Wyndham points from bank transfers: what a night costs

The award levels in the September 30, 2026 terms

Wyndham's terms define a Standard Redemption Amount for every property type: the points a member without a Wyndham-issued card pays for one free night. At Participating Hotels, which covers the "By Wyndham" brands such as Days Inn, Super 8, La Quinta, Ramada, Wyndham Garden and Wyndham Grand, the amount is 5,000, 15,000, 30,000 or 45,000 points depending on the property, subject to availability and with no blackout dates (Section III(C-1), checked November 3, 2026). Points leave the account at the moment of booking, not at check-in. The terms print the set of levels and not the list of hotels at each level; they send members to a property search on Wyndham's locations page, so the number for your hotel and dates is something to take from that search before any bank points move.

Caesars properties that take part in Wyndham Rewards, among them Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas, Harrah's Cherokee and the Trademark Collection casino hotels co-branded with Caesars, price at 15,000, 30,000 or 45,000 points (Section III(C-2)). Blackout dates and blackout rates apply and vary by property and time of year, and the terms state that free nights are never available for Saturday night stays at Caesars Palace Las Vegas or Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace. The "no blackout dates" promise that heads the Participating Hotels section does not carry over to casino properties.

Participating Destinations, the vacation club resorts and condos that Wyndham books online, or through its Vacation Clubs phone line when paid nights are combined with free ones, price per bedroom: 5,000, 15,000, 30,000 or 45,000 points for each bedroom in the unit (Section III(D-1)). A two-bedroom unit at a 15,000-point destination therefore costs 30,000 points and a three-bedroom unit 45,000, and the terms forbid paying for some bedrooms in points and the rest in cash. Every Participating Destination has a two-consecutive-night minimum, free nights are offered on only a limited number of units, and blackout dates apply. Redemption Cottages, the holiday cottages booked through a UK phone line, cost 15,000 points per bedroom (Section III(E)). Free nights at Vacasa vacation rentals ended on December 1, 2025; the last redemption date was November 30, 2025 (Section III(D-2)).

Points + Cash is a separate menu. At a Participating Hotel a member can redeem 500, 750, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 4,500, 6,000 or 9,000 points and pay cash for the rest of the night; at Caesars properties the menu starts at 1,500 (Sections III(G-1) and III(G-2)). The cash amount differs by hotel, is shown before purchase, and not every property offers Points + Cash on every date.

Members who hold a Wyndham-issued Earner card pay 10, 20 or 25 percent fewer points depending on the card and the date it was opened, so a 15,000-point property costs them 13,500, 12,000 or 11,250 (Section III(B)). Their balance must still meet the full Standard Redemption Amount when they book online, even though only the discounted number leaves the account. The amounts in this guide are the standard ones, and whether any card belongs in a wallet is a credit decision outside it.

When 7,500 became 5,000: three editions side by side

The terms are a dated document, and the date matters here. Archived copies of the editions effective December 1, 2025, March 2, March 25, April 30, June 17, July 21 and August 17, 2026 all print a hotel set of 7,500, 15,000 and 30,000 points. The edition effective September 15, 2026, first archived on September 22, prints 5,000, 15,000, 30,000 and 45,000, and the edition effective September 30, 2026 carries the same levels. Between the August 17 and September 15 editions the lowest hotel level fell by 2,500 points, a 33.33 percent cut at that level, and a 45,000-point level appeared above 30,000 at hotels, at Caesars properties and at vacation club units. The 7,500-point level also disappeared from the Participating Destinations sentence.

Points + Cash widened in the same revision. The smallest hotel option went from 750 points to 500 and the largest from 6,000 to 9,000, and the Caesars menu went from 2,000 through 6,000 to 1,500 through 9,000. Wyndham's own banner on the terms page shows the shift: the September 4 copy reads "Starting at just 7,500 points" and "Starting at just 750 points plus cash", while the live page reads "Starting at just 5,000 points" and "Starting at just 500 points plus cash".

A table of levels is not a table of hotels. A lowest level of 5,000 says nothing about any one property, and a new 45,000 level says nothing about which properties sit there. Any chart, screenshot or older guide that prints 7,500 as the entry price describes a menu that no longer exists, and any hotel-specific number from before mid-September 2026 should be compared with what the property search shows now. Wyndham can change levels without notice (Sections I(2) and III(B-3)), and the same terms say it may end the program on six months' notice (Section I(3)), so a balance parked for a distant stay carries that risk.

