Bluegreen booking window

[hac Member Find all posts View Profile Close hac]

I have gotten several answers from Bluegreen Reps when asking this question, so I thought I would try asking it here.

I understand that the booking window for Bluegreen is 11 months out for points reservations (though there is a waiting list), and 48 days out for bonus time (when booked online).

What I can't figure out is when the windows open. In other words, it is well known that Marriott starts booking at 9 AM - 12 months out. However, I have heard differing stories from Bluegreen - some say it starts at midnight - 11 months out (or 48 days out). Others say it starts at 9 AM - 11 months out (or 48 days out). Obviously this is a big difference when trying to book high priority resorts/peak season times. Anyone know the real answer to this?

Along the same lines, for the weeks program Marriott has a certain amount of availability for each check in date. So, you have a very good shot of getting a room on the date you want if you call right at 9 AM. However, because Bluegreen does not have set check in days - I assume it is possible that if you are trying to book a Saturday check in 11 months out, it may be impossible because the folks that booked a Friday check in took all of the availability for the weekend? Is this a correct assumption?

Thanks for any input the Bluegreen folks can provide.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Answers in CAPS and RED- and I own BG and Marriott

I have gotten several answers from Bluegreen Reps when asking this question, so I thought I would try asking it here.

I understand that the booking window for Bluegreen is 11 months out for points reservations
YES

(though there is a waiting list )
THE FOLLOWING MEMBERSHIP LEVELS CAN PUT IN A WAIT LIST REQUEST AT THE FOLLOWING INTERVALS....
BRONZE 12 MONTHS, SILVER 13 MONTHS, GOLD 14 MONTHS & PLAT 15 MONTHS,

and 48 days out for bonus time (when booked online).
I CAN NOT SWEAR BY THE NUMBER BUT WILL AGREE WITH YOU-I HAVE NEVER BOOKED BONUS TIME.

What I can't figure out is when the windows open.
In other words, it is well known that Marriott starts booking at 9 AM - 12 months out.
THAT IS CORRECT - 9AM EASTERN TIME for Marriott

However, I have heard differing stories from Bluegreen - some say it starts at midnight - 11 months out (or 48 days out). Others say it starts at 9 AM - 11 months out (or 48 days out).
NOW THAT BLUEGREEN HAS ONLINE BOOKING CAPABILITY, IT IS 12:01 AM 11 MONTHS OUT

Obviously this is a big difference when trying to book high priority resorts/peak season times. Anyone know the real answer to this?
YUP! SEE ABOVE

Along the same lines, for the weeks program Marriott has a certain amount of availability for each check in date.
THIS REALLY DOES NOT APPLY TO BLUEGREEN, THERE IS NO LIMIT AS MARRIOTT WEEKS HAVE WHERE ONLY 50% OF INVENTORY IS RELEASED AT 13MONTHS, ETC

So, you have a very good shot of getting a room on the date you want if you call right at 9 AM. However, because Bluegreen does not have set check in days - I assume it is possible that if you are trying to book a Saturday check in 11 months out, it may be impossible because the folks that booked a Friday check in took all of the availability for the weekend? Is this a correct assumption?
WHEN U R BOOKING WITH POINTS, THE INVENTORY IS MUCH MORE FLUID.
AND BECAUSE YOU CAN BOOK PARTIAL WEEK STAYS, THE SCENARIO YOU STATED ABOVE COULD HAPPEN.
HOWEVER
IF U DO NOT ALREADY BELONG, JOIN THE BLUEGREEN HOA ON THIS WEBSITE.
MEMBER ANITA HAS COMPILED DATA ABOUT RESORT AVAILABILITY AT THE 11 MONTH MARK AND THERE WAS AVAILABILITY AT ALL THE POPULAR RESORTS AT 11 MONTHS JUST SITTING ONLINE.

Thanks for any input the Bluegreen folks can provide.

If you are able to wait list and really want a particular resort/time then by all means wait list for it. But many/most people get what they want even at 10-8 months out.

The acception could be Big Cedar as there are people who own deeded weeks there and fixed weeks there so that takes some units out of the mix - but by checking Anita's data, you will see there was summer availability sitting online at 11 months.

HTHs

[weavboy04 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close weavboy04]

Where is antia data can't locate it in hoa bluegreen

Where is antia data can't locate it in hoa bluegreen

[akparsa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close akparsa]

Ohh, Anita has been lazy!

