Wyndham Rewards Diamond status

[Richelle]

I saw something under the member benefits section of the Owner portal that said “As part of your Privileges benefits, you’re entitled to an exclusive status match with a Wyndham rewards Diamond level membership”. For those that do not already know, I am VIP Gold, so this doesn’t appear to be limited to Platinum membership, but it might be limited to VIPs because it mentioned Privileges. If a non-VIP wants to test it out, look for the “Reach Diamond status with Wyndham rewards” link. I’d be curious to see if it’s limited to VIPs or if it’s available to all owners. When it asks for the member ID, make sure to include the zeros in the beginning if you have them.

A non-owner would have to stay in a Wyndham hotel 40 nights or more to reach that status. In addition to the perks of the lower levels, Diamond perks include free upgrades when you book an award night, welcome amenity at check in, and give a gold membership to a friend for a year. I don’t typically stay at hotels, but I signed up for it anyway, because it was free and will come in handy if I do use it. For someone who stays at Wyndham hotels one of more times a year, this might come in handy.


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[jwalk03]

I checked a Non-VIP, resale only account and it offers complimentary Gold Wyndham Rewards membership.

 

[jwalk03]

One of the benefits to having the Wyndham Rewards Diamond (or Platinum) level is that you can status match to the Caesars rewards program which will get you free parking at any of the Caesars casinos including the Vegas Strip & Atlantic City. A valuable perk if you are staying at either of the Wyndham locations in Vegas, or Wyndham Atlantic City. They also offer a free stay at Atlantis in the Bahamas as a perk (though I don't know all of the details or hoops you have to jump through to claim that free trip.)

 

[Richelle]

I checked a Non-VIP, resale only account and it offers complimentary Gold Wyndham Rewards membership.

Thank you for checking.


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[HitchHiker71]

Worked for me, I'm VIPP - now I'm at Diamond level. Thanks for posting this Richelle, great find!

 

[Manzana]

It is a great thing brings plenty of value when you status match to Ceasars Rewards. You get $100 celebration Dinner every year. You do not pay Resort fees when you rent rooms at Caesars properties. You also get 2 free show or event tickets every month at a Caesars property. The best part is if you have 2 people on your account and both matched you would get the $100 celebration dinner each year for both of you. And you would get 2 free show tickets every month for each of you. Every member I believe would receive a Diamond level Status match. I have also read that many times in Atlantic City at the Borgata you are able to status match your Ceasars with Life for a higher level as well. It may not seem like much but this perk alone is worth $4-600 per person depending on how you use it.

 

[Eric B]

I saw something under the member benefits section of the Owner portal that said “As part of your Privileges benefits, you’re entitled to an exclusive status match with a Wyndham rewards Diamond level membership”. For those that do not already know, I am VIP Gold, so this doesn’t appear to be limited to Platinum membership, but it might be limited to VIPs because it mentioned Privileges. If a non-VIP wants to test it out, look for the “Reach Diamond status with Wyndham rewards” link. I’d be curious to see if it’s limited to VIPs or if it’s available to all owners. When it asks for the member ID, make sure to include the zeros in the beginning if you have them.

A non-owner would have to stay in a Wyndham hotel 40 nights or more to reach that status. In addition to the perks of the lower levels, Diamond perks include free upgrades when you book an award night, welcome amenity at check in, and give a gold membership to a friend for a year. I don’t typically stay at hotels, but I signed up for it anyway, because it was free and will come in handy if I do use it. For someone who stays at Wyndham hotels one of more times a year, this might come in handy.


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That shows up for me at the VIPG level. Thanks for pointing out, @Richelle.

 

[paxsarah]

Blue Thread!

 

[dgalati]

Blue Thread!

I hear you can pay maintenance fees with the Blue thread program?

 

[HitchHiker71]

I hear you can pay maintenance fees with the Blue thread program?

You joke about it, but I could pay $500 of MFs with my WR balance right now if I wanted to. That’s not an insignificant amount of money. I probably won’t ever do that, so instead I’ve got almost seven nights of free hotel stays built up, and with this new Blue Thread benefit now in place that just elevated me to Diamond status, we now get free suite upgrades to boot. This is a real benefit that is growing in value in other words.


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[dgalati]

You joke about it, but I could pay $500 of MFs with my WR balance right now if I wanted to. That’s not an insignificant amount of money. I probably won’t ever do that, so instead I’ve got almost seven nights of free hotel stays built up, and with this new Blue Thread benefit now in place that just elevated me to Diamond status, we now get free suite upgrades to boot. This is a real benefit that is growing in value in other words.


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What was the spend amout to get the $500. I just booked $1000 worth of air travel on rewards card. Nothing special about this rewards card. More bang for your spend dollars elsewhere.

 

[dgalati]

Blue Thread!

This marketing strategy was to get you to sign up for a rewards card. It also was a way for them to get your credit report. It helped sales know if you were credit worthy enough to try to sell you. Anything Wyndham does is to sell more points and not to help you.