Capital One at 1:1, and what the other banks print

Capital One's guide to its transfer partners, dated November 2, 2026, puts Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards at 1:1, I Prefer Hotel Rewards at 1:2 and Accor Live Limitless at 2:1. In miles that means 10,000 Capital One miles become 10,000 Wyndham points, 10,000 Choice points, 20,000 I Prefer points or 5,000 Accor points; the four currencies are priced differently by their own programs, so the count says nothing about value. A footnote limits Choice Privileges transfers to U.S.-based Choice accounts, which is a Choice rule and not a Wyndham one. The guide sets a minimum of 1,000 miles, requires the name on the Capital One account to match the name on the loyalty account, and says there is no way to transfer miles back into the rewards account once a transfer is finalized. It prints no processing time. The site's guide to best use of Capital One miles prices the same ratios against airline partners.

At 1:1 the Capital One miles needed equal the Wyndham points a night costs: 5,000, 15,000, 30,000 or 45,000 miles for the four hotel levels. There is no rounding gap on those, because every level is a multiple of 1,000. Points + Cash options of 500, 750, 1,500 or 4,500 points are not multiples of 1,000, so at a bank that moves points in 1,000-point steps, such as Chase or Bilt, a transfer sized in thousands can leave a remainder sitting in the Wyndham account.

Wyndham's own list of participating bank programs sits in Section II(H). It names nineteen programs, of which eight reach U.S. members (Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Klarna, HSBC, Ramp and Wells Fargo), and it prints no ratio for any of them: the ratio "varies by participating bank loyalty program" and each transfer is "subject to the applicable bank's transfer terms and conditions". American Express is not among the nineteen. So the number a bank prints is the number that matters. Bilt's help article, updated October 20, 2026, lists Wyndham Rewards at 1:1. Chase's guide lists Wyndham Rewards as one of its four hotel partners but prints no per-partner ratio, so the rate is the one on the transfer screen. Citi's Strata Premier page names American Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay, Eva Air, Choice Hotels, The Leading Hotels of the World "and others" and prints no ratios; Wyndham's terms list Citi, but Citi's page does not name Wyndham, so the account's transfer screen is the test. The mechanics of moving points between issuers are covered in transfer points between banks, and the transfer ratios guide explains how to turn a ratio into the bank points a hotel price consumes.

The cash a night has to replace

Cents per point is the cash an award replaces, times 100, divided by the points it costs. Turned around, the cash a night must replace is the target in cents times the points, divided by 100. At Capital One's 1:1 the points and the miles are the same number, so the same figure is also cents per mile. The targets below, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50 cents, are inputs a reader sets from what their bank points could do elsewhere; they are not claims about what a Wyndham point is worth.

The grid shows why the 45,000-point level is the hard one to clear: at 1.25 cents it needs $562.50 of cash replaced in a single night. A night that costs $204.04 all in, the second night in the worksheet below, replaces more than the $187.50 the 15,000 level needs at 1.25 cents, and falls well short of the $375.00 the 30,000 level needs and the $562.50 the 45,000 level needs. The same break-even logic for Marriott and Hilton, where the bank ratios differ, is worked in the Marriott or Hilton break-even guide, and how many points a hotel night takes covers the first step of finding a night to price.

What counts as cash replaced is narrower than the price on a booking site. It is the all-in cost of the same room on the same dates, less anything the award leaves you paying. The next section lists those items by property type. A paid night that earns points is also not the same as a free night that earns none, which the worksheet treats as a count of points rather than a cash amount.

Resort fees, taxes and what a free night leaves you paying

At Participating Hotels the main text of Section III(C-1) says a free night is valid for the room rate for one single or double standard room, "including local taxes and resort/facility fees" and not including incidental charges such as long-distance calls, movie rentals and room service. The brand matrix further down the same section is shorter. It says "In most cases, the Free Night is valid for the room rate and tax for one single or double standard hotel room for up to the maximum occupancy of the room." and "All other charges and expenses must be paid for by the Member." The first passage names resort fees as covered; the second does not mention them. The terms do not reconcile the two, so a hotel with a mandatory daily fee is a property to confirm at booking and again on the confirmation, because a fee billed at the desk turns a 1.07-cent night into a 0.96-cent night in the worksheet below.

Caesars properties are explicit the other way. A free night there covers the room rate and local taxes but excludes resort and facility fees, which the terms define as per-room fees charged each night, along with optional services such as parking and pet fees. The staying guest pays the resort fee at check-in. Points + Cash at Caesars properties also excludes resort fees, and the cash side of a Points + Cash stay carries a deposit equal to the first night's cash amount plus tax, taken by credit card at booking.

Other property types differ again. A free night at a Participating Destination covers "room rate only, including local taxes and resort/facility fees", but daily housekeeping is an extra fee and a credit card must be on file for a $150 refundable security deposit at check-in. Where a destination stay mixes free and paid nights, a deposit for the first paid night is due at booking. A free night at a Redemption Cottage covers the room rate, local taxes and a booking fee, and in some cases excludes linen, fuel and pet charges. At an all-inclusive Participating Hotel the free night covers the room rate plus meals and the other amenities in the rate for a maximum of two guests; any additional guest pays for their stay, food, drink, resort fees and taxes at the property.

