Is The Wyndham Hotel Rewards A Good Rewards Program?
As a long term budget traveler, I’ve spent about 10 years road tripping all around the US and Canada. I’m always looking for the best deals on travel and hotels in particular. Basic, cheap, clean hotel rooms are all I’m ever looking for. Sometimes the Wyndham Hotel Rewards Program can be a good deal. Whether or not it is a good deal depends on the specials and promotions Wyndham Hotels is running. Sometimes they have excellent promotions that enable you to rack up points really quickly. When Wyndham Hotels has no promotions running I tend to stay at Choice Hotels if they have promotions running. Overall, Choice Hotels is a has a better hotel rewards program but when Wyndham Hotels runs promotions, sometimes it can be on par and even a little better than Choice Hotels.
What Hotels Are Part Of The Wyndham Hotels Network?
Like Choice Hotels, Wyndham Hotels has a lot of brands in their portfolio. Choice has about 7,000 hotels around the world while Wyndham claims closer to 9,000. Chances are there is a Choice or Wyndham hotel in whatever destination you are headed. For the budget traveler, Wyndham encompasses the Super 8, Travelodge, Days Inn, and Microtel. They’ve got lots of higher end brands in the portfolio but since I’m a budget traveler, I’ll focus on how to maximize the Wyndham Hotels Reward Program for budget travel.
How Do You Take Advantage Of The Wyndham Hotels Reward Program?
Just like any other hotel rewards program you’ll need to go to the Wyndham Hotels website and navigate to the Wyndham Rewards signup page. If you want to rack up points for free rooms in the Wyndham Rewards program you’ll need to register on the site and book all your Wyndham Hotel rooms on the website. If you book through 3rd party sites like Expedia you won’t qualify for rewards. When Wyndham Hotels runs bonus point specials you’ll also need to register for each and every promotion that you want to take advantage of.
How Do You Build Up Wyndham Hotel Rewards Points?
Whenever you stay at a Wyndham Hotel you’ll get rewards. You’ll get 10 points for every dollar you spend on a hotel room not including tax with a minimum of 1,000 points per stay. If you book a hotel for $45/night you’ll get 1,000 points. If you book a hotel for two nights that costs $45/night you’ll get 1,000 points for that stay too. If you book a hotel for $150/night you’ll get 1,500 points.
With Wyndham Hotels Rewards you’ll need a minimum of 7,500 points to get a free night. This means you would need 8 separate stays at a Wyndham Hotel with a room rate of $100 or less to get a 8,000 points in order to get a free night as the lowest tier Wyndham Hotel. That means you would probably spend somewhere between $400 and $800 on Wyndham Hotel Rooms to get a free night at one of their budget hotels in the off season. Rewards nights at the Wyndham mid-tier hotels typically require 15,000 points. To get a free night there when Wyndham has no promotions going, it would take 15 stays that cost $100 or less. You’d need to spend between $750 and $1,500 to get one free mid tier room. Without any bonus points promotions going, this is not a very good deal for the budget traveler.
If Wyndham Hotels is not running any kind of promotion and Choice Hotels isn’t either, the Wyndham Hotels Rewards program can be a better deal if your stays only last one night. The 1,000 point minimum per stay will help you accrue points faster than just getting 10 points per dollar at Choice Hotels. It all depends on the length of your stays and the nightly rates you end up paying.
How Good Are Wyndham Hotels Reward Point Bonuses?
Toward the end of 2021 and into January of 2022, Wyndham Hotels offered some pretty good points bonuses. It seems like Wyndham and other hotel chains try to fill their hotels during the week using various incentives. During late 2021 and early 2022, Wyndham offered a 10,000 point bonus with a two night stay for those who checked in Sunday – Wednesday. A promo like this can be a great deal for the budget traveler. If you stay at a budget Wyndham property like Travelodge or Super8 in an area where rates are cheap (The Conowingo Dam area around Aberdeen, MD is one such place) you can book a two night mid week stay for about $50 per night. You’ll spend about $110 with tax for the two nights. You’ll get the standard 10 points per dollar spent. That will be about 1,000 points. Then you’ll get the 10,000 point bonus. In the end you’ll spend $110 for the two night stay and you’ll get 11,000 points. That’s enough for one free budget room (7,500 points) and you’ll have 3,500 points left over. This promotion could only be used once per customer.
Sometimes Wyndham runs multiple promos at the same time. During the same period, another offer was to stay any four nights and get 7,500 points. Those two nights above that you stayed counted toward the 4-night promo. If you booked a two night mid-week stay you got 11,000 points. If you booked two more single night stays at a $50 room rate, you got 1,000 point for each of those stays and then a 7,500 point bonus for staying a total of 4 nights. If each room had a $50 room rate, after 4 nights you spent about $220 for four nights and you got 22,500 points. You paid for four budget hotel nights and you had enough points for 3 more free ones. Your final cost per night came out to under $32! The stay 4 nights, get 7,500 points could be used twice.
During this same period Wyndham also had a stay two nights, get a $50 gas or Amazon gift card. If you booked a budget hotel in the $50/night range you spent about $110 for the two night stay, got a $50 gift card and got 1,000 points. In the end your net room rate came out to be around $32 once again.
When Wyndham is running promotions, you can get your average room rate down into the low $30 range per night. In order to do this you’ll need to:
- Read the details of each promotion very carefully.
- Make sure you register for each individual promotion in your account.
- Find areas like Aberdeen, MD with lots of Wyndham Hotels with cheap room rates.
- Be prepared to stay midweek, stay two consecutive nights, or bounce around to different Wyndham Hotels if needed to maximize your reward points.
The budget hotels in the Wyndham portfolio can be older, a bit worn and very basic. If your goal is see and experience the local area you are visiting and the hotel is just a place to sleep, shower, watch TV and pop something into the microwave, the Wyndham Budget hotels can be an excellent value when gift card or reward points bonuses are juiced up.
What’s The Bottom Line On The Wyndham Hotel Rewards Program?
When Wyndham Hotels runs points and gift card promotions, the budget traveler can get the average cost per hotel night down in the low $30 range. It’s important to register for every available promotion and always book direct through the Wyndham Hotels site or the app. If you want to stay at more upscale properties in the Wyndham Hotels collection, the gift card and points promos can still help you save on travel but the percentage you save and the average room rate you pay will be significantly higher.
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