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While often overshadowed by bigger and flashier hotel loyalty programs, the Wyndham Rewards program deserves some attention, too. The chain comprises over 9,000 properties in more than 80 countries worldwide. Its 20 brands are mostly targeted to budget-minded vacationers, and include well-known brands such as Wyndham Grand, Ramada, AmericInn, Days Inn, La Quinta, Travelodge, and Howard Johnson, among others.
Wyndham Rewards members can also redeem points for vacation rentals and resorts in North America, Belize, and Costa Rica through Wyndham's partnership with Vacasa, a vacation rental platform. All of Vacasa's properties are available to book with Wyndham points, giving members access to more than 50,000 hotels, vacation rentals, and resort properties worldwide.
Travelers can enroll in Wyndham Rewards for free, and automatically receive free Wi-Fi during stays. Members begin earning points on stays as soon as they enroll in the program, and can reach Gold status — the first rung of elite status tiers — after staying just five nights.
Elite status with Wyndham Rewards unlocks perks like earning bonus points on reservations, having the option of selecting preferred rooms, receiving late checkout, and more. Wyndham also offers a co-branded credit card that makes earning points even easier.
With just three levels of elite status, Wyndham Rewards isn't as sophisticated as some of the larger loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors. But the program's simplicity is one of its strengths, as members can leverage their travel activity for rewards relatively effortlessly.
Here's everything you need to know to start earning, redeeming, and maximizing Wyndham Rewards points.
You can earn elite status with Wyndham to further accelerate your earnings. Here are the current levels.
The more you stay, the more you earn, but these modest bonuses might not be worth much effort at Wyndham hotels unless you plan to stay there regardless. Instead, consider opening a Wyndham co-branded credit card that automatically includes elite status.
There are myriad ways to accumulate Wyndham points, beginning with the most obvious option: Hotel stays through Wyndham.
Staying in a Wyndham hotel is the most straightforward way to earn rewards. Base-tier Wyndham Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar, or 1,000 points, whichever is more, at participating properties and at over 30 Caesars Entertainment destinations, such as Caesars, Harrah's, Bally's, and Paris in Las Vegas.
To earn points or credit toward elite status, you must book your stays directly through Wyndham. Reservations made through a third party, such as an online travel agency like Expedia, will not count.
As with other hotel loyalty programs, getting a co-branded credit card is one of the easiest and fastest ways to earn points quickly and enjoy elite status perks to boot.
Wyndham offers several credit cards with unique bonuses and benefits. Cardholdres can stretch their points even further with a 10% discount on go free (all points rather than points and cash) award redemptions.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Plus Card is currently offering 75,000 points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
That's enough for up to 13 nights at some of Wyndham's least expensive properties. The card earns 6 points per dollar on Wyndham stays and gas; 4 points per dollar at restaurants and grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart); and 1 point per dollar on everything else (excluding Wyndham Vacation Club down payments).
Cardholders receive automatic Platinum elite status, so they can count on benefits like upgrades on Avis car rentals, early check-in priority, and a status match to the Caesars Rewards program. Each year after their account anniversary, they also receive 7,500 bonus points. The annual fee is the $75.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Card charges no annual fee and comes with a welcome bonus: 45,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the six months from account opening.
Cardholders accumulate 5 points per dollar spent on hotels by Wyndham and on gas purchases; 2 points per dollar on dining and groceries (excluding Target and Walmart) and purchases at Wyndham Timeshare properties; and 1 point per dollar on everything else (excluding Wyndham Vacation Club down payments).
Earner Card cardholders also receive automatic Wyndham Rewards Gold status, and can snag 7,500 bonus points each account year that they spend $15,000 or more on purchases.
Don't forget about the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card, which has even better earning rates in some respects, and charges a $95 annual fee. It also has a welcome bonus: 40,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 90 days, and 40,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 total within the first 12 months.
It earns 8 points per dollar on Wyndham purchases and gas; 5 points per dollar on marketing, advertising, and utilities; and 1 point per dollar on other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resorts down payments).
Cardmembers enjoy top-tier Diamond elite status, with a shot at suite upgrades and check-in welcome amenities as well as the ability to gift Gold status to another Wyndham Rewards member. Cardholders also get 15,000 bonus points each year on their card anniversary.
