When it comes to using points for hotel stays, most people agree that Hyatt points are the most valuable. During our stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, we redeemed our points for a club room and received close to 4 cents per point. Even when we stayed at the Hyatt Place in St. Paul, MN, we still got close to 3 cents per point when we redeemed our points.
When it comes to the next most valuable hotel point, there’s a bit more discussion. While I love IHG points, I’m happy to redeem them for between 0.5 and 1 cent per point. Hilton Honors points are worth around the same. Marriott Bonvoy points are worth, more as I can consistently find stays, for closer to 1 cent per point.
But when it comes to getting oversized value, I’m finding the best program to be Wyndham Rewards.
Why Wyndham?
Many people like Wyndham Rewards because of their partnership with Vacasa and the ability to use points to book cabins, houses and condos for the same price as a hotel room. We never used this benefit, so we weren’t impacted when Wyndham recently devalued this option.
My use for Wyndham Rewards is to book an average hotel room at one of their brands, like La Quinta, Microtel or Wingate, during peak season. Wyndham doesn’t use peak pricing, so if a hotel is in the 15,000-point tier, it costs the same during the slow season as on a peak weekend.
This comes in handy when you’re looking for a hotel at a popular location during a summer weekend. Like if you’re looking to stay in New Braunfels, TX in July.
You had to know I was going to talk about New Braunfels, the home of Schlitterbahn Water Park.
The castle at Schlitterbahn water park, New Braunfels, TX (ignore my hair, please…it’s a water park)
Getting Maximum Value for Wyndham Rewards Points
After visiting New Braunfels in the summer for over a decade, we’ve learned that hotel room rates skyrocket on Friday and Saturday nights. This summer, a three-night weekend stay at a Wyndham property costs over $200/night.
However, the same hotel costs 15,000 points per night, or 45,000 points for three nights. Because we have the Wyndham Rewards Business Earner card, we receive a 10% discount on award stays, which is 40,500 points for the same stay.
I’m getting 1.48 cents per point with Wyndham Rewards. In fact, I’m doing better because with Wyndham Rewards, you can book an upgraded room for the same price as a base room, so I booked a mini-suite for the same number of points.
How To Get Wyndham Rewards Points?
Wyndham Rewards is a transfer partner with both Citi ThankYou and Capital One. Redeeming either of those points for over 1 cent each is a win because it’s easy to earn 2x points per dollar spent in either of those programs with the Citi Double Cash or the Capital One Venture X. I also earn 5X ThankYou points with my Citi Custom Cash card in specific categories.
However, I’ve earned almost all our Wyndham Rewards points with the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card. It’s a great card to earn Wyndham Rewards, with 8X points on Wyndham stays and gas station purchases and 5X on utilities, marketing and advertising.
Considering that I earned 45,000 points as a signup bonus, I already have a 6 figure balance after the first year. It also has a 15,000-point bonus for each account anniversary. If I’m able to redeem those points at 1.5 cents each, I’m making back way more than the $95 annual fee.
Final Thought
Wyndham Rewards offers some upscale properties, but they all cost 30,000 points per night. However, it can be difficult to find value for stays at those hotels. The best value for Wyndham Rewards is found in mid-range properties during peak season. This is when a hotel that usually costs $100 a night can charge $200. Redeeming 15,000 points for that stay is a great deal. Since we don’t always stay at luxury resorts, it’s not difficult to find a Wyndham hotel where we can get outsized value for our points.
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