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Less than four years ago, Wyndham Rewards switched to an award night system where any property could be booked for 15,000 points per night. We learned back in February that Wyndham Rewards would be undergoing many changes as of April 3, 2019, including switching to a three-tier award chart. These changes were implemented last night, meaning Wyndham now has three different award rates for properties under its umbrella. And as of today, this includes more than 900 La Quinta-branded hotels now that La Quinta Returns is fully integrated into the Wyndham Rewards program.
There are three tiers in the new Wyndham Rewards award chart:
- 7,500 points (or 1,500 points + cash)
- 15,000 points (or 3,000 points + cash)
- 30,000 points (or 6,000 points + cash)
Using TPG’s latest valuations, 7,500 points are valued at $90, 15,000 points are valued at $180 and 30,000 points are valued at $360. Luckily, less than 200 hotels jumped into the 30,000 point tier and almost 3,000 hotels dropped down to the 7,500 point tier. If you happened to book a property for 15,000 points that is now 7,500 points, you’ll be proactively refunded the difference after you stay (but I recommend verifying that you get refunded).
As expected, many of the program’s most luxurious properties have shifted to the new 30,000-point tier, including all eight of the all-inclusive Viva properties, six of which are family-friendly. This new tier also includes sought-after hotels like the Wyndham Reef Resort Grand Cayman, Wyndham Lake Buena Vista (which made our list of best points hotels near Disney World) and Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa.
However, there are several notable properties staying at 15,000 points per night, including these five Hawaiian hotels:
- Wyndham Bali Hai Villas
- Kauai Coast Resort at the Beachboy
- Kona Coast Resort
- Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village
- Waikiki Marina Resort at the Ilikai
Interestingly, most of Wyndham’s non-hotel portfolio of vacation club resorts and vacation club rentals remained at the 15,000-point tier as well. In fact, only three vacation club properties moved to the 30,000-point tier: Margaritaville Vacation Club – Wyndham Rio Mar, Wyndham Clearwater Beach Resort and Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort.
There are two ways to view and search hotels and their new tiers. One way is to use the booking widget, which allows you to search for a specific tier in a specific city. The second way is to view the full listing of hotels at www.wyndhamrewards.com/locations. TPG will be diving into the new award charts today, after which we’ll provide a post with additional analysis on the new award chart.
Additional Changes
The award chart isn’t the only thing that’s changed today though. Wyndham is now providing US and Canadian military members (active, reserve, veteran or retired status) and their spouses a complimentary upgrade to Gold level membership along with 1,000 bonus points on their first qualified stay. Gold membership can normally be obtained after staying five nights; the 1,000 points are worth about $12.
Wyndham has also now added additional opportunities for you to earn up to 10 bonus Wyndham points per dollar spent through the Wyndham Rewards shopping portal and 2 Wyndham points per dollar spent at Marathon-branded gas stations through Marathon’s MakeItCount loyalty program. Within the next few weeks, you’ll also be able to earn Wyndham points when you book tours and experiences with Viator as well as when you order delivery through DoorDash.
Bottom Line
It’s always scary when a hotel program makes changes to its award chart, and Wyndham’s shift to three-tiered pricing has undoubtedly hurt rewards at premium properties. However, it’s nice to have a large chunk of properties with award rates that have been cut in half. We’ll be back with a deeper dive into these changes, but for now, feel free to share your initial thoughts in the comments section below!
Featured photo of the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort. Featured photo courtesy of Wyndham.
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NEW INCREASED OFFER: 60,000 Points
TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $1,200
CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 2X points on all travel and dining, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
