Wyndham Expired My Points When They Said They Wouldn’t. Here’s How To Get Them Back.

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Starting in April 2020, hotel loyalty programs started to postpone the expiration of points due to the decreased travel caused by COVID-19. Some of them extended points until the end of the year, while others took a more conservative, or hopeful, stance and only extended points for a few months at a time.

For example, Wyndham Rewards had to extend points thru May, then September, December, and now through June 2021.

What will happen to my Wyndham Rewards points that are set to expire?

We are pausing the expiration of any Wyndham Rewards points until June 30, 2021.

However, a strange thing started to happen to those with Wyndham Rewards that were due to expire. Despite the promise that expirations were on hold, Wyndham took points from accounts for inactivity, including mine. The timing was exactly 18 months from my last La Quinta paid stay.

After finding the note about point extension on the Wyndham Rewards website, I called customer service at 1-866-Wyn-Rwds (1-866-996-7937).

After a short hold, I was connected to a rep and was asked to confirm my account number, address and phone number. I was then informed that my account had a zero balance and how he could be of assistance. I said the zero balance was why I called and I thought that points expiration for inactivity was on hold due to COVID-19. He apologized and said they would look into my account and could I please hold.

It took a few more minutes on hold but he returned to inform me that the points in my account were reinstated and I should see my balance when refreshing my account online. Sure enough, my points were back in my account. 

I know there’s not much that I can do with less than 3,000 Wyndham points but I wanted to check to see how difficult it is to get points back that shouldn’t have been taken away in the first place. The rep I spoke to was very pleasant and looked to be familiar with the problem. In all, my call took less than 7 minutes. The real question is why I had to call? Apparently, Wyndham knows that they voided points but isn’t making any real effort to put those points back, leaving it to the member to call and ask for them. For those who don’t notice the points are gone or that Wyndham promised to extend them, I guess they’re out of luck.

While my call was painless, I can imagine a case where you might get a phone rep who isn’t as knowledgeable and refuses to reinstate your points. At first, I’d recommend HUCA (Hang Up, Call Again). If that doesn’t work or you don’t want to deal with the hassle, this article from Doctor of Credit has an email where you can send information about getting your points back.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary