Update: This promotion was cancelled.
The Offer
- SPG Members have the opportunity to donate all of their points to charity, in exchange Wyndham will give them 4x points per SPG point donated. They’ll also match status. Some things to note:
- On Tuesday, October 11 from 12p.m. – 11:59p.m. EST, SPG members have the historic opportunity to donate their points to charity in exchange for 4x the points with Wyndham Rewards – plus a status match.
- To participate, members simply need to donate their entire SPG point balance to their preferred charity, and then send proof of their donation to Wyndham Rewards by sending screen shots to [email protected]
- Two screen shots are required – one showing confirmation of the point donation and a second showing the member’s account activity page with a zero balance.
- There is no cap on how many points members may donate or earn. Members may expect to receive the points and match within 10 days.
- Status matches are as follows:
- Preferred = Blue
- Gold = Platinum
- Platinum = Diamond
Charities
SPG lets you to donate to three charities
- Clean the world
- American Red Cross
- Unicef
These donations are not tax deductible.
The Fine Print
Please read the full fine print here.
Our Verdict
You’re not allowed to transfer points in/out from Marriott (unless they were done before the 11th). This is an interesting offer as all Wyndham properties can be booked with 15,000 Wyndham points, meaning you’re paying only 3,750 SPG points per night for any Wyndham property. The downside is that you need to donate all of your SPG points and because of that you’ll likely end up with an odd amount of points with possibly no ability to earn more Wyndham points. Â One option would be the Barclaycard Wyndham cards, although they have recently had their earnings rates cut, had a higher annual fee added and added elite status (although arguably not that useful if you’re matching from SPG). You can also only donate points in increments of 500+
[Read:Â Best Wyndham Properties To Use 15,000 Points For A Free Night]
I’m not a big fan of offering deals that only last a short time, I feel like the intent is to pressure consumers into making an irrational choice based on the limited time nature of the deal. In my personal opinion, I don’t see this promotion ending well at all (although the similar JetBlue/Virgin America promotion was fine in the end). There is undoubtedly some great value to be had with Wyndham, but I wouldn’t recommend dumping all your SPG points without thinking it through first.
Hat tip to Well Travelled Mile
