iahphx

Yup. If you MUST stay at a Hyatt, I suppose it can often be cheaper paying $330 in points than paying their lowest published rate. But last I checked, Hyatt is not the only hotel operator in the world, and $330 is still big bucks for a hotel room.

I suppose I have simpler tastes. Most of the Hyatts I redeem for with my cheaply acquired Ultimate Rewards points and such have "House" and "Place" in them, and cost much less than 30,000 points.

flo_147

Got the 72k package with a trick

goliath

Do tell.

miadukes

I'm normally with you but I like to splurge every once in a while. For us, hotels are around $50-70 a night lol but sometimes you do get into the $100 range but paying the kind of money some of these hotels charge, not for me. I just need a clean bed.

There is a Hyatt for 5k points that I can book quick weekends at so I also considered it for that. Next year I am going to make sure I have like 20 computers going so I can max out on Choice points, those seemed to be the best value to me.


trick??

britishcanuck

I often find cash and points bookings are significantly cheaper than the daily rate and can often get 2+ cents per point value. Places like the PH Beaver Creek are a good value on full points when you consider how expensive it is to stay anywhere on mountain. Especially when you factor in Diamond benefits.

iahphx

It's funny how the bloggers all talk about the fanciest hotel redemptions but, almost always, the best deals are on the low category properties. I think only the travelisfree blogger has pointed out this obvious fact.

I've been buying Choice points ever since the beginning of this program, but I missed it this year because I was over the Atlantic Ocean at the necessary millisecond (kind of a problem for travelers with this promo, especially since they didn't announce what millisecond that would be until just a couple weeks out). That said, even the Choice deal is getting tepid. Once again, the lowest category properties are still a very good deal -- and they seem to pop up somewhat randomly at Choice, since their loyalty program is pretty random in general. But many of their decent-but-not-great motels are now 20,000 points. I think that translates into $82 at the current Daily Getaways prices. A USA motel for $82 is decent, but rarely spectacular. Other loyalty redemptions (where you usually get a better hotel) become competitive at that price, as does just buying an independent motel with discount codes and such. So the Choice points are going from being a very good deal to just another booking option: good to have some points lying around, but not a killer deal.

TheBOSman

Because talking about the Hampton Inn where you spend 10k Hilton points to save $100 (which I've done) isn't sexy. But spending 9.5x as many points at the Conrad Maldives, despite having to spend a bunch more miles just to get there, THAT'S sexy!

miadukes

hahaha agree, i get more value over cheaper stays, do you know how much it would cost me to go to bora bora to redeem my aspiration credit cards nights LOL i mean the idea is sexy and Im glad tey talk about it but realistically for me i am trying to stretch my points

I'm using my choice points on a hotel that does regulalry 6k a night, so for me its a steal.

iahphx

Yeah, I stayed in a 6000 point airport Quality Inn earlier this month. I think that's $24 of Daily Getaways points. Cheapest published rate was $89. Obviously, that's where the deep value is. But you could encounter the exact same quality hotel at the same published rate and they could want 15,000 points. It's unpredictable -- even more so than with most of the other chains. Which is why you need points at all of them, because you want to cherry-pick the better-than-you'd-expect redemptions.

But this really only applies to folks who stay at LOTS of hotels (where the odds are the points will eventually be valuable on ONE of those stays). If you only have 2 weeks of hotel stays a year, you really shouldn't bother paying for any points. Get yourself a bunch of free nights with credit card sign-ups (supplement with some free UR points when Staples gives away the gift cards if you're feeling ambitious) and you should be good.

beachmouse

I'm actually glad the bloggers don't seem interested in hunting down the 'small stuff'. Because then word would get out on some of the very good deals out there and they would get 'adjusted' to a higher redemption category or become impossible to book.

eponymous_coward

Exactly. There have been a lot of home runs taken away with publicity, but solid singles are still out there.

Firewind

Some solid expertise/advice in this thread. Nice byproduct. Which keeps it low-visibility, too. Thanks, all. ^

iahphx

Just a word of warning about today's Avis 1-day certificates. I bought these several years ago, and it was the worst purchase I've ever made on Daily Getaways. The problem is mostly hidden blackout days: weird, unpredictable stuff like "Golf Season" in Charleston. Thirty dollars isn't cheap enough to make me want to deal with that.

One thing I can't remember is whether you can use them as one-ways? I think the answer is "no," right? That would be the only true value.

EDIT: Yup, fine print in the "terms and conditions" say you must return vehicle to renting location, so no one-ways. With the blackout days, just not a useful enough tool to buy for $30.

yuel

Where in the fine print does it mention the blackout dates? I bought 4, used them in the past with no problems

iahphx

I don't know if it mentions blackouts (it does mention that you can't rent one way). But there most certainly are blackouts.

When I bought my coupons (the first year of the promo, if I recall correctly), I had so many problems with blackout days that I called Avis. A nice rep agreed as a courtesy to send me out "cash vouchers" good for straight dollars off my Avis rentals. I recall getting more than what I paid Daily Getaways for the free day certs. I then sold the original certs on ebay to get rid of them (noting the blackout problem in the listing).

Obviously, whether blackout days will affect anyone is unknowable. It depends on when and where you try to use the certs. And that's the problem. Unless you're "allegeric" to using the semi-questionable discount codes, I wouldn't bother with these certs. Too much hassle.