Daily Getaways Valuation

Screen Shot 2015-03-17 at 4.37.51 PMThe US Travel Association is once again running its Daily Getaways promotion.  Beginning March 23 there will be a different offer for a limited time each day.  An interesting change this: there is NO added discount for using an Amex card.  You can find discounts on rental cars, hotels, and theme parks.  Only the first three weeks’ offers have been posted as of this post.

Likely the most popular offers will be for the hotel stays that, for the most part, come in the form of loyalty points.  Below I have created a grid that shows the cost per point for each of the hotel point offers.

Remember:  Not all points are created equal.  A Hyatt Gold Passport point is worth three times what a Club Carlson point is.  For the “valuation” column, I am borrowing the most recent data from The Points Guy (who’s website you should check out immediately if you have not).

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A few notes:

  • The promo for Hilton costs 0.5 cents per point, which is equal to their value.  Therefore, I would not suggest purchasing Hilton points as they are not really on sale.
  • Hyatt appears to be the biggest discount (based on what you pay vs what they are worth).  This is especially true if you use the points for the 20% points back promo.
  • For most of the hotels, you get the cheapest points by buying in bulk (i.e. purchasing the largest offer).  However, Hyatt is the one exception — the best value is the 40k (second largest) offer.
  • I do not have a valuation for Best Western or Choice points.

Note that all the deals are limited, some VERY limited.  So if you want to get one of the packages, make sure you are logged on and ready to go when the deal goes live.

Some other deals that could be worthwhile:

  • $25 for a $50 Alamo gift certificate (March 23)
  • $350 for two nights at the Paris (Vegas), $150 restaurant credit, $150 spa credit, and limo service to/from the airport.  With the dining and spa credit and limo service, you basically get the two nights for free.  (April 1)
  • $1525 for three nights in a suite at Mandalay Bay (Vegas), 2 tickets to Michael Jackson ONE (one of my favorite Cirque shows), dinner, massage and limo service to/from the airport (April 9)

What deal interests you the most?

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