Wyndham Rewards points have long been transferable into airline miles at the following ratios:
- 8,000 points to 3,200 miles
- 17,500 points to 7,000 miles
- 30,000 points to 12,000 miles
They had several airline transfer partners and while that was probably never the best use of Wyndham Rewards points, there were still circumstances where that transfer ratio made sense. For example, Wyndham Rewards points were often on sale, including through the annual Daily Getaways promotion. Last year their Daily Getaways promotion was basically an opportunity to pick up miles for 1.35 cents each, so I took full advantage of that by buying as many miles as I could and then transferring them to an airline program.
I know a lot of people did the same except didn’t transfer to the airline account immediately, since they wanted the flexibility to later transfer them to whichever airline they wanted to. Well, that may have been a bad move, because overnight Wyndham Rewards devalued their airline mileage transfer ratio.
Here’s what their website says now:
Now that you’ve earned the points it’s time you ruled the sky. Whether you’re vacationing, on business or just have the urge to take flight, Wyndham Rewards can help you get to your destination. Redeem your points for Airline Miles or other partner program points today. Redemption rates have changed as of January 31, 2014. Redeem now starting at 6,000 points.
Any devaluation without advance notice is horrible, but this one is even worse than that, because they’re cutting the transfer ratio in half. Overnight. With no advance notice.
Now 6,000 points gets you 1,200 miles, so basically each point is worth 0.2 miles.
Look Wyndham, you can make whatever changes to your program that you want. After all, it’s your program (even if members collect points in good faith and hope you’ll be reasonable with any changes). But to make changes without any advance notice is just plain damn wrong. It’s not the way to run a loyalty program.
I’m curious does anyone have any Wyndham Rewards points from a past Daily Getaways promotion they were still planning on converting into airline miles?
(Tip of the hat to Mommy Points)
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