The month of December usually brings some decent credit card offers. I don’t have any hard proof of this, but I’m pretty sure the phenomenon is caused by executives trying to make their year-end numbers. The easiest way to goose the numbers is by giving away some incentives for which the bill doesn’t come due immediately–it’s the corporate version of “buy now, pay later.”
Which brings us to the Wyndham Rewards credit card. I’ve previously written about this card as it’s a sneaky way to get airline miles without paying an annual fee. The normal sign-up bonus for this card is 30,000 points, but through December 31 that bonus has been raised to 45,000 points. It’s 30,000 for your first transaction plus an additional 15,000 for spending $1,000. Note that there is a $69 annual fee on this card which is not waived.
If you don’t want to pay an annual fee, the no-fee version of the card is offering a 20,000-point bonus (vs. the usual 12,000). Both the fee and the no-fee versions earn 2 points per dollar spent.
Are these bonuses any good? Wyndham points can be used at the following hotels:
There are plenty of low-end chains on there, though there are some more upscale choices as well. This place will set you back 30,000 points per night, so it doesn’t seem as though you’ll get a whole lot of luxury travel for a single sign-up.
Another way to use Wyndham points is by transferring them to airline partners such as American, United, USAir, and Delta. They transfer out at 2.5 points per mile, so the sign-up bonus will get you 18,000 miles for your $69 annual fee, or .38 cents per mile. Not worth it to me, but as always YMMV.
Recent Comments