very high demand week. With the knowledge I gained from this forum, I planned to use consecutive bookings to try for the high demand week 13 months + 2 weeks in advance. I was nervous about how quickly the inventory would be snatched up, so I called in precisely at 9:00am on the first available booking day 13 months and 2 weeks ahead of my desired high demand week. I used one of my weeks to book 13 months out, another to book 13 months + 1 week out, and the last to attempt to book 13 months + 2 weeks out. At about 9:04am (because of the time it took to get off hold and for the rep to look for the inventory) it was already gone. Obtaining the first two weeks was not a problem, but the very high demand week was already unavailable for any check-in day in any form (full 2BR, lock-off studio, or lock-off 1 BR) despite being 13 months + 2 weeks out. I was fairly surprised, but not totally shocked.

I decided to give it another try at the 12-month mark by booking online. I was pleasantly surprised to find that booking the high-demand week on my desired (Saturday) check-in day was a breeze.

In the future I will probably still try the 13-month + 2-3 week advance consecutive booking technique just because I am not sure the 12-month booking will always be available, but ultimately found the online booking method at 12-months to be much easier (no hold time, no waiting for the Marriott rep to pull up inventory, immediate confirmation email, etc).

Many of you are probably already well versed in this, but I thought sharing my experience might be helpful for other newbies or for those debating whether or not to pick up multiple weeks to avail themselves of the 13-month booking window.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I am relatively new to Marriott Vacation Club, having picked up 4 platinum resale weeks a little over a year go (2 Ocean Pointe and 2 Summit Watch). We traveled to both for the first time last year, and had a wonderful time.

This year was the first time I attempted to book a very high demand week. With the knowledge I gained from this forum, I planned to use consecutive bookings to try for the high demand week 13 months + 2 weeks in advance. I was nervous about how quickly the inventory would be snatched up, so I called in precisely at 9:00am on the first available booking day 13 months and 2 weeks ahead of my desired high demand week. I used one of my weeks to book 13 months out, another to book 13 months + 1 week out, and the last to attempt to book 13 months + 2 weeks out. At about 9:04am (because of the time it took to get off hold and for the rep to look for the inventory) it was already gone. Obtaining the first two weeks was not a problem, but the very high demand week was already unavailable for any check-in day in any form (full 2BR, lock-off studio, or lock-off 1 BR) despite being 13 months + 2 weeks out. I was fairly surprised, but not totally shocked.

I decided to give it another try at the 12-month mark by booking online. I was pleasantly surprised to find that booking the high-demand week on my desired (Saturday) check-in day was a breeze.

In the future I will probably still try the 13-month + 2-3 week advance consecutive booking technique just because I am not sure the 12-month booking will always be available, but ultimately found the online booking method at 12-months to be much easier (no hold time, no waiting for the Marriott rep to pull up inventory, immediate confirmation email, etc).

Many of you are probably already well versed in this, but I thought sharing my experience might be helpful for other newbies or for those debating whether or not to pick up multiple weeks to avail themselves of the 13-month booking window.

As I am sure you will find out on your own; Many of the Ocean Pointe Platinum Week owners own lots of weeks, and call in November to book December thru March (which takes out a lot of the good weeks and check in days).

Considering that, it sounds like you made out just fine!

Hopefully since you own Platinum Weeks @ Summit Watch you were able to book those weeks also at the same time you booked Ocean Pointe and picked up some nice ski weeks.

Congratulations on your good use of your ownership!





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[Wahoo]

As I am sure you will find out on your own; Many of the Ocean Pointe Platinum Week owners own lots of weeks, and call in November to book December thru March (which takes out a lot of the good weeks and check in days).

Considering that, it sounds like you made out just fine!

Hopefully since you own Platinum Weeks @ Summit Watch you were able to book those weeks also at the same time you booked Ocean Pointe and picked up some nice ski weeks.

Congratulations on your good use of your ownership!

I had been bracing for that possibility with my Ocean Pointe weeks, as I'd heard that mentioned several times on this forum. However, in this instance the Ocean Pointe weeks were not the problem -- the Summit Watch high demand ski weeks are actually much more difficult to come by. In fact, so far (knock on wood), Ocean Pointe availability has been wide open all season so far. When I look right now, for both my 2-BR and 3-BR Ocean Pointe weeks, I can book any available check-in date that has been released so far (brown is available, and is wide-open through Feb 2nd check-in dates).


I imagine there will be high-demand weeks yet to come, but from what I'd heard on here I thought even some January check-ins would be unavailable by now.

 

[echino]

So it is not possible to reserve online at 13 months?

 

[controller1]

So it is not possible to reserve online at 13 months?

If it is not, I would love to know the reason why.....

 

[jeepie]

So it is not possible to reserve online at 13 months?

It is possible to reserve DC POINTS online at 13 months (up to 21 nights). It is not possible to book WEEKS on line at 13 months. Cheers.

 

[tugcccsp]

I had been bracing for that possibility with my Ocean Pointe weeks, as I'd heard that mentioned several times on this forum. However, in this instance the Ocean Pointe weeks were not the problem -- the Summit Watch high demand ski weeks are actually much more difficult to come by. In fact, so far (knock on wood), Ocean Pointe availability has been wide open all season so far. When I look right now, for both my 2-BR and 3-BR Ocean Pointe weeks, I can book any available check-in date that has been released so far (brown is available, and is wide-open through Feb 2nd check-in dates).
View attachment 10166

I imagine there will be high-demand weeks yet to come, but from what I'd heard on here I thought even some January check-ins would be unavailable by now.

