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If you're looking for a business credit card and like to stay at Wyndham hotels, the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is a very compelling choice. It's offering a terrific welcome bonus and comes with top-tier Diamond elite status — and with an award of 15,000 points each card anniversary, you can easily offset the $95 annual fee.
Just about every major hotel chain issues a co-branded small-business credit card, and you're probably familiar with some of the big names like The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. But there's one hotel business card that flies under the radar and doesn't get nearly as much attention as it deserves.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is one of three Barclays-issued Wyndham Rewards cards, and it's by far the most lucrative. For a moderate $95 annual fee, cardholders receive excellent earning rates, automatic top-tier Wyndham Diamond elite status, and an anniversary bonus each year of 15,000 points.
What's more, the card is currently offering a very compelling welcome bonus. New cardholders can earn 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. That's worth around 64000 in Wyndham hotel stays, based on our valuation of Wyndham points as worth 0.8 cents apiece. Award prices at Wyndham hotels start at 7,500 points per night, so with this bonus, you could get up to six free nights.
Wyndham Rewards might not be the most flashy or aspirational of hotel loyalty programs, but there's great value to be had if you know where to look. Wyndham operates over 9,000 hotels across more than 20 brands in over 80 countries, plus through a partnership with Vacasa, loyalty program members can redeem points to stay in more than 50,000 vacation rentals worldwide.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is ideal for small-business owners who stay with Wyndham hotels frequently or enjoy redeeming points for award stays — especially vacation rentals, which can offer excellent value. Wyndham hotels include familiar names like La Quinta, Travelodge, and Super 8, as well as more upscale properties under the Wyndham Grand, Dolce, and Tryp brands.
Because you can find a Wyndham hotel just about anywhere, this card is ideal for road-trippers and folks who prefer staying off the beaten path. Road warriors can get an especially great deal from the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card, because it earns 8x points on Wyndham stays and gas purchases — so if fuel is a considerable expense for you, you could do very well with the card.
The card's annual fee of $95 is typical for a hotel business card, and it's easy to get a value worth at least that each year. Cardholders receive a bonus of 15,000 points each year on their anniversary, which is good for one or two nights at Wyndham hotels.
Additionally, the card comes with automatic Diamond elite status, which confers perks like early check-in, late checkout, a welcome amenity, and suite upgrades. If you're a frequent Wyndham guest, these perks can make your travels much more comfortable and save you money.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is a small-business credit card, so you shouldn't apply unless you have a small business. However, you don't have to own a huge corporation to be eligible — even part-time businesses and side gigs like driving for Uber can qualify you for a small-business credit card.
If you don't stay with Wyndham that often or don't want to lock yourself into earning points with a single hotel program exclusively (but still want access to Wyndham points), the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is probably not the best choice. You'll have more flexibility if you open a travel rewards card that earns points that transfer to Wyndham.
Both Capital One and Citi ThankYou Rewards partner with Wyndham, so a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or Citi Strata Premier℠ Card could be a better pick instead. Or, consider a hotel credit card from a chain you stay with more frequently to make the most of your travels.
Like most hotel credit cards, the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card offers the highest points earning when you use the card to pay for Wyndham purchases — but it has other bonus categories that can be quite lucrative for small-business owners, too.
Cardholders earn:
Of particular note is the outstanding 8 points per dollar you can earn at gas stations. Based on Insider's valuation of Wyndham points at 0.8 cents apiece, this is effectively like getting 6.4% back on gas purchases.
Another unique category is utilities, which you don't often find on other cards — especially bills like electricity, gas, oil, and water. If you have high expenses in these categories, using the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card could net you a huge stack of points.
For a card with a moderate $95 annual fee, the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card comes with pretty impressive benefits — some of which you'd normally only find on pricier premium credit cards.
Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card cardholders receive Diamond status with Wyndham, which is the chain's highest elite tier. Achieving this level normally requires you to stay 24 nights or more in a year, so getting it automatically through a credit card is a very good deal.
Diamond members receive a range of perks when they stay at Wyndham hotels, including:
There are almost no hotel cards that award top-tier elite status automatically (the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card being an exception); with other cards, there's usually a hefty spending requirement to unlock the highest level. Here's Insider's guide to credit cards that offer hotel elite status for a rundown of all the options.
After every card anniversary, cardholders automatically receive 15,000 points (worth around $120 in stays based on Insider's valuations) deposited into their Wyndham Rewards account. This is more than enough for a night at a mid-tier Wyndham property (15,000 points), or two nights at a lower-level hotel (7,500 points).
This perk alone is enough to offset the card's annual fee each year, and it's possible to get even more value depending on how you redeem your points.
Cardholders get a 10% discount on go free award nights, which can amount to a nice savings especially on expensive or longer stays. Here's how the discount works out:
As a Wyndham credit card holder, you'll receive a discount on paid stays booked directly through Wyndham. This is a discount of 4% or more off the best available rate, standard promotional rate, or hotel special rate.
If you'd otherwise pay for cell phone insurance, the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card can save you money with cell phone protection. When you pay your wireless bill with the card, you can be covered for cell phone theft or damage with a maximum of $600 per claim and $1,000 per covered card per 12-month period.
There's a $50 deductible per claim, with a limit of two claims per 12-month period.
When you use your Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card to pay for an eligible purchase, you could qualify for a one-year extension of the manufacturer's warranty.
You won't have to worry about getting stung with additional fees when you use your card abroad, because it doesn't add foreign transaction fees. Using a card with no foreign transaction fees can save you 3% or more on international purchases, so this is a handy feature if you travel overseas frequently.
There's no fee to add employee cards to your Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card, and doing so can help you keep track of your business expenses and control employee spending. Plus, any rewards for your employee's purchases will go into your Wyndham account.
The Visa Savings Edge program offers discounts with participating merchants, travel providers, and restaurants when you enroll your Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card and make a qualifying purchase.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card has a $95 annual fee, which is typical for small-business cards that earn travel rewards.
Other fees you might encounter include balance transfer, cash advance, late payment, and returned payment fees. Again, there are no foreign transaction fees to worry about, so you can use the card for international purchases without worrying about extra charges.
Most people who are approved for the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card have a credit score in the good to excellent range, which means at least a 670 FICO score. If you're still working on bringing your score up to this level, read our guides to the top starter credit cards and best cards for folks with fair or average credit for other options.
For those who stay with Wyndham and like collecting and using Wyndham points, the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is definitely worth it. Beyond excellent earning opportunities and perks like elite status and booking discounts, the card effectively pays for itself with its 15,000-point anniversary bonus each year.
However, if you don't spend a lot in the bonus categories and prefer more flexibility, you may want to look at a more generic travel rewards credit card or small-business card with different benefits.
The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card is a Visa Signature card.
To get discounts on go free award nights or on paid stays as a cardholder, you must be logged in to your Wyndham account when you book online. In addition, you'll need to have enough points in their account to pay for the award at the pre-discounted redemption level. There's always the option to call Wyndham to book instead, as well.
We focused on the following factors when reviewing business credit cards:
Here's Business Insider's guide to how we rate credit cards for more details about our methodology.
