Wyndham’s award system has gone through several changes over the past decade or so. It once had multiple redemption tiers, then moved to a single price for hotels worldwide, and later switched to a three-tier system. At a time when almost every hotel group has moved towards dynamic or semi-dynamic pricing — or, like Accor, simply linked points value to euro – Wyndham’s approach is certainly a bit different.
And now there’s another change. The old 7,500 / 15,000 / 30,000-point structure has been replaced by four tiers: 5,000 / 15,000 / 30,000 / 45,000 points. The new chart took effect on 15 September.
Thanks to Award Travel Tools, which has put together the complete list of hotels, including before-and-after comparisons and various bits of analysis, I’m going to borrow their work and have a look at what stands out.
One quick reminder first: Wyndham is currently running a points sale. Buying points before 21 October gets a targeted bonus of 80% to 100%, bringing the cost down to around $65 – $72.
Here are some of the headline figures:
- 4,605 hotels have changed redemption tiers, accounting for around 55% of the global portfolio
- 2,833 hotels have gone up in price, while 1,772 have gone down
- Among hotels that were previously 7,500 points, 63% have dropped to 5,000 points
- There are 64 hotels in the new top tier of 45,000 points
- China is the biggest winner: 87% of its 875 hotels have become cheaper
- Mexico is the biggest loser: 79% of its 105 hotels have become more expensive
Let’s get straight to the interesting part and see what’s actually worth redeeming. The most ridiculous one has to be Wyndham Corfu Achavari in Corfu, Greece. It has gone all the way from 30,000 points down to just 5,000 points!
Even though it’s not exactly a luxury brand, and October isn’t exactly peak season, its cash rates are still well over $150 per night. Getting five times the value from your points feels pretty damn good.
And it gets even better: the same 5,000 points can get you a higher-category sea-view room or a plunge-pool room.
Not far from Greece, Bodrum in Turkey is one of the country’s most expensive upscale holiday destinations. Ramada Resort by Wyndham Bodrum has also made the 5,000-point list.
And in another popular Turkish destination, Cappadocia — aka the hot-air-balloon capital — there’s another Ramada available for just 5,000 points.
And on the other side of the world, there’s Wyndham Garden Grandworld Phu Quoc in Vietnam. It comes with a private beach, a swimming pool of nearly 1,000 square metres, and complimentary breakfast.
Singapore also has Days Inn by Wyndham Singapore Novena. It’s only a fairly ordinary three-star hotel and the reviews aren’t exactly glowing, but remember that in Singapore, even a very basic room can cost a small fortune.
Seoul is also worth a quick mention. In the Incheon Airport area, there are Howard Johnson and Days Hotels & Suites properties. Neither is particularly fancy, but both could be handy for an overnight transit.
As for China, there are simply far too many 5,000-point hotels to list them all. Here’s just a small selection:
- Howard Johnson Resort Junhe Hot Springs Resort, Beijing
- Wyndham Shanghai Hongqiao
- Wyndham Garden Shanghai Pudong
- Wyndham Garden Suzhou
- Wyndham Grand Qingdao
- Wyndham Garden Kashgar Tashkurgan
- Wyndham Garden Haikou Meilan
I’ve only had a quick scan through the list, so I’m sure there are plenty of hidden gems I’ve missed. I haven’t even started looking at the 15,000-point-and-above redemptions yet.
Either way, just wanted to give everyone a heads-up: if you’re stocking up on Wyndham points, there are now quite a few more places worth keeping an eye on!
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