 

[HitchHiker71]

What was the spend amout to get the $500. I just booked $1000 worth of air travel on rewards card. Nothing special about this rewards card.

We generate about 10k WR points coming from our monthly expenditures on average at present. We also attend every update and for an hour of our time collect 30k WR points each time. The hotels we usually stay in at the beaches cost $400-500 per night during peak season. An hour of our time is worth $800-1000 in free hotel stays at 15k points per night, especially for locations we like where Wyndham has no timeshare presence. In late August we stayed in OCMD right on the boardwalk full oceanfront view for three nights all using points granted to us for attending updates. A couple hours of our time was worth the $1200-1500 saved. Easy decision. We also gift WR points to our kids so they can stay at hotels for vacations. Our son and his good friend also spent three nights at the same OCMD oceanfront hotel for free - again all from WR points from updates.

The roughly 120k points that we earn from our actual spending gives us eight free nights a year beyond what we get from updates. It’s not the best card out there - but it’s far from the worst especially if you want to enjoy hotel travel for free.


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[paxsarah]

This marketing strategy was to get you to sign up for a rewards card. It also was a way for them to get your credit report. It helped sales know if you were credit worthy enough to try to sell you. Anything Wyndham does is to sell more points and not to help you.

Preaching to the choir, man. But what Blue Thread actually is is the linkage between the various Wyndham products, mainly the hotel and timeshare properties, and this is a seriously beneficial example of that (spoken as a person who isn’t and has no plans to become VIP). This is actually Blue Thread, not the crap they try to make it out to be in an “owner’s update.” The irony is that we’ve heard no chatter about this being touted in updates at all (though I have no doubt it will be, just as the gold rewards status for all members has been mischaracterized by salespeople), but it’s a true benefit that falls under the umbrella of Blue Thread.

 

[dgalati]

We generate about 10k WR points coming from our monthly expenditures on average at present. We also attend every update and for an hour of our time collect 30k WR points each time. The hotels we usually stay in at the beaches cost $400-500 per night during peak season. An hour of our time is worth $800-1000 in free hotel stays at 15k points per night, especially for locations we like where Wyndham has no timeshare presence. In late August we stayed in OCMD right on the boardwalk full oceanfront view for three nights all using points granted to us for attending updates. A couple hours of our time was worth the $1200-1500 saved. Easy decision. We also gift WR points to our kids so they can stay at hotels for vacations. Our son and his good friend also spent three nights at the same OCMD oceanfront hotel for free - again all from WR points from updates.

The roughly 120k points that we earn from our actual spending gives us eight free nights a year beyond what we get from updates. It’s not the best card out there - but it’s far from the worst especially if you want to enjoy hotel travel for free.


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Take what they offer and make it work. I like the airline rewards card. Air fares at a all time high. I also have played Capital one 2% cash back with a $1000 bonus on money spent. Best thing is IRS regards bonus rewards as non taxable no 1098.

 

[jwalk03]

Take what they offer and make it work. I like the airline rewards card. Air fares at a all time high. I also have played Capital one 2% cash back with a $1000 bonus on money spent. Best thing is IRS regards bonus rewards as non taxable no 1098.

Certain credit card bonuses are taxable and will get a 1098.

Those tied to a required spend (like new customer acquisition offers) are not taxable.

But credit card bonuses for things like referring friends to a card you hold are taxable.

 

[dgalati]

Certain credit card bonuses are taxable and will get a 1098.

Those tied to a required spend (like new customer acquisition offers) are not taxable.

But credit card bonuses for things like referring friends to a card you hold are taxable.

Here’s what the IRS had to say in the later memo: “Taxpayers will make purchases with the credit cards, and as a result of those purchases, will be entitled to receive rebates…. The portion of the credit card purchases that taxpayers can… receive back in cash… does not constitute gross income to taxpayers.” The key to whether a reward is a rebate or discount, rather than taxable income, is whether a transaction is involved. Credit and debit card companies generally give you cash back when you make a purchase with the card. For instance, you might 3% back on restaurant purchases, 2% back on business supplies, 1% back on other purchases, etc. In addition, card companies sometimes offer a points bonus if you surpass a certain spending threshold within a specific window of time—like 20,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. In these cases, since a transaction is involved—you actually have to spend something on the card to earn the reward—the IRS doesn’t consider the rewards as taxable income. Even if you earn rewards points from business spending and later use those rewards for personal reasons, the IRS won’t tax you on those points. The IRS looks at points earned through spending as a rebate—you’re buying something, and the credit or debit card company later gives you a discount off the purchase. Due to the difficulty of tracking point redemption and assigning a dollar value to rewards points, the IRS is unlikely to change their view anytime soon. That said, you should always consult a tax professional on anything tax related. If you’re ever in doubt about whether income is taxable, check with a pro.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Take what they offer and make it work. I like the airline rewards card. Air fares at a all time high. I also have played Capital one 2% cash back with a $1000 bonus on money spent. Best thing is IRS regards bonus rewards as non taxable no 1098.

