Hotel status matches are not something I’ve really hit hard over the years. My first was matching to Hilton Diamond, which we put to use during a few stays back in 2016. Hilton then let me match a second year, which surprised me, but hey, I’m not complaining. It was nice to enjoy Diamond for a couple years, before picking up the Hilton Aspire card to continue to enjoy the perks.
I’ve also status matched to Best Western. Just because they basically let you without asking questions. But I’d not yet requested a Wyndham status match.
Why You Might Request a Wyndham Status Match
Requesting a Wyndham status match is something that many savvy travelers have done over the years, as matching to Wyndham elite status opens the door to a couple other matches down the road. It’s an elite status daisy chain, or more like a merry-go-round, depending on how you work it.
Unlike most folks who are looking for casino elite status, I have an entirely different reason for requesting a Wyndham status match. I’d like to have Wyndham Diamond elite benefits for a couple nights in New Orleans, as they provide you with unique experiences as part of their “Go Free Plus” perks.
For the lower status levels, this is a discount code off an experience. I previously used a discount code for an awesome walking tour of Charleston, South Carolina, my first experience using the perk. For Diamond elites, the perk is two free tickets for a specific experience, which is pretty cool. Some are an excellent value, often pushing $100 for the two tickets. The New Orleans “Go Free Plus” experience is an air-boat tour of the bayou.
How to Request a Wyndham Status Match
Wyndham has a dedicated page for requesting a Wyndham status match from a different hotel loyalty program. You simply have to key in the loyalty program from which you want to match your status and provide the elite status level. You can click the “other hotel loyalty programs” link which will take you to a page that shows how elite status in other programs maps to Wyndham.
In my case, I was matching Hilton Diamond, which will give me Wyndham Diamond status. I took a screen snip of my Hilton Honors card after logging into my profile online, saving and uploading the file as proof of my status with Hilton. You must provide an image of your electronic or physical elite membership card.
Then simply click the “Match Your Status” button. You’ll receive a notification by email once the status match is processed. It took about 2 days for me to receive an email that my profile had been updated. Logging in, I saw that I was indeed now Wyndham Diamond!
A Wyndham status match is only good for 90 days. If I choose, I can keep the status by staying 14 qualifying nights at Wyndham properties during the 90-day period. If matching to Gold, you only need 7 nights to keep Gold through the year. I don’t plan to do this, as the actual reason I wanted the match is to essentially finish out my time in the Wyndham program for maximum value.
After my status match processed, I booked a 2-night stay in New Orleans for the combined Miles to Memories and Award Travel 101 meetup in February. Wyndham has already emailed me regarding vouchers for a local experience as part of the Go Free Plus program, which will be send one week prior to the stay.
But That’s Not All…
Besides offering the perks of the associated status level with Wyndham itself, a Wyndham status match also opens the door to additional status matches with other programs. It’s a sort of elite status match conga line. You start by requesting a Wyndham status match. Make sure you match to Diamond from the appropriate Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, Choice, Radisson or Best Western elite status.
Once you have Wyndham Diamond, you can match to Caesars Rewards Diamond. This gets you complimentary self and valet parking at Caesar’s properties, a $100 celebration dinner, and waived resort fees, among many other perks. I’m not at all interested in gambling, but I may be able to put the dinner perk to use early next year.
From Caesar’s Diamond, you can match to a few other casino loyalty programs, including MLife Rewards. The typical status “merry go round” of Hyatt Explorist and MLife Gold was a staple for anyone frequenting Las Vegas, but the glory days of this match have passed. Luckily, you can match from Caesar’s Diamond to MLife Gold, but you must be a new member. And I’m not clear on the process.
Once you match to MLife Gold, you can match to Hyatt Explorist, although it comes without all the perks it used to. Hyatt separated the club lounge certificates into the “Milestone Rewards”, and you actually need to earn the elite nights to obtain these.
Conclusion
Requesting a Wyndham Status Match lets me enjoy the perks of Wyndham Diamond as I burn up the remaining points in their program. It will also let me status match to Caesar’s Rewards Diamond, although I’m not sure how useful those benefits will be.
I went ahead and canceled my Wyndham Rewards Visa card after holding it for a few years, primarily due to the program devaluation (i.e. the move away from a single award tier). Many of the best hotels at which I would want to redeem points doubled in cost, making the 15,000 annual bonus points worth a whole lot less to me. I’m hoping Wyndham revamps their co-branded credit card to something better in the future. If so, I might consider it again.
New Yorker photo courtesy of Matt Kiefer used under CC-BY-2.0 license.
