What is the Vacasa Wyndham Program
Vacasa is a vacation rental company. Owners of homes and condos partner with Vacasa, and Vacasa acts as the property manager. Vacasa lists the properties, markets them on their website, and hires staff to maintain the properties. Because these are independently owned, properties often come onto and off of the Vacasa network. The Vacasa rental program is similar to the feel of an Airbnb home rental, without the feel of an onsite owner, since the owners usually are not living nearby. Vacasa has a strategic partnership with Wyndham, where you can redeem Wyndham rewards for vacation rentals.
Related: ToP Guide to Wyndham Rewards
Vacasa Wyndham Rewards Devaluation
Earlier this year (2024), Vacasa bookings via Wyndham Rewards took a massive blow. This is because the program was devalued TWICE in a matter of a few months. Prior to any devaluations, the program allowed you to book any rental for 15K points per bedroom, with a cap of up to $500 per bedroom. This meant it was possible to squeeze 3.33 cents per point out of your redemption. However, then a first devaluation hit.
In October 2023 Wyndham had reduced the caps on rentals from $500 to $350, meaning the amount of properties you could redeem for was severely hampered. This meant the maximum value you could earn was around 2.33 cents per point. Then, in March 2024, a second devaluation hit. Under the new pricing, the maximum cap per bedroom was lowered to $250. Although, they did add back the option to redeem for a rental with a cost of $500 per night per bedroom. However, it would cost you twice the amount of points (30,000). This now capped the maximum value at 1.67 cents per point. While this second devaluation dug even deeper, they did add back the ability to redeem for more expensive properties, albeit for more points. I will explain why I think the program may still have some value.
Why A Vacasa Redemption May Still Make Sense
The glory days of the Wyndham Vacasa program are behind us. But there still can be some value, financial and experience based, to be had. Firstly, there are some times where being in a vacation rental is a better, or only option. Vacation rentals often allow you to be in desired locations, to feel like a local, or have a unique stay. While the new redemption caps blow, adding back in the option to redeem for more expensive locations is more realistic. The vacation rental experience is not always possible with a hotel. I recently booked a Vacasa under the new structure, and I will explain my thought process as to why I decided to.
Unique Destinations, a Use Case: Ski Trips
I am a huge skier. Living in the green mountain state of Vermont, I love to hit the slopes. We grab an Ikon pass each year and usually average around 20-30 days per winter. Part of grabbing the branded pass for me, is being able to go out west and experience the fantastic skiing of the Rockies. Doing so often means inflated cash and award rates, especially for desirable ski in / ski out properties. To make matters worse, Hyatt recently yanked a bunch of ski properties from their redeemable properties. This again, caused there to be a significant strain on good options for award travelers wanting to ski Colorado.
Beyond that, the options I have left are often Marriott properties with astronomical award rates (often surpassing 100k points per night). Plus, many of the overpriced properties that are left do not offer ski in and ski out. This feature is critical to a ski trip for me, and a vacation rental such as Vacasa provides a much better ski day in this case. The alternative of staying 5+ miles away, and having to spend hours parking does not sound enticing. Being able to have easy access to the slopes is paramount to enjoying a ski trip. And with long lift queues, getting there early is a step worth taking. Lastly, the alternative of redeeming via a portal for 1.25-1.5 cents per point is narrowly beat by Vacasa.
My Booking Experience
I decided to try out the new award chart & put it to the test, and write up my thoughts. The process to book a Vacasa property with Wyndham requires some patience & effort. First, you need to locate a property number that is available for your dates. Then, you need to call the dedicated Wyndham rewards line for Vacasa redemptions, 1-800-441-1034. You need to provide the agent with the property details and ask them to verify it is available for redemption. Because they may tell you the property is not available, I recommend having multiple suitable property numbers so you have a back up. You can feed the agent all of the property numbers and they will put you on a hold while they check for you.
This is exactly the process I followed when I was recently planning a 3 night trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In keeping with my usual self, I went a bit over the ToP. I located 15 suitable properties and called in to check the availability on all of them. I felt bad giving the agent so many properties to check, but she took them all without hesitation. The agent spent 20 minutes checking all of the availability. (So sorry, lovely Wyndham representative)! I decided to make a chart with the results. Above are the results of my search.
The Results of My Experiment
Of the 15 that I located, only 5 were available for redemption. Two of the available properties were 2 bedrooms, which was a bit excessive for just myself and my partner. As you can see from the results, the ones that were available adhered closely to their maximum value of $500/night. I ended up booking property number 73505, as it was the perfect location for us being one block from the Gondola. In total, the cash cost of the booking was $1,467, but we redeemed 90,000 (30,000 x 3 nights) Wyndham Rewards. I transferred in Capital One points to be able to complete this 1.63 cent per point redemption. Was it the sexy award redemption of my dreams? No. But am I thrilled to be visiting a world class ski resort during peak winter dates, and not pay a penny for our accommodations? Heck yeah!
Booking Vacasa Properties Post Devaluation: ToP Thoughts
I think there is a great argument made here that Vacasa properties still have a place in an award travelers toolbelt. For hard to access locations, such as ski villages, nothing beats a vacation rental. When other options are slim or not lucrative, Vacasa poses the lesser of two evils for me. With a maximum redemption level of ~1.7 cent per point, it beats booking via a travel portal and offers a slightly more acceptable value. There are times where staying at a vacation rental provides a better travel experience. If considering booking a vacation rental, consider looking into a Vacasa redemption. Have you ever booked a Vacasa with Wyndham rewards? Let us know your experience over in the ToP Facebook Group.