If you have a Capital One card that earns reward miles, you can transfer them to Wyndham Rewards at a rate of 1 mile to 1 Wyndham point. Here are the cards that qualify:
As with other loyalty currencies, it is possible to simply purchase extra Wyndham points you might need for a stay or other redemption. You can buy up to 45,000 per calendar year in 1,000-point increments, and they cost 1.3 cents apiece. You'll be hard-pressed to get that value from most redemptions, though, so you should only consider this as a last resort.
When you book an Avis car rental through Wyndham Rewards, you can take advantage of frequent bonus points promotions.
Wyndham Rewards members can sign into the program's online shopping portal to earn multiple points per dollar spent at hundreds of partner merchants' sites.
All you need to do is log in with your membership number, click on the retailer you want to shop with, and you will be redirected to its site. You can typically earn between 1 and 30 bonus points per dollar spent with various stores like Home Depot, Macy's, Staples, Lowes, Grubhub, Apple, and more.
Among the other easy ways to rack up Wyndham Rewards quickly are booking activities like live performances, walking tours, and museum visits through the brand's destination portal to earn 10 points per dollar. Link your Wyndham account to your one with Marathon Gas and Arco Make It Count, and you can save money on fuel as well as earning 2 points per gallon (you can also redeem points for gas purchases, but it's not a great deal).
You can also score 2,500 points on your first meal kit from Home Chef, and earn 500 points for each additional box. Finally, you can join Opinion Rewards Panel and earn 500 points after completing your first survey.
There are several different ways to redeem Wyndham points, but the best will likely be for hotel stays.
There are two ways you can redeem your rewards for hotel stays through Wyndham: go free awards are booked only with points, while go fast award stays combine points and cash.
Wyndham Rewards has an extremely simple award chart, with just three tiers for outright points redemptions called go free awards. Per night, hotels cost either:
It should be noted that nights at participating hotels start at 7,500 points, but accommodations at club resorts or vacation rentals cost 15,000 to 30,000 points per bedroom per night. Wyndham's search engine and filters makes it very easy for you to find hotels by destination, brand, amenities, and points required.
To put that into context, let's say you're planning a Hawaiian vacation and want to see your options. Unfortunately, you won't find any 7,500-point hotels. However, there are about a dozen options at the 15,000-point level, including properties like Club Wyndham at Waikiki Beach Walk on Oahu, Kona Coast Resort on the Big Island, and Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas on Kauai, among others. For 30,000 points, you can book a night at the Days Inn by Wyndham Maui Oceanfront.
In general, hotels in popular cities and vacation destinations are higher-priced, while those in more remote locations are less expensive. Before booking anything, divide the dollar price by the number of points you need for a night and aim to get between 1 and 1.5 cents per point in value.
Wyndham Rewards also lets members use a mix of points and cash for some awards. As with all-points bookings, the choices break down into three tiers:
So the points rates are set, but the cash co-pays can vary depending on nightly prices. Note that nights at participating club resorts and vacation rentals cost 3,000 to 6,000 points plus cash per bedroom.
Folks who participate in one of Wyndham's timeshare or vacation club programs can redeem Wyndham points for maintenance fees at a rate of 10,000 points for $50 in value. Again, skip this option unless you have no other alternatives, since you won't get a high rate of return on your rewards.
If you spend a fair amount of time in Las Vegas, you can leverage Wyndham Rewards' partnership with Caesars Rewards and convert your Wyndham points into points with Caesars at a 1:1 ratio and then use them to cover the cost of playing at casinos, for meals at nearly 250 restaurants, as well as for tickets to shows and other performances.
Apart from hotel stays, Wyndham Rewards members can redeem their points in a few other interesting ways.
You won't find too many aspirational, world-class hotels among Wyndham's portfolio. However, the chain's huge global footprint and simple award chart, not to mention solid co-branded credit cards, make it easy both to earn and redeem points around the world.
Just avoid non-stay redemptions to maximize your rewards, and if you're a frequent Wyndham guest, consider getting one of the new credit cards so you can boost your earnings toward free stays even faster.
You can earn points by spending on Wyndham Rewards credit cards, as well as participating in partner activities and special promotions.
The fastest way to earn status with Wyndham is by staying at Wyndham properties, using a Wyndham Rewards credit card for purchases, and taking advantage of promotional offers.
Wyndham points expire after 18 months of account inactivity, or four years after the check-out date of the stay from which they were earned.
