Opening this Wyndham card is a lucrative option and you can redeem the points for an award night at Wyndham’s H+ Muenchen! Photo by: Evan Berman

Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton get the lion’s share of attention in the hotel world. They are the most popular brands and for good reason– Marriott and Hilton seem to be everywhere and Hyatt offers terrific value. That being said, I’d argue that one of the 2 no-brainer hotel cards to get is the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card. I recently applied for it and was approved even though there is no special welcome offer. Let’s talk about what makes this card so valuable.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Options:

Hotels:

The bed at a Ramada by Wyndham Hotel in Budapest, Hungary. Photo by: Evan Berman

There are all types of Wyndham hotels, ranging from budget to luxury brands. On the low end, you have Super 8 and Travelodge, among others. There are mid-tier chains such as Wingate and Ramada. Finally, luxury brands include TRYP, Wyndham Grand, and Trademark Collection. The beauty of using points to book hotels with Wyndham is that the redemption options are simple. There are only 3 pricing bands: 7,500 points, 15,000 points, and 30,000 points per night. The other option is to pay with points and cash. Prices for that vary, but start around 2,000 points + $40 per night.

Additionally, there are Club Wyndham properties. These are essentially condo buildings that are rented out and price at either 15,000 or 30,000 points per night. The beauty of these (compared to Vacasa which offer similar types of properties sometimes) is that you can book online.

Vacasa Vacation Rentals:

Rentals with Vacasa are one of the best ways to get maximum value out of Vacasa points. For the uninitiated, Wyndham Hotels recently purchased Vacasa, a rental property agency and competitor to Airbnb and VRBO. Now, I’m not suggesting that you should pay the outrageous prices (and fees) that are frequently charged. However, Vacasa has a decent footprint in North America and Central America.

Prices:

More importantly, if you book properties with points, Wyndham charges 15,000 points per bedroom per night (no taxes or fees). You might see this and immediately disregard, especially if you travel with a large group of friends or family. While it’s true that a 3-bedroom property should cost 90,000 points per night, killing roughly all value from these points, that’s not always the case!

There are quite a few properties which are listed as having 1 bedroom or 0 bedrooms, yet allow up to 6 guests. Don’t worry, this trick does not involve everyone getting bunk bed attachments (unless that’s the way you like to travel)! Search around and you might be surprised at the value you can find, even for larger groups.

Booking:

There is a caveat to booking these rentals for 15,000 points per night. Vacasa only makes certain properties available to book with points. There is no list or set of rules, but I’ve found that generally you can book any property that is under $350/ night per bedroom pre-tax or $500/ night including taxes and fees. If you’re interested in booking one of these, it’s best to choose a backup property or two in case you are unable to book your preferred property.

How do you book? Call 1-800-441-1034 and give the agent your property ID. The agents are quite competent and the whole process should only take a few minutes if you’ve followed the steps above. Note that if you don’t have enough Wyndham points, you may transfer Capital One Miles or purchase them outright. A future article will go over this in greater detail, but it is not uncommon to get well over 2 cents per point when redeeming for Vacasa rentals.

With the information about Wyndham properties out of the way, let’s talk about arguably the easiest way to earn enough Wyndham points to redeem at these hotels: the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card:

The Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card. Photo by: Evan Berman

Earnings Rate:

The Business Card offers 8x points per $1 spent at Wyndham hotels and gas stations. As an aside, this is the best option for gas station spend, regardless how much you value Wyndham points. Additionally, you earn 5x points on marketing, advertising, and utility purchases and 1x points on all other purchases.

Coupled with the bonus for Diamond status (see below), this is a great way to earn loads of points if you pay for stays at Wyndham hotels.

Points Discount:

Remember how I mentioned that the prices for booking these hotels or Vacasa rentals are either 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points per night? Those are the normal prices. However, with the Earner Business Card, you get a 10% discount on pricing. As such, you can book at 6,750, 13,500, or 27,000 points per night. This is even valid for Vacasa stays!

Diamond Status:

The welcome drink for Berman Evan :), a bottle of Hungarian Wine at the Ramada by Wyndham in Budapest, Hungary. Photo by: Evan Berman

Diamond Status is Wyndham’s highest elite status. Unfortunately, compared to others such as Hyatt or Marriott, top-tier elite status with Wyndham offers only a few benefits:

• 12x points per $1 spent or 1,000 points, whichever is greater. When spending with the Business card, you’ll earn 20x points per $1. That’s a great option for earning!
• Suite upgrade on either award or paid booking
• Free welcome snack or drink at check-in
• An ability to gift Wyndham Gold Status (highlights are late checkout, 11x points per $1 spent, and preferred room choice) to someone else
• Early Check-In and Late Checkout when available
• Caesars Rewards Diamond Status Match (can offer free cruises, hotel stays, etc.)

Sign-Up Bonus:

Currently, the offer is earning 45,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days. As I’ve shown in this article, that can be worth 3 nights at many Wyndham properties, including at 1-bedroom Vacasa rental properties, which is frequently a $1,200+ value.

While this has been higher at times, the 45k offer is typical. The higher 65k offer may return, but I wouldn’t wait for it.

Anniversary Points:

Every year after the first, upon paying the $95 annual fee, you will receive 15,000 points just for renewing. That’s a great deal! Even if you only use that for 1 night in a Wyndham hotel, it’s hard to find properties that are under $100 a night.

It’s likely that you can do much better but consider this to be purchasing 1 free night at most any hotel in the Wyndham collection for a fixed fee of $95.

Questions:

Am I Eligible for a Business Card:

The big question many people might is upon reading this article is “Can I open a business credit card?” After all, you might hear the term and think of a successful business owner with 50 employees and $250,000 in revenue every year.

However, you might be eligible for the card. If you have any sort of side hustle– driving for Uber, being a freelance artist, writing, operating a blog, or anything similar, you can qualify. You don’t even need to be generating revenue or be profitable yet.

Any Tips on Applying?

My approved application. Photo by: Evan Berman

This card is issued by Barclays, which sometimes has strange requirements in applying. There are reports of requests for documentation and verification of identity to be approved. While I did not face this issue, the best way to avoid any issues is to stick with the truth. I personally applied using my business name, but there is no reason you cannot simply apply as a sole proprietor with your name.

Additionally, it is not uncommon to get a small credit line. I received a $1,000 limit and that seems to be commonplace.

Summary:

The Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card is to me a no-brainer to have. Wyndham points are quite valuable and the ability to earn 20x points per $1 spent on paid Wyndham stays is incredible, as is 8x points at gas stations and 5x on utilities or marketing and advertising. Couple that with the 10% points discount on award bookings, as well as suite upgrades and other benefits from automatic Diamond Status and you can do very well with this card. Go get it and enjoy the perks today!

Evan