When to use developer or resale points

[jebloomquist]

It’s about to be a new year with a new bucket of both resale and developer points. Given various reservation factors, I keep wondering when to use resale and when to use developer points.
This is one way that I differentiate reservations.

Factors Matrix:
..........................................................Dates Fixed...................................................Dates Flexible
............................................Developer.............Resale...............................Developer.............Resale
Owner Booking......................X............................X.............................................X............................X
Non-Owner Booking...........X............................X.............................................X............................X
Developer points have some potential benefits over resale, such as, potential upgrade, later year date depositing, and up to unlimited transactions. I am sure that there are additional factors to consider.
When both types of points are available, how do you determine when to use either one?

 

[kanerf]

You should use your developer points when there is a good chance of an upgrade and/or being able to rebook for fewer points. Use resale when there is little chance of either of these.

 

[chapjim]

@kanerf is spot on.

For the most part, I use resale points when the reservation is in the largest unit available (e.g., 2BR Deluxe at Royal Vista) or the only class of unit at that resort (e.g., 2BR at Orlando International). If it turns out that a discount or upgrade is available at the two month point, I book that using developer points and cancel the original reservation.

What you don't want is resale points left over at the end of the use year. Takes some planning and it may be that you make a reservation late in the year using resale points where you would have used developer points earlier in the year.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I only have 1 contract that is resale, my other 5 are classified as developer.

I agree with the two previous posters. Use Resale when you think there is little chance of discounts/upgrades, like holidays, or the largest size units available where there is high demand and low supply. I use Developer if I am unsure about the dates, or if I think there is a good opportunity for discounts/upgrades.

In 2022 I used my resale for a 4 BR at BC. I used Developer for everything else.

 

[55plus]

Use developer points when booking with 60 days to maximize their discount potential, etc.

Use resale points for booking when less points are required such as low demand time-frames to maximize their value and reservations further out than 60 days, etc.

 

[paxsarah]

Use resale points for booking when less points are required such as low demand time-frames

I'm not a hybrid owner so maybe I'm missing something, but I would use VIP-eligible points for low demand timeframes because of the increased potential for rebooking with discounts and/or receiving an upgrade. It seems to me the best use of resale points is the opposite - if you have one big reservation you plan to make in advance during a high-demand period where your plans are really solid. For example, I have a reservation for a 4BR at Ocean Ridge the week after Memorial Day. (It's actually the type of reservation I use as an example to explain why the discount/upgrade features of VIP wouldn't really pay off for me.) It's impossible to upgrade and everyone's plans are firmly set. One big reservation means you won't have to futz with HK credits or GCs.

 

[bnoble]

When both types of points are available, how do you determine when to use either one?

I can see two different reasons, and maybe three depending on what Wyndham does.

One that a lot of folks have already mentioned: If I am already booking (close to) the largest unit/best view in the resort, there's no reason to hope for an upgrade later. Likewise if it is a very high-demand period, as there just won't be that many chances to upgrade even if someone else cancels.

The second is something that @paxsarah alludes to: if you have VIP status, then your VIP account gets extra HK credits, and your HK/point ratio is higher in your developer pool than in your resale pool. That argues for making larger/longer reservations out of the resale pool, to minimize the chances that you'd need to rent an extra HK credit.

The third doesn't matter for now, because reservations are free, but if reservations go back to being a charged item, the same reasoning applies: a VIP owner has more reservation transactions "per point" in the developer pool than in the resale pool, so more speculative reservations make sense in the developer pool.

It also just semes to make sense to exhaust resale points before developer points, if there is no other reason to favor one over the other.