As with many travelers, I’m not traveling these days. You might be like me, and you may be wondering: When do Wyndham points expire?
Wyndham Rewards points expire after 18 months of no account activity; AND 4 years from the date earned, regardless of activity. Due to COVID-19, they have also PAUSED the expiration of all points until September 30, 2020.
(In case you were wondering about other hotel loyalty programs, I’ve covered other questions here:
- When do my IHG points expire?
- Do Marriott Bonvoy points expire?
- How long are my Hyatt points and free night certificates good for?
- When do my Hilton points and elite status expire?
- What can I do to keep my Radisson points active? )
How do I stop my Wyndham points from expiring?
You can stop your Wyndham points from expiring a number of ways. But remember, they WILL expire after 4 years regardless of activity, so don’t stockpile them forever.
Make sure you do one of the following things at least every 18 months:
| How to keep your Wyndham Rewards points from expiring | Travel required? (Y/N) | Cash spend required? (Y/N) |
| 1. Book a paid stay at any Wyndham property. Simple enough. | Y | Y |
| 2. Book a paid stay at a CAESARS casino property. Caesars and Wyndham have a partnership, one that allowed me to get free Wyndham Diamond status! | Y | Y |
| 3. Book an award stay at a Wyndham property. Also pretty simple! | N | Y |
| 4. Earn Wyndham points with a credit card. Wyndham has two Barclaycards, one with a $75 annual fee and one with a $0 annual fee. The $75 AF card earns a one-time 30K point bonus, while the $0 AF card earns a 15K bonus. | N | Y |
| 5. Complete a survey. If you join Opinion Rewards from the “Share Your Opinion” link on Wyndham’s site, you can earn 500 points after completing your first survey. This is free and requires no travel! However, note that you must qualify for a survey and complete it before you get your 500 points; you can’t just sign up. | N | N |
| 6. Shop online through the Wyndham portal. Similar to other shopping portals, Wyndham will provide bonus points if you click through their portal site when you’re about to make a purchase online at a number of stores. Earning rates vary, but if you’re making a purchase anyway, this is worth checking out! | N | Y |
| 7. LIMITED TIME: DoorDash bonus points through Wyndham. Due to COVID-19, through September 30, 2020 you can get 250 Wyndham points with each DoorDash order. You have to go through Wyndham’s site for this. Great deal! | N | Y |
| 8. Hold a meeting at a Wyndham. You can earn 1 point per dollar for hosting a meeting at a Wyndham. This isn’t a particularly generous offer, but it works for guest rooms, meeting rooms, and food and beverage. | N | Y |
| 9. Purchase Wyndham points. I usually don’t recommend this option because you can get a better value for your money, but it’s a way to keep your points active if you buy a minimum of 1,000 points (at the regular cost of $13). | N | Y |
| 10. Rent a car with Avis or Budget. You can earn 100 Wyndham points per day, just make sure you click through from Wyndham’s site. | Y | Y |
How many Wyndham points does a free night cost?
Wyndham free nights cost 7,500, or 15,000, or 30,000 points per night. You can pay points + cash rates for 1,500, or 3,000, or 6,000 points per night plus cash too.
This is a very simple and straightforward award chart. And I’m happy to say, there are some great properties available for only 15K points, such as the Wyndham Canterbury San Francisco and the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort. I’ll be writing a guide to maximizing value on Wyndham soon – stay tuned!
When will my Wyndham elite status expire?
Whatever Wyndham status you had in 2019, you will keep until at least December 2021.
There is a way to get free Wyndham Diamond status FOREVER though, even after 2021 is over. I covered how to use hotel status matches to your advantage, and then I found a Caesars-Wyndham status match partnership that allows for perpetual status with both chains.
Bottom line
I’m glad Wyndham made these changes due to COVID-19. I hope you learned more about when Wyndham points expire. Remember that while Wyndham extended points expiration through September 30, 2020, after that, you’ll still need account activity every 18 months – and your points will expire after 4 years regardless. So don’t stockpile those Wyndham points forever!
I covered this same topic on Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG; check out those links to see how they compare to Wyndham.
