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Wyndham's Stealth Devaluation of Airline Miles Conversion

Wyndham's Stealth Devaluation of Airline Miles Conversion

Old Jan 31, 2014, 10:07 am
  #1  
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Wyndham's Stealth Devaluation of Airline Miles Conversion

My husband just noticed that Wyndham had doubled its airline mile conversion rate overnight (as of Jan. 31). It used to take 2.5 Wyndham points for 1 airline mile, but now, 5 points per mile.

It is fine to devalue your reward points, but to do it without any advanced notice is just simply a wrong way to treat customers.
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 11:53 am
  #2  
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And that immediately makes the WyndhamRewards credit card worthless for those who got it to collect miles. (Previously it was the best no-annual-fee Visa/MC card for earning miles, at 0.8 miles for every dollar spent. Now that it's 0.4 miles for every dollar spent, I bet there's better value in other cards, though I don't know which ones offhand.)

Of course, that factor shows how WyndhamRewards points-to-miles redemption used to be above average, and now they've aligned it to be more in line with other hotel programs.

So one of the last things to make WyndhamRewards special is now gone. (And with it being the only substantial hotel points program without a true elite status, they needed to bribe us somehow!)

Last edited by sdsearch; Jan 31, 2014 at 12:05 pm
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 4:01 pm
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With these characters, why am I not surprised they would do another no-advance-notice devaluation!

Glad I've already drawn down all but about 30k of my points with them.
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 5:43 pm
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..........

Last edited by scruffy; May 23, 2014 at 5:50 pm
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 8:37 pm
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I'm shocked this hasn't gotten more views. This is huge! I knew it was a matter of time before this happened. Daily getaways made this rate too tempting I guess.
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Old Jan 31, 2014, 10:04 pm
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Have about 80K points that I was considering using for a couple of nights in Manhattan (at properties now 30K per night that used to be 16K per night before the last unannounced devaluation) or converting to 31K UA miles. With this, I will quickly book for some weekend soon in Manhattan before Wyndham decides to stick those properties into the band between 30K and the other recently unannounced development of 50K properties and then leave this program in the rear view mirror.

By the way Wyndham, nice timing to do this on the last day of your current promotion to earn 2014 points for up to five stays in the New Year.

Will not waste my time or money with these jokers in the future. I'm glad I didn't waste a credit hit to get the fee-free card to boost my points up to 90K so I could get three nights in Manhattan. I might buy 10K to get to 90 or just book for two nights.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 6:35 am
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I am done with these guys. I posted the other day about them creating a sneaky "Tier 9" (specifically Koloa Landing). I had a supervisor tell me they would give me 20K points as a courtesy to add to my 30K so I could add another night to an existing reservation. I had already locked in one night at 30K. I was working towards 2 free nights, then would pay for the additional nights. I just got the Wyndham card in December to help with this.

I didn't feel comfortable with just someone's "word". When I emailed them and asked them to put it in writing they never responded. Even though they answered all my other questions in 2-3 hours. It has been a week with no response.

I finally decided to cancel my reservation and be done with them. But even that was a nightmare. They cancelled my reservation but the points never came back to me. They said 24 hours...every day I would call and someone would tell me to call back tomorrow!

I finally had to get someone to escalate the situation and I just got my points back. I really don't want to have anything to do with them anymore. I was just in the process of debating how to use these points. Guess I won't be using them for airline miles!

I just booked 3 nights in a HOJO to burn most of the points I have. Not my first choice for the area. But I have more coming to me from my Wyndham card in Feb I was already planning to convert to airline miles. Guess I will be getting a lot less than I planned.

Anyone notice that the Wyndham Rewards reps never responds to these postings? They also never respond to social media like Twitter and Facebook if you ask them about devaluations. If you mention a problem with a property they will respond. But they don't respond to issues like this.

They also don't respond to emails. I am over a week and they have never got back to me.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 10:40 am
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Originally Posted by sargenet
But even that was a nightmare. They cancelled my reservation but the points never came back to me. They said 24 hours...every day I would call and someone would tell me to call back tomorrow!
Yes, unfortunately Sarge, it seems like whoever is running that call center has instructed the reps to purposefully lie to the customers. I too - on an issue - was promised "tomorrow morning" then "check back in 5 days" then "check back at the end of the month" etc, etc. It seems to be normal protocol to lie in order to get one off the phone. The house must be in shambles. It doesn't say very much for their top and mid-management.

What I did, due to the stealth devaluation, is that I cancelled a paid stay for next week. It was only for one night and it would have been about $100 - I tend show loyalty here and there when it comes to hotel programs. No more loyalty for Wyndham. Honestly, I don't know how they survive.

Next, I'm going to DOWNGRADE my Wyndham credit card to the free version. I will do this some time next week. I didn't mind the small fee for 6000 points/year but that has all changed now. I feel others should do the same.

I will only use this brand when there is no other choice in the area. They can rot as far as I'm concerned.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 3:08 pm
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I only have a whopping 400 points in my account so I can't even see the new rates. On the bright side, I won't have to get up at 3am Aussie time for Daily Getaways this year!

For properties on this level, it's better to go indie and grab a deal on Hotels.com or Expedia or Priceline if they serve that area.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 6:18 pm
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Wyndham's Stealth Devaluation of Airline Miles Conversion

On another note I have been checking out La Quinta hotels as an option for those small towns we might travel to. While the reviews can be horrible for properties under the Wyndham rewards program, La Quinta seems to have very impressive reviews for a more basic hotel chain. I will look to stay there vs anything under the Wyndham program.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 10:54 pm
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There should be a law that requires loyalty programs to give like at least 30-days advance notice for changes in their programs similar to banks when they make changes to the terms of their credit cards. Well, one can only wish...
I'm also done with them for good. It's not just their devaluations but also, I don't find anything left appealing about their properties or program. Choice Privileges is much better alternative for the same low to mid-range segment of the market that Wyndham caters to.
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Old Feb 1, 2014, 11:18 pm
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Originally Posted by MVF Trekker
There should be a law that requires loyalty programs to give like at least 30-days advance notice for changes in their programs similar to banks when they make changes to the terms of their credit cards. Well, one can only wish...
I'm also done with them for good. It's not just their devaluations but also, I don't find anything left appealing about their properties or program. Choice Privileges is much better alternative for the same low to mid-range segment of the market that Wyndham caters to.
Despite my earlier complaints, I have to note that Wyndham is within right to do what it's been doing. Changes may be made at any time, yada, yada, yada.

Best practices, and used by most programs, has been to provide some warning. And even slovenly practice has been to notify members that "hey, we're changing the program" and then make an immediate change. Wyndham manages to go all the way and implements changes without notice or even any acknowledgement that a change has been made. Yeah, that probably meets their T&Cs so as not to open themselves to any liability, but for a program that's really bottom feeding, it gives members no real reason to be loyal.
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Old Feb 2, 2014, 8:30 am
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Lost a lot of money...
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Old Feb 2, 2014, 9:04 am
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Backstabing ba******...
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Old Feb 2, 2014, 9:13 am
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My loss is near 1k usd. Never will I trust them again, this is the worst devaluation that I have ever encountered!

Anyone has the list of all Wyndham hotels and category? Thanks!

Last edited by pbd456; Feb 2, 2014 at 9:38 am
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