Barclays and Wyndham announce fresh lineup of Wyndham Rewards cards
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Barclays and Wyndham have announced a line-up three all-new Wyndham Rewards co-branded cards. Applications are open immediately for the Wyndham Rewards Earner® Card, Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card and Wyndham Rewards Earner® Business Card.
The cards come with a new earning structure and new ancillary benefits like Wyndham elite status, anniversary points and a discount on the number of points required for a free night. Let's take a look at each new card:
Wyndham Rewards Earner® Card
Sign-up bonus: 30,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Earning structure: 5x on eligible Hotels by Wyndham purchases and gas purchases, 2x on restaurants and grocery (excluding Target and Walmart), 2x on eligible purchases made at Wyndham Timeshare properties (including maintenance fees and loan payments), 1x on all other purchases
Annual fee: $0
Other benefits: Gold status in Wyndham Rewards, 7,500 bonus points after $15,000 in annual spend, 10% discount on the number of points redeemed for free nights
Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card
Sign-up bonus: 45,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Earning structure: 6x on eligible Hotels by Wyndham purchases and gas purchases, 4x on dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart), 4x on eligible Wyndham Timeshare properties (including maintenance fees and loan payments), 1x on all other purchases
Annual fee: $75 (not waived first year)
Other benefits: Platinum status in Wyndham Rewards, 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year (no spending requirement) and 10% discount on the number of points redeemed for free nights
Wyndham Rewards Earner® Business Card
Sign-up bonus: 45,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Earning structure: 8x on Hotels by Wyndham purchases and gas purchases, 5x points on marketing, advertising and utilities, 1x on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $95 (not waived first year)
Other benefits: Top-tier Diamond status in Wyndham Rewards, 15,000 anniversary points (no spending requirement), 10% discount on the number of points redeemed for free nights, cell phone insurance when using the card to pay your wireless bill ($50 deductible, $600 in coverage per event)
The information for the Wyndham Earner Business card, Wyndham Earner, and Wyndham Earner Plus has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related content: Ultimate guide to earning and redeeming Wyndham Rewards
Why the new cards are worth a serious look
Despite Wyndham's large global footprint, the Wyndham Rewards program remains rather niche for most hotel loyalists. It's great to have in your back pocket but typically isn't the first choice for travel enthusiasts. I think Wyndham and Barclays have made the new cards as compelling as possible, and they exceeded my expectations.
First, Wyndham has properties almost anywhere you go in the U.S. With the dramatic rise of the domestic road trip during COVID-19, Wyndham points could arguably be your best ally. If you search the Wyndham site for hotels in the Yellowstone National Park vicinity, you'll find 26 hotels in the search results. Lodging around national parks and popular U.S. road trip destinations can be pricey, but with a stack of Wyndham points, you can find a hotel in almost every corner of the U.S.
Next, there are some excellent Wyndham properties around the world that shouldn't be overlooked. Whether you want to go to Hawaii, Thailand, Europe or Latin America, Wyndham properties available for booking with points. Club Wyndham resorts can be great for families with larger rooms and suites available for points bookings. The Club Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort offers two-bedroom condos on the big island for 30,000 points per night.
Related: Use your Wyndham points at these 14 fantastic properties
Finally, the refreshed cards are well built with benefits and offer the ability to earn a lot of Wyndham points quickly. The 45,000 point sign-up offer for the Earner Plus and Earner Business card is compelling, along with their earning structures.
The business card offering top-tier Diamond status, 8x points on gas and 5x points for typical business expenses make it the standout of the refresh. If I were in the market for a new hotel credit card, this would arguably go to the top of the list if I needed to expand my points and miles portfolio and wanted a lot of value. A 10% discount on points required for award nights is also a great feature for all the cards, effectively boosting the value of your points an additional 10%.
Bottom Line
Barclays and Wyndham did a great job in the product refresh, creating cards that should be attractive to almost every variety of traveler. If you want to go on road trips, Wyndham points can get you free rooms on top of earning 8x on gas your purchases. If you want to go international when travel resumes, getting a condo for the family is also possible with your Wyndham points. Put these cards on your list to check out the next time you're looking for hotel points.