Barclays and Wyndham recently unveiled three new “Wyndham Earner” rewards credit cards. While I don’t consider any of them to be “must have” cards, they’re better than I expected and I’m actually kind of excited about the business card…
Those who want a nice welcome bonus plus the ability to save 10% off award stays will do well with the fee-free Wyndham Rewards Earner Card. Many will find the $95 business card more attractive because it includes the same 10% discount plus 15,000 bonus points each anniversary and Wyndham Diamond status which matches to Caesar’s Diamond status. The $75 Wyndham Rewards Earner Card is less attractive, in my opinion, because it offers only 7,500 points each anniversary and Wyndham Platinum status. If you have the ability to pay $20 more per year for the business card, I think it’s totally worth it.
What if you aren’t interested in staying at Wyndham properties? How about staying in vacation rentals instead? Wyndham makes it possible to book vacation rentals with points in multiple ways. The best value option at the moment is undoubtedly Vacasa Vacation Rentals. See this post for full details: Wyndham Vacasa: Great Value is Real!
Here’s my review of the three Wyndham Earner cards:
Table of Contents
Perks available to all three Wyndham Rewards Earner cards
Go Free Faster (10% award discount)
Cardholders automatically get a 10% discount on free night (Go Free) awards. Normally, free nights cost either 7.5K, 15K, or 30K per night. With this discount, free nights will cost 6.75K, 13.5K, or 27K per night.
Note that this sounds similar to the 10% rebate on the JetBlue cards and on the old IHG Club card, but it’s better than that because it’s not a rebate but a discount — with Wyndham you get a discount at the time of booking so you do not need to have the full points in your account the way you do with JetBlue or IHG.
Cardmember Rate (paid stay discount)
Cardholders save 7% or 12% off the Best Available Rate, depending upon the property. This is slightly better than the Member Rate which is either a 5% or 10% discount off the Best Available Rate.
No foreign transaction fees
That’s good!
Wyndham Rewards Earner Card
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
Review Summary: Sign up for the bonus. Keep for the 10% free night discount.
For a fee-free consumer card, this one offers a very good welcome bonus (at least at the time of this writing it does) and it’s worth keeping for the 10% discount on free night awards. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend spending $15K per year to get the 7,500 point bonus, but it does have strong earnings (5X) at gas stations and Wyndham properties.
Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
Review Summary: Decent card, but most would be better off with free version or business version.
If the business card didn’t exist, I’d say that this card was worth considering for Wyndham fans. The annual 7,500 point bonus is almost enough to offset the card’s $75 annual fee (at our Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.82 cents per point, 7,500 points is worth $61.50) and if you stay in Wyndham or Caesar’s properties often enough, Platinum status may be valuable. The card also has slightly better earnings at gas stations and Wyndham properties than the free card (6X instead of 5X). That said, if you find 7,500 points and Platinum status valuable, you should be willing to pay $20 more per year for for the business card in order to get 15,000 points and Diamond status. Plus, the business card offers 8X rewards at gas stations and Wyndham properties!
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
Review Summary: Surprisingly strong for gas station spend. This one is a keeper.
Dare I say that this card is almost exciting? Let’s look at the features that make it well worth the $95 annual fee:
15K annual point bonus: Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Wyndham points is 0.82 cents per point, so we value 15K points at $123 per year. In other words, I’d be happy to pay $95 per year for 15,000 points because I should be able to get at least $123 value from those 15,000 points (but would likely get much more value). As a general rule, I always prefer earning points rather than free night certificates with hotel credit cards. Unlike free night certificates, points don’t expire after only one year (Wyndham points do expire 4 years after acquisition though!) and points are more flexible: You can use 15,000 points for 2 cheap 7.5K nights, 1 mid-tier 15K night, or towards a top-tier 30K night (by combining with other points). Plus, thanks to the 10% free night discount, you’ll have points left over for the next stay.
Wyndham Diamond status: Wyndham offers some perks exclusively to those with Diamond status such as suite upgrades (including on free nights), welcome amenity, and ability to gift Gold status to others. Even better, Wyndham Diamond status freely matches to Caesar’s Diamond which offers perks like waived resort fees, free $100 Celebration dinner (read Nick’s Celebration Dinner trip report here), and much more. Wyndham Diamond status is a more important perk than it was in the past because Wyndham has stopped offering status matches from other hotel chains.
