Wyndham Rewards: Your Ultimate Guide in 2024

Our comprehensive guide teaches you to earn, redeem, and maximize points in the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program for free nights, upgrades, and more.

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• The Wyndham Rewards loyalty program includes more than 9,000 hotels across 20 brands worldwide.
• You can also use Wyndham points to book vacation rentals through Wyndham's partnership with Vacasa.
• It's easy to earn Wyndham points with stays as well as purchases on co-branded credit cards.
• Read Business Insider's guide to the best travel rewards credit cards.

Introduction to Wyndham Rewards

While it's often overshadowed by bigger and flashier hotel loyalty programs, Wyndham Rewards deserves some attention, too. The chain comprises over 9,000 properties in more than 80 countries worldwide. Its 20 brands are mostly targeted to budget-minded vacationers, and include well-known brands such as Wyndham Grand, Ramada, AmericInn, Days Inn, La Quinta, Travelodge, and Howard Johnson, among others.

Wyndham Rewards members can also redeem points for vacation rentals and resorts in North America, Belize, and Costa Rica through Wyndham's partnership with Vacasa, a vacation rental platform. All of Vacasa's properties are available to book with Wyndham points, giving members access to more than 50,000 hotels, vacation rentals, and resort properties worldwide.

How to join Wyndham Rewards and start earning points and elite status

Travelers can enroll in Wyndham Rewards for free, and automatically receive free Wi-Fi during stays. Members begin earning points on stays as soon as they enroll in the program, and can reach Gold status — the first rung of elite status tiers — after staying just five nights.

Elite status with Wyndham Rewards unlocks perks like earning bonus points on reservations, having the option of selecting preferred rooms, receiving late checkout, and more. Wyndham also offers a co-branded credit card that makes earning points even easier.

With just three levels of elite status, Wyndham Rewards isn't as sophisticated as some of the larger loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors. But the program's simplicity is one of its strengths, as members can leverage their travel activity for rewards relatively effortlessly.

Here's everything you need to know to start earning, redeeming, and making the most of Wyndham Rewards points.

Wyndham Rewards elite status

You can earn elite status with Wyndham to further accelerate your earnings. Here are the current levels.

• Gold status: Earned after staying five nights. Gold members earn 10% bonus points on stays, so 11 points per dollar instead of 10
• Platinum: Earned after 15 nights. Platinum members earn 15% bonus points, so 11.5 per dollar instead of 10
• Diamond: Earned after 40 nights. Diamond members earn 20% bonus points, so 12 per dollar instead of 10

The more you stay, the more you earn, but these modest bonuses might not be worth much effort at Wyndham hotels unless you plan to stay there regardless. Instead, consider opening a Wyndham co-branded credit card that automatically includes elite status.  

Earning Wyndham points

There are myriad ways to accumulate Wyndham points, beginning with the most obvious option: Hotel stays through Wyndham.

Staying at Wyndham properties

Staying in a Wyndham hotel is the most straightforward way to earn rewards. Base-tier Wyndham Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar, or 1,000 points, whichever is more, at participating properties and at over 30 Caesars Entertainment destinations, such as Caesars, Harrah's, Bally's, and Paris in Las Vegas.

To earn points or credit toward elite status, you must book your stays directly through Wyndham. Reservations made through a third party, such as an online travel agency like Expedia, will not count.

Earn points from Wyndham credit cards

As with other hotel loyalty programs, getting a co-branded credit card is one of the easiest and fastest ways to earn points quickly and enjoy elite status perks to boot.

Wyndham offers several credit cards with unique bonuses and benefits. Cardholdres can stretch their points even further with a 10% discount on go free (all points rather than points and cash) award redemptions.

The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Plus Card is currently offering 75,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. 

That's enough for up to 13 nights at some of Wyndham's least expensive properties. The card earns 6 points per dollar on Wyndham stays and gas; 4 points per dollar at restaurants and grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart); and 1 point per dollar on everything else (excluding Wyndham Vacation Club down payments).

Cardholders receive automatic Platinum elite status, so they can count on benefits like upgrades on Avis car rentals, early check-in priority, and a status match to the Caesars Rewards program. Each year after their account anniversary, they also receive 7,500 bonus points. The annual fee is the $75.

The Wyndham Rewards® Earner Card charges no annual fee and comes with a welcome bonus: 45,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.

Cardholders accumulate 5 points per dollar spent on hotels by Wyndham and on gas purchases; 2 points per dollar on dining and groceries (excluding Target and Walmart) and purchases at Wyndham Timeshare properties; and 1 point per dollar on everything else (excluding Wyndham Vacation Club down payments).

Earner Card cardholders also receive automatic Wyndham Rewards Gold status, and can snag 7,500 bonus points each account year that they spend $15,000 or more on purchases.

Don't forget about the Wyndham Rewards® Earner Business Card, which has even better earning rates in some respects, and charges a $95 annual fee. It also has a welcome bonus: 50,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days, and 25,000 bonus points after spending $10,000 within the first 12 months.

It earns 8 points per dollar on Wyndham purchases and gas; 5 points per dollar on marketing, advertising, and utilities; and 1 point per dollar on other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resorts down payments).

Cardmembers enjoy top-tier Diamond elite status, with a shot at suite upgrades and check-in welcome amenities as well as the ability to gift Gold status to another Wyndham Rewards member. Cardholders also get 15,000 bonus points each year on their card anniversary.

