Wyndham Denying Stays Towards Promos
Shawn was alerted to an issue by a reader (thanks Randy) that Wyndham had denied his 7500 Masterpass promo for using an ineligible rate. He booked the hotel using an AARP rate on the Wyndham site and was told that did not qualify. It was considered a discount code. With the current Visa Checkout promo ongoing we thought it would be prudent to bring it to your attention.
Should the Stay Have Counted
Most other hotel promos have allowed AAA and AARP rates to count towards their promos since the room was still booked on their site. But with Wyndham being Wyndham it doesn’t shock me that they are not allowing these rates to count. Here is pertinent part of their terms:
“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in these Terms and Conditions, if the rate for any night at a Participating Property falls into one of the following “Non-Qualified Market Segments,” such night will not be deemed a Qualified Stay:
- Qualified Discounts (non-account) other than Employee and Family Rates and Travel Industry Rates (in each case, as defined below)…”
This is very vague to say the least but I think they are putting AARP and AAA rates etc. under qualified discounts. That is the only relevant part I could find in their terms.
Conclusion
If you were planning on participating in the Visa Checkout promo Wyndham is running make sure you only use standard rack rates when booking the rooms. I think this is a little bit cheap on Wyndham’s part but they are who they are. The bonus points are worth more than the $5-10 you usually save by using the AAA or AARP rates etc. so it is worth it if you are sure you can complete the promo.
Let us know if you have run into issues with something like this with Wyndham or any other hotel’s rewards program in the comments section.
Thanks again Randy for bringing our attention to this!
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Wow, thanks for passing along Randy’s unhappy experience. I’m glad he shared this with M2m, and he should not give up on this — and press them for a detailed explanation… Wyndham would take quite a black eye (where it may hurt $$) over this if indeed they’re not counting AARP and AAA rates towards the promo, and then hide behind hidden and vague fine print….. Would give new “meaning” to that awful elf-magic logo image….. (e.g., something hidden in the deceptive “magic.” If so, that’s just beneath them, and if this indeed is happening, they should be “called on it” — widely.) Let’s hope though that Randy’s bad experience is not the norm, and that where it was applied, Wyndham management will see reason/prudence.
I have a test of this pending. We stayed at a Baymont four days ago ago, and made the reservation using Visa checkout. Base points have already posted. I’m guessing first 3,000 points under the visa promo will post separately/later…. ?
footnote, and yes…. we used a AARP rate. (noticed data points from Ric & Salabh were for AAA rates)
Let us know how it goes. I wondered if there was any correlation to AARP vs AAA. I can’t see them treating it differently but your DP could help us figure it out. We went back to Randy and told him to call again based on the DP provided above. Thanks for the comment escot!
I booked AAA rate for an October Days Inn hotel stay in Nice and I received the 7,500 bonus points for Masterpass payment. Any rate that earns Wyndham points should also earn the bonus points for Masterpass and Visa Checkout promotions.
Thanks for the info Ric. I wonder what is going on in Randy’s case then.
I have a counter DP. I received the 7500 Wyndham points for Masterpass promo after booking a AAA rate on Wyndham App. Stay on 14-Oct and received points on 02-Nov.
Interesting – thanks for the info. Maybe the person he talked to was misinformed?