Strong earnings for gas station purchases, Wyndham hotels, and utilities: This card offers 8X rewards at gas stations and Wyndham properties! With our Reasonable Redemption Value of 0.82 cents per point, that’s like a 6.56% rebate (which is excellent). The card also earns 5X for marketing, advertising, and utilities (utility purchases are defined as telecommunications services, cable, satellite, electric, gas, heating oil and water).
Extra bonus at Marathon & Arco gas stations: If you sign up for Marathon Make it Count Rewards, you can save money & earn extra rewards in addition to the 8 points per dollar you’ll earn with your Wyndham card. See: Wyndham Rewards — Save 10c per gallon at Marathon / Arco.
Visa Savings Edge: Visa Savings Edge is a card-linked program for business Visa cards. By enrolling and linking your Wyndham business card, you can earn additional cash back on top of the strong rewards the card already offers. Visa Savings Edge offers automatic rebates for purchases with certain merchants including:
- Wyndham Hotels: Get 4% to 5% back depending on the brand. This means you can earn 8X Wyndham points plus up to 5% cash back at Wyndham hotels!
- Chevron:
Get 2% back. This means you can earn 8X Wyndham points plus 2% cash back at Chevron gas stations! Unfortunately it looks like this rebate is no longer available.
Do you think you’ll apply for any of the Wyndham Rewards Earner Cards?
Hey Greg, I applied to one of the cards and got approved. How long does it take for Wyndham to pick up that I am a cardholder and show 10% discount (I added my Wyndham number during the application process)? Or do I need to add this CC number to my Wyndham profile to start seeing it?
It will happen automatically but I’m not sure how long it takes. My guess is that it’s immediately after you activate the card (but that’s just a guess)
Thank you!! I asked that immediately after I was approved. I got the card since then. It took between 24 to 48 hours for the discount to show up provided you added your loyalty number during application process. Did not require adding CC to Wyndham profile or activating it
My Barclay’s Wyndham Business card earns 9x at Costco.
wow, will test mine; do u think it’s a result of the 4x visa savings edge + 5x utilities?
I posted a confusing message. The Wyndham Business card earns 8x only when getting GAS at Costco.
I’ve seen several places that you can pool your Wyndham points with another person for a fee. But I haven’t been able to find what that fee is, does anyone know? P2 and I both got the 90k biz offer and looking at booking a big Vacasa stay. Guessing it’s probably not worth the fee in the long run, whatever it is, but I’m still curious.
Applied (once) before the 10/14 deadline and I was sent 3 different cards all with the same credit limits. Customer service couldn’t figure out what was going on nor could they confirm that I was eligible for the sign up bonus in effect when I applied. All of this lead me to close all 3 accounts before activating any of the cards. I’m not impressed with Barclays.
The Business card AF in the promotion is $95. I have been charged $149. I have filed a dispute – 16 days ago, no response. I suppose I have to reach out again – this is just weak, pathetic.
Applied and received the Business card here. Heads up – they charged me a $149 AF versus $95 advertised. Had to file a claim to get that corrected. Still waiting. Also they only issued it with a $2K spend limit (although my credit record is very strong), so not even enough to go for 90K awards. I called to get limit raised. They told me it’s a hard pull and can take several days. Also, cash advance cannot be lowered….ugh. These folks make Chase look like angels.
I transferred most of my Barclays Business AA credit line to my Wyndham Business Credit card.
Can you have all three of these cards at the same time or does barclays have any limits on multiples of the same product family?
I don’t know. I’m confident that you can have both a business card and a personal card, but I don’t know if they’ll let you have both personal cards.
As a datapoint, I applied for the personal Wyndham Earner Plus a week or so ago and went pending and then soon after denied. I already have the business card. I waited for the letter to arrive and when it came it said I was denied because I already had the maximum allowable number of this product and that they didn’t pull my credit report. I called in this morning and the agent quickly verified that I in fact did not already have a Wyndham personal card and moved forward with pulling my credit report and then approving me for the card.
