Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card review | Fortune Recommends

Nov 05, 2024

With more than four decades of experience, Adam B. Frankel covers a broad range of personal finance topics from managing money in the stock markets to tracking credit card strategies. His work has been featured in national personal finance sites including Forbes Advisor, MarketWatch, Quartz, and CardRatings.com.

Dia Adams is the senior editor leading the credit cards team at Fortune Recommends. Previously, Dia was a managing editor on the credit cards and travel rewards team at Forbes Advisor. She has been featured on national television, radio, print, and online media as an expert in the realms of credit cards, points and miles, Disney and family travel.

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Our take: No other business credit card offers rewards this high on gas, as long you want to redeem your earnings within the Wyndham portfolio. Even if you don’t, the card’s automatic Diamond Elite status offers extra benefits that dazzle and can make it well worth the card’s $95 annual fee.

If you’re a business owner who frequently hits the road for work, the Wyndham Rewards Business Earner Card will catch your eye. The card earns some of the highest rewards rates you find on filling up at the pump, along with strong earnings at Wyndham properties, marketing, advertising and utility spending. There’s just one big caveat with all those shiny rewards–most will find that they’re best used to redeem for stays in the Wyndham portfolio or with Wyndham partners, like participating Vacasa and Caesar’s Rewards properties.

We’ll dive further into the redemption possibilities below but it’s worth noting upfront that you can’t redeem your earnings with this card for cash back. But if you’re looking for a travel card with a wide range of value-to-midtier lodging options, this card is a gem.

Earnings aside, the card offers some exceptional perks for the price that will elevate your stays. When booking hotels with cash, you’ll get an upfront discounted rate just for holding the card and when booking with points you’ll get an automatic 10% discount. The card also automatically grants top-tier Diamond level status, which means you’ll be upgraded to a suite (where available) on every stay, a 20% rewards bonus on eligible stays and early check-in and late checkout. The card also comes with an annual 15,000 bonus points for your anniversary, which takes some of the sting out of the annual carrying cost.

One more fun bonus: The Wyndham Diamond status that comes with this card can be matched to grant you Diamond status with the Caesar’s Rewards loyalty program. Not only will this get you casino-related and other perks, but you can transfer your Caesar’s Rewards to your Wyndham account and redeem for stays or transfer from Wyndham to Caesar’s Rewards to cover stays, meals, show tickets and other benefits.

The Wyndham Rewards Business Earner card is good for those who drive a gas-powered car for work and can or prefer to stay at properties where they can redeem Wyndham Rewards and/or make use of the elite status granted by the card. The annual 15,000 bonus points for most is likely to make up for the card’s annual fee and the ability to upgrade to a suite on every stay (where available) plus the card’s other elite status perks can make your stay more comfortable.

The ability to use Wyndham rewards to book Vacasa home rentals, Caesar’s properties and La Quinta properties means you aren’t just locked in to the traditional Wyndham portfolio of hotels, too.

Don’t overlook the value of the ability to match the Wyndham Diamond status to Caesar’s Diamond status either, that can open up a world of possibilities, like great rates on affiliated properties and other perks.

If you regularly drive an EV and/or don’t care for or want to use rewards for hotel stays for Wyndham and affiliated properties, you’d be better off with a more general-purpose business travel rewards card. Or, if you rarely spend on the bonus categories this card offers, choose a card that’s a better fit for your spending habits.

The Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card earns at the following rates:

There’s also a welcome offer to earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first 365 days. Considering Wyndham room redemptions can start at 7,500 points, that bonus can go a long way.

Although Wyndham offers a number of redemption options, cashing in the rewards for stays is the best use of your earnings. Here’s what you can do.

Wyndham calls its reward nights booked entirely with points “go free” nights and they can be booked at a fixed rate of 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 per bedroom, depending on the property. Unlike other rewards programs where the number of rewards needed to book a night can change dynamically along with demand, Wyndham’s rates are fixed which can offer some tremendous value during peak travel times. There are no resort fees when booking this way either, except at Caesar’s properties.

You can also book stays with a combination of points and cash, at fixed rates of 1,500, 3,000, or 6,000 points per bedroom plus cash. You’ll earn rewards on the cash portion of your stay that you pay for, but taxes and resort fees where applicable will apply.

You can also use your rewards to book select Vacasa vacation rental properties but there are some notable caveats. You cannot use rewards to book a room where the average cost per night is over $500 for the property and you also have to book the property over the phone with Wyndham. But for the right traveler, this can represent strong value as a one bedroom with a cash price of $250 or less can be booked for 15,000 points per bedroom per night and properties where the average cost is between $250.01 and $500 is 30,000 points per night.

