supersnoop
What time is the three o'clock parade?
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2013
"The true test of a [person]'s character is whatI have nothing much else to add - but I think it's funny that we are talking about the ethics of booking a hotel room.
"The true test of a [person]'s character is whatI have nothing much else to add - but I think it's funny that we are talking about the ethics of booking a hotel room.
"The true test of a [person]'s character is whathe does when no one is watching."
The problem, as I see it, is that there's a difference between the "rules" and the implementation of a policy to satisfy the rules. The "rule" is that you can book at 11 months. The policy is that you can book 7 days into the future at that point. That was not how it originally worked; you use to be limited to the single day at 11 months.
The way I see it, walking means that you're taking advantage of a policy which was set up to make booking more convenient, but you are using it beyond what was intended. And, morally and ethically, it's the intent that matters.
Depends entirely when you travel and room type. If you envisage always travelling off DVC season in a one bed, you can book anywhere at 7 months so it makes sense to buy the best bang for the buck.I was one who strongly opposed walking a reservation....until this year when I almost lost out. We'd booked our home resort, OKW, at 11 months, just to have a place to stay. However, our DGDs really had their heart set on Kidani, a non-home resort. So at 7 months we were going to switch. Because we needed the OKW points in order to book Kidani, we were told we'd have to call. In the last few days before the 7 month window opened, I double-checked availability just to be sure I was OK. Well, every day the first one or two days were gone. Our 7 month window was the 20th, so panicky, I called on the 19th. No availability for the 19th, try tomorrow for the 20th. And when I called right at 9:00 on the 20th, I got one of the last rooms available, went on-line a few minutes later, no availability. This was a special circumstance, to want to stay at a non-home resort, but ordinarily I'd agree with what I've read here-buy where you want to stay and be ready to book at 11 months.
I posted this on another thread about walking as well but, I now see a way walking a reservation can backfire on you. If you book a reservation (or two) and plan to walk them AND you have used all/most all of your points doing so, then, on the day your preferred reservation opens and all of the days are there (but you know it's popular), you have to wait until 9 to call MS to adjust but someone else can just come online and book the entire stay you wanted. Or, you have to risk cancelling the ones you have and re-book. Yesterday that almost happened to me. Luckily I called right at 9 a.m. and the cm who helped me quickly modify so I would get it, but it was a close call she said - she was getting a strange message at one point. Very nerve-wracking! The only reason I was walking the reservation in the first place was because there are 9 of us, I have "limited" points/choices at this time for all of us (AKV was preferred), and my DIL has already requested that week off since I mentioned it - she's a manager in a pharmacy and has no flexibility. I don't think I'll do that again! Next time I'll book when something is available and if someone can't go, oh well.
Yes, a 7 month. I know I could have gotten blocked, but I really wanted to try. I have to admit that, although there is no rule against it, I felt like something wasn't right. Maybe because I couldn't be excited like I usually am because, until the last day, I still hadn't gotten what I really wanted. Weird. But I don't have a problem with people doing it and the cm's who helped me modify didn't seem to care at all. In fact, one said that I did really well.Were you trying to walk a 7-month booking or a 11-month booking? Walking an 11-month booking there is no way that your room can get blocked by another, unless it's Disney taking rooms out of service. 7-month walking I can totally see this happening, though. It really isn't practical to try and walk a 7-month reservation since you can get blocked out too easily.
Yes, a 7 month. I know I could have gotten blocked, but I really wanted to try. I have to admit that, although there is no rule against it, I felt like something wasn't right. Maybe because I couldn't be excited like I usually am because, until the last day, I still hadn't gotten what I really wanted. Weird. But I don't have a problem with people doing it and the cm's who helped me modify didn't seem to care at all. In fact, one said that I did really well.