TLDR: Barclays denied my personal Wyndham application because I have a Wyndham business, but recon approved after calling in. There may be a system issue that is auto denying the consumer card if you have the business card because it looks like the same product. Or it may have just been human error.
I have been having all kinds of issues with this card. Payments not posting (even after receiving confirmation) credit line being on hold for 10 days AFTER payment, and the point totals are a mess. This last statement I spent $4700 and received 8 points. Yeah, 8 whole points. Calling in is like talking to a 4 year old. Who are their reps? A call center at a day care in Asia? Seriously, Barclays is a mess.
Wow, that’s awful. Sorry to hear that.
Hi Greg, thanks for the article. Long time reader, first time commenter. 🙂 I got approved for this card a month ago and just got my first statement and was super surprised to see a finance charge (~$8) on the *first* statement. Any idea what may have happened? I reached out to Barclay and the reps have not been helpful so far. Was wondering if this was a card I need to pay as soon as the charge hits or something like that. Thank you in advance.
I was charged $1 finance charge on my first statement. I put $1k spend on my card. No signup bonus yet. No points have hit Wyndham.
They reversed the finance charge. I was afraid that they had somehow categorized an insurance payment as a cash advance.
The points earned after the new site went active are showing in my Wyndham account. Points earned prior to the conversion have not posted as of yet.
I have no idea. Neither my wife nor I got hit with a finance charge on our cards.
No worries. Thanks for the reply, Greg!
Just added the Wyndham Earner Rewards Biz card to my existing Visa Savings edge account. At this time and at least for me, Chevron is no longer a benefit. The current auto parts & fuel category benefits are: Sears Parts Direct and AutoZone.
Thanks. I’ll update that section
I have been asked to fax a drivers license, social security card, and bank statement for the Earners business card. A true recipe for identity theft. Is that normal?
It’s not unusual for card issuers of business cards to ask for that kind of info. Crazy that they’re asking for a fax in this century.
Does Wyndham credit card spend keep all of your points active?
Well, it keeps your points active, but that doesn’t stop them from expiring 4 years after you get them. There is a workaround that works for up to 30K points per year to keep points alive: https://frequentmiler.com/how-i-saved-my-wyndham-points-from-expiry/
Thanks fr the reply.
P2 and I have the old Wyndham Rewards Visa ($69 AF) for 6 yrs now. Can we apply for the Earner and/or the Earner Plus?
I believe so
Note that Marathon gas station rewards can earn Wyndham points (don’t remember if it’s 2 per $ or 2 per gal), which pairs rather nicely with the gas earning.
Thanks for the reminder! Details here: https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-rewards-save-10c-per-gallon-at-marathon-arco/
My first statement closed on business earner. Only got 60k even though I made the whole spend in the first month. Hopefully it corrects itself next month.
Larry
Did you ever get your 2nd tier 30K? Im having issues getting Barclays to acknowledge the promotion.
Anyone else having issues with the 30K portion of the 90K offer?
Greg & anyone, do folks know they still only pull/view TU report? that way, just want to unfreeze TU. Thx
When i applied for the business card they pulled TU only (Florida).
Same in Pa
[…] Wyndham Diamond status comes with the Wyndham Earner Business card from Barclay. This is an excellent card with 90k sign up bonus, automatic Diamond status, 8% on gas, and more (as of writing). For more info, see this Frequent Miler post. […]
Wyndham has such low cleanliness and upkeep standards I don’t know why anyone is concerned with these cards.
This is why: https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-vacasa/
Doing a dummy booking results in an offer for $75 statement credit for the Rewards Earner card. I don’t see an option to switch and apply for the Business one though. Anyone has a workaround?
4x grocery on the Earner + is pretty solid for those who don’t have the Amex Gold. I’ve been really happy with my Wyndham biz card. I have gotten 8x gas on a few $25 Amazon and Lowe’s gift cards. They have some nice 15k properties in Greece I’ll be staying at in April. (Wyndham Athens Residence and Dolce Attica Riviera). Some of their newer La Quintas in CA and AZ are nice. I stayed at their Origins Hotel in Westminster, CO and it was nice, hip, brand new.
