Apparently Wyndham Rewards points values required to book resorts are changing at some resorts.

[Floridaman76]

A post on the Wyndham Rewards Facebook group from one of the members indicates in an email they received that points values for some Wyndham resorts you can book using Wyndham Rewards points is changing effective October 17 of this year.

Specifically two resorts which you could book a 1BR unit for 7500 points/night are changing to 15,000 points/night. Those two are Kingsgate and Smokey Mountains. I've used WR points to book Kingsgate a few times and it was a real bargain at 7500/night. I actually didn't know Smokey Mountains was one of the ones you could book for 7500/night. But not anymore apparently.

Several others which were previously 15,000/night are changing to 30,000/night.

The poster on Facebook referenced an email she received. I went through my emails and did not receive any such email, if anyone else can check their emails and confirm this, or provide more info. I would have posted a list, but the person on facebook posted pictures and not a list so it wasn't easy to copy/paste and I didn't want to use somoene else's photos.

I have used WR points at Cypress Palms, Seawatch and Kingsgate SEVERAL times and Star Island and Fairfield Glace once. They are all 7500/night.

I feel at 30,000 points per night, WR is not a good value when you consider how much you have to spend to accumulate that many points. Unless you go to updates and get the points for free.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Searched all of my emails, including my spam folder, turned up nothing along this line. That said, I do empty my spam folder weekly, so it's possible I simply could have missed it. Here's a link to the participating Wyndham timeshare resorts: https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations/locations?propertyTier=101:601:50

Most of the emails have a weblink that can be used if needed, so hopefully someone who actually received the communication in question can post the link into this thread.

 

[Floridaman76]

I never got the email, but I did log into the Wyndham Rewards page and there's a banner up at the top when you go into this link to get to the area you book Club Wyndham resorts at:

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations

Got this banner message:

This is the link, but it's a dead link:

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations/about-us/redemption-tier-changes

 

[Floridaman76]

If any of you are a member of the "Wyndham Rewards Diamond Members" Facebook group, the poster I am referencing posted a ton of screenshots with the details.

 

[Floridaman76]

That being said, as of this moment, you can still book any date using the CURRENT values, so what I think this means is that on October 17 those values will change when attempting to book from that date forward. The changes are not implemented NOW as of 10/17.

So if you need to book, I guess book now to preserve those points costs. One nice thing using WR points is you can cancel up to 2 DAYS before travel without penalty

 

[HitchHiker71]

I never got the email, but I did log into the Wyndham Rewards page and there's a banner up at the top when you go into this link to get to the area you book Club Wyndham resorts at:

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations

Got this banner message:

View attachment 115491

This is the link, but it's a dead link:

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations/about-us/redemption-tier-changes

LOL - dead link for me as well. Gotta love it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Floridaman76]

LOL - dead link for me as well. Gotta love it!

Makes you wonder if the Wyndham Hotel side uses the same inept IT staff that Club Wyndham does

 

[seascapemvy]

A post on the Wyndham Rewards Facebook group from one of the members indicates in an email they received that points values for some Wyndham resorts you can book using Wyndham Rewards points is changing effective October 17 of this year.

Specifically two resorts which you could book a 1BR unit for 7500 points/night are changing to 15,000 points/night. Those two are Kingsgate and Smokey Mountains. I've used WR points to book Kingsgate a few times and it was a real bargain at 7500/night. I actually didn't know Smokey Mountains was one of the ones you could book for 7500/night. But not anymore apparently.

Several others which were previously 15,000/night are changing to 30,000/night.

The poster on Facebook referenced an email she received. I went through my emails and did not receive any such email, if anyone else can check their emails and confirm this, or provide more info. I would have posted a list, but the person on facebook posted pictures and not a list so it wasn't easy to copy/paste and I didn't want to use somoene else's photos.

I have used WR points at Cypress Palms, Seawatch and Kingsgate SEVERAL times and Star Island and Fairfield Glace once. They are all 7500/night.

I feel at 30,000 points per night, WR is not a good value when you consider how much you have to spend to accumulate that many points. Unless you go to updates and get the points for free.

There is nothing unusual about point devaluation in the rewards game. Airlines do it all the time. People who play the credit card game are well aware of this happening. In fact I expect it because of inflation. If you had to spend $15,000 to get 15,000 points today the same $15,000 items would cost $18,750 because of inflation. Yes, certain rooms doubled but not all rooms, so it's better for everyone to still have the option of lower cost rooms.