Wyndham partners with 10 different airline programs, allowing you to redeem 6,000 points for 1,200 partner airline miles. In other words, 1 Wyndham Rewards point is equal to just 0.5 miles. This is not a recommended use of Wyndham Rewards due to the poor transfer value.

You can use your Wyndham Rewards to buy select gift cards and merchandise. This is also not a recommended use of your rewards as the values are generally less than one cent per point. For example, it takes 3,000 Wyndham points to buy a $10 Amazon gift card. There is a wide range of merchandise available, but none offer a strong use of your rewards.You can also donate your points to select charities starting at 500 points. Wyndham doesn’t share what those rewards are worth. You can also use your rewards to book airfare, rental cars, excursions, cover your AARP membership, and buy tickets to various events. These options vary in value but are all worth less than a penny per point.

The Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card’s best benefits are upfront: the high rewards rate on gas and stays, the fixed rewards rate on redemptions, the annual 15,000 points bonus and the Diamond elite status. However, there are a few other benefits that could come in handy, thanks to the card’s Visa Signature status.

If your incentive in seeking a new business credit card is to earn rewards towards free nights, it’s worth comparing the Wyndham business card to the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. Marriott has a comparable footprint of nearly 8,900 properties to Wyndham’s roughly 9,000, but its portfolio contains many more luxury properties than you’ll find within the Wyndham brand.

For a slightly higher $125 annual fee, the Marriott Business card earns 6X points on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4X points on restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless phone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. shipping purchases and 2X Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card points on all other eligible purchases.

It’s worth noting that ownership of the card grants an additional up to 10X points from Marriott Bonvoy for being a Marriott Bonvoy member and an additional up 2.5X points from Marriott Bonvoy with the 25% Bonus Points on Stays, a benefit available with the complimentary mid-tier Gold Elite status that comes with the card. This means using the card for Marriott stays could earn 18.5X points per dollar.

The Marriott Business Card also comes with 1 Free night award every year after your card renewal month. Plus, earn an additional free night award after you spend $60K in purchases on your card in a calendar year. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® (certain hotels have resort fees). The Wyndham Business Earner card comes with top-tier status already, but if you prefer higher-end hotel stays, the Marriott Bonvoy program has more to offer.

To view rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, see this page.

If you want a travel card for your business but don’t want to commit to a particular hotel brand, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. For a $95 annual fee, the card earns 3x points per $1 (up to $150,000 combined) spent on shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites and search engines. 1x point per $1 spent on all other purchases. It doesn’t come with the elite status or annual anniversary points bonus of the Wyndham Business card but it does come with a robust array of travel protections including primary auto rental coverage, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, roadside dispatch access and cell phone coverage.You can take your Chase Ultimate Rewards® as cash back and use those earnings on anything you’d like. Or use your points to book travel through Chase Travel℠ where they’re worth 25% more. In other words a point is worth 1 cent as cash back and 1.25 cents when used to book travel through Chase. Another potentially even more rewarding option is to transfer your rewards 1:1 to one of Chase’s 14 travel transfer partners. These attributes can be more appealing if you aren’t looking to pledge loyalty to a specific hotel brand.

The Wyndham Rewards Business Earner Card is a match if you’re seeking a relatively inexpensive hotel credit card that offers elite status, high rewards and your business spends a meaningful amount on gas. It could also be a match if you’re a casino fan who wants a quick on-ramp to elite status to the Caesar’s Rewards program and the benefits that come with elite status in that program.

But if the Wyndham footprint doesn’t align with where you like to stay or you want a travel card offering better travel protections, seek another option.

Wyndham Diamond status can be worth it for those who can stay in the Wyndham portfolio of properties and can take advantage of perks like free suite upgrades, accelerated points earning, early check-in and late check out.

The Wyndham Rewards Business Earner Card has a $75 annual fee.

Barclays, which issues the Wyndham Rewards Business Earner Card, does not disclose the credit score requirements but as a rewards card you’ll likely need good to excellent credit for approval, along with a strong history of on-time payments. Barclays tends to be one of the most strict issuers when it comes to approvals so the better your overall credit profile, the more likely you are to be approved.

Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefits guide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.

Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

With more than four decades of experience, Adam B. Frankel covers a broad range of personal finance topics from managing money in the stock markets to tracking credit card strategies. His work has been featured in national personal finance sites including Forbes Advisor, MarketWatch, Quartz, and CardRatings.com.

Dia Adams is the senior editor leading the credit cards team at Fortune Recommends. Previously, Dia was a managing editor on the credit cards and travel rewards team at Forbes Advisor. She has been featured on national television, radio, print, and online media as an expert in the realms of credit cards, points and miles, Disney and family travel.

EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE: The advice, opinions, or rankings contained in this article are solely those of the Fortune Recommends™ editorial team. This content has not been reviewed or endorsed by any of our affiliate partners or other third parties.