Their app is glitchy. It will show no availability sometimes for cash stays but then when you choose points it will show availability.
FYI – Missing the word “Plus” here: “ The $75 Wyndham Rewards Earner Card is less attractive… “
Do they have any higher end properties?
Yes
I’ve been banned by Barclays due to cycling my credit limit with a significant amount of business spending. They said it wasn’t a lifetime ban, but it’s been a bit over four years now, and my applications get denied before they even do a hard pull. I’ve tried reaching out to them a number of times, but they won’t budge.
How much you are talking about just for our information and for our protection not to get shut down by Barclays can you please tell us how much you used to recycle your limit just for our information
It looks like you are using an old reasonable value for Wyndham points. Your May article determined a reasonable redemption value of $.0082.
“Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Wyndham points is 0.7 cents per point, so we value 15K points at $105 per year. ”
PS The first year value looks like it is using an old value. This is also reflected in the best credit signup offer page and Greg’s July credit card picks.
Oops, this was written last year
I went ahead and updated this post with the new RRV. Thanks for pointing this out! Note that the first year value is actually correct. It’s smaller than you’d think because the calculation subtracts out the first year annual fee ($95) and the “cost of spend” for meeting minimum spend which in this case is 3% of $2,000 minus the value of point earnings on that spend (2000 x .0082)
Much appreciate this post/review — and yes, helped me add this card to my wallet. 🙂 Took forever to actually get the card (over two weeks), and while waiting, wasted HOURS trying to get to the right barclays/Wyndham phone #. (as per Travel w Grant, important to use the direct line for Wyndham/Barclay’s business accounts….. but even then, be prepared for horrendously long wait times)
But am largely glad I have the card….. But two new annoyances:
Sure wish we could edit our posts to frequent miler….. apologies for the typos and autocorrect garbage.
I agree — the Wyndham card’s usability is an issue right now. I sure hope they fix those things. The online cardholder experience is really terrible too.
We used to allow editing, but then lots of spammers would get past the spam filter by posting something not spammy and then they would edit the comment to include their hyperlinks and stuff.
Do you get the 10% back when you redeem with vicasa?
Yes, and it’s better than 10% back: it’s 10% off straight from the top. So, for example, instead of them charging you 15K they’ll charge you 13.5K
Thanks Greg!
When is the last time someone has been able to successfully register their Wyndham Earner card with the Visa Savings Edge program. (I also tried a new US Bank biz visa and received the same error. All seems well with my previously linked Chase car though.) I keep getting an error of something like “temporary technical difficulties; try again later.”
I guess, it may be time for “If you encounter problems while applying to enroll your Visa Business Card(s) in the Program and/or while updating the Business’ Program profile on the Program Website please contact Visa Customer Care at 1-888-466-9227.”
Hmm. I just tried and got the same result “Sorry, we are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again shortly.” I know that it was working not too long ago because Stephen Pepper was able to register his Wyndham Earner Business card.
I tried today as well and keep sayings connection error. Not sure how to get the card registered. Thanks
Has anyone tried contacting them for support? Their Contact Us page says:
For inquiries about enrolling in Visa SavingsEdge, including password resets or username changes, please contact Visa Global Customer Care Services at 1-888-466-9227. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM EST.
Sam-I was able to register with no error tonight. So you may want to try again now.
Being flat out disgusted and frustrated by our friends at Wyndham. Actually I guess it’s Barkley‘s that’s responsible. They say that you get eight points per dollar at gas stations I signed up in January and been calling them ever since never got my points. Just Last month I had a $3000 gasoline bill. (I have a courier company)
They gave me 3000 points but they should’ve gave me 24,000 points. I keep calling them every other day and they keep saying that they’ll get to it when they can. So ready to throw in the towel. If you may have any kind of insider info to get to somebody there That can actually make a decision please forward. Otherwise I will tell everybody don’t waste your time there’s much better offers elsewhere for gasoline. And they’ll actually pay the points and not lie to you about it.
that’s a fair alarm. curio for Greg, does Wyndham/Barclay’s have a social media presence, where Aftrhrs could post just this complaint — and then see if the pressure of public opinion (as generated by their own platform) prompts them to fess up with either a correction, or explanation?