 

[jp10558]

I am always surprised people are interested in Wyndham hotel rewards TBH. Are most people on TUG using them (if they have them) specifically to spend at resort properties?

Tangent:
I tried some non-Hilton branded hotels on the way to Branson and the Country Inn and Suites was very... close... to me not staying there. I see why priceline had it for $87 after taxes. The Drury next to the St Louis arch was good. Anyway, way less of the Wyndham hotel chains appeal to me - La Quinta looks ok online, but the reviews make me a little wary.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Makes you wonder if the Wyndham Hotel side uses the same inept IT staff that Club Wyndham does

Considering they are two separate public companies, that would be a no.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I am always surprised people are interested in Wyndham hotel rewards TBH. Are most people on TUG using them (if they have them) specifically to spend at resort properties?

We have on occasion used our WR points to stay at CW properties - but IME when you do so - you're more subject to overbooking issues and might not get the room you actually booked - whereas when booking using your timeshare points, this rarely happens (it has literally never happened to us when using our timeshare points - but I've seen others using timeshare points subject to overbooking constraints at popular high occupancy resorts during prime season. We typically use our WR points to stay at mid-level hotels in good locations - such as a Howard Johnson's on the OCMD boardwalk for example, or other oceanfront locations. We also use our WR points for Vacasa bookings.

Tangent:
I tried some non-Hilton branded hotels on the way to Branson and the Country Inn and Suites was very... close... to me not staying there. I see why priceline had it for $87 after taxes. The Drury next to the St Louis arch was good. Anyway, way less of the Wyndham hotel chains appeal to me - La Quinta looks ok online, but the reviews make me a little wary.

La Quinta is a decent mid-level three star type hotel (out of five stars). Many of the Wyndham hotel chains, most of which are franchised, are a mixed bag at best.

 

[jp10558]

We typically use our WR points to stay at mid-level hotels in good locations - such as a Howard Johnson's on the OCMD boardwalk for example

Oh wow, I would NOT have ever thought of Howard Johnson's as a mid-level hotel chain. Good to know.

We also use our WR points for Vacasa bookings.

Oh yea, I thought that might be worth it at one point, but when I ran the numbers it didn't really work out for me.

La Quinta is a decent mid-level three star type hotel (out of five stars). Many of the Wyndham hotel chains, most of which are franchised, are a mixed bag at best.

I guess that's true for most major chains now - though I have yet to see any Hilton chain hit that Country Inn & Suites by Radisson low level. Whoof.

 

[dioxide45]

Oh wow, I would NOT have ever thought of Howard Johnson's as a mid-level hotel chain. Good to know.

I might have considered it a midlevel chain back in the 80s or 90s, but not anymore. I believe even Wyndham considers it a low-budget/economy brand. I suspect there are some locations that are more of a gem, perhaps those in downtown urban centers. Many/most are not. When was the last time Wyndham even opened a new hotel under the brand?

 

[HitchHiker71]

I might have considered it a midlevel chain back in the 80s or 90s, but not anymore. I believe even Wyndham considers it a low-budget/economy brand. I suspect there are some locations that are more of a gem, perhaps those in downtown urban centers. Many/most are not. When was the last time Wyndham even opened a new hotel under the brand?

Most are franchised these days so it varies. The oceanfront hotels, even the lower tier hotels, are pretty well kept up IME when compared to the average condition of the hotels in the chain.

 

[Floridaman76]

Pretty much all of the hotels under the Wyndham Hotels system umbrella are mid to low level hotels. Wyndham Grand and Wyndham Garden are two of the hotels in the Wyndham Hotels system that are pretty reliable exceptions to that rule, the rest are a complete crap shoot. Some Wingate and La Quinta are pretty decent too. You may get an outlier Days Inn that's good, or maybe a Super 8 or Microtel that's fairly new, but if it's an older property, don't count on it. Howard Johnson's I would say prior to the mid 80's was a decent to high end hotel chain, on par with Holiday Inn, but they have gone WAY down hill since then.

I had a last minute need to stay in Frederick, MD because of a family member illness and I could not get a booking at any of the DC area resorts, so it HAD to be a hotel.

