The annual fee for our Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card recently came due. At $95 per year, I wanted to reflect on the past year and determine whether it’s worth renewing.
As a reminder, my goal this year is to reduce by 25% the number our cards that have annual fees. While this card wasn’t originally on my cut list, it’s always good to reassess whether I’m getting enough value.
I also want to do more than just break even—simply recouping the annual fee isn’t enough to justify keeping a card. Fortunately, Barclays allows cardholders to cancel and receive a refund of the annual fee within 60 days of it posting. That gives me ample time to decide.
Let’s break down the card’s benefits and how I used them over the past year.
Card Benefits
15,000 Anniversary Bonus Points
Each year, the card provides 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points—enough for up to two free nights at Wyndham’s lower-tier properties.
10% Discount on Award Nights
This card offers a 10% discount on free night redemptions—a unique perk compared to other programs where similar discounts are given as rebates after your stay. With this card, the reduced rate applies at the time of booking.
Spending Bonus Categories
The card earns:
- 8X points on gas purchases and Wyndham hotels
- 5X points on utilities, marketing, and advertising
- 1X points on everything else
Wyndham Diamond Status
The card comes with Wyndham Diamond status, which includes:
- Suite upgrades (when available)
- Late checkout
- Welcome amenities
- Bonus points on stays
Unfortunately, Caesars Rewards no longer allows status matching for Wyndham Diamond members unless they earn status through actual hotel stays—meaning credit card status no longer qualifies.
How We Used Wyndham Points
This year, we redeemed 40,500 points for a three-night stay at a Wingate property, which would have cost around $200 per night. That’s a solid 1.5 cents per point in value.
At that rate, the 15,000 anniversary points alone are worth $225, making it easy to justify the $95 annual fee.
Final Thoughts – Keep or Cancel?
Given the anniversary points, redemption discount, and good value on redemptions, this card easily pays for itself. Getting $225+ in value for a $95 fee makes it a strong contender to keep in my wallet—at least for now.
That said, with my goal of cutting back on annual fee cards, it’s worth considering whether I’m using it enough beyond just the anniversary points. If I’m not maximizing the bonus categories or leveraging Diamond status, it might not survive my next round of cuts.
For now, though? It stays.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
1 comment
Give them a call and get a retention agent. I called in January to close and when I mentioned the Caesar’s match dropping I got an immediate offer to waive the fee to keep it open another year.