Even though they didn't announce the 200 hotels that will double in price or the 3,000 going down to 7,500 pt/nt, we can be fairly certain that this is bad news:
The bottom 1/3 of their hotels has an ADR of $50 - so even at 7,500 pt/nt, they will not be good value except when the Superbowl and Solar Eclipse are in town on the same weekend!
At the top-end, Dolce has an ADR of $165 and Wyndham $105 - so while you could frequently find great value at 15,000 pt/nt, it will be very difficult to find exceptional value at 30,000 pt/nt. Hotels in NYC, LA, San Francisco, are frequently between $200-300, but the days significantly above $300 will be numbered. You can check the number of hotels and average rates by brand
here!
Add this devaluation of GoFree awards to the previous devaluation of the GoFast awards (by making the cash co-pay dependent on current rates rather than fixed), and there is little value left in the program.
I just booked 8 GoFree nights - I'd recommend to use your points now, you can always after the new rates for hotels become available...
I enjoyed the Wyndham program for the couple years I used it. I got good value out of my redemptions when compared with the paid rates on those same nights:
- 2 nights at the New Yorker (booked 1 bedroom premium queen suite,
upgraded to king suite with massive balcony) - $600/night
- 4 nights at Park City Wyndham (1 bedroom during ski season) - $700/night
Seeing this devaluation I just used my last 45k points for 3 nights at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar for January (family suite) - $650/night
I have about 3k points left in my account. Going to miss the old program!