iahphx

Hyatt and Wyndham have become my top two hotel loyalty programs because they have delivered the best value. Unfortunately, in this game, exceptional value doesn't usually last. If the Vacasa limit is really going down to $250, there really isn't much you'd want to redeem for in the Wyndham progam. Most of their own decent properties are 30K, and most (but not all) of them aren't worth 30K. In contrast, there's plenty of places to redeem for at Hyatt, but they've been steadily raising the number of points needed for them, such that most people won't have enough points to do so.

iahphx

View From the Wing seems to have written an incomplete explanation of the Vacasa changes. It's still a bit uncertain, but it seems like Wyndham is mirroring their regular hotel redemption chart for Vacasa rentals. Eacn bedroom will cost 15,000 points if their all-in price is under $250, and 30,000 if under $500 (above $500 appears to remain unbookable).

Obviously this makes multi-bedroom rentals very expensive.I've travelled with family and booked a 2-bedroom Vacasa for 30,000 points/night, but now most of these would be 60,000 points and almost certainly too expensive for me to be interested. The relative bargains are the few units that have "second non-bedroom bedrooms" -- like lofts -- which you can still get for the one-bedroom price. And there might still be some one-bedroom units that could be worth 30K, in expensive places like Hawaii,

Obviously, this devaluation is painful, but aligns better with Wyndham's own property award charts. I've found that $250/night is the rough cut off point where award prices double to 30,000. I rarely will pay that for these Wyndham properties, perferring to book another Wyndham in town for 15,000 points, or just not redeeming with Wyndham.

FastMJ

Hate to be dramatic but wyndham rewards is now dead to me. The Vacasa redemptions have gone from being the best points value ever to being practically worthless. I see no point in accruing 13500 points to stay at some $75 a night dive which is what 90% of wyndham hotel properties are that are available at that point level. I will shift all my spend now towards other cards and points programs. Any decent hotel property is now 27000 points per night which is no longer competitive with other programs for similarly retail priced hotels

Schnit

Transfer to Caesars

rrgg

"(above $500 appears to remain unbookable)"

I thought an eventual devaluation might at least give us an option to book $501+ rooms at some high rate. I'm willing to pay tons of points for it. Despite what Gary said, has anyone tried already?

iahphx

It is true that most of Wyndham's properties range from "merely acceptable" to "bad." But so what? Unless you're in a bind, don't redeem for these properties. the Wyndham empire is huge, and they have thousands of decent hotels, many of which are still a steal at 13,500 points. No matter where in the world you go, it's always worth looking at the Wyndham website to see if you can find a hidden award gem. Heck, I just redeemed 13,500 for some $600/night condos in Hawaii.

abcx

A lot of the high value redemptions just got screwed. The better hotels in Europe are all up from 15k to 30k - both the Hyperion/H2s in Salzburg, all the Athens properties that were at 15k, H2 Munich, etc.

Some super high value Wyndham Vacation Clubs in the US are still 15k though, so still some value to be had I guess.

iahphx

Interesting about Europe. I wish they released a list of hotels changing categories (like Hyatt did for today's changes). Hyatt had very few Europe increases, as Europe has not seen the runaway hotel inflation of the US. I guess there's no way to see which hotels changed categories without going one-by-one. What's a shame about Wyndham is the change from 15k to 30k is completely brutal, and basically crosses those hotels off my redemption list.

I do see that the "Flyertalk famous" Days Inn London Hyde Park went to 30K, ending what was perhaps London's best hotel award deal. With Hyatt eliminating their good London award deals last year, we're left with a few so-so Choice hotels (which could rise in price at any time).

I've never figured out the Vacation Club inventory for Wyndham Rewards. It feels both quite limited, and random. As soon as I know I'm going to some touristy area, I Iook to see if there is any VC inventory and, if there is at 15K, I book it immediately if the place looks decent. Unlike Vacasa, VC awards seem to always have generous cancellation rules.

abcx

Yes, I’ve found no rhyme or reason for the Vacation Club inventory, revenue or award.

iahphx

The same thing happened when Choice partnered with Bluegreen Vacations for a few years. The pricing made no sense, and you could sometimes pick up a nice vacation rental for almost no points.

Must be something about timeshares.

con_128

Which island? I just called to check in Maui and everything is Tier 2, 30K per night for one bedroom.

iahphx

Who did you call? Is calling a thing? I didn't know of any "Club Wyndham" like properties on Maui. There are some on the other islands, and some of them are still 15,000 points. But the inventory isn't huge, and when they pop up is definitely a mystery.

con_128

Oops. Sorry - my error. I was calling Vacasa to find properties in Maui.

iahphx

Can you even get a 1 bedroom in Maui for 30K these days? I struggled to find something halfway decent when the cap was $500/night.

My advice: vacation elsewhere. Maui is massively overpriced.

diesteldorf

Sorry but I read your response and immediately thought of this:




Though it looks like the nearest Wyndham is actually in Wichita.....