Or are we left with more well-meaning, but less than helpful quips along the lines of “I don’t know” or that’s strange, etc.
I don’t know. Wyndham is strange
Lol this is gold
[…] card, Chase has with the Ink cards, or Barclays did with JetBlue and with the introduction of the Wyndham business card that offers 8x at gas stations. By contrast, I don’t think Citi has offered a bonus at all on the Double Cash this year and […]
[…] A couple of months ago, Barclays launched three new Wyndham credit cards (see New Wyndham Earner credit cards review: Surprisingly strong). […]
Just curious, which other cards besides the Wyndham Biz are really strong for gas still? Only the Amex biz gold and Sam’s Club CC come to mind, since the Ducks Unl. and the NRA card both went away. I guess there’s the Costco CC too.
See the “Gas” section of our Best Category Bonuses page. The table is set to show 5 entries at a time — either hit “next” to see the next 5 or choose more than 5 from the drop-down where it says “Show 5 entries”:
https://frequentmiler.com/best-category-bonuses/#Gas
Thank you. @Nick Reyes I don’t see the Sam’s Club CC/biz CC there though? I guess there’s also the Abound/Fort Knox CU credit card. DoC has an article about it here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/fort-knox-federal-credit-union-visa-platinum-review-5-cash-back-on-gas/
Also no love for the Sears MC with its 5x on gas. Points are harder to use but can cash out with some raise GCs
[…] I wasn’t expecting much from Wyndham’s three new credit cards, but I was proven wrong. The fee-free card is worth considering since it offers discounted rewards, but the star of the show is the $95 business card. Read my analysis here: New Wyndham Earner credit cards review: Surprisingly strong. […]
If you already have the Wyndham Platinum card, will they automatically send you the new Earner Platinum card to reaplce the older version of their card, or would I need to cancel this current one and apply for the new version…which I’m not a fan of doing.
I don’t know. So far it looks like they might just keep the old cards around and with the old benefits, but I’m not sure.
Any data points on whether Barclay’s is offering any SUB for individuals who already have the Wyndham Rewards Visa card when upgrading to the Earner or Earner+ card, or is the SUB for new applications only? I have tried calling a couple of times, but, no luck, so far.
I haven’t heard any datapoints, but my guess is that they’ll let you sign up for an Earner card even if you already have a Wyndham card. If I were you I’d simply try signing up and see what happens.
Greg, has barclay’s ever offered > 45k pts SUB for a wyndham card? off topic about status match from caesar’s to wyndham, will we still be able to do the match to wydham diamond at the end of this yr? Thx
I don’t remember them offering more than 45K in the past.
Yes, I believe the match between Caesars and Wyndham is considered to be a permanent feature
Thanks for your thoughts on today’s “ask us anything” show! I applied for the Wyndham business card but it went to “under review.” I suppose I should just wait it out for now? Fingers crossed!
You could call to ask for an instant decision, but I’m not sure how Barclays handles that.
Barclay’s is the week point of the offer. They do not like client with many cards. I doubt if I’ll be approved.
8x on gas is great but I think most people can MS at grocery stores much more easily than gas stations. I would like to get both cards but think the 4x grocery will win out if I have to prioritize.
Will the Wyndham business card count against Chase’s 5/24?
May not be a way to be certain until people start applying but one possibly relevant data point is that the Barclays Aviator Business card does not seem to show up on my personal credit report.
I don’t expect it to.
no
Are there any decent redemptions for Wyndham points? In my experience staying at Day’s Inn, I’d rather pay for a decent room. Thanks.
I think the redemptions for Wyndham Grands are a good value at 30k, although they were much better value when it was 15k!
If you get lucky like Greg (and I think Nick did something similar), you can book a castle for 15K/night.
https://frequentmiler.com/seeking-value-finding-adventure-for-15k-wyndham-points-per-night/
I think there are some vacation/rental properties that allow you to book with Wyndham points. I am not familiar with the details because to date I have not tried to build up enough Wyndham points to matter, but with that business card I think I might jump in.