I stopped posting in August because there was no high season to write about then, and I forgot to start again now that we're entering the tough season for teh Florida beach results.

Anyway, if you're a member of the Bluegreen HOA, you can't miss the postings. There is one for each of about 10 different resorts and I posted daily or at least several times a week for the highest demand resorts in teh highest demand seasons.

If you need to do a search, either search for postings I've made, or search on "availability" within the bluegreen HOA subforum

Anita

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Where is antia data can't locate it in hoa bluegreen

Anita certainly is not lazy!

Weav, can u see this forum and postings when u click on the link?

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forums/bluegreen-hoa/

If not, you need to ask to join.
If u can see this forum, scroll to the bottom of the page and change the default time to posts from last year,,,,then u will see Anita's Posts.

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

I have been doing it myself since you have stopped, and want you to personally know how much of value it is and the appreciation for the time it takes.

My research is probably nowhere near as much as you probably, as you were doing it daily, and I am only doing it weekly and ONLY for 7 day stays (no 3/4 searches) add in not all resorts not having the same check-in days makes it even more time consuming.

Currently working on somewhat complex, but valuable spreadsheet tracking 48 day, 93 day, bonus availability and 11 month availability. This will be combined with a points / dollar conversion to compare pricing and when it is better to use points vs cash.

I stopped posting in August because there was no high season to write about then, and I forgot to start again now that we're entering the tough season for teh Florida beach results.

Anyway, if you're a member of the Bluegreen HOA, you can't miss the postings. There is one for each of about 10 different resorts and I posted daily or at least several times a week for the highest demand resorts in teh highest demand seasons.

If you need to do a search, either search for postings I've made, or search on "availability" within the bluegreen HOA subforum

Anita

[hac Member Find all posts View Profile Close hac]

We appreciate all the hard work on this research.

Another question about booking. We have had Bluegreen for about three years now - so we are not real new to the process. However, I was wondering how Bluegreen handles the reservation modification process. There is a peak weekend I wanted to book - it will be 11 months out this coming week. I am on the waiting list. However, for fun I did a search which included this weekend by booking a week and a half stay at this resort (so the check in date was already within the 11 month booking window and the weekend I wanted was at the tail end of the reservation). The week before was available but that particular weekend was already showing not available - even though we were over a week away from being able to book it. So, nobody has gotten it off the waiting list yet, and it is not at the 11 month booking window yet - but nothing available. It is also not a week that would be prime every year, so I wouldn't imagine that all the fixed week owners took it.

It made me think - do owners with a lot of points book an extra week or so to the reservation just so they can get a jump start on the booking window and get the weekend they really want? Then can they pay a modification fee to Bluegreen and ask them to remove all but the time block they want? Just got me wondering. Because if this is the case, even the Platinum members won't be able to get in off the waiting list. Or, is it possible that Bluegreen blocks that prime weekend so this type of thing can't happen - to reserve it for the waiting list folks and a few lucky early bookers?

Anyone have any insight on this? I am sure there are a lot of tricks and loop holes that I still haven't learned when it comes to getting the prime weeks.

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

The week before was available but that particular weekend was already showing not available - even though we were over a week away from being able to book it. So, nobody has gotten it off the waiting list yet, and it is not at the 11 month booking window yet - but nothing available. It is also not a week that would be prime every year, so I wouldn't imagine that all the fixed week owners took it.

Perhaps I have misread this, but where do you draw the conclusion that nobody has gotten it off the waiting list yet? The portion you are referring to is OUTSIDE your 11 month booking period. However, a Bronze member would have already been able to book this at 12 months. Meaning they would have been able to get it before you did.

However, that is a good question and when the second portion is within the 11 month window you should check again to see if it is available. That MAY tell you something that the system is smart enough to know that not all days are within the window. Having checked bonus time, I have found that as long as the first day, of the reservation is within the time frame it does not matter anything after. i.e. if I am booking a 5 day from Monday to Friday, the Monday is day 48, Tuesday 49, etc it does not matter.

It made me think - do owners with a lot of points book an extra week or so to the reservation just so they can get a jump start on the booking window and get the weekend they really want? Then can they pay a modification fee to Bluegreen and ask them to remove all but the time block they want? Just got me wondering. Because if this is the case, even the Platinum members won't be able to get in off the waiting list. Or, is it possible that Bluegreen blocks that prime weekend so this type of thing can't happen - to reserve it for the waiting list folks and a few lucky early bookers?

