Should You Take Advantage of “Free” Atlantis Deal Via Wyndham Status Match?

Several readers have expressed interest in this deal, so I figured it might be a good time to write a dedicated post on the topic. If you’ve always been curious about staying in Atlantis resort, but could never afford the high price, pay attention.

In a nutshell

If you have an elite status with a mainstream program (Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, Marriott and a few others), it’s currently possible to match to Platinum or Diamond Wyndham status for 90 days. Then you can match to a corresponding tier in Total Rewards program.

Apparently, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum and Radisson Gold match to Wyndham Diamond. The reason I’ve mentioned those tiers specifically is because you can obtain them by simply holding a co-branded credit card, no extensive travel required. I can confirm that IHG Platinum does indeed match to Wyndham Diamond because I got successfully matched not long ago. It took a few days to get a confirmation email.

Link to status match with Wyndham

After you match successfully, it’s time to tackle the Total Rewards program. As a Wyndham Diamond member, you qualify for Total Rewards Diamond status.

Link to status match with Total Rewards (don’t do it just yet, first finish reading my post)

Why you should care

You can see all the benefits of elite Total Rewards status on this pageThe one we are interested in is free Atlantis stay.

Scroll all the way down for fine print, but here are the highlights:

It does say that you have to complete travel by January 31st, 2019, though the benefit will probably be extended as it has been for the last few years.

Here is where it gets tricky. It’s my understanding that Total Rewards status expires at the end of calendar year, so unless you plan to go to Atlantis within the next few months, you may want to wait to match to Total Rewards till January 1st, 2019. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. But you can line up your Wyndham Diamond status now, there is no harm in doing  that. Well, unless you have a Wyndham stay coming up (past the 90-day timeframe) in 2019 where your elite status may provide tangible benefits.

Important note: you are NOT required to gamble during your Atlantis stay. I’m sure they want you to, but it’s not part of the deal.

Update for 2019: it looks like gambling is required now.

The gotchas

If you go during off-peak season, you will be staying in Beach Tower, which I understand is a less desirable area of Atlantis resort. See this post on Milestomemories blog to get an idea on what’s in store. However, during off-peak time, which includes  end of May, you are guaranteed to get a room in Royal Towers, which is supposedly much nicer. See reviews on TripAdvisor Again, I don’t have a first-hand experience, so can’t really comment.

Also, let’s say you are a family of four with two kids who are under 12. You can expect to pay around $75 per night in various fees. I got the info from commenter EJ left on this DoC post. Budget more if you have older kids. The food also appears to be quite expensive, so this “free” vacation may end up costing you a pretty penny.

Still, staying in Atlantis resort, especially in Royal Towers section, for only $75 per night is a sweet deal no matter how you slice it. As far as I can tell, the rooms have two queen-size beds.

My husband and I have toured Atlantis during a cruise stopover, and it is a super fancy resort. We didn’t have kids at that time, so a lot of facilities weren’t all that appealing. The place is just too big for my taste. Now that we have children, I can see how they would go nuts for all the amenities, especially the waterpark.

Why I won’t be taking advantage 

To put it simply: the airfare kills the deal. Even if I used my Jet Blue points for flights from Orlando to Nassau, I would still have to shell out $110 in taxes per person. That’s $440 for my family of four, and I would still have to pay $75 per night in fees. The high cost of food doesn’t scare me as much, that is to be expected in a resort. The deal is tempting, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I’m going to bite.

Besides, next year we are going on a Bahamas cruise which to me represents better overall value. We don’t have to fly anywhere since we live in Florida and food is included in the price. I’m sure the slides and pools on Mariner of the Seas ship can’t compete with Atlantis, but it’s OK.

I’m going to be honest with you. While we enjoyed stopping in Nassau briefly during a cruise, I would not pick this island for a family vacation. It just doesn’t appeal to me enough, I guess. Maybe because the island is flat, I don’t know. But many will disagree, so obviously it’s a matter of preference.

But before you go gaga for this deal, I recommend you investigate the cruise option first. Of course, if you prefer to vacation on land (and many do), it’s a different story. Basically, my advice to you is to make an apples-to-apples comparison and not be blinded by the term “free.” It’s not. But all in all, it’s a pretty good deal if that is something you actually want to do.

Either way, I recommend you match to Wyndham Diamond status because you never know when it may come in handy. A possible future Hyatt Globalist match, maybe? Nah, I doubt it.

Readers, if you have any experience with free Atlantis offer, please share in the comments!

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses