Wyndham Rewards launches a new promotion today running February 3 through April 30, 2011.
- Earn 2x points or miles on 2nd stay.
- Earn 3x points or miles on 3rd stay.
- Earn 4x points or miles on 4th stay.
Promotion registration is required.
Hotel stays must be completed by May 7th to qualify for this promotion.
There are no additional bonus points or miles for more than 4 stays during the promotion period. You do not earn 4x points for every stay after the 4th stay.
Earn 1,000 additional bonus points for hotel stays paid with Wyndham Visa card on 2nd, 3rd and 4th stays. Maximum credit card additional bonus is 3,000 points.
Wyndham Rewards hotel brands include over 6,500 hotels in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Wyndham Grand Collection, Wyndham Garden, Wingate, Hawthorn Suites, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Baymont Inn & Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Knights Inn.
Loyalty Traveler Analysis
This promotion only offers a bonus on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stays during the promotion period. Unlike recent promotions from other hotel loyalty programs, this offer does not apply 4x points to all previous stays.
Basically the best strategy is maximize the dollar spend on the 4th hotel stay. An expensive vacation or business stay or an extended stay could make this a high value points bonus.
My analysis below shows the best choice for members wanting to maximize miles is choosing bonus points. Wyndham Rewards points will likely result in more miles through points-to-miles exchange rather than choosing bonus miles for this promotion. Wyndham Rewards has the highest static exchange rate for points-to-miles of any hotel loyalty program. Static exchange rate means the rate is the same (2.5 Wyndham Rewards points = 1 mile) regardless of the number of points converted to miles.
High-end Wyndham Rewards hotels run 25,000 points to 45,000 points per night.
Assume $200 per stay for four stays.
- Stay 1 = 2,000 points ($200 x 10 points/$1)
- Stay 2 = 4,000 points ($200 x 20 points/$1)
- Stay 3 = 6,000 points ($200 x 30 points/$1)
- Stay 4 = 8,000 points ($200 x 40 points/$1)
$800 hotel spend over 4 hotel stays earns 20,000 points. You will have sufficient points for a Tier 4 award (16,000 points) or a low tier Wyndham Hotel (15,000), but you will have insufficient points for a high end Wyndham Hotel or Resort in locations like downtown  Chicago (25,000 to 45,000), New York (25,000 to 45,000) or Sugar Bay Resort, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (45,000).
Earning Miles
Wyndham Rewards earns miles with 20 different airlines and Amtrak. Wyndham Rewards has one of the highest point-to-miles exchange rates among hotel loyalty programs. Programs like Marriott and goldpoints plus have higher exchange rates in their dynamic points-to-miles system, but that requires large numbers of points (100,000+) to get a better exchange rate than Wyndham Rewards.
Most airlines earn at the rate of 2 miles per $1 or 500 miles per stay at Wyndham Hotels and Hawthorn Suites. You will need to analyze earn rates to determine if more miles are earned choosing 2x, 3x and 4x miles or choosing points and making a points-to-miles exchange with a static exchange rate of 8,000 points = 3,200 miles or 2.5 points = 1 mile with most frequent flyer programs.
Here is a sample earning table:
Assume $200 per stay for four stays and United Mileage Plus.
- Stay 1 (Microtel) = 2,000 points or 400 miles (base earning rate).
- Â Â Â Â ($200 x 2 miles/$1) Points are better = 800 miles.
- Stay 2 (Hawthorn Suites) = 2,000 points ($200 x 10 points/$1) or 1,000 miles (double miles 2 x 500)
- Â Â Â Â (Miles are better choice since Hawthorn Suites has low 5 points/$1 earn rate. 2000 points = 800 miles).
- Stay 3 (Super 8 ) = 6,000 points or 1,200 miles (triple miles)
- Â Â Â Â ($200 x 30 points/$1 or 6 miles/$1 = 1,200 miles) 6,000 points are better = 2,400 miles.
- Stay 4 (Wyndham) = 8,000 points or  2,000 miles (4x miles).
-     ($200 x 40 points/$1 or 500 miles per stay x 4). 8,000 points are better = 3,200 miles.
Bottom line: This promotion favors earning points rather than miles as long as you accrue 8,000 total points for a minimum points-to-miles exchange. The only time miles are the better choice is for Hawthorn Suites stays where points is based on 5 points/$1 earn rate. The earn rate for Hawthorn Suites quietly changed from 10 points/$1 to only 5 points/$1 in December 2010. This change does not even appear to have been mentioned by anyone on FlyerTalk to date.