Anyone have any insight on this? I am sure there are a lot of tricks and loop holes that I still haven't learned when it comes to getting the prime weeks.[/QUOTE]

There has been discussion of people doing this previously, and more related to getting bonus time. People will make a reservation at 11 months out, then 45 days prior they cancel, which releases it then allowing them to book as bonus time. A risky strategy I think, but can be cost effective (this has also been done with other systems).

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Gandolph.... Quick correction but a BIG one.

No one books at 12,13,14,15 months.

That is when u can get on the wait list.

ALL reservations are made at eleven months with points. No one booking with points gets a resie ahead.

That being said, they actually start working on the wait list 1-2 days ahead and u will get your confirmation the day before most likely.
If u do not, u have a problem.

[hac Member Find all posts View Profile Close hac]

We are silver with Bluegreen and yes, that is the situation. No one gets a reservation until the 11 month mark - like the previous poster mentioned, maybe you get notification a day or so before that time when booking is open to everyone - but no one gets it at 12 months, 13 months, etc. - like with other vacation clubs. That is why it was curious to see that a reservation for a 1.5 week time slot that included the prime weekend at the tail end of the reservation, was already showing "not available" for this weekend. Which led me to believe that either Bluegreen blocked that time because they knew it was prime time with a lot of folks on the waiting list - or there are a lot that book large blocks of time and either use it all, or modify their reservation to just include the time they want.

I don't even know whether that can be done. I have never tried to modify a reservation to remove time - only to add time. So, maybe Bluegreen would require someone to cancel and then rebook - in which case it wouldn't work to book a large chunk of time and then modify to include the weekend you want.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

No one gets a reservation until the 11 month mark - like the previous poster mentioned, maybe you get notification a day or so before that time when booking is open to everyone - but no one gets it at 12 months, 13 months, etc. -

The owner of that resort and week can reserve it 12 months out, before the wait list is even calculated. Which is why Big Cedar resales are more expensive than the rest of BG points -- people want to make use to the underlying week.

Whether that's the case in this instance, I dunno, but it's a possibility. I have heard that, with both Big Cedar and Shorecrest, there are enough people who've tracked down a particular week (or in the case of Shorecrest, weeks owners who were there before BG bought in) that it can be a real challenge for a non-owner to pick up some weeks (4th of July, I believe it was in both cases, but I avoid holiday weekends so didn't care enough to reliably remember the particulars).

[crwisconsin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close crwisconsin]

It is now 13 months

The owner of that resort and week can reserve it 12 months out, before the wait list is even calculated.

Recently the 12 month rule has been changed to the 13 month rule.
Charles

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

Thanks for the correction, and perhaps the wording was incorrect. It would probably have been more accurate to saythat somebody who was Bronze, and got on the waitlist at 12 months, and when the 11 month window opened would get the week prior to somebody who was not.

So I suspect HAC that you are correct, and then when it comes to the 11 months it is very strict. So the portion that is outside the 11 month shows as unavailable. Have you tried checking daily to see what happens as the days enter the 11 month window?

Gandolph.... Quick correction but a BIG one.

No one books at 12,13,14,15 months.

That is when u can get on the wait list.

ALL reservations are made at eleven months with points. No one booking with points gets a resie ahead.

That being said, they actually start working on the wait list 1-2 days ahead and u will get your confirmation the day before most likely.
If u do not, u have a problem.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

..........

Thanks for the correction, and perhaps the wording was incorrect. It would probably have been more accurate to saythat somebody who was Bronze, and got on the waitlist at 12 months, and when the 11 month window opened would get the week prior to somebody who was not.

So I suspect HAC that you are correct, and then when it comes to the 11 months it is very strict. So the portion that is outside the 11 month shows as unavailable. Have you tried checking daily to see what happens as the days enter the 11 month window?

That is correct - in the same vein, a Silver member wait listing at 12 months 3 weeks would beat out a Platinum member who wait listed at 12 months 1 week and a Bronze member who wait listed at 12 months.

As for the unavailable week at 11 months 5 days or 6 days out, then yes, a deeded week/unit owner could have exercised their right to reserve that week (as Charles pointed out) 13 months to 11 months 2 or 3 days before check-in.
And of course fixed week/unit ownership would keep those units out of the point pool forever.