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A good Wyndham Rewards promo means you should be staying at a Ramada or Days Inn

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A generous new promotion means that you can get a free night at any of 8,000 hotels across the world if you can squeeze in two stays at a Ramada or Days Inn property this spring.

Wyndham – even though you may never have heard of it – is actually the largest hotel group in the world with over 8,000 properties.  The majority of these are low-cost hotels in the USA, primarily outside major cities, and you are unlikely to stay in one unless you are doing a US road trip.

In the UK, Wyndham Rewards is the loyalty scheme for hotel chains Ramada and Days Inn.  It also covers chains which you don’t find in the UK – Wyndham, Tryp, Wingate, Hawthorn, Microtel, Baymont, Super 8, Howard Johnson and the US (not UK) Travelodge.

There are around 30 Wyndham Rewards hotels in the UK.  The Days Inn hotels are generally found on motorway service stations which is why you may have missed them, although there are a couple in London.  The Ramada properties are better spread.

A number of the better hotels have been reflagged in the last couple of years.  The Ramada at Excel in London is now a DoubleTree.  The Ramada at the Mailbox in Birmingham is now under AC Hotels, a Marriott brand.

The Days Inn at Waterloo, pictured below, is about as exciting as it gets.

Why are we talking about Ramada and Days Inn today?

Wyndham Rewards has just launched a generous new promotion.

If you complete two stays at any Wyndham Rewards hotel globally by 1st July, you will receive a free night at any Wyndham Rewards property.

Full details are on the Wyndham Rewards website here.

How does it work?

What actually happens is that, after your 2nd stay, you receive 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points.

Wyndham has a slightly bizarre redemption structure.  ALL hotels – every single Wyndham Rewards property on the planet – cost a flat 15,000 points per night.

This is pretty radical stuff on the face of it.  There are no charts, no peak or off peak dates.  Wherever you want to stay, it will be 15,000 points.

In reality, it is not quite so radical:

When it introduced flat pricing, Wyndham actually increased the cost of a lot of hotels.  Far fewer came down in price.  Whilst the old range was from 5,500 points to 50,000 points, there were very few hotels in the higher bands.

Outside of this promotion, you still need to spend $1,500 to get a free night based on the standard earning rate of 10 points per $1 spent.  Because Wyndham does not run a lot of bonus point promotions, you may still get free nights more quickly with other chains.

Wyndham has very few aspirational properties.  There is nothing in the UK that I would get excited about.

There are certainly some good aspirational places elsewhere.

Is this promotion worth a look?

For some Head for Points readers, there is good value to be had here.

It is going to be tricky for many people to find two Ramada or Days Inn hotels in the UK to stay at, if we’re honest.  On the other hand, if you are travelling around the US this spring then it will be a doddle to find two cheap Super 8, Howard Johnson, Days Inn etc etc properties.  You could then leverage that into a free night at an expensive Wyndham Rewards hotel elsewhere in the work.

If you are looking for hotels, the official website for Ramada and Days Inn in the UK is here.  There are Wyndham Rewards sign-up links on both sites and you can learn more about this offer here.


Hotel offers update – April 2024:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points?

  • Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 14th May 2024. Click here.

Comments (35)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Concerto says:

    My confusion, as a Melia Rewards member, is about Tryp hotels in Germany. I am not sure if they are part of Melia or Wyndham, and reception had no idea about it (Munich appeared to be Melia, Halle appeared to be Wyndham)…or maybe they’re split between the two. If you’ going around Germany, Tryp hotels can be a good deal.

  • RussellH says:

    I use the Ramada Dover about once a year, usually on a 3000 points + cash basis. We have been pleasantly surprised by the restaurant there too. By no means wonderful, we have felt it was value for money, while the menu was rather more inventive than what we have found at Holiday Inns. We get the points, as suggested, from Motels in the USA, usually.
    There has been a massive reduction in their portfolio in the UK though, including some perfectly decent, although just average places. Many, such as Manchester Piccadilly Gardens, Glasgow George Square and a new place just north of Bolton, by Horwich Parkway, are now Mercures. Crewe had two Ramadas, the Encore bacame Ibis Styles and the Ramada, quite pleasant when we stayed there, with a good Indian restaurant, is now perhaps the worst HI Ex I have seen in this country. Glad to hear that the Southport Ramada is quite good – there is an excellent annual fireworks display at the beginning of October, but we always left it far too late to book anything but a B+B.

    The Silverado in Napa is a Dolce Hotel; there is another in La Hulpe just outside Bruxelles that I want to try sometime, and there are a number of others in places such as Sitges. They all look to be worth investigating.

    One annoying things about Wyndham Rewards is that you get no points for F+B spend, as far as I can see.

  • Rob Brown says:

    Anyone have any experience crediting Tryp stays to Wyndham? I do a lot of Tryp stays but they always credit to my Melia account. (From the tryp website it goes through Melia when you go to book.) anyone know how to change the programme to Wyndham?