Agreed. I watch airfare rates via various tools several days a week that give me a window into discounts. We usually end up paying around $100pp round trip - sometimes up to $150pp max. Since it’s mostly just the two of us traveling and we are somewhat flexible on dates - it nets us more savings getting the hotels for free at $400-500 per night versus the free airfare at $200-300 total pp roundtrip. So for our use cases the free lodging saves us more money. That and we tend to use our free hotel stays within driving distance for the most part so getting free airfare doesn’t do us a lot of good right now. Our needs may very well change over time though.


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[dgalati]

Agreed. I watch airfare rates via various tools several days a week that give me a window into discounts. We usually end up paying around $100pp round trip - sometimes up to $150pp max. Since it’s mostly just the two of us traveling and we are somewhat flexible on dates - it nets us more savings getting the hotels for free at $400-500 per night versus the free airfare at $200-300 total pp roundtrip. So for our use cases the free lodging saves us more money. That and we tend to use our free hotel stays within driving distance for the most part so getting free airfare doesn’t do us a lot of good right now. Our needs may very well change over time though.


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When United bought Continental Cle lost the hub prices went through the roof

 

[HitchHiker71]

When United bought Continental Cle lost the hub prices went through the roof

Understood. We are max two hours away from seven major international airports so we have options that you probably don’t have for cheap flights. We usually fly out of either Philly or BWI since they are closest to us, but have also flown out of LGA/JFK/EWR or the DC area airports (Reagan/Dulles).

Our son is currently in school working on his commercial pilots license so if that actually pans out and he ends up flying for one of the commercial airlines, the parents get free or heavily discounted flights as well. Fingers crossed.


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[Richelle]

This marketing strategy was to get you to sign up for a rewards card. It also was a way for them to get your credit report. It helped sales know if you were credit worthy enough to try to sell you. Anything Wyndham does is to sell more points and not to help you.

I froze my credit report with all 3 agencies. I wonder how long I’ll last at an update. I’m thinking once they try to run my credit, and realize they can’t, they’ll have me out of there pretty quickly. I may try that on our next stay. An easy $100 gift card.

I do not plan on every getting the Wyndham rewards credit card.


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[jwalk03]

Here’s what the IRS had to say in the later memo: “Taxpayers will make purchases with the credit cards, and as a result of those purchases, will be entitled to receive rebates…. The portion of the credit card purchases that taxpayers can… receive back in cash… does not constitute gross income to taxpayers.” The key to whether a reward is a rebate or discount, rather than taxable income, is whether a transaction is involved. Credit and debit card companies generally give you cash back when you make a purchase with the card. For instance, you might 3% back on restaurant purchases, 2% back on business supplies, 1% back on other purchases, etc. In addition, card companies sometimes offer a points bonus if you surpass a certain spending threshold within a specific window of time—like 20,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. In these cases, since a transaction is involved—you actually have to spend something on the card to earn the reward—the IRS doesn’t consider the rewards as taxable income. Even if you earn rewards points from business spending and later use those rewards for personal reasons, the IRS won’t tax you on those points. The IRS looks at points earned through spending as a rebate—you’re buying something, and the credit or debit card company later gives you a discount off the purchase. Due to the difficulty of tracking point redemption and assigning a dollar value to rewards points, the IRS is unlikely to change their view anytime soon. That said, you should always consult a tax professional on anything tax related. If you’re ever in doubt about whether income is taxable, check with a pro.

exactly what I said. Credit card rewards and bonuses that involve spend are indeed not taxable income. But other card bonuses that do not involve spending, like referral bonuses are taxable.

 

[dgalati]

exactly what I said. Credit card rewards and bonuses that involve spend are indeed not taxable income. But other card bonuses that do not involve spending, like referral bonuses are taxable.

Disclaimer at bottom says it all.
If you’re ever in doubt about whether income is taxable, check with a pro.

 

[Rolltydr]

I froze my credit report with all 3 agencies. I wonder how long I’ll last at an update. I’m thinking once they try to run my credit, and realize they can’t, they’ll have me out of there pretty quickly. I may try that on our next stay. An easy $100 gift card.

I do not plan on every getting the Wyndham rewards credit card.


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If you do attend the update, let us know what happens. I too have frozen my credit reports.

We used to have the WR card that we used for everything and then used the points to pay our mf’s. However, a couple of years ago they reduced the value from $60/10,000 points to $50/10,000. I searched around and found a cashback card that works better for us. My wife kept her WR card and we use it to pay our regular monthly bills and we then use those points for hotel stays when a TS isn’t available.

 

[dgalati]

If you do attend the update, let us know what happens. I too have frozen my credit reports.

We used to have the WR card that we used for everything and then used the points to pay our mf’s. However, a couple of years ago they reduced the value from $60/10,000 points to $50/10,000. I searched around and found a cashback card that works better for us. My wife kept her WR card and we use it to pay our regular monthly bills and we then use those points for hotel stays when a TS isn’t available.

WR card is not a very good rewards card at the $50/10,000 spend when Capital one is offering a unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases.