Wyndham, Caesars Link Loyalty Programs

If you weren’t paying close attention, you may have missed the announcement that Starwood and Caesars severed their loyalty-program tie-up on December 31, 2016, a casualty of the Marriott-Starwood merger.

Today, Caesars has a new loyalty partner: Wyndham.

Effective immediately, elite members of the Caesars Total Rewards program will enjoy comparable status in the Wyndham Rewards program, and vice versa. Later this summer, Wyndham Rewards members will be able to earn and redeem points for stays at Caesars properties. And members of both programs will be able to transfer up to 30,000 points per year to the other program.

According to the news release, Wyndham Rewards has 50 million members, and Total Rewards has 54 million. Interesting, considering Wyndham has around 8,000 properties in its network, versus Caesar’s decidedly more modest portfolio of around 30 properties in the U.S. and Canada, including nine in Las Vegas.

Wyndham has been steadily upgrading its Rewards program over the past two years. The addition of Caesars as a loyalty partner is another step in the same direction. The right direction.

Reader Reality Check

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.