Difference between revisions of "Wyndham rewards"
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=== <span id="Benefits">Member Benefits</span> === | === <span id="Benefits">Member Benefits</span> === | ||
| − | The Wyndham | + | The Wyndham Earner Business Card gives you automatic Diamond status, the Earner+ Card give you Platinum status, and the no-annual-fee Earner Card gives you automatic Gold status. {{Link|elite hotel status}}. |
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|<big>'''Diamond'''</big> (40 nights)<br/>20% bonus points plus the following benefits: | |<big>'''Diamond'''</big> (40 nights)<br/>20% bonus points plus the following benefits: | ||
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| − | *'''2 Free passes to a local experience with Go Free awards'''. This replaces the $10 discount. It only works with a limited set of tours and attractions in a limited set of cities, but it is a pretty valuable benefit. You’ll also get a $10 discount, instead of a $5 discount, on Go | + | *'''2 Free passes to a local experience with Go Free awards''', instead of simmply a small discount. This replaces the $10 discount. It only works with a limited set of tours and attractions in a limited set of cities, but it is a pretty valuable benefit. You’ll also get a $10 discount, instead of a $5 discount, on Go Fast awards. |
*'''Upgrade to a suite on every stay'''. Subject to availability, on both paid and award stays. | *'''Upgrade to a suite on every stay'''. Subject to availability, on both paid and award stays. | ||
*'''Free snack or beverage'''. | *'''Free snack or beverage'''. | ||
Revision as of 20:23, 1 October 2020
Hotel Strategies, Hotel Loyalty Program Reference Guide
866-WYN-RWDS
866-996-7937
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Quick Guide
- Wyndham had a brief experiment with eliminating award categories. For a couple of years, every hotel in the program required the same 15,000 points for a free night. They reintroduced hotel categories in early 2019, but still only have three different levels: 7,500, 15,000, and 30,000 points.
- We value Wyndham points at .8 cents each. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?
- Wyndham’s cash and points option can be the best option. You pay only 20% of the points cost for 30% off the room rate. When prices are high or low, you are better off with a straight points or straight cash redemption, but when prices are in the middle, "Go Fast" redemptions are a good option.
- Wyndham has a partnership with Total Rewards (the loyalty program of the Caesars and Harrah’s family of casinos). You can earn and redeem Wyndham points at their casinos hotels and your Platinum or Diamond status in each program is automatically matched by the other. There are some valuable benefits associated with this program.
- You can use your Wyndham points to book a large set of vacation homes and condos, rather than hotels. At these locations, you’ll pay 15,000 points per bedroom. So, a 1-bedroom condo would be 15,000 points per night, and a 4-bedroom house would require 60,000 points.
- Wyndham offers an unusual loyalty program benefit. When you book an award stay, you get a small discount on a limited set of tours and attractions in about two dozen different cities. However, if you reach their highest elite level (Diamond), you’ll get 2 free tickets for a tour or attraction, rather than the discount.
Wyndham Brands
You can also earn and redeem points at the Caesar / Harrah’s family of hotels, and for thousands of vacation homes and condos.
Award Chart
Wyndham has a simple award chart.
| Cat | Free Night | 35% off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7,500 | 1,500 |
| 2 | 15,000 | 3,000 |
| 3 | 30,000 | 6,000 |
Only about 500 of their 9,000 hotels require 30,000 points, but the vast majority of their other hotels are very inexpensive members of chains like Day's Inn.
Cash and Points Awards
With "Go Fast" Rewards, you pay 20% of the required number of points to book the hotel room at 70% of the daily room rate.
- You are not really getting a full 30% discount. The required cash portion is calculated based on the regular non-discounted rate. Cheaper rates (such as "member rates" and AAA rates) are almost always available. As a result, using points will save you less than 30%. For example, if the regular room rate is $100, the cash portion of the Cash and Points award will be $70, but a discounted room rate might only be $90. So, the Go Fast award only drops the rate an additional $20 (or 22%).
- If room rates are high, you are better paying the full award cost to make a "Go Free" reservation. For example, if a category 2 room has a $150 room rate, you can either use 15,000 points or you can use 3,000 points plus $105. Spending the extra 12,000 points saves $105 and provides an incremental value of almost .9 cents per point (which is a good deal(.
- If room rates are very low, you are better off with a cash reservation. For example, if the same Category 2 hotel only costs $70 per night, you'd only be receiving .47 cents per point if you spent the full 15,000 points to book the room. With a Go Fast awards, you'd need to use 3,000 points to get a 30% ($21) discount, getting around .4 cents per point. Neither of these is a good deal.
- When rates are in the middle, the cash and points reservation is the better option. At a value of .8 cents per point, Cash and Points reservations make sense for room rates in the following ranges.
