Trying to make 8 mo reservation NEW OWNER Help!!!

[Travispete1234]

Hi...Im a new resale owner as of 4/24 at WKORVN with 176,000 annual options. I booked a week at my home resort for 2020 so I have no 2020 options left.

Tonight I tried to make a reservation at one of several properties for a 1/3/20 arrival date. The window was open and it showed avail. When I tried to reserve it, the "checking eligibility" thing came up. I had 176,000 2019 options in my dashboard, then the screen said "you currently dont have enough Options" and it included a 5 digit code and said to check with customer service.

Any idea why it didnt let me book? Thanks.

 

[echino]

You can only use 2019 StarOptions to book a stay in 2019. You can bank your 2019 StarOptions before deadline by paying banking fee, then you can use those banked StarOptions to book a stay in 2020.

 

[Travispete1234]

So they get you for the banking fee first, even if you want to reserve something within the 8 months but before the banking deadline? Sneaky! Thanks.

 

[dsmrp]

So they get you for the banking fee first, even if you want to reserve something within the 8 months but before the banking deadline? Sneaky! Thanks.

I don't think it's sneaky at all. The system is following the rules, and the 8 month out reservation period & banking deadline have nothing to do with it. As Echino stated your 2019 star options are good for reservations starting in 2019. Options expire after Dec 31 of the year they are assigned. You were trying to reserve a stay beginning in 2020 with 2019 options. If you hadn't reserved your 2020 home week, the system would have used your 2020 options.

The banking deadline is just that, the last day at which you can bank/carryover your current year options to use in the next 2 calendar years. If you miss that deadline, you would have to use your 2019 options all on 2019 check-in reservations or lose them at year's end. I think with 176K annual options you have until Sept 30 to bank them, but you should call Vistana to confirm.

 

[Smithsingeneva]

So they get you for the banking fee first, even if you want to reserve something within the 8 months but before the banking deadline? Sneaky! Thanks.

Following your logic through on this, you would be able to use 2019 SOs through August 2020 by booking within 8 months in December. That is sneaky - and not how the system works.

 

[SandyPGravel]

My concern with having to bank current year SO to make an early next year reservation at a high demand resort is if I don't win the fastest-click-contest at Midnight eastern, then my SO are locked and can't be used anymore this year. I would be more than willing to pay the banking fee after I know I have secured a reservation. I'm not trying to scam the system. I'll pay the fee, but I would like a chance to use my SO this year, if I don't win the "reservation lottery."

 

[cindylou]

I don't think you will lose a fastest click contest for early Jan 2020 at WKORVN and I am pretty sure you won't be locked in to "2020 use only" if you lose. I've banked SOs for the next year only to learn I wanted them this year, so I just called Vistana and they used my next year banked SOs for my current year need. You should be fine. You just need to pay the banking fee for the extra, non-standard privilege of potentially using 2019 SOs in 2020.

 

[ocdb8r]

I don't think you will lose a fastest click contest for early Jan 2020 at WKORVN and I am pretty sure you won't be locked in to "2020 use only" if you lose. I've banked SOs for the next year only to learn I wanted them this year, so I just called Vistana and they used my next year banked SOs for my current year need. You should be fine. You just need to pay the banking fee for the extra, non-standard privilege of potentially using 2019 SOs in 2020.

I'm on the fence here - I have also banked StarOptions and then needed to use some for the present year I banked them from...but it requires a call to reservations to complete. I think they should implement this as the standard way of "banking". When you pay the fee to bank the online system should allow you to use them for your original year OR two years after. As of now the system will remove them from your original year and place them into the "bank" to be used only in the subsequent two years.

Having to call usually isn't an issue as the 8 month priority window has already passed for the present year before I bank and thus you shouldn't be dealing with high demand "click contest" reservations. However, I have had an instance where a high demand week was cancelled and returned to the system and I was lucky enough to get it because I was online at the right time...not sure I would have got those weeks if I had to call in to have future banked StarOptions applied to the reservation....they disappear fast.

 

[SandyPGravel]

not sure I would have got those weeks if I had to call in to have future banked StarOptions applied to the reservation....they disappear fast.

I thought you only had to call to use options that you are borrowing from future years. I thought banked options showed up in the account as soon as you bank them.

I think they should implement this as the standard way of "banking". When you pay the fee to bank the online system should allow you to use them for your original year OR two years after.

I like this idea. Vistana comes out ahead ($$ ) if you end up using the SO in the current year. Win-win for both sides.

 

[jdent1]

If you do bank your Staroptions online they will show up immediately in the future years. I just did mine a few days ago and they were there immediately.

 

[vacationtime1]

The banking deadline is just that, the last day at which you can bank/carryover your current year options to use in the next 2 calendar years. If you miss that deadline, you would have to use your 2019 options all on 2019 check-in reservations or lose them at year's end. I think with 176K annual options you have until Sept 30 to bank them, but you should call Vistana to confirm.

Be careful with this date. I had it calendared as a June 30 deadline (I have more than 176K SO's) and did my banking earlier this week to be certain.

 

[EnglishmanAbroad]

Be careful with this date. I had it calendared as a June 30 deadline (I have more than 176K SO's) and did my banking earlier this week to be certain.

September 30th is for 3 Star Elite which according to Vistana is not solely based upon SOs purchased from the developer (or re-qualified) but also on having at least two VOIs of which one must be an annual. Therefore I think it is possible to have 176K SOs purchased from the developer and not be 3 Star Elite so the banking deadline is indeed 6/30.

 

[ocdb8r]

I thought you only had to call to use options that you are borrowing from future years. I thought banked options showed up in the account as soon as you bank them.

If you do bank your Staroptions online they will show up immediately in the future years. I just did mine a few days ago and they were there immediately.

They do indeed immediately show up in FUTURE years as soon as you bank them...but they are simultaneously removed from the current year you are banking from. You can still use them in the current year, but not online. You have to call in to have a vacation counselor do it for you (not clear if this is officially allowed or just an exception they grant, but several of us have been able to do this). However, having to call in means you're stuck doing it within the hours the phone lines are manned and take longer (which could mean losing out on a prime week).

I agree - this should be a relatively easy and uncontroversial change for Vistana and I could only imagine would lead to more banking (and thus more fees) for them. I'll shoot in a suggestion via email...may be more successful if several of us pile on.