The ability to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points is one of the best deals in points & miles. If you’re at all interested in booking vacation rentals, it’s essential to learn about this opportunity. This post has everything you need to know…
Intro to booking Vacasa rentals with Wyndham points
In 2019, Vacasa (a vacation rental management company) bought Wyndham Vacation Rentals. And in February 2021, Wyndham Rewards made it possible to redeem points for any of Vacasa’s more than 15,000 vacation rental properties.
Wyndham prices vacation rental free nights at 15,000 points per bedroom per night. That’s awesome because it’s often possible to get anywhere over 2 cents per point value when redeeming points this way. If you consider that Wyndham often sells their points for around 1 cent each, it’s clear that this is an excellent opportunity.
The best deal is often when you can find an amazing property that is listed with only 1 bedroom. Some of these actually have separate bedroom lofts and extra bathrooms and so are ideal for families.
Booking Vacasa Vacation Rentals
Finding Rentals
You can directly use Vacasa’s website to find available rentals. Start your search here: www.vacasa.com/search?maxbeds=1&place=/usa/. This link filters to rentals in the U.S. with a maximum of 1 bedroom. If you want more than 1 bedroom, change the filter, but keep in mind that 2 bedroom units cost twice as many points. And, of course, change the location and dates to where you want to go and when you want to travel.
A trick for finding big units that are listed as 1 bedroom is to set the following filters:
- Max Bedrooms: 1
- Min Bathrooms: 2 (or whatever number you think you’ll need)
- Number of guests: 6 (put in a number slightly larger than the number of people in your party). This is the key to weeding out small units.
Cost: 15,000 points per bedroom per night
To figure out the points required for a stay, multiply the number of nights times the number of bedrooms times 15,000 points. If you find a 3 night stay in a 2 bedroom home, for example, you can expect to pay 3 x 2 x 15,000 = 90,000 points for the stay. In most cases, there are no other taxes or fees to pay (but in certain situations you may be charged a pet fee or resort fee).
Wyndham Earner 10% Discount
If you have a Wyndham Earner card, you’ll automatically get a 10% discount on all award stays, including when booking Vacasa Vacation Rentals. With a card, therefore, the cost goes down to 13,500 points per bedroom per night. You can read about Wyndham Earner cards here. My favorite Wyndham card is the $95 per year Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card. It offers 15,000 points each year when you renew (which more than offsets the annual fee), plus Wyndham Diamond status, plus the ability to earn 8 points per dollar at gas stations and at Wyndham properties (and 5x for marketing, advertising, and utilities).
Which rentals are bookable with points?
While Wyndham hasn’t made their criteria public, we’ve found that it’s possible to book a unit with points as long as the total cost after taxes and fees works out to less than $500 $350 per bedroom per night. So, for example, the 3 bedroom Hawaiian house shown above costs $2,700.15 after taxes and fees for a four night stay. That’s an average cost of $225 per bedroom per night. That’s less than $350 per bedroom per night and so it should be bookable with points. You can expect to pay 15,000 x 4 nights x 3 bedrooms = 180,000 points for this stay. That’s a value of 1.5 cents per point. If you have a Wyndham Earner card, you save 10% and the cost goes down to 162,000 points, netting a value of 1.67 cents per point.
Call to book
Call: 1-800-441-1034.
Wyndham has a dedicated phone line for Vacasa reservations and no longer accepts reservations by email. In my experience it is very easy to book over the phone: a friendly agent picked up the phone immediately when I called.
Cancellation Policy
Cancel 30 or more days before your stay for a full refund of points. Within 30 days all of your points are forfeit.
Wyndham Vacasa booking process: step by step
Here’s the step by step process that I recommend:
- Start your search here: www.vacasa.com/search?maxbeds=1&place=/usa/
This link filters to a maximum of 1 bedroom. If you want more than 1 bedroom, change the filter, but keep in mind that 2 bedroom units cost twice as many points. - Use the Vacasa website to find properties that are available for cash rates for your dates of interest.
- Make sure that the average cost for your stay of interest is less than $350 per bedroom per night inclusive of taxes and fees.
- Call 1-800-441-1034 to book the stay (they no longer accept bookings via email)
- Put a reminder on your calendar 31 days or more before your stay to remind you to cancel if it doesn’t look like the stay will work out. Bookings are non-refundable within 30 days.
Wyndham Vacasa FAQ
Where are Vacasa Vacation Rentals located?
Vacasa offers rentals in the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.
Is it possible to put an award stay on hold?
No.
Do I have to pay any taxes or fees when paying with points?
In most cases, no. All of those annoying fees, including cleaning fees, are included when you pay with points. That said, some readers have reported being charged resort fees or pet fees in some situations.
Is it possible to use points from multiple guests for a single stay?
Maybe? In the past it has been possible but a recent reader report suggests the opposite.
How can I get points quickly to cover a stay?
There are a couple of ways to add points to your Wyndham account quickly:
- Buy points. Wyndham usually charges 1.3 cents per point, but they frequently put points on sale for just under 1 cent per point. There is usually a cap to the number of points you can buy and so it may make sense for more than one person in your party to buy points to cover a stay. If you go that route, make sure that each point-buyer has enough points to cover 1 or more nights.
- Transfer points 1 to 1 from Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One Miles, or Caesars Rewards (but this last option can take many weeks to complete).
If you have more time you can wait for a sale on points, or sign up for credit cards that offer big welcome bonuses. Wyndham cards that sometimes have big bonuses are: Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card, and Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card. Cards where points can be transferred to Wyndham and which often have big bonuses are: Citi Premier, Capital One Venture Rewards, Capital One Venture X, Capital One Spark Miles for Business, Capital One Venture X Business.
Do Wyndham Earner cardholders get a 10% discount?
Yes! Wyndham Earner cardholders get a 10% discount on award stays, including Vacasa Vacation Rentals. As a result, they pay 13,500 points per bedroom per night. See: New Wyndham Earner credit cards review – Surprisingly strong.
Can I book a stay for someone else?
Yes, when booking the stay let the reservation agent know who’s name the stay should be in.
What is the cancellation policy for award bookings?
Cancel 30 or more days before your stay for a full refund of points. Within 30 days all of your points are forfeit.
How far in advance can I book a Vacasa stay with Wyndham points?
Stays booked with points can be booked up to 12 months in advance. H/T Brian.
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