Wyndham Rewards launched Homes & Havens on October 29, adding nearly 800 professionally managed vacation homes and villas that members can book, earn points on and redeem points for.
According to the Wyndham release, the collection covers the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico and Europe, and cabins, tiny homes and yurts are due to join in the coming months. It runs on newly formed relationships with independent property management partners including Brightwild, Simpson Travel, StayTerra and Thousand Trails. Members earn 5 points per dollar spent on qualified bookings, and qualified nights count toward Member Level. The program has about 129 million enrolled members.
What it means for operators
In our reading, the redemption terms are the detail to weigh. Free-night redemptions start at 15,000 points per bedroom per night, with further tiers at 30,000 and 45,000, while the release puts the hotel redemption floor at 5,000 points. Rental redemptions go through Wyndham Rewards Member Services, must be booked at least 60 days ahead, cover the base rate only and exclude taxes and cleaning fees. Not every property will qualify. Earning happens online at launch, and redeeming is a phone and lead-time process.
For independent property managers, the signal is distribution: a program with about 129 million members now sends bookings to managers it has just signed. The release gives no fee, commission or guest-data terms, so a manager weighing a similar deal should ask for both in writing. Hotel owners and franchisees should note that rentals now sit in the same points currency as hotel nights, which follows other loyalty changes we have covered, including Hilton’s Pay with Points at digital check out and the merged WorldHotels loyalty program.
Source: Wyndham Rewards, press release
