Wyndham’s Hotel Credit Card Portfolio Gets a Full-Scale Makeover
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Wyndham's co-branded hotel credit cards, issued by Barclays, have been upgraded.
As of Sept. 29, 2020, the new "Earner" portfolio will consist of the following cards, which will offer elevated rewards on gas and spending with Wyndham, along with other perks:
Image courtesy of Barclays/Wyndham
Wyndham Rewards Earner Card: $0 annual fee.
Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card: $75 annual fee.
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card: $95 annual fee.
The existing Wyndham Rewards® Visa® Card and Wyndham Rewards® Visa® With No Annual Fee will close to new applicants.
Wyndham Rewards Earner cards: What they offer
Here's a glance at how the three new cards stack up:
Wyndham Rewards Earner Card | Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card | Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $0 | $75 | $95 |
Sign-up bonus | Earn 30,000 bonus points, enough for up to 4 free nights after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. | Earn 45,000 bonus points, enough for up to 6 free nights after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. | Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first 12 months. Free nights can require up to 30,000 points per bedroom at participating properties and are subject to availability. Resort fees may apply and cannot be paid with points. |
Rewards |
|
|
|
Anniversary bonus points | 7,500 points after spending $15,000 on purchases | 7,500 points (automatic, no spending required) | 15,000 points (automatic, no spending required) |
Automatic Wyndham status | Gold | Platinum | Diamond |
Cell phone protection | None | None | Yes (must pay wireless bill with card each month) |
(Note that Target and Walmart will not qualify as "grocery store purchases.")
All three cards also offer:
A 10% discount on the number of points redeemed for free nights.
No foreign transaction fees.
What this means for existing Wyndham cardholders
In virtually every way, the new Earner cards are better deals than their predecessors, the Wyndham Rewards® Visa® With No Annual Fee and the Wyndham Rewards® Visa® Card.
All of the new Earner products equal or out-earn those legacy cards in terms of spending with Wyndham, and on gas and grocery store purchases. The consumer versions of the Earner cards also add restaurants as a bonus category.
If you have the Wyndham Rewards® Visa® With No Annual Fee or the Wyndham Rewards® Visa® Card, you are eligible to apply for one of the new Earner versions, in which case you'll also be eligible for the sign-up bonus.
Or you can choose to call Barclays and product-change to one of the new versions. You won’t be eligible for the bonus, but you also won’t get a hard pull on your credit.
You can also choose to do nothing and keep your existing card intact.
Are the Earner cards a good deal?
For Wyndham loyalists, they certainly could be. Here's a look at what to consider:
Straightforward redemption options
With Wyndham Rewards, you have two options to redeem your points for award nights:
Go free: Free nights cost 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 points per bedroom.
Go fast: A mixture of cash and points. You can get a discounted night for 1,500, 3,000 or 6,000 points per bedroom plus cash at participating properties.
So depending on how you use your points, even the lowest possible sign-up bonus on these cards could snag you up to four free nights with Wyndham.
You won’t have to worry about peak/off-peak pricing as you do with some hotel programs or be concerned with costs changing dynamically, either. If you’re looking to book a specific property, you’ll know how many points you’ll need no matter the date (of course, that doesn’t guarantee an award room will be available).
Decent point values
NerdWallet values Wyndham points at 1.2 cents each. That means the 7,500 anniversary bonus points offered on the Wyndham Rewards Earner Card and the Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card are worth about $82.50, while the anniversary bonus points from the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business card are worth roughly $165 toward Wyndham stays.
Large hotel footprint
Wyndham hotels may not seem as ubiquitous as Marriott and Hilton, but some travelers may be surprised to learn that the company's 9,000-plus property collection makes it the largest hotel chain in the world. So chances are there’s a Wyndham property near you.
If you just need a place to rest your head and don’t care about full-service luxuries, a Wyndham property can often be your best choice for a reasonable amount of points. Or, if you’re looking for a higher-end experience, you can also use your Wyndham Rewards at a small (but growing) number of boutique and resort properties.
No outright 'free anniversary night'
Unlike some other co-branded hotel credit cards — such as the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Credit Card — none of the new Wyndham Earner credit cards comes with an automatic "free night award" every year that you can apply to a wide range of properties.
These cards do offer anniversary bonus points that could, in theory, snag you a free night each year at Wyndham's lowest-end tier — but that's not the same thing as an outright free award night.
Still, it's important to note that Wyndham points don't expire for four years from the time you earn them (or 18 months without any account activity). Most free-night certificates typically expire after one year, making the anniversary bonus points more flexible.
Find the right credit card for you.
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