I ended up booking a Days Inn in Frederick for 7500/night and the room itself if clean, albeit spartan, but this is a VERY low rent motel. People living out of it. Apparently 2 doors down there is a family LIVING here, with 3 kids who apparently aren't going to school because they are out and about all day. Don't want to judge but I feel sorry for them.

I use my WR points when possible to book Wyndham Resorts, not hotels, but do book hotels to fill in gaps in travel where I can't book a resort, or for last minute instances like this family emergency out of state.

Spending $0 on a crappy hotel beats spending $150/night on a good hotel. We are here for 9 days, so that would have been very costly. I can live with this for free...

 

[Floridaman76]

There is nothing unusual about point devaluation in the rewards game. Airlines do it all the time. People who play the credit card game are well aware of this happening. In fact I expect it because of inflation. If you had to spend $15,000 to get 15,000 points today the same $15,000 items would cost $18,750 because of inflation. Yes, certain rooms doubled but not all rooms, so it's better for everyone to still have the option of lower cost rooms.

Yes, inflation, but the points values are DOUBLING at some properties... that's not inflation.

 

[Floridaman76]

I am always surprised people are interested in Wyndham hotel rewards TBH. Are most people on TUG using them (if they have them) specifically to spend at resort properties?

Tangent:
I tried some non-Hilton branded hotels on the way to Branson and the Country Inn and Suites was very... close... to me not staying there. I see why priceline had it for $87 after taxes. The Drury next to the St Louis arch was good. Anyway, way less of the Wyndham hotel chains appeal to me - La Quinta looks ok online, but the reviews make me a little wary.

Speaking for myself, I try to use the WR points for resort stays. I frequently have a need to stay for a few days at a time in Orlando and the Ft. Lauderdale area, and I can get Cypress Palms, Sea Gardens and Palm Aire for 7500/night, so for me, especially if it's a weekend, sometimes it's better use of my WR points than my CW points. Depends on the situation, if there's a sale going on, if it's in my discount window and if I can get an upgrade. I'm a Diamond WR member so I also get suite upgrades (you sometimes have to fight with them over this), but I can frequently get a 2BR unit for 7500 WR points, which is pretty good.

But also I use the points for hotel stays here and there when I need to.

The change at Kingsgate will be the only one that immediatley affects me, as i've used that one several times, including twice in the last calendar year. Looks like Sea Gardens and Cypress Palms are staying at 7500.

Palm Aire can be a crap shoot because chances are you will get put in the WORST section, so that's my south florida last resort...

 

[Mowogo]

Yes, inflation, but the points values are DOUBLING at some properties... that's not inflation.

Wyndham Rewards was known to provide excess value with Club Wyndham properties at these rates. This is what loyalty programs do all over, and Wyndham Rewards simplified rate structure amplifies corrections. This happens every time they move hotels up, and this time it was time for a bunch of Club Wyndham properties to reach this inflation which because of the structure of the program becomes a doubling.

 

[tschwa2]

We have on occasion used our WR points to stay at CW properties - but IME when you do so - you're more subject to overbooking issues and might not get the room you actually booked - whereas when booking using your timeshare points, this rarely happens (it has literally never happened to us when using our timeshare points - but I've seen others using timeshare points subject to overbooking constraints at popular high occupancy resorts during prime season. We typically use our WR points to stay at mid-level hotels in good locations - such as a Howard Johnson's on the OCMD boardwalk for example, or other oceanfront locations. We also use our WR points for Vacasa bookings.

La Quinta is a decent mid-level three star type hotel (out of five stars). Many of the Wyndham hotel chains, most of which are franchised, are a mixed bag at best.

I try not to let the secret of the wyndham OCMD's out. It's going to get upped if it gets too many summer bookings. It's the only really good value I have found for the reward points.

 

[Mamagan]

We have found that Americinns by Wyndham to be a decent option for points. Clean, reasonably priced in today’s “overinflated pricing/nickel and dime ya world”. Breakfast average, usually handy locations. Read individual reviews wherever you think you might book before you decide on any of the Wyhndham hotels…some are real dives, some are decent and others are surprisingly pleasant. We usually look for cleaniness,
convenient locations and positive reviews before we book, as we use hotels as short term options on roadtrips, not seeking amenities we aren’t even going to use when passing through. We have already seen “points required” being doubled at normal stopping spots without any increased value from renovations or improvements that might validate the increase.