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Why I bought 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points today

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Daily Getaways five weeks of daily offers ended for 2016 this week. Still, there are Wyndham Rewards points and IHG Rewards points available for sale through U.S. Travel Association’s 2016 seasonal sale until May 13, 2016 or when they sell out.

I purchased 15,000 points when Wyndham Rewards points went on sale during this year’s Daily Getaways daily offers. Today, I bought another 15,000 points for $150 to get the maximum 30,000 points allowed per member.

I find Wyndham Rewards points have about the highest value of any hotel points out there right now with Wyndham Rewards GoFast rewards, their brand of Cash and Points with a fixed co-pay amount from $25 to $150+. These GoFast rewards were even better last year before the upper limit reward night copay increased from $95 to $150, or even higher depending on country.

The basic deal with buying Wyndham Rewards points are two-fold.

  1. Wyndham Rewards points only allows a member to buy 5,000 points in a calendar year. Daily Getaways allows Wyndham Rewards member to buy 30,000 points at rate of $10 per 1,000 points. The rate is $11 per 1,000 points to buy Wyndham Rewards points through normal program channels.
  2. You don’t have to stay frequently in Wyndham brand hotels.

Here is the straight truth on Wyndham Rewards hotels from my perspective. This is America’s crap brand on the low end with Super 8, Days Inn, Howard Johnson and Travelodge, but you can find one most anywhere you are in the country. Super 8 at 2,665 hotels rivals Holiday Inn Express and Best Western as a mega-brand.

There are some nice Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the USA, but Wyndham Hotels worldwide are only a couple hundred hotels out of nearly 8,000 hotels in Wyndham Rewards. That is the basic hang up points and miles travelers have with Wyndham Rewards. Most of us do not want to stay in one of their 7,000 budget motels.

The sweet spot comes with those few hundred or so perfectly fine hotels in cities and towns all over the globe. Wyndham Rewards hotels are in dozens of countries, primarily in the Ramada and Wyndham hotel brands. TripAdvisor and Google Maps will tell you most everything else you need to know about the hotel and location.

I have redeemed 18,000 points in Wyndham Rewards in the past month for six nights in Amsterdam and Switzerland. Those 18,000 points were replaced for $180 through Daily Getaways purchases of 30,000 points.

Ramada #1 Switzerland – 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points saved $107 USD per night on room rate.

A Ramada in Switzerland where I booked a 2-night stay for next September had the lowest room rate at 209.90CHF. That is $216.79 USD per night. Wyndham Rewards GoFast rate was 3,000 points + 77CHF ($79.54 USD). Two reward nights cost 6,000 points, or $60 in Daily Getaways. My total rate is $110 per night rather than $217 per night with Wyndham Rewards points.

Ramada #2 Switzerland – 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points saved $30 USD per night on room rate.

Another Ramada in Switzerland where I booked three nights for September had a special 3-night rate of 405 CHF or $418.42 for 3 nights = $140 per night.

Go Fast Rate = 3,000 points + 77 CHF  ($79.54 USD). My final rate is $110 per night for GoFast including the cost to buy Wyndham Rewards points. Spending $90 for 9000 points saves $180 on this hotel stay.

Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre (April stay) – 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points + 54.60 EUR ($62 USD) saved $192 USD per night on room rate.

I was able to book a King Executive Room on GoFast rate for 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points + 54.60 EUR. The advance purchase room rate for this room category was 223 EUR or $254/night.

18,000 Wyndham Rewards points for six GoFast nights cut hotel rates by $500

These example hotels show six nights of Wyndham Rewards GoFast rate discounts I booked recently for 18,000 points ($180). Those 18,000 points cut my room rates by nearly $500 for the six hotel nights I booked at Ramada hotels in Amsterdam and Switzerland in 2016. I averaged more than $50 off nightly rates buying Wyndham Rewards points. That is why I bought 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points today.

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Ramada Vilnius, Lithuania.

2 Comments

  • bluecat May 5, 2016

    Rick, Head’s up on a glitch with Wyndham. If you want to book via their web app, the GO Fast rate can be DIFFERENT than via the website. (If you are interested, try Einseideln, Switzerland via the mobile and via the web…it’s 30+ Francs more on the mobile app.)

    I’ve never seen this sort of thing before.

  • […] I find my Wyndham Rewards points have a value around $40 to $60 per 1,000 points. That is why I purchased 30,000 Wyndham Rewards points in this year’s U.S. Travel Association’s Daily […]

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