Points + Cash at a Participating Hotel is narrower than a free night. It is valid for the room rate "excluding taxes", the matrix says "Taxes and fees are not included", the cash portion is paid at check-out in the hotel's local currency, and a credit card is required to book. On a Points + Cash night, taxes and any resort fee are paid in cash; a free night removes them only where the terms include them, which is local taxes at every property type and the resort fee at Participating Hotels and Participating Destinations but not at Caesars properties.

Six nights, one formula, six answers

Every cash figure in this worksheet is an input chosen for the arithmetic, not a quoted rate or a live price. Tax is set at 11 percent of the room rate only, a simplification that ignores any tax on the resort fee. The "cash replaced" column adds room, tax and the resort fee when the award covers it, and cents per point is that column times 100 divided by the points. Each row is labelled by level because the level, the fee treatment and the room rate together set the answer.

Among the four rows where the award covers the fee, the 5,000-point night returns 1.86 cents per point, the 15,000-point night 1.36, the 45,000-point night 1.20 and the 30,000-point night 1.07. The 30,000 row is lowest because of the inputs: it replaces $322.49 for 30,000 points, while the 45,000 row replaces $538.39 for 45,000. The room rate in each row is an input; a higher rate at the same level raises the return and a lower rate cuts it. The fee treatment moves the answer by as much as a level does: the same $259 hotel returns 1.07 cents when the resort fee is covered and 0.96 when it is billed at check-in.

The Caesars row shows the mistake that costs the most. The Caesars row replaces $265.29 of room and tax and leaves a $45.00 resort fee to pay, for 0.88 cents per point. Counting the fee as value would give 1.03 cents, an overstatement of 0.15 cents per point. The fee is real cash out of pocket on top of the points, so it belongs in the cost of the stay and out of the value of the points.

Points + Cash has its own formula: the cash saved, times 100, divided by the points redeemed. With a $140.00 room rate, 3,000 points and $98.00 cash due, the saving is $42.00 and the return is 1.40 cents per point. Taxes are excluded from the terms' Points + Cash amount, and the illustration treats the tax as equal with and without the points, so it drops out of the comparison. Points + Cash stays earn base points only on the cash paid, and not on the room rate that would have applied without the points (Section II(B)).

A free night earns nothing, and the paid night it replaces would have. The terms award 10 points per $1 of room rate at most brands, or 10 points per $1 of the total folio at Dolce, Wyndham Grand, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Wyndham Garden hotels, with a 1,000-point minimum per qualified stay. A $164.00 room at 10 points per $1 is 1,640 base points forgone, shown here as a count and left out of the cents-per-point figure. Free nights do still count as Qualifying Nights toward Gold, Platinum and Diamond (Section III(B-2)). Paid stays booked on online travel sites of the kind Section I(11) names, such as priceline.com and expedia.com, do not earn either, a rule that matters when the cash comparison is made on one of them.

Cancelling, changing and getting points back

Points are deducted when the redemption request is made, and Section III(A) states that "All redemptions are final and rewards may not be returned for credit except as otherwise provided in these Terms and Conditions." The exceptions are the cancellation clauses, and they differ by property type. At a Participating Hotel a member must cancel by the earlier of 4:00 pm the day before check-in, in the hotel's time zone, and the hotel's own deadline, and the policy that applies is displayed before an online booking is finalized (Section III(C-1)). A cancellation inside the policy returns all points automatically. A cancellation outside it, a no-show or a partial use forfeits all points and they are not re-credited (Section III(B-1)). For Points + Cash, the member also owes the cash portion.

A rule in Section III(B-1) catches stays booked on points that are close to expiring. If a change or cancellation is made after some or all of the points redeemed for the award have expired, the expired points are forfeited, cannot be used for the modified reservation or any other purpose, and are not re-credited, even when the cancellation is inside the policy. The wording presumes that redeemed points keep expiring on their original schedule while they are held against a reservation, so the four-year clock keeps running after booking. An illustration: points that posted on December 1, 2022 expire on December 1, 2026; a stay booked on November 3, 2026 for February 12, 2027 with those points, then cancelled on December 20, 2026 and well before the 4:00 pm cutoff on February 11, falls under the forfeiture sentence for the expired points.

