Unexpected: Wells Fargo adds Wyndham as transfer partner on 1:2 basis

File this under news that we weren’t expecting today. Not only is Wells Fargo adding a new transfer partner, and not only is it a useful partner—Wyndham Rewards—but it’s also at a very good transfer ratio of 1:2.

The Wells Fargo transferable points program was previously one of the least exciting of the transferable currencies out there. That’s primarily because their list of transfer partners overlaps with other transferable currencies, so there wasn’t really anything to make them stand out. As a result, Wells Fargo was more of a backup program if you wanted to transfer rewards to promiscuous airline loyalty programs without draining your supply of points in other programs.

This week changes things. Before today, Citi had announced that it was slashing its transfer ratio for Choice Privileges from 1:2 to 1:1.5 from April 19. That indirectly helped to zhuzh up Wells Fargo’s program as it meant that it would be the only remaining program to transfer to Choice at a 1:2 rate.

Today’s Wyndham announcement enhances the program even further, particularly if you view transferable Wells Fargo points as more of a hotel program going forward. Wyndham is already a transfer partner of Chase, Citi, Capital One, and Bilt, but all of those only transfer on a 1:1 basis. Considering Wyndham frequently sells its points for ~0.7 cents per point, transferring on a 1:1 basis represents poor value for those other transferable currencies.

However, a 1:2 ratio from Wells Fargo to Wyndham is far more eye-catching. It’s not the most amazingly incredible value you’ll ever get, but it’d be hard to argue that a 1:2 transfer to Wyndham would be a poor use of your Wells Fargo points, at least right now anyway. If they add more valuable airline partners and/or start offering transfer bonuses, that would change the assessment somewhat.

This could also be particularly good value for people who’ll be visiting Caesars Rewards properties. If you link your Wyndham Rewards and Caesars Rewards accounts you can transfer up to 30,000 points from one to the other each year. Caesars Rewards points are worth a penny per point, so 30,000 points can be redeemed for $300 of value. That would only require a transfer of 15,000 points from Wells Fargo to Wyndham which gets doubled, then a transfer of the 30,000 points from Wyndham to Caesars. That means those 15,000 points would be getting redeemed for two cents per point which is excellent value for Wells Fargo.

It’s also not terribly difficult to get 1 cent per point of value for Wyndham stays if you’re willing to maximize your redemptions, especially if you have a Wyndham credit card that gives a 10% discount on award stays.

Overall, this is excellent news for Wells Fargo’s transferable points program and those who are already collecting their points via cards like the Autograph and Autograph Journey cards. If I didn’t already have a healthy stash of Wyndham Rewards points, I’d probably be eyeing up the Autograph Journey card myself.

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