You Can Now Redeem Your Wyndham Rewards at Vacation Properties
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Last year, Wyndham Rewards made news when it announced that it was going to offer a flat redemption rate of 15,000 points per night at all of its worldwide properties. In addition, the program's been consistently making improvements in an attempt to make its offering one of the most compelling in the industry. And with today's news, its offering is about to get even sweeter for Wyndham Rewards members.
As of today, Wyndham Rewards has added more than 17,000 condos and vacation homes to the program. With the addition of these properties, the total Wyndham Rewards portfolio now has more than 25,000 redemption options — more than all of its other major competitors combined.
The especially good news about the new redemption option is that Wyndham Rewards' 15,000-point structure will carry over to the new properties that are now part of the Rewards portfolio — but with a little bit of a twist. For each of the new 17,000 condos and homes that are part of Wyndham Rewards, you can book a stay for 15,000 points per night per bedroom. So, for a one-bedroom condo, it'll cost you 15,000 points per night, but for a two-bedroom property, it'll cost you 30,000 points per night — and so on.
It's worth clarifying that this latest addition to the Wyndham Rewards portfolio is only for redeeming awards, not earning points. The chain is expecting to add the ability to earn points on condo and home stays by as early as summer 2017. In addition, Wyndham also plans to add additional properties to include the majority of its vacation ownership and rental portfolio by the end of 2018.
To book one of the latest additions to Wyndham Rewards' portfolio, head to the program's website and browse where you'd like to go, select your dates and a property. Once you've found what you're looking for, you must call the Wyndham Rewards line to book condo and home properties, but you can book hotel stays online. Eventually, Wyndham Rewards plans to online booking support to all of its properties.
Because the Wyndham Rewards portfolio extends much further than many of its competitors (especially with this latest addition of vacation properties), looking for a particular property and type of stay could become more confusing and overwhelming. To solve this, Wyndham Rewards has created a new landing page that allows members to search for a property based on what they're looking for — location, type of trip and level of luxury. You can use this tool to see the featured selections for each type of category.
With the addition of these properties — and with many more to be added in the coming months and years — there's now even greater reason to consider Wyndham as a valuable redemption option. With properties spanning the globe, including a pretty large selection in Western Europe, Wyndham's 15,000-point per night redemption scheme is particularly attractive, especially given that travelers are so accustomed to seeing their favorite programs constantly being devalued.
If you don't have many Wyndham Rewards points but are looking to increase your stash, consider signing up for one (or both) of the Wyndham Rewards credit cards — both of which could come with some great value. The Wyndham Rewards Visa with an annual fee ($75) comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 points — 15,000 after your first purchase and another 15,000 points after you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. The card will earn you 5 points per dollar on Wyndham purchases, 2 points per dollar on eligible gas, utility and grocery store purchases and 1 point per dollar on everything else. You'll get automatic Platinum status, which will give you a preferred room, late checkout, early check-in and 6,000 bonus points on each account anniversary.
If you're not looking to pay an annual fee, the standard Wyndham Rewards Visa comes with a sign-up bonus of 15,000 points after your first purchase. You'll earn 3 points per dollar on Wyndham purchases, 2 points per dollar on eligible gas, utility and grocery store purchases and 1 point per dollar on everything else. You'll get automatic Wyndham Rewards Gold status with the card, which will get you a preferred room, late checkout and early check-in, and there's no annual fee.