- You need to adjust the bottom end of this range based on the true discount you are receiving. At a value of .8 cents per point, the difference between the actual discounted rate you would need to pay for the room and the cash portion of the "Go Fast" rate needs to be at least $10, $20, or $50 for Category 1, 2, and 3 hotels.
| Cat | Range |
|---|---|
| 1 | $35-52 |
| 2 | $70-105 |
| 3 | $140-210 |
At room rates higher than this range, use the full amount of points (if you have them). At room rates lower than this range, don't use any of your points.
Booking Vacation Houses and Condos
Wyndham operates many different vacation clubs, and has also partnered with a number of other vacation home and condo rental companies. You can you your Wyndham points to book thousands of different vacation homes and condos. When you do, you pay by the bedroom.
For example, a Go Free award for a 2-bedroom condo would be 30,000 points per night, a Go Fast award at 4-bedroom vacation house requires 12,000 points plus a cash payment, and a roomy 1-bedroom condo doesn’t cost any more points than a normal hotel room.
Acquiring Points
Acquiring last minute points
If you see a great redemption deal at Wyndham hotels, there are several ways that you can acquire a few additional points. Get a Discounted Room Rate by Buying the Points for an Award Night.
| Transferring Venture points |
You can transfer points from Capital One's Venture cards. You'll get 3,000 Wyndham points for every 4,000 Venture points you transfer. Normally, this isn't a high value way to use your Venture points, but it can easily be worthwhile for a high-value Wyndham reward redemption. If the alternative is purchasing full-price points, you'd be getting just less than 1 cent each for your points, but you avoid the point purchase limits. |
| Purchasing points |
You can only purchase up to 45,000 points per year, in 1,000-point increments, for 1.3 cents per point. Sometimes promotions are available, which allow you purchase points for less money per point and enable you to purchase more points per year. Acquiring More Hotel Points When They are On Sale. |
| Daily Getaway promotion |
Every Spring, the US Travel Association runs a promotion called “Daily Getaways”. Each day, they offer a specific travel “offer” for sale, in limited numbers. In previous years, they offered packages of 15,000 Wyndham points for about $150. While this is only a little cheaper than the normal purchase rate of 1.1 cents per point, it bypasses the normal limit of only 10,000 points per year. Each buyer could purchase two packages, for a total of 30,000 points. We expect these to be available next year as well, and are the only way to purchase more significant quantities of Wyndham points. |
Earning Points from Your Stays
You can earn 10 points for every dollar spent at Wyndham. The minimum reward is 1,000 points per stay, so you earn at a slightly higher rate at less expensive hotels. Note that any elite status bonus points are factored in first. If you are still under the 1,000 point minimum, you don't receive additional bonus points.
Other Ways to Earn Points
The best way to quickly earn a bunch of points is by signing up for the Wyndham credit card. The annual-fee-based and the business card has a normal signup bonus of 45,000 points ($1,000 initial spending requirement) and the no-annual-fee card has a normal signup bonus of 30,000 points. The cards are issued by Barclays, and you should be able to periodically cancel and re-apply to earn the signup bonus again. Credit Cards 101.
A couple other options are available and can be viewed here.
Keeping your Points from Expiring
You will lose your points four years after you’ve earned them. This happens, even if you are actively earning points. You need to make sure to use them. You can also lose your points if you go 18 months without qualifying activity.
Member Benefits
The Wyndham Earner Business Card gives you automatic Diamond status, the Earner+ Card give you Platinum status, and the no-annual-fee Earner Card gives you automatic Gold status. Boost Your Hotel Status.
Blue (entry level)
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| Gold (5 nights) 10% bonus points plus the following benefits:
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| Platinum (15 nights) 15% bonus points plus the following benefits:
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| Diamond (40 nights) 20% bonus points plus the following benefits:
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Total Rewards Benefits
Wyndham has a partnership with “Total Rewards”, the loyalty program of the Caesars and Harrah’s family of casinos. Platinum and Diamond status in either program is matched at the other. Cardholders of the Wyndham credit card wind up with Platinum status with Total Rewards.
You can also get Total Rewards Diamond status via the Founders Card program. If you do, you’ll get Wyndham Diamond status for free, and access to automatic suite upgrades and the free attraction benefit.
| Platinum Includes the following benefits:
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| Diamond Adds the following benefits:
|
The Wyndham Credit Cards
The Wyndham credit card has a normal signup bonus of 30,000 points ($1,000 initial spending requirement). It gives you automatic Wyndham Platinum elite status, as well as matching status at Total Rewards. You get 9,000 free Wyndham points every year, 6,000 from the credit card anniversary bonus, and 3,000 from the Platinum elite status yearly bonus. $75 annual fee.
There is a no-annual-fee version that has a normal signup bonus of 15,000 points (after first purchase), gives you Gold status, and doesn’t provide bonus points every year.
When staying at Wyndham, you can get better rewards from a card that earns good rewards on all travel, rather than Wyndham's own card. 5x Wyndham points are only worth about 4 cents. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
The Wyndham card's bonus rewards on gas, utility, and grocery store purchases are not useful. 2x Wyndham points are worth around 1.6 cents per dollar. This is lower than the base earning rate on a decent general purpose credit card.
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