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An email came in this morning from Wyndham Rewards advertising Wyndham Rewards Auctions. The email was actually advertising a contest, but more interesting than the contest were the auctions — which include a package that ends tomorrow for two nights at the Wyndham Grand Chicago Riverfront and two tickets to see Hamilton in Chicago. That auction had no bids when I sat down to write this, but received its first bid while I was writing this post.
The Deal
- Wyndham Rewards is offering a number of auctions, including the package above for a 2-night stay and Hamilton tickets
- Direct link to Hamilton auction
- Direct link to view all Wyndham Rewards auctions
Quick Thoughts
SPG, Marriott, Hilton and IHG have also offered various auctions over the years and every now and then you can snag a package with decent value. In the case of the Hamilton auction pictured above, the tickets and stay must be booked for travel between 3/3/18-3/31/18. Since all Wyndham Rewards properties cost 15,000 points per night, the two-night stay is worth 30K points. The cheapest weekend available in March looks like the 23rd-25th, when rates are currently $161 per night before tax.
Other weekends were $192 per night and $229 per night before tax. The cost of the Hamilton tickets will be the difference between 30K and the ending price, which would currently make the Hamilton tickets a net 40K points. I was actually surprised to see that Hamilton Chicago tickets can be had on the resale market for more reasonable prices than I’d imagined, with some upcoming performances having seats available on Stubhub from as low as $75. However, weekends in March are a bit more expensive, with the Saturday evening performance on March 24th starting around $144 per ticket (before considering the Current Amex Offer and any cash back/rewards).
That said, the low-priced tickets look to be located up in the highest section of the balcony. While the Wyndham Rewards auction does not indicate the location of the seats, I would imagine they probably include a pair of decent seats. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect to be getting well over 1c per point in value if the auction doesn’t receive many more bids. Considering the fact that Wyndham Rewards isn’t partners with any of the major transferable currencies, I wouldn’t be surprised if competition remained low on this and other auctions. The other options currently available didn’t appear to be a great value at first glance, though I’ll be keeping an eye on these to see if other interesting auctions pop up.
Bottom line
In addition to SPG Moments, Marriott Rewards Moments, Hilton Honors auctions, and IHG auctions, I’ll be keeping an eye on Wyndham Rewards auctions. While these auctions don’t always provide a great value, you can sometimes snag a good deal. With Wyndham Rewards, there is probably a slightly better chance of snagging a deal just because there are likely fewer people sitting on a large stack of Wyndham points and watching these auctions than you would expect with the other major currencies. If you’ve got a stash of Wyndham points, it might be worth bookmarking the page and checking back now and then to see what experiences are added.
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I love Wyndham Rewards but never would’ve known about their auctions save for you. I was successful with the DC tour for 4 for 30k. Figure I’ll make 1/2 that up with the new Wyndham 15k offer + 20% off with the Entertainment Book!