Complex Rebooking with OTUP - Experts help

[PiperPilot]

I want to verify a complex rebooking question.

Due to airline cancellations I have had to alter our plans. I've managed to get some waitlists to come through which have gotten the reservation close to the desired final dates.
I have 2 current reservations for the same resort, same room type and view, on the same contract number. The reservation is inside the 7-month booking window.

For example:
(1) 2/1/2025 to 2/8/2025 (booked entirely with regular contract points)
(2) 2/7/2025 to 2/8/2025 (booked entirely with OTUP, one time use points)

The desired final reservation dates are 2/1/2025 to 2/8/2025 and I want to use the OTUP points in the final reservation.


Scenario-A: Online, I could modify reservation(1) and reduce it to 2/1/2025 to 2/7/2025. Keep reservation(2) 2/7/2025 to 2/8/2025 and request a "continuing stay" note to be added to the first reservation. The regular points for the canceled last day of reservation(1) will be returned to the account.



Scenario-B: Online, attempt to rebook the last day of reservation(1), cancel the OTUP reservation(2), and rebook reservation(1) using the OTUP points.

Login to the DVCmember website with browser#1 and:
a) Modify reservation(1) to be 2/1/2025 to 2/7/2025 (decrease stay by 1 day). The regular points for the reduced 1 day will be returned to the account.
b) Immediately Modify the new reservation(1) and attempt to get 2/1/2025 to 2/8/2025 (increase stay by 1 day).

c1) If the day that was just returned to inventory is not available, then stop the process and Scenario-A above has been accomplished. Request a "continuing stay" note to link the 2 reservations.

c2) If the day that was just returned to inventory is available then continue the booking process to the step where points are allocated.
d) Login to the DVCmember website with browser#2 and begin the process to Cancel reservation(2), which is currently using the OTUP points.
e) Cancel reservation(2) and have the OTUP points returned to the account.
f) Complete the allocation of points in browser#1 for the Modify reservation(1), which should now use the OTUP points first. Regular points equivalent to 1 day will be available in the account.


Does Scenario-B sound correct?

My memory is that OTUP points will not appear in the points summary on the "Dashboard", but when booking a reservation they will be available online to confirm a reservation, correct?

 

[Sandisw]

Since you already have the last night as part of the initial trip, just cancel the one with OTU points. Go back in and modify the original trip, and check the temporary contract that hold the OTU points to br used first, and then your contract to br used second.

The temporary contract will show up when booking. Once you do that, just continue and finalize booking and it will take the OTU points.

 

[PiperPilot]

Thanks for the quick reply.

For the reservation in question, it is inside the 7-month booking window and all of the days are currently unavailable to book. (As you know, OTUP points can only be purchased for a reservation inside the 7-month booking window.)

I've talked with MS and they have stated that to re-book (Modify), the entire reservation (all days from arrival to departure) must be currently available when it is re-booked using OTUP points. (Yes, I understand when you Modify an existing reservation you do not actually release the days from the reservation.)


I tried to re-book the entire reservation previously (before I had the 2/7-2/8 reservation), hoping to include the unallocated OTUPs and the online system would not allocate the OTUP points. Not all of the days were currently available on the calendar. This prompted me to call MS to see if they could get the reservation to book and they stated the restriction on using OTUP points.

MS stated the OTUP booking restriction was in place to prevent people from booking a reservation at 8 to 11 months with regular points. And then at 7 months, modifying the same reservation with the same dates and then carrying newly purchased OTUP points into the reservation. If this restriction was not in place, then people would be able to use OTUP points in a reservation effectively at 11 months.

Does anyone have experience with getting an online reservation to re-book with OTUP points when some of the days are sold-out?

 

[sndral]

Did you make the original longer reservation before the 7 month window? I’m not quite understanding how you ended up w/ the overlapping reservations & why you needed to buy OTU points if you had enough regular points to grab the last night .
But, assuming MS is correct, I’d just go w/ scenario A - modify & cancel the last night of the 2/1-8 booking thus returning regular points to your account & keeping the OTU point booking for 2/7-8. I wonder if you could later call MS & have the 2 reservations merged w/out running afoul of the not using OTU points issue. It sounds more like an IT programming issue rather than a you can’t do that because it breaks the home resort rules issue assuming you booked both the longer & the one day reservation w/in the 7 months . If you can’t merge, then the continuing stay note & a word w/ the front desk when you arrive to avoid having to move will hopefully work.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for the quick reply.

