Not surprised. Probably explains why most 85k point bookings error'd out on the phone. They clearly want to limit bookings and having 21 OWV for 85k was causing an influx of award bookings they dont want.

I was wake up around 5:00 am to book this hotel several days ago, the rep was so nice and willing to help me to book OWV for 85K. Even she said there were errors, she took her time to fix the problem again and again, and finally successfully booked it . So i think it is all depends on the rep.

So I have a reservation on hold from the 85k days because my cancelled SPG reservation wouldn't have the points returned to my account. Think they will honor it once they FINALLY return the points to my account? It's been 5 days and frankly unacceptable.

I haven't seen any GV availability. Think they're blocking it to force people to go for the higher priced OWV awards?

This is super scary. I currently have a reservation but I want to change the dates. The agent said some folks weren't getting back their points for 2 days. Can you confirm if your SPG reservations were made PRIOR to the integration or AFTER? I have a feeling those with instant points back are from reservations that were made AFTER the integration while your 5 day experience is because your reservations were made PRIOR. If this is true, I should be able to cancel and get the points back relatively quickly...

So no way for us to get the 85k OWV anymore? Is our best bet now to hope for GV availability and do a cash upgrade?

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...ould-now-cost/

Looks like they will honor the lucky ones who booked at 85k.

I think it is current situation..lots of people booked GV for cash rates, it is hard for people to see availability for GV now...

Yes, I'm sure that's what happened. In my many calls, several agents said to book cash rates and they could try to convert them once the system was working properly. I was also told to do that for one of my travel packages I was trying to use at an SPG property. Not sure if they'll be able to come through on that, but I figured it was worth a shot.

What do you mean by on hold? Like with a cash booking?

Yeah definitely. To be honest I kind of preferred the Garden Villa as it was huge. Loved the outside shower area and the huge pool upfront. Yeah you don't get the scenic view but the water was always warm in the pool and the room was huge. The pool was freezing in our OWV.

I think a lot of bookings are speculative, and also feel that many people likely haven't looked at the seaplane and food prices - it might be a deal breaker for some! I'm fine with the GV, but I do love a good mistake price too!!! Oh well, GV this time, if I ever get my points back (they've been in limbo since Saturday).