Wyndham Rewards has added some time-share vacation properties for GoFast and GoFree reward nights. Wyndham is both a hotel group brand and a global leading player in the vacation time-share market. My check of the website today indicates one of the changes for 2016 will be more options to use Wyndham Rewards points for time-share vacation properties.
Wyndham Hotel Group consists of 15 hotel brands.
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
- Wyndham Grand Hotels & Resorts
- Dolce Hotels & Resorts (conference hotels)
- Wyndham Garden Hotels
- Wingate by Wyndham
- Tryp by Wyndham
- Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
- Microtel by Wyndham
- Ramada Worldwide
- Baymont Inn & Suites
- Days Inn
- Super 8
- Howard Johnson
- Travelodge
- Knights Inn
In a global hotel chain with nearly 7,700 hotels worldwide, Wyndham Rewards is characterized by its economy level hotel brands throughout the USA. Super 8, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Ramada dot thousands of places across the USA. There are a lot of cheap hotels for earning Wyndham Rewards points.
The value I find in Wyndham Rewards with 2015 changes is the opportunity to redeem 15,000 points for a free night at hotel brands like Wyndham Grand, Wyndham Hotels and Dolce Hotels & Resorts.
Wyndham Vacation Rentals and Club Wyndham time-share reward nights
Now it looks like Wyndham Rewards may be expanding its program to include Wyndham Vacation Rentals and Club Wyndham reward nights. There are two special offers listed on the Wyndham Rewards site for redeeming Wyndham Rewards points at select Wyndham Vacation Rental and Club Wyndham properties in 2016.
There are only a handful of properties listed in the current promotions, however, I think this might be a test run for expanded Wyndham Rewards points redemption options.
Club Wyndham and Wyndham Vacation Rental Reward Nights
This looks like a great opportunity for some hotels, but the limitation is few participating properties in these promotions.
Club Wyndham
The CLUB WYNDHAM® Go Free and Go Fast Award Promotion (the “CLUB WYNDHAM Promotion”) is only available at the following CLUB WYNDHAM properties (collectively, the “Promotion Properties”):
- Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort (Orlando, FL),
- Wyndham Grand Desert (Las Vegas, NV),
- Wyndham Branson at the Meadows (Branson, MO), and
- Wyndham Bali Hai Villas (Princeville, Kauai, HI)
I checked Princeville for February 2016 to find some good value stays at the GoFast rate of 3,000 points + $79 per night.
Wyndham Bal Hai Villas were priced at $195 per night on Expedia.com for the same dates. This hotel stay has a value of about $100 saved for 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points. You have to pay tax on the cash portion of the GoFast reward and no points are earned on GoFast stays for the cash portion.
This looks like a good Wyndham Rewards hotel deal for Kauai.
Wyndham Vacation Rentals
There are only a few properties listed for reward stays at Wyndham Vacation Rentals, all in the USA.
- Turtle Cove Villas (Charleston, SC),
- Baskins Creek Condominiums (Gatlinburg, TN),
- Crystal Tower (Gulf Shores, AL),
- Lodge at Steamboat (Steamboat Springs, CO),
- The Inn at Aspen (Aspen, CO),
- Copperbottom Inn (Park City, UT),
- Black Bear Lodge (Park City, UT)
Wyndham Vacation Property – Turtle Cove, Charleston, South Carolina
The Mills House is a great location in historic downtown Charleston, SC. Turtle Cove looks like a nice Wyndham destination for a family getaway on the coast.
$208 per night Friday-Saturday May 13-15, 2016
What I have learned from checking a couple of properties
My phone calls to check prices on three different hotels revealed a few things.
1. A two bedroom unit is double points or 30,000 points per night for GoFree rewards.
2. GoFast Rewards cash portion is 80% of the published rate according to the representatives. However, the GoFast copay amount for The Inn at Aspen and Turtle Cove South Carolina were higher rates than the published rates on the hotel’s website for similar rooms at these hotels.
My assessment of these special time-share property rewards is you can get a great deal using 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points for a GoFree reward night.
Exorbitant cash co-pay amounts make Wyndham Rewards GoFast Rewards a poor deal for the two hotels I checked from the Wyndham Vacation Rental properties.
The Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas looks like a decent deal using GoFast Rewards.
These new reward stay options for time-share vacation properties with Wyndham Rewards is one to keep an eye on for expansion in 2016.
