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Vacasa
Vacasa is the favorite vacation rental service of travel hackers. This is because it is fairly simple to book Vacasa with points. This service is also used in several other countries. We noticed a large presence in Costa Rica as we were planning our trip there.
The Good News
- You can use Wyndham points to buy a Vacasa rental. Wyndham rewards transfer from Citi and Capital One.
- There are also several Vacasa homes on Marriott Homes and Villas where you can use Marriott Points. Marriott points can transfer from AMEX and Chase.
The Bad NEws
- You need to call to book a unit.
- They charge 15,000points per bedroom. This means if you want a larger unit with more bedrooms, you will pay a lot more.
- In 2023 Wyndham instituted a new cap to this – the property you are looking at must have a maximum rate of $350/night per room before taxes and fees.
- There is no way to see blackout dates online. When you call, you should have a first choice and a second choice in mind.
Paying for the Rental
There’s no such things as Vacasa points. To pay for the rental you will need to transfer Citi or Capital One points to Wyndham Rewards. You want to wait to do this until you know which unit you will be getting and the number of points required.
- Once you have one unit selected, and a second backup choice, you will call this number 800-441-1034 .
- Here you will be able to ask about your dates and your choices, and whether they are available. The agent should tell you if they are available and the number of Wyndham points needed. At this point, if the agent is willing to wait, transfer your points to Wyndham.
- You will enter your Citi or Capital One portal and transfer the points to Wyndham.
- Once they show up in the Wyndham portal (which should be immediate) you can give the info to the agent on the phone.
Congrats, you have booked a Vacasa with points!
The Loophole
When booking for a whole family, you are obviously trying to keep your points and miles costs lower. With Vacasa, it costs 15,000 points per bedroom. Therefore, if you are booking for a large family, you want to look for a place that has less bedrooms and larger occupancy. Change the bedrooms to one, and keep the same number of people, and start looking there. There are a surprising number of units available with this trick.
Summary
For a low number of points, you can utilize Vacasa for a great vacation rental. While jumping through the hoops with phone calls is a pain, it will pay off in a low price option for your whole family. Their global presence makes this a trick you can easily use time and time again.
Vacation Rentals – Homes and Villas by Marriott
