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[DEAL HAS BEEN PULLED – details here]

This morning (the ever excellent) Raffles over at Head For Points posted about an offer from Wyndham Hotels, that must surely rank as the weirdest promotion of the year.

Everything about it is weird (seriously, check out the promo image above for a start!), so I’d advise treading with caution here, but it does have the potential to be a fantastic offer.

 

First things first – the offer is today only and more specifically from 17:00 BST this evening (11th October) to 04:59 in the morning tomorrow (12th October).

I’ve pasted the full terms and conditions below for you to read yourself, but the upshot is that Wyndham Rewards will give you 4 of their Points for every SPG Starpoint that you donate to one of SPG’s charity partners, but you need to donate your entire SPG balance.

To prove that you have done this, you need to email Wyndham at [email protected] with the following information during the eligible time period.

1) Your Wyndham Rewards member number.

2) A screenshot of your points donation receipt from the Competitor Program indicating the referenced transaction was completed during the Offer Period.

3) A screenshot of your final points balance with the Competitor Program upon completion of the transaction.

4) A screenshot or current Competitor Program account statement indicating your status level and recent transaction history.

The rules state that you cannot have any points transfers into or out of your SPG account in the last 24 hours, so there doesn’t seem to be a way to game this (at least not without substantial risk!) – you really need to donate all the Starpoints in your account to charity.

(I told you it was weird!!!)

There are no limits in terms of how many Points you can earn through this promotion (if you had a million Starpoints you should end up with 4 million Wyndham Rewards Points) , and you should receive your Wyndham Rewards Points within 10 days.

Wyndham will also match your SPG status.

What are Wyndham Rewards Points worth? – Is this a good deal?

Wyndham Rewards has a unique approach to how it prices award nights – it simply charges a flat rate of 15,000 Points, regardless of how good (or bad) the hotel is.

What that means is that through this promotion, you should be able to stay at any Wyndham Rewards hotel for the equivalent of just 3,750 Starpoints, which for some of their nicer properties is an incredible deal!

Sadly, Wyndham doesn’t have that many nice properties. The bulk of their ~7,800 properties are budget brands like Days Inn, Howard Johnson and Super8, but they do have some higher quality hotels too!

The Shelborne Wyndham Grand in Miami is well regarded and can be pricey:

And I quite like the look of the TRYP Hotel in New York too:

Wyndham’s ‘Dolce Hotels and Resorts’ are meant to be quite nice, though I don’t have any personal experience of them.

Concerns

I’m pretty torn – I really like to see genuine innovation in the Points/Miles world (there can be no doubt this is pretty innovative!), and want to support this. BUT… It’s just so weird.

Wyndham haven’t really been on my radar much before, and although they are a massive hotel group, there’s a sort of amateurishness about this promotion that worries me.

To put it bluntly, I don’t feel 100% confident that I’ll end up with the Wyndham Points I think I should end up with if I take advantage – either through me misunderstanding the Ts & Cs somehow or Wyndham screwing up. I value Starpoints very highly, and this just feels a bit risky.

Bottom Line

I’m not actually going to offer any advice either way on whether to take this offer up or not – apart from make sure you read the Ts & Cs very closely and are comfortable with what you choose to do.

There’s no doubt it could be a great deal, and I think I might personally risk the 10,000 Starpoints I currently have in my account  – partly just to see what happens(!) but also because I have plenty more Starpoints that I moved across to Marriott a couple of weeks ago and can move back whenever I like. If it goes wrong it’s not that bad, I’ll just have made a very inefficient donation to a worthy cause, which is hardly the end of the world.

 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Loyalty Intervention offer (“Offer”) is open to new and existing Wyndham Rewards® members (“Members”) who reside in a participating country, territory, or region.  Offer is valid Tuesday, October 11, 2016 from 12:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. EST only (“Offer Period”).  All Wyndham Rewards Program Terms & Conditions apply. Visitwyndhamrewards.com for complete program terms and conditions and to learn more about the various Wyndham Rewards Member Levels. All capitalized terms not otherwise defined in these terms and conditions shall have the same meaning as in the Wyndham Rewards Program Terms & Conditions.  Offer may not be valid with any other offer, promotion, or discount. Offer is subject to cancellation or change, at any time, and without notice. Wyndham Rewards, Inc.’s (“Wyndham Rewards”) decisions are final on all matters relating to this Offer.  All trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners.