Transfer Capital One miles to Wyndham Rewards

If you have a Capital One card that earns reward miles, you can transfer them to Wyndham Rewards at a rate of 1 mile to 1 Wyndham point. Here are the cards that qualify:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Spark Miles for Business†
• Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business†

Buy Wyndham Rewards points

As with other loyalty currencies, it is possible to simply purchase extra Wyndham points you might need for a stay or other redemption. You can buy up to 45,000 per calendar year in 1,000-point increments, and they cost 1.3 cents apiece. You'll be hard-pressed to get that value from most redemptions, though, so you should only consider this as a last resort. 

Earn bonus points on Avis rentals

When you book an Avis car rental through Wyndham Rewards, you can take advantage of frequent bonus points promotions. Through May 15, for instance, you can earn 1,000 bonus points for qualifying rentals of three days or longer and save up to 35% on base rates at participating locations.

Earn Wyndham points shopping online

Wyndham Rewards members can sign into the program's online shopping portal to earn multiple points per dollar spent at hundreds of partner merchants' sites.

All you need to do is log in with your membership number, click on the retailer you want to shop with, and you will be redirected to its site. You can typically earn between 1 and 30 bonus points per dollar spent with various stores like Home Depot, Macy's, Staples, Lowes, Grubhub, Apple, and more.

Other ways to earn Wyndham points

Among the other easy ways to rack up Wyndham Rewards quickly are booking activities like live performances, walking tours, and museum visits through the brand's destination portal to earn 10 points per dollar. Link your Wyndham account to your one with Marathon Gas and Arco Make It Count, and you can save money on fuel as well as earning 2 points per gallon (you can also redeem points for gas purchases, but it's not a great deal).

You can also score 2,500 points on your first meal kit from Home Chef, and earn 500 points for each additional box. Finally, you can join Opinion Rewards Panel and earn 500 points after completing your first survey.

Redeeming Wyndham points

There are several different ways to redeem Wyndham points, but the best will likely be for hotel stays.

Free nights at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts

There are two ways you can redeem your rewards for hotel stays through Wyndham: go free awards are booked only with points, while go fast award stays combine points and cash. 

go free awards

Wyndham Rewards has an extremely simple award chart, with just three tiers for outright points redemptions called go free awards. Per night, hotels cost either:

• 7,500 points
• 15,000 points
• 30,000 points

It should be noted that nights at participating hotels start at 7,500 points, but accommodations at club resorts or vacation rentals cost 15,000 to 30,000 points per bedroom per night. Wyndham's search engine and filters makes it very easy for you to find hotels by destination, brand, amenities, and points required.

To put that into context, let's say you're planning a Hawaiian vacation and want to see your options. Unfortunately, you won't find any 7,500-point hotels. However, there are about a dozen options at the 15,000-point level, including properties like Club Wyndham at Waikiki Beach Walk on Oahu, Kona Coast Resort on the Big Island, and Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas on Kauai, among others. For 30,000 points, you can book a night at the Days Inn by Wyndham Maui Oceanfront.

In general, hotels in popular cities and vacation destinations are higher-priced, while those in more remote locations are less expensive. Before booking anything, divide the dollar price by the number of points you need for a night and aim to get between 1 and 1.5 cents per point in value.

go fast awards

Wyndham Rewards also lets members use a mix of points and cash for some awards. As with all-points bookings, the choices break down into three tiers:

• 1,500 points plus cash
• 3,000 points plus cash
• 6,000 points plus cash

So the points rates are set, but the cash co-pays can vary depending on nightly prices. Note that nights at participating club resorts and vacation rentals cost 3,000 to 6,000 points plus cash per bedroom. 

Redeem for timeshare maintenance fees

Folks who participate in one of Wyndham's timeshare or vacation club programs can redeem Wyndham points for maintenance fees at a rate of 10,000 points for $50 in value. Again, skip this option unless you have no other alternatives, since you won't get a high rate of return on your rewards.

Credits with Caesars Rewards

If you spend a fair amount of time in Las Vegas, you can leverage Wyndham Rewards' partnership with Caesars Rewards and convert your Wyndham points into points with Caesars at a 1:1 ratio and then use them to cover the cost of playing at casinos, for meals at nearly 250 restaurants, as well as for tickets to shows and other performances.

Maximizing your Wyndham Rewards

Apart from hotel stays, Wyndham Rewards members can redeem their points in a few other interesting ways.

• Experiences: Through the program's activities portal, you can use points instead of cash to book things like pub crawls, food tours, cooking classes, and more. However, you only get around 0.4 cents per point in value, so avoid it if possible.
• Merchandise: Use points for things like a Costco membership, a Rosetta Stone course, BarkBox subscriptions, and more — only don't make a habit of it since your points aren't worth much when cashed in this way.
• Gift cards: If you want to save some money and use points to purchase gift cards instead, that's an option. Again, you're not getting great value from your rewards this way, so don't do it often.
• Charitable donations: Use points to make donations to worthy causes like Save the Children and the National Parks Conservation Association. Redemptions start at just 500 points.

You won't find too many aspirational, world-class hotels among Wyndham's portfolio. However, the chain's huge global footprint and simple award chart, not to mention solid co-branded credit cards, make it easy both to earn and redeem points around the world.

Just avoid non-stay redemptions to maximize your rewards, and if you're a frequent Wyndham guest, consider getting one of the new credit cards so you can boost your earnings toward free stays even faster.

Wyndham Rewards frequently asked questions

How can I earn Wyndham Rewards points without staying at a hotel?

You can earn points by spending on Wyndham Rewards credit cards, as well as participating in partner activities and special promotions.

What is the fastest way to achieve Wyndham Rewards elite status?

The fastest way to earn status with Wyndham is by staying at Wyndham properties, using a Wyndham Rewards credit card for purchases, and taking advantage of promotional offers.

Do Wyndham Rewards points expire?

Wyndham points expire after 18 months of account inactivity, or four years after the check-out date of the stay from which they were earned.