Caesars properties set their own cancellation policy and it varies by property and time of year, with members in the U.S. and Canada directed to call Wyndham Rewards. Free nights at Participating Destinations cancel without penalty by phone up to 72 hours before check-in. Redemption Cottages follow the cottage operator's conditions, and certain reservations cannot be cancelled or changed at all, in which case every point is forfeited; others return only part. Existing Vacasa free nights could be cancelled 31 or more days before check-in, and at 30 days or fewer all points were forfeited. If a property stops participating in Wyndham Rewards after a booking, the terms say the sponsor does not guarantee the night will be honored and its sole obligation is to refund the points.

A cancelled night returns points to the member's Wyndham account (Section III(B-1)), not to the bank. The banks checked describe the transfer itself as final: Capital One says miles cannot be transferred back once a transfer is finalized, Chase says transfers to travel partners are final, and Bilt says transferred points cannot be reversed. Wyndham's Section I(16) adds that points cannot be sold, bartered or transferred except as the terms authorize. Refunded points then sit under the four-year clock. Other redemptions are harsher: points redeemed for flights are not refunded for cancellations or changes (Section III(N)), car rentals booked with points cannot be changed or cancelled (Section III(O)), and points bought through Points.com are non-refundable (Section II(E)). The site's guide to whether buying points is worth it covers that last route.

Expiry: the four-year, 18-month and 60-month clocks

Section I(14) sets the Four Year Rule: Wyndham Rewards points expire four years after the date they post to the member's account, and posting dates vary by the kind of activity that earned them. Points earned by Premier cardholders are carved out of the rule for as long as the card account is open and in good standing, and they expire again under the rule once that account closes or loses good standing. The carve-out is a card term, and whether it matters to anyone is a credit question outside this guide. The terms also allow all accrued points to be cancelled or forfeited when a member has no Account Activity for approximately, but never less than, 18 consecutive months. Section I(15) lets Wyndham terminate an account after 60 consecutive months without Account Activity and forfeit what remains.

The terms define the activity this way: "Account Activity" means any (i) point earning, and (ii) redemption or transfer activity involving a change in the Member's Wyndham Rewards point balance, in each case, conducted in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. A bank transfer into the account is a transfer that changes the balance, but the definition does not name bank transfers, and Wyndham Rewards Member Services is the place to confirm how one is treated. A paid stay, a point-earning purchase or a small redemption inside the 18-month window sidesteps the question.

The expiry clock also shapes when to transfer. A transfer posts to the Wyndham account on its own date, and that date starts a four-year clock for those points. Points moved early, for a stay many months away, spend months on a clock that a transfer made after the room is found would not have started, and Capital One's guide prints no processing time to plan around. This matches the order the site uses everywhere: find the booking first, transfer last. The comparison with other programs' expiry rules is in when airline and hotel points expire.

Illustration with stated dates: points that post on November 5, 2026 expire on November 5, 2030 under the Four Year Rule. If the member then has no Account Activity, the earliest forfeiture under the inactivity rule is May 5, 2028 (18 months later), and account termination could not come before November 5, 2031 (60 months later).

Booking rules that follow the points into the room

A few terms decide whether a transferred balance converts into the stay that was priced. None of them changes the level, but each can remove a night from the plan.

• A free night is valid for one single or double standard room at the specific hotel requested, up to the room's maximum occupancy, and cannot be used at ECHO Suites Extended Stay hotels or in unfurnished WaterWalk suites (Section III(C-1)).
• Several free nights can be combined for a longer stay, and at Participating Hotels they can be used in succession with Points + Cash nights, but a hotel may require a guest to check out and back in between award nights, a minimum length of stay applies, and a free night cannot be combined with any other coupon, offer or promotion.
• A member may book a free night in another guest's name, but that guest may not pass it on, and a credit card is not required to book a free night though it may be required at check-in.
• Hotel benefits tied to Member Levels, such as late checkout and, for Diamond members, a suite upgrade, apply during free night stays at Participating Hotels subject to availability, and are not offered at any other property type (Section IV(C)).
• Wyndham may modify, suspend or delete redemption levels, conversion ratios and other terms at any time without notice (Section I(2)), so a level printed in a guide, including this one, is a dated fact and not a promise.

Before the miles leave the bank

• Find the room on Wyndham's site and write down the points level, the cancellation deadline and whether a resort fee is shown.
• Confirm which level the hotel sits at today, not the level an older chart printed.
• Add room, tax and any fee the award covers, divide by the points, and compare with your target in cents.
• Leave out of the value any resort fee a Caesars property or a fee-at-desk hotel still charges.
• Check the bank's own ratio on its transfer screen; Chase's guide and Citi's Strata Premier page print none.
• Transfer in the bank's steps (1,000 at Chase and Bilt, 1,000 minimum at Capital One) and only the points the stay needs.
• Note the four-year expiry date for the points that post, and the cutoff for a free cancellation.