Offer

During the Offer Period, Members have the opportunity to donate substantially all of their points in the Starwood Preferred Guest program (“Competitor Program”).  All points verified to have been donated through the Competitor Program’s Charity Partners program will be matched with four (4) times the same number of points in their Wyndham Rewards account (“Trade-In Bonus Points”). Additionally Wyndham Rewards will upgrade Members’ new or existing Wyndham Rewards Member Level to a level equal to, but not higher than, their current loyalty elite tier/status level in the Competitor Program (“Status Match”).

Claim Process

To claim the Trade-In Bonus Points and Status Match opportunity described in the Offer, Members must transmit the following information, during the Offer Period, to [email protected]: 1) Your Wyndham Rewards member number; and 2) A screenshot of your points donation receipt from the Competitor Program indicating the referenced transaction was completed during the Offer Period; and 3) A screenshot of your final points balance with the Competitor Program upon completion of the transaction; and 4) A screenshot or current Competitor Program account statement indicating your status level and recent transaction history.  All information received is subject to further review and confirmation, as needed, by the Wyndham Rewards Program personnel.  Member is solely responsible for any fees, costs, taxes or any other liabilities associated with any Competitor Program transactions.  In most cases, Members will receive their Trade-In Bonus Points and Status Match within ten (10) days of a qualifying submission.  If Members have questions concerning the Offer, they should contact Wyndham Rewards Member Services at 1.866.996.7937 or visit wyndhamrewards.com.

Trade-In Bonus Points

As a condition of eligibility for any Trade-In Bonus Points awards, Members’ Competitor Program account: 1) may not reflect any other transactions within the preceding 24 hour period; and 2) may have no more than 499 points remaining in their Competitor Program account upon completion of the transaction or transactions; and 3) all transactions must be completed within the Offer Period.

Status Match

Status Match will allow members to upgrade their new or existing Wyndham Rewards Member Level to a level equal to, but not higher than, their current loyalty elite tier/status level in the Competitor Program. The Wyndham Rewards Program offers Members the following membership levels (“Member Levels”): Blue (achieved upon enrollment), Gold (achieved upon Member completing 5 Qualifying Nights in one calendar year), Platinum (achieved upon Member completing 15 Qualifying Nights in one calendar year), and Diamond (achieved upon Member completing 40 Qualifying Nights in one calendar year)*.  Wyndham Rewards Member Level upgrades will, generally, be processed according to the following schedule:                                           

Competitor Program Status Level	Wyndham Rewards Member Level
Preferred	Blue
Gold	Platinum
Platinum	Diamond

 

However, Wyndham Rewards personnel will determine the equivalent Wyndham Rewards Member Level that matches the Member’s current Competitor Program loyalty elite tier/status level, based upon a review of the number of nights, stays, and/or points required to meet the comparable elite tier/status level.  Only elite tier/status level will be matched (Competitor Program benefits may not specifically be matched).  Members who receive a Status Match under the Offer will retain such level until December 31, 2017.

*A Qualifying Night under the Wyndham Reward Terms & Conditions is defined as a paid, stayed night during a Qualified Stay at a Participating Hotel (see Section I of the Wyndham Rewards Terms & Conditions for definitions of “Qualified Stays” and “Participating Hotels”), so long as the Qualified Stay has an average daily rate of $25 per night; (ii) a paid, stayed night at a Go Fast Award Participating Hotel, which night was obtained by using a Go Fast Award pursuant to these Terms and Conditions; or (iii) a stayed night at a Participating Hotel, which night was obtained by using a Go Free Award pursuant to these Terms and Conditions.