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Update: Great news for those who matched to Caesars Diamond from Wyndham Diamond before this policy was announced. Caesars is restoring Diamond elite status for those that were downgraded after this announcement was made. The new ‘earned status' policy will take effect in 2021.
Savvy Las Vegas and Atlantic City fans know that there are popular hotel status match opportunities possible at these locations. However, one of our favorite matches is no more.
The endless cycle of status matching between Wyndham and Caesars without activity is no longer possible. You'll need to acquire status in a real way to match back to other partner. Here's the latest on these two programs.
History on Wyndham Rewards & Caesars Entertainment Status Match
Wyndham Rewards and Caesars Entertainment launched a partnership in 2017. Through it, you could match your status from one program to another. This led to upgrades, waived resort fees in Las Vegas, and even free passes to the famed Celebration Dinners.
This merry-go-round even allowed visitors to Las Vegas and Atlantic City to make their way down the street status matching from program A to B to C. It was just so easy, as we laid out in a post back in 2019:
The key to the Caesars Rewards and Wyndham Rewards status match: elite years overlapped a bit. Thus, when your Wyndham status expired on January 1, you'd match your Caesars Diamond status to bring it back to the top tier. Then, a month later, your Caesars status expired. So, you'd match it from your recently-acquired Wyndham status. Just like that, you were back to top-tier status in both programs thanks to the Wyndham-Caesars status match program.
Changes on Caesars' End
While this was fun for customers, it obviously doesn't make sense for the hotel programs. This year, Caesars Entertainment put a stop to this revolving door using its Wyndham Rewards status match partnership.
The status match still exists, to be clear. However, you can't get free status from the match, use that to match back, and keep the “something for nothing” cycle going. If you want to match from A to B, your status with A needs to be earned.
Caesars now has the following terms:
Please Note: You must have earned Tier Status with your current loyalty program in order for your status to be matched. Caesars Rewards will not grant status to WR members who came into the WR program from a tier match promotion with other programs or who previously had recent Caesars Rewards status that was about to expire, and vice versa.
In sum: you had to actually earn the status you want to use to match to Caesars Rewards. In fact, those who slipped in just before the changes may lose their status. If you used the old match-match again method earlier this year, you might get this email from Caesars Rewards:
Caesars doesn't intend to hand out free status through its status match program with Wyndham. The program wants to only match those who attained Wyndham Rewards status in some form that isn't “I got my status from Caesars last year”.
How to Get Wyndham or Caesars Status Easily
Since the status match between Wyndham and Caesars still exists, the ideal option is finding a simple path to status with either program. Then, you could match it.
If you're reading about status match opportunities, you're probably aware that hotel stays are often the longest, most expensive path to status.
Get Caesars Rewards Status
You could take a shortcut to status if you have the Caesars Rewards Visa® Card (no annual fee). However, this only provides Platinum status (tier 2 of 6 in the Caesars Rewards program). You need to reach the 3rd tier (Diamond) for waived resort fees, priority check-in lines, and free stays in the Bahamas and Dubai.
Though this is a lower tier, you can still use this status to match to Wyndham Rewards.
Get Wyndham Rewards Status
The better option is to pursue status with Wyndham first. Two credit cards can help with this:
- Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card — automatic mid-tier Platinum status ($75 annual fee)
- Wyndham Rewards® Earner℠ Business Card — automatic top-tier Diamond status ($95 annual fee)
With your Wyndham status from holding a credit card, you can match to Caesars Rewards. Wyndham Platinum (middle tier) will match to Caesars Platinum (2nd of 6 tiers). Wyndham Diamond (top tier) matches to Caesars Diamond (3rd of 6 tiers).
Our Take
With the change in terms, the Wyndham and Caesars status match requires that you actually earn status from one of them going forward. You can no longer simply get status A from program B and then match it back again. However, it's not complicated to attain top-tier Wyndham status. Using this to attain Caesars Rewards status can lead to valuable perks, and it can also save you a lot of money on resort fees and parking when visiting Las Vegas.
Remember that there is also a status match opportunity between MGM Rewards and World of Hyatt.
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Thank for detailing the change and how to make the best out of this bad situation
THANKS!!