Which weeks were the high demand weeks at Summit Watch that were difficult to book? I have Mountainside in the winter and haven’t had a problem booking.

 

[Superchief]

It is possible to reserve DC POINTS online at 13 months (up to 21 nights). It is not possible to book WEEKS on line at 13 months. Cheers.

I've found that many resorts aren't available for online booking 13 months out using DC points, or only have limited availability. I've observed this for Hilton Head, Phoenix (MCV), and Palm Desert. I've been checking daily in order to confirm my suspicions, and noticed that most villa types for Barony, Surfwatch, and Grand Oceane don't become available until the 12 month window. Additionally, the website has had technical problems that result in an error message when trying to see 13 month inventory. These technical problems seem to occur about every 2 months. At this point, the 13 month 'benefit' has very limited value.

 

[Steve Fatula]

I've found that many resorts aren't available for online booking using DC points, or only have limited availability. I've observed this for Hilton Head, Phoenix (MCV), and Palm Desert. .

Really? I find just the opposite, huge availability almost everywhere. Reserved Palm Desert in high season at the 60 day mark, with 30% discount even. That is strange.

 

[BobG7734]

I agree Steve...I have had excellent success reserving with points at the 13 month window and even after. Got what I was looking for in Maui and Ko Olina for Feb 2020. The 13 month error may show up if you are not eligible to book at 13 months...I haven’t seen those errors and have been very happy booking with DC points

 

[Superchief]

Really? I find just the opposite, huge availability almost everywhere. Reserved Palm Desert in high season at the 60 day mark, with 30% discount even. That is strange.

I was referring to 13 month advance reservations, so I edited the post. Overall, I've had good experience in finding availability within 12 months, and better than expected within the 60 day mark.

When I was checking availability for March 2019 13 months out last Feb, it was interesting that most of the Palm Desert resorts had good availability for all villa types, while Canyon Villas only had studio availability until the 12 month window. I checked daily as new inventory opened up, and this was definitely a pattern.

 

[Steve Fatula]

I was referring to 13 month advance reservations, so I edited the post. Overall, I've had good experience in finding availability within 12 months, and better than expected within the 60 day mark.

When I was checking availability for March 2019 13 months out last Feb, it was interesting that most of the Palm Desert resorts had good availability for all villa types, while Canyon Villas only had studio availability until the 12 month window. I checked daily as new inventory opened up, and this was definitely a pattern.

Aha, that makes sense then, I didn't know how to reconcile what you said with what I see! Yes, 13 months not so easy, only looked a couple of times.

 

[Superchief]

I agree Steve...I have had excellent success reserving with points at the 13 month window and even after. Got what I was looking for in Maui and Ko Olina for Feb 2020. The 13 month error may show up if you are not eligible to book at 13 months...I haven’t seen those errors and have been very happy booking with DC points

At Chairman level, I am qualified for 13 month reservations. The error message is an ongoing technical glitch that has been going on for months (and is mentioned in other threads). January 2020 was unavailable until Jan 1, and I had a similar problem when trying to reserve Nov 2019. Some have mentioned receiving a similar error message when trying to reserve anything in December 2019.

I think each resort has its own policy regarding 13 month inventory release. Now that it is easy to check availability at multiple resorts and different dates, the patterns become pretty apparent, especially in Hilton Head big 3.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Yes, I am only presidential, but also qualify for 13 months, I have seen the December bug on the mvci site as well.

 

[brianfox]

My understanding with the 13-month rule is that at 13 months HALF the inventory is released. The rest is released at 12 months. So it is not possible for every room to be snatched by the 13-monthers.

Also, exactly 13 months out is not necessarily correct. It might be plus or minus a day or two. Each resort has a calendar for when the weeks are released at 13 and 12 months. For my resorts, it's always on a Tuesday if I remember correctly. In any event, you cannot just look a straight 13 months out. If you do, you are likely to miss the day...

 

[bazzap]

My understanding with the 13-month rule is that at 13 months HALF the inventory is released. The rest is released at 12 months. So it is not possible for every room to be snatched by the 13-monthers.

Also, exactly 13 months out is not necessarily correct. It might be plus or minus a day or two. Each resort has a calendar for when the weeks are released at 13 and 12 months. For my resorts, it's always on a Tuesday if I remember correctly. In any event, you cannot just look a straight 13 months out. If you do, you are likely to miss the day...

It is “up to” 50% of the weeks inventory made available at 13 months.
MVC don’t declare the exact numbers, but at least 50% is held back for all other owners to access.
The exact 13 month release date, by resort, is available on the Owner website in the “Helpful Tools”, “When Can I Reserve” section.
https://owners.marriottvacationclub.com/timeshare/mvco/education/enrolled-helpfulTools

 

[brianfox]

I agree Steve...I have had excellent success reserving with points at the 13 month window and even after. Got what I was looking for in Maui and Ko Olina for Feb 2020. The 13 month error may show up if you are not eligible to book at 13 months...I haven’t seen those errors and have been very happy booking with DC points

Ko Olina has a bit of a built-in trick that often makes it easy to get a high demand week even within 12 months. The units that go first are the lockoffs, but Naia tower if filled with non-lockoff (Single Entry Units). Those go last, and are often available even 10-11 months out.

 

[TXTortoise]

Well, after missing my 12 month reservation window last year, and not being able to book my 2020 Maui old towers Week 8 (22 Feb) at 13 months+1 Week, I was pleasantly surprised to get online right at opening this morning and get confirmed. Actually, I also got a rep on the first dial, but had the confirmation by the time they had validated me. Nice when things work as planned.