Like Marriott Vacation Club, Wyndham isn’t consistent on when they open up a ts prop to points usage. But if u chk often enough (& give a new prop enough time after opening), you can score good value if wanting extra space & convenience (w/d; full kitchen).
Nice. Any idea what qualifies as utilities for the business card?
Also, I’m pretty unfamiliar with their program. Is there a way to see what they have internationally?
My water & electricity bill have both posted 2x on my existing cards.
Sev great Caribbean props, I’ve been saving my points up for the new Sam Lord’s castle prop opening in Barbados. Historic & gorgeous piece of beach. Covid pushed back their opening til 2021. Margaritaville PR Rio Mar a solid redemption – can book a 1,000+ sq ft suite for 30k WR/nt.
Brand new Margaritaville opened just prior to Covid in dt Nashville. Nice. New one also opening Grapevine, TX. Cant go wrong with Margaritaville redemptions anywhere.
Wyndham Grand Bonnet Creek & Emerald Grand Harbour Walk my 2 fav domestic redemptions.
So water and electricity should post as 5x then for this business card? Is Wyndham the only card that has a multiplier for water/electric?
@ Yolanda – some cards you can pick utilities as a bonus category, but 5x is now the highest offered
Thank you Pam. I have never looked into the Wyndham program but will consider it now. Our business spends a lot on utilities. Hopefully Greg will write some new articles on Wyndham since he mentioned on YouTube Live he is interested in the card too!
Qualifying utility purchases are defined as telecommunications services, cable, satellite, electric, gas, heating oil and water, as identified by the merchant category code.
Thanks! I’ve updated the post with these details.
Considering ability to do large gas spend, would it make sense to update for Wyndham free nights in this post?
https://frequentmiler.com/manufacturing-free-nights-hyatt-hilton-marriott/
Is Barclays strict on MS on gas?
Yep, that’s a good idea. I don’t know if Barclays is sensitive to large spend.
I recently attended a Wyndham Owner’s Update, and they were talking about an 8x Wyndham stays/HOA fees + gas credit card. I have held just about version of their cards thru the years and thought the rep was nuts, yet here we are!
Even with the WR points devaluation, their points are still worth an easy .01-.012 at high-end properties for me (Grands/Margaritaville), so .08 – .096 is phenomenal! And nice to hold continual Diamond status without doing anything. Thanks so much for the info, will be switching my gas/on-property/utility spend to the biz card.
Great!
Can you do regular WR points for Margaritaville or is that just for the timeshares,
Don’t Wyndham points still expire four years from when they were earned?
Yes, hard expiration 4 years after stay, unless they cancel earlier for 18 months of account inactivity. Just checked their online T&C.
Somebody on DoC comments said if you transfer to Caeser’s then back it will reset 4 year clock, but can only do 30k points a year. Idk about validity since i have neither but thought it was worth a mention
Yes, that’s true: https://frequentmiler.com/how-i-saved-my-wyndham-points-from-expiry/
Yes, thanks for the reminder. I’ve updated that part of the post.
DP – I previously had some WRs on the brink of expiration. The Wyndham rep told me to let the points expire and Wyndham then put them back in for another 4 yrs. They otherwise will not extend. It worked, but I can understand someone’s hesitancy with doing this esp considering Wyndham has overall poor customer service. I only had about 20,000 points so was willing to chance it.
Awesome. That’s great to hear.
Will credit card spend keep Wyndham points from expiring?
Historically Barclays hasn’t allowed to product change (downgrade) from $75 AF fee card to No AF fee card. Do you know if this will change for Earner plus to Earner ?
I don’t know
@greg @ram was there ever any answer to this? I want one of the personal cards to use for tradelines in the long term, trying to decide which one to app
I still haven’t heard from anyone who has tried
I have done my best not to get involved with Wyndham Hotels over these last several years, but given that I’m topping out in most other programs, I’ve decided to take a look. Maybe just Covid, no travel boredom, but I’ve actually seen some real value there! The 30,000 point top redemptions have some interesting value propositions, in that they can’t charge more points and with 10% reduction, some of them look like a steal!