For the reservation in question, it is inside the 7-month booking window and all of the days are currently unavailable to book. (As you know, OTUP points can only be purchased for a reservation inside the 7-month booking window.)

I've talked with MS and they have stated that to re-book (Modify), the entire reservation (all days from arrival to departure) must be currently available when it is re-booked using OTUP points. (Yes, I understand when you Modify an existing reservation you do not actually release the days from the reservation.)


I tried to re-book the entire reservation previously (before I had the 2/7-2/8 reservation), hoping to include the unallocated OTUPs and the online system would not allocate the OTUP points. Not all of the days were currently available on the calendar. This prompted me to call MS to see if they could get the reservation to book and they stated the restriction on using OTUP points.

MS stated the OTUP booking restriction was in place to prevent people from booking a reservation at 8 to 11 months with regular points. And then at 7 months, modifying the same reservation with the same dates and then carrying newly purchased OTUP points into the reservation. If this restriction was not in place, then people would be able to use OTUP points in a reservation effectively at 11 months.

Does anyone have experience with getting an online reservation to re-book with OTUP points when some of the days are sold-out?

I misunderstood and thought you booked the initial at 7 months too..

If you used home resort priority, then you can’t swap the points into it.

So, cancel the extra night in the original and have MS merge.

 

[PiperPilot]

My bad, I didn't state the original reservation was 11-months.

We have more than one contract, so I wasn't considering the merge option (since we usually have continuing reservations across multiple contracts). The OTUP reservation is on the same contract, so that will be a winning option. The "how did this all happen" is a long story of airline cancellations, date changes, waitlists, etc.

We typically just do the "continuing stay" on the two reservations.

Thanks for the help.

 

[sndral]

The "how did this all happen" is a long story of airline cancellations, date changes, waitlists, etc.
…

Anytime I try to wade into changing my reservations I make a mess of things - borrowing points for option A, then modifying for a less point heavy stay, then having to bank current points to ‘save’ the borrowed points I no longer need, etc. .

 

[Sandisw]

My bad, I didn't state the original reservation was 11-months.

We have more than one contract, so I wasn't considering the merge option (since we usually have continuing reservations across multiple contracts). The OTUP reservation is on the same contract, so that will be a winning option. The "how did this all happen" is a long story of airline cancellations, date changes, waitlists, etc.

We typically just do the "continuing stay" on the two reservations.

Thanks for the help.

Just to help you understand, OTU points are part of your membership and not added to your contract.

You will have a temporary contract that is holding them and would see that if you canceled that night.

But, since everything is in the same membership, then MS can merge those two trips back into one reservation since it is the same room type at the same resort.

 

[PiperPilot]

Anytime I try to wade into changing my reservations I make a mess of things - borrowing points for option A, then modifying for a less point heavy stay, then having to bank current points to ‘save’ the borrowed points I no longer need, etc. .

Yes, OTUP just adds to the fun. We have more than one membership (major contract) with different Use Years, so this adds another level of complexity. Keeping notes in a spreadsheet and taking screenshots of the reservation points allocation really helps to keep track of which type of points (banked, borrowed, regular, OTUP, holding) are being used.

 

[PiperPilot]

Just to help you understand, OTU points are part of your membership and not added to your contract.

You will have a temporary contract that is holding them and would see that if you canceled that night.

But, since everything is in the same membership, then MS can merge those two trips back into one reservation since it is the same room type at the same resort.

Just to clarify for others that may go down this path.

We have more than one major contract number and more than one membership number. So we are not able to merge reservations that are in different contract/membership numbers. We are unable to use OTUP points across memberships/contracts.

That is why I stated that we usually do a "continuing stay" on two consecutive reservations (from different major contracts; meaning different membership numbers).

Thanks again.

 

[Sandisw]

Just to clarify for others that may go down this path.

We have more than one major contract number and more than one membership number. So we are not able to merge reservations that are in different contract/membership numbers. We are unable to use OTUP points across memberships/contracts.

That is why I stated that we usually do a "continuing stay" on two consecutive reservations (from different major contracts; meaning different membership numbers).

Thanks again.

It’s because you have more than one membership…nothing to do with how many contracts…and are booking trips in both.

It’s why I wanted to clarify because some will use the terms interchangeably and it can be confusing.

If all contracts, no matter how many, are in one membership, then any reservation using points from all those contracts, including OTU points bought for that membership, can be merged together into one

If the OTU are purchased in a different membership…different UY or different owners… then reservations can not be merged

Just want to be sure people know contracts don’t matter, it’s only whether things are booked or exist in the same membership.