Wanna Getaway in France? Wyndham Rewards 15K Presidential Suite

While this article comes a day after the Daily Getaways Wyndham Rewards points sale, I realized early yesterday morning the post would not be irrelevant if posted one day later. I saw very little chance of Wyndham Rewards points selling out before today.

Wyndham Rewards points went on sale April 17 in Daily Getaways at $175 for 15,000 points. Each Wyndham Rewards member can buy 2 sets of points for 30,000 points. These points are still available for purchase.

It is odd to see the Daily Getaways page state “Save up to 35%†given that a Wyndham Rewards member can buy 10,000 points for $130. That is actually only 25.7% savings. I guess they rounded up.

15,000 points buys one GoFree reward night at any Wyndham brand property worldwide. There are probably only about 100 or so Wyndham brand properties worldwide where Wyndham Rewards GoFree reward night offers significant savings for a $175 reward night available by buying points in Daily Getaways.

Two GoFree reward nights for a $350 Daily Getaways points purchase can be a good value at some select properties. This article looks at two specific hotels in France I had my eye on for the past couple of years.

Bye Bye GoFast deals, Hello GoFree deals

This piece is also my lament to the devastating devaluation to Wyndham Rewards GoFast rates, their version of cash&points reward nights.  Wyndham Rewards GoFast rates last month changed from a fixed copay amount as low as $25 to $150+ for any specific hotel and a rate that was available at thousands of hotels worldwide.

GoFast reward nights copay amounts are now a dynamic rate based on 65% of the hotel’s Best Flexible Rate (BAR) for any specific dates.

Loyalty Traveler – Program devaluation – Wyndham Rewards GoFast copay now pegged to room rate (March 26, 2018).

Wyndham Rewards eliminated the best value for points rewards last month when the program changed GoFast Reward nights from 3,000 points + fixed copay to 3,000 points + 65% of Best Available Rate BAR.

Since group rates like AAA and AARP generally offer a 10% rate discount on BAR and Advance Purchase rates generally offer 15% or 20% discount on BAR, the GoFast copay is only 15% to 25% off the otherwise lowest available rates.

Redeeming 3,000 points for a GoFast rate also means you don’t earn the minimum 1,000 points for a paid Wyndham hotel brand stay. Essentially you are giving up at least 4,000 points to get a 15% to 25% discount on the nightly room rate. You only get decent redemption value on Wyndham Rewards GoFast rates now when the regular room rate is about $200 or more.

My last GoFast stay in February 2018 was 5 nights at Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre in an Executive Room for 3,000 points + 65EUR per night ($80 USD).

Loyalty Traveler – Ramada Apollo Amsterdam 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points saved $500.

I paid 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points + 325EUR ($402.36USD) when the BAR rate was 730EUR ($897.17USD). Basically, I dropped the rate from $180 per night to $80 per night with 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points. That kind of value is no longer available with Wyndham Rewards GoFast rates.

Last month there were literally thousands of hotels where 3,000 Wyndham Rewards points for GoFast reward nights offered a discount rate worth considering for the hotel. That has been reduced to probably fewer than 100 to 200 hotels worldwide where GoFast rates offer a significant discount.

The Good News with GoFree rates is still Suite News

The aspect that has not changed with Wyndham Rewards is there are hotels that still offer upgraded rooms, including suites for points. My lament is these hotel suites still available as GoFree rewards used to be available as GoFast Rewards at fantastic discounts for some hotels. Now these deals are basically only GoFree reward nights at 15,000 points per night.

The 65% GoFast cash copay means a $300 per night hotel suite that was available last month for 3,000 points + $65 on a GoFast rate will now cost 3,000 points + $195.

Or pay 15,000 points to GoFree with Wyndham Rewards.

The secret is knowing which Wyndham brand hotels offer high category rooms and suites.

And here is one of those hotel deals I have not previously shared explicitly on Loyalty Traveler.

Wyndham Halcyon Resort La Souterraine, France

Presidential King Suite

1 King Presidential Suite With 2 Bathrooms Free WiFi, Living Room, Dining Room, Luxury View. Located on the third floor our spacious presidential or honeymoon suite can welcome up to 6 people. The room is composed of a main bedroom with King bed, 2 baths, a smaller room, a spacious living and dining room. One bathroom is equipped with bath and shower and a second bathroom with 2 showers. Experience the splendid views of the arboretum and the lakes.

This countryside Wyndham Resort in central France offers the Presidential Suite as a reward night option. This Presidential Suite is one of the Wyndham Rewards points deals that has been around for a couple of years with GoFast rates for 3,000 points + 61EUR per night.

I booked a 3-night stay for July 2017 in the Wyndham Halcyon Presidential Suite at a total cost of 187.05EUR + 9,000 points when I thought Kelley and I would hang out in France during Le Tour. That was about $70 USD + 3,000 points per night in summer 2017.

We ended up traveling to Prague instead.

Wyndham Halcyon Le Souterrain July 9-13 for 4 nights

I checked today for Wyndham Halcyon Le Souterrain GoFast rates and they are available for only one room type, Prestige Accessible King Lake View for 498.35 EUR ($616.92 USD) + 3,000 points per night. That GoFast rate is $250 more per night than simply paying the published rate that includes breakfast.

Prestige Accessible King Lake View = 291 EUR ($360.24 USD) per night.

Presidential Suite = 471 EUR ($583.06 USD) per night.

But, you can still book the Presidential Suite as a GoFree reward night for 15,000 points per night.

$175 to buy points for a $583 room night

Two Wyndham Rewards members can buy 60,000 points in the Daily Getaways sale for $700 and book a 4-night stay in the Presidential Suite at Wyndham Halcyon Resort Le Souterraine. 

But I wonder if this deal will stick around for much longer after publishing it here?

I lament the fact that we no longer have the opportunity to book this Presidential Suite for 61EUR + 3,000 points. That is another hotel discount opportunity that went away in a tough two years of devaluations we have seen hit hotel loyalty programs.

Loyalty Traveler – 4 hotel loyalty member changes made budget travel more expensive in 2017-18.

Dolce Fregate Provence Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, France 

You might also want to consider a seaside holiday stay at Dolce Fregate Provence.

This is one of the hotels where a GoFree reward night still potentially saves over 100EUR per night on room rate.

Fri July 20 – Mon July 23, 2018

Superior room

Go Fast 187.85 EUR ($232.46) + 3,000 points per night

GoFree 15,000 points per night

Lowest rate = 289 EUR per night ($357.63 USD).

Wyndham Rewards points still have high potential value at maybe 100 hotels worldwide. Regrettably, the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program that put high value GoFast Reward nights in place in May 2015  eliminated the best part of the loyalty program for me with last month’s devaluation to GoFast Reward rates.