  • James says:

    Well the reason I’m not is despite the fact I find myself in Bangkok for an extra few days unexpectedly, on the Ramada website the Ramada Bangkok is 5200THB per night whilst on the OTAs it’s down at a third of the price !!

    Don’t especially want to stay there but thought “well I’ll tick one of the 2 nights off”….but I’m not paying three times the price of the OTAs just to get half-way to qualifying for a free night !!
    Looking at them vs the competition , this hotel should not be 5200THB !!

  • James says:

    Totally off topic.
    Stranded in Bangkok !!

    Does the insurance which comes with the Amex Platinum card (UK) include flying you home in the same class as you were originally booked if you missed your flight home due to hospitalisation ?
    How about your partner ? They certainly provide £150 a day for accomodation & food.
    But I am now worried they will fly us back in economy 🙁 J on Finnair was booked.

    The old NatWest Black Card insurance was bloody brilliant. Bit worried about this Amex policy.

    • mark2 says:

      Why not ring them and ask?

      • James says:

        Because I have a temperature of 39.2 and am hooked up to all sorts of contraptions and I’m pretty exhausted !

        And this is usually a nice place where people will share their experiences of a similar situation if they can.

        Thanks for your advice 🙂

        • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

          Documentation isn’t clear. If your trip is ‘cut short’, including due to illness, you get up to £7.5k for ‘reasonable, necessary travel costs’ and are covered for unused travel, but the medical benefits section explicitly states ‘economy class’ for repatriation of companions following treatment (it doesn’t specify what the policyholder gets). If your companion is the supplementary cardholder (i.e. covered in their own right by the policy), may be better for them to claim individually but probably best to call and ask. Incidentally, if you’re in hospital, you’re entitled to £50 per night to ‘make your stay more comfortable’ on top of the £150.

        • Cate says:

          I can’t believe no one’s said it – Get better soon James!

          …but this…’the medical benefits section explicitly states ‘economy class’ for repatriation of companions following treatment (it doesn’t specify what the policyholder gets)’ Andrew (@andrewseftel)

          ….has shot Amex plat policy in the head for me.

  • Lady London says:

    If as Andrew Seftel above says, you are covered for unused travel then it looks like you would be refunded the unused J seat? giving you enough to re-buy it on the way home?

    Maybe you or your companion could talk to the doctor in charge of your case and ask / nudge for an official statement of the travelling conditions necessary for your repatriation? You can produce it at an appropriate moment when such is being arranged.

    Have to say though you are a true HfP-er – you have a temperature of 39.2, very will and yet still dealing with the important things like class of travel due to your medical emergency … 🙂

    • James says:

      Oh yeah, that was my top concern. Not Dengue fever or malaria 🙂

      The first person dealing with my claim advised they would provide return travel for both of us on a like-for-like basis so business class would be provided. They could book for me or I could book and claim cost back.
      However just had a call from another member of the same team (just following up) and in the course of the conversation they stated we’d be in economy. When I mentioned business class and the previous conversation the caller stated the policy says economy but that they would look at the policy wording again.

      I would be absolutely furious if I had purchased replacement biz flights after the first conversation and then been told no in the second !!
      That said, I’m pretty bloody annoyed as it is. I thought this was a premium insurance policy. It seems not.
      If you travel in anything other than economy then the AMEX Platinum credit card insurance isn’t for you 🙁

      Your ideas about using a different part of the policy are interesting.
      Have no idea what I’d spend £50 a night on to make my hospital stay better. The foods pretty good.

      • James says:

        Seems they are willing to spend more money sending me home if I’m dead than alive !!

  • James says:

    Cheers Cate 🙂
    I am much better thanks but still not fixed !

    Yeah, this is going to end my relationship with the AMEX Platinum card if the insurance turns out to not cover business class travel.

  • James says:

    Well I actually fell ill (had to lie down before collapsing) at the airport waiting for our flight home !!! So it hasn’t cut our trip short it’s actually extended it for myself & companion.

    But there’s not much sun, fun or sightseeing from a hospital bed 🙁

    So I don’t think the section on cutting your trip shot will apply unfortunately but it was a good idea.

    • James says:

      Actually my trip has been cut short, you’re right @andrewseftel.
      Part of my trip involved a business class flight home via Helsinki with a night in a hotel in Helsinki.
      So it has been cut short.
      So under that part of the policy I presume I can claim for the cost of those flights and hotel stay. Good bit of bargaining power with AXA.

      Not sure the best place to discuss AMEX Platinum & their insurance online (forum etc…) Any ideas ?
      Can’t find much on FT.

      • James says:

        Just to update, I have been informed that AXA will provide business class flights as they endeavour to provide a like-for-like replacement.
        I guess the condition about the companion is in there as a fallback position.
        I’m very pleased about that in the context of my current situation but also due to the fact that I do not need to cancel the AMEX Platinum and look for alternative insurance.
        Great news all round.
        Oh, and I’ve survived my near death experience – which is almost as important as Tier points.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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