New Wyndham elite status
 

Wyndham announced new elite status levels to go live May 18.
See new levels here.

I logged into my account and it shows Gold based on my existing stays.

Gold (5 nights)
That gets me dedicated member services, preferred room, late check-out. There's also go plus awards which seems to be discounts on event tickets in some cities when you redeem points for a stay.

Platinum (15 nights)
Early check-in, annual 3,000 points bonus, Avis & Budget car rental upgrade

Diamond (40 nights)
Annual 6,000 points bonus, suite upgrade including award nights, welcome amenity, give gold (to a friend)

Time to ask for a status match :-)

Exactly what I was hoping to do. I'd like diamond please.

They should offer a status match but I'm hoping they'll offer Platinum/Diamond for their card holders.

I discovered this yesterday, when checking my activity for the last week. I'm already Platinum! Yay! :) I wonder how or when the 3,000 bonus points kicks in? Also, it jumps from 5 nites to 10, then 15 - THEN 40!!! Wow! That's quite a leap!

Talked to corporate: No plans for status match. Bummer!

Then, no incentive for me to try their product.

I'm not sure how they determined the initial status.

I'm showing as Platinum through Dec 2017 ^, but just 3 nights this year.

I looked at my account activity, and though I had 17 nights last year, 3 didn't earn anything (one was a GoFree award, and 2 were a third-party booking using up my FlexPerks points).

So did they count either the third-party stay or the GoFree stay, or did they combine my 2015 nights with my 2016 nights so far? :confused: The elite status page doesn't explain clearly whether what "qualified" for elite status is same or different as what "qualifies" for earning points/miles. (At some other hotel programs, rewards nights are "qualifying" for elite status but not "qualifying" for most other purposes.)

I don't really like wyndham but bought points during the daily getaways but no status match means i wont even try to try them out again. I will just use my 2 nights and call it a day.

For the initial status they looked at your stays this year and last year and took the higher number hence you starting out as platinum.

But if they only used one or the other, may higher number was 14 if they didn't count the award night or the third-party-booked stay. So does that mean that award nights count toward elite status? (So far from all that WyndhamRewards has published on it's not clear whether they do or don't. It's only my count of 14 vs 15 that's providing a possible clue, but the other possibility being a third-party-booked stay is a wrinkle with coming to a conclusion of how they got to 15 on my account unclear.)

I looked at one account that has had zero nights this year but four last year. It shows as Blue. A different account that had 5 nights last year and 4 this year is showing as Gold. Seems like a combined count or rolling calendar perhaps or the higher of either year.

Award nights seem to have at least sometimes been counted?

Diamond through Dec 2017 starting. Should easily maintain that no problem. I travel for work and as an independent contractor many are setup on a flat rate and I basically sleep in the room so love many of the Wyndham properties. However...

Guess I need to contact them as have some questions. Most Wyndham properties there is no 'preferred room'. There is no 'suite upgrade' at many properties. WiFi has been free at every single wyndham property I have ever been to.

The benefit here is if you get 40 nights but travel and use their nicer properties, say on trips with family/wife, this might be of good benefit.

Wow - the discounts on attractions they are offering via Go Free/Fast Plus are all for things the average traveler would never even consider, could probably get from coupons in the tourist brochure racks you find in most Wyndham-type motel lobbies, or are based on such laughably high base prices that you'd be silly to book through them even with a $5 coupon. For an upcoming stay in Anaheim I see that I would have the option of a single $5 discount on a $50 per person "Cupcake Tour of Beverly Hills". The WR wizard must have really worked his magic to take off a whole five dollars for that one! Ditto their Istanbul offers. They're offering $5 off a $40/person Turkish Coffee Reading. My wife tells me that she paid 20 liras for essentially the same package (where she was told that I must be cheating on her and that we will have three children!). Just as amazing that they're quoting a $28.78 base price for a Bosporus cruise - doesn't the municipality offer those cruises for 15 liras and isn't entrance to Rumeli completely free?

I'm not saying that I don't appreciate some of the benefits that Wyndham is introducing. I knew they were unlikely to introduce executive lounges at the Wyndham Grands or free breakfasts at the Ramadas, but somehow I expected them not to make such a big deal out of what is essentially an attempt to push marketing for overpriced tourist traps onto their most loyal customers.

Actually, the benefits for their most loyal customers (the highest tier, ie Diamond) is different; while they can still use the $5 discounts if they really want, they get a free ticket to some local thing. Of course, I looked over the list, and in most cities it was something I had relatively little interest in (a theme park 70 miles away, or a swamp tour, or whatever). But still, it appear to be an outright ticket, so a bit less of a scam (though claiming it's worth up to $150 is a bit of overkill).

You don't have to be Diamond to see what the tickets in various cities are. Just go to the site where you browsed all the $5 discount scams, and there's a link there to see what a Diamond gets.

Excellent point. I don't know how many people out there are actually WR Diamonds, but that's not a bad benefit if you're say a trucker or a contractor (who seem to make up a lot of their customer base from what I see in Super 8 parking lots off-season) doing 40 nights a year and redeeming for a family trip, which is probably what they have in mind.

I looked up the company fulfilling the benefit, Viator, and they appear to take at least a 20% commission out of tour bookings and pay healthy commissions in turn to their affiliates. So Wyndham may actually be coming out ahead when someone takes them up on a $5 or $10 discount on something valued at, say, $50. Which is fine, but don't sell it to your members as an enhancement to the loyalty program!

Seemingly the benefits of basically nothing for those just staying at hotel. Have stayed at multiple properties, including a Wyndham Grand. No room upgrade. No snack/freebies. All had free internet already.

Seems to be a very basic program that offers... not much.

In response to my email on 2/27/2017:


Hello David,

Thank you for your interest in a status match.

I regret to advise that at this time we are not offering a status match with any other loyalty programs. We are currently looking into this option but we do not have a time frame to when this may possiable happen.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Amy
Amy Gillespie
Assistant to Noah Brodsky
SVP Worldwide Loyalty & Engagement
[email protected]

Okay good to know. It seems that Wyndham status really doesn't make a difference.

You can't really expect a whole lot of benefits - 75% of the hotels are budget hotels with a brand ADR under $65! They usually offer free breakfast & wifi already, don't have suites or lounges to upgrade to... and you can't really expect goodies worth $100 on a $65 rate...
Considering the category of hotels, I think the elite benefits are pretty good. The biggest challenge will be to train staff/owners to deliver the promised benefits consitently, we'll see how that works out...

I agree sir. I did however receive a great suite upgrade way beyond expectations on a go free stay at the New Yorker back in December.

Also worth noting I have asked several desk clerks at my goto work hotel (Days Inn) and most have a blank look on their face when mentioning Diamond Status. I already receive great service at that hotel and don't expect any extras but if those employees don't recognize the status level then I doubt desk clerks at other Wyndham properties will either.

Still an awesome program.

I got a blank stare on one stay as well.
But better than a recent stay at a Comfort Inn - the agent read a note on his computer screen, chatted with a colleague - and then they rang a cow bell and chanted "welcome ...." because I'm Platinum - I don't think I need that perk ever again...:D

That shall now become the brand's welcome amenity.

Recently booked my first 4 night stay in NYC as a Diamond. I received an email notifying me I will be receiving 8 tickets to a local event/tour and I will be receiving the code via email 7 days before my trip. The picture on the the wesbite shows the tour in NYC as a pizza tour of manhattan and says that Wyndham chooses the tour . First, I didn't realize it's 2 tickets for each award night. That's cool. Second, does anyone know if they change up the tour/attraction each day if your trip? I don't wanna be eating pizza everyday.