Waitlist hopes -- when should i give up?

kniquy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 15, 2014
We have a room at Jambo booked for the end of November for 4 nights. As a long shot I put in a waitlist for a standard BWV studio -that is all i have points for-- (I know I probably have as much luck getting it as i would winning the lottery).

Anyways, i put it in to cancel the waitlist 7 days before our trip -- is there a point where i should just forget about it getting filled - I'm thinking just after 30 days out -- as that would be within the canceling and points going into holding? I guess my question is -- how often are waitlists getting filled under the 30 day mark.

I'm fine where ever we stay so it won't break me if we don't get it.
 
Standard has a low number of rooms so that doesn't help. I would switch to the preferred category that has the most rooms if you want a chance of getting a room at BWV. I wouldn't think that last minute availability happens very often.

:earsboy: Bill

 
We have a room at Jambo booked for the end of November for 4 nights. As a long shot I put in a waitlist for a standard BWV studio -that is all i have points for-- (I know I probably have as much luck getting it as i would winning the lottery).

Anyways, i put it in to cancel the waitlist 7 days before our trip -- is there a point where i should just forget about it getting filled - I'm thinking just after 30 days out -- as that would be within the canceling and points going into holding? I guess my question is -- how often are waitlists getting filled under the 30 day mark.

I'm fine where ever we stay so it won't break me if we don't get it.

As long as switching at 7 days (or any time less than 30 days) before checkin won’t put your points in holding, why not hold on to the waitlist? What do you have to lose if it does come through at the last day?

I have a waitlist set up now with the 7-day expiration because it costs the same number of points as the reservation it would replace. If it comes through, wonderful! If not, oh well! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
 
I guess no one really knows how often wait lists come through. I do know that the oldest wait lists are supposed to be matched up first (meaning you have priority over someone who sets their wait list up today since yours was set up first). People have busy lives so it is totally likely that changes may happen. So, once you set up a wait list I would not alter it unless absolutely necessary. However, the standard view at BW gets booked up and wait listed a lot because it is such a great point value and as mentioned above there are less of those rooms. I suppose you might increase your BW chances by changing to the preferred (Boardwalk to pool/garden view) but you would also loose your "place in line"
 


A couple random thoughts...

1) If you're wait list fills at less than 31-days out, and the reservation uses LESS points than your current reservation, your extra points will become holding points. If that's OK, then keep the 7-day wait list
2) At the 31-day mark, most of the "planned" cancellations are going to occur. People who booked at 11-month and were holding out hope that their vacation time, finances, family schedules, etc would line up have now hit their final deadline and they have to now cancel if they cannot make it work. This is when those at the top of the wait list will get their wishes fulfilled...
3)...and those who didn't get their wait list may just give up and cancel and just stick with what they have. Those that hang in there will then move up the list and any last-minute cancellations due to emergencies will go to those who stuck it out.
 
I think you see some availability pop up within the 30 day mark because cancellations come in at the very last minute. That said, I would say that is not likely that you're waitlist for a standard studio is going to be executed for 4 consecutive nights. I would agree with Bill. If you want any real chance of staying at BWV, you should waitlist both premium views OCO.
 
My last waitlist for a standard studio at Grand Floridian for Princess weekend this year came through January 25th.


I did weird WL things for it (very weird...I was very confused and obviously willing to have a VERY split stay, plus I added the last day on towards the end), but I originally had Bay Lake booked 2/22-2/26, then nothing at GF was available at 7 months out and I pouted for a couple months. At some point in there did a couple WLs at a time, adding more/changing them as I was able to.

Got 2/25 on 9/20.
Got 2/22 on 9/22.
Got 2/24 on 10/29.
Got 2/23 on 1/19.
That same day, they realized what was going on and combined them 2/22-2/26.
And got 2/26 on 1/25, and they again put them all together into one reservation.
 


My last waitlist for a standard studio at Grand Floridian for Princess weekend this year came through January 25th.


I did weird WL things for it (very weird...I was very confused and obviously willing to have a VERY split stay, plus I added the last day on towards the end), but I originally had Bay Lake booked 2/22-2/26, then nothing at GF was available at 7 months out and I pouted for a couple months. At some point in there did a couple WLs at a time, adding more/changing them as I was able to.

Got 2/25 on 9/20.
Got 2/22 on 9/22.
Got 2/24 on 10/29.
Got 2/23 on 1/19.
That same day, they realized what was going on and combined them 2/22-2/26.
And got 2/26 on 1/25, and they again put them all together into one reservation.

agreed the best way to get a waitlist executed is to break it up into individual days if possible. Much more likely that one night becomes available than several consecutive days. The difficulty is deciding how you want to manage partial executions as you approach the 31 day window, and also the use of extra points to make 2 reservations side-by-side
 
agreed the best way to get a waitlist executed is to break it up into individual days if possible. Much more likely that one night becomes available than several consecutive days. The difficulty is deciding how you want to manage partial executions as you approach the 31 day window, and also the use of extra points to make 2 reservations side-by-side

It really worked for me, but I did it that way out of stupidity. :) :) :)

I almost never create posts here, and I was too nervous to do so, so I just winged it. "winged" does not sound right there, but you know what I mean.


For the OP, I was starting to despair, especially once I went into the 30 day mark, but...someone needed to cancel things all along there.

And I also want to mention that in 2016 inside of the last month I snagged (no waitlist) xmas eve and day stays at standard studio GFV as well. So I say...never give up!


(meanwhile, my luck at getting BOG is almost zilch)
 
The last waitlist i got came through at 28 days. Unless your new reservation would be less points, I would go to 7 days.
 
The last waitlist i got came through at 28 days. Unless your new reservation would be less points, I would go to 7 days.

If you were going to use the points anyway and you would prefer to stay in the 'less points' location, letting them expire as holding points is almost a non issue. I guess it is really a struggle to be thinking that if the waitlist filled earlier you would have had 2 bonuses - the room you wanted and extra points.

I'm a BWV owner and I've had to book SSR and wait for BWV - it was no problem for me to let the points go. The other idea is to book an extra night with the possible excess nights.
 

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