Originally Posted by
craz
?? Hawaii, yea it might save a good few $$$ using that 1 cert, but it will cost you dearly for all the other nights, plus a rental and gas is anything but cheap, along with food. Now if you have tons of Hyatt pts or had a bunch of Cat 1-4 certs to use up, it would make perfect sense.
I just for the life of me understand anyone simply wanting to get as much out of a 1 night cert, when everything else will cost them thru the roof, that so called free night will end up being anything but Free. But to each their own.Let me guess, you are willing to drive 20 miles since the gas station there is 5 cents cheaper per gal and that way you can max out getting more gas for The Gas Gift Card you got as a present
The point that you are missing is that he wants to go to Hawaii.
It is not "going to Hawaii to max out the cert", it's "using the cert to make a trip that he wants to take anyway more affordable".
Having said that, the most that a cert can save you is 15,000 pts (at least, until the whole peak / non-peak thing takes effect). It doesn't matter if the room is $1000/night -- if you can get it with a cert, you can get it with points.
Also, while hotels in Hawaii are usually extremely expensive, flights to Hawaii are surprisingly cheap, especially from the West Coast. So it's certainly possible that points or certificates could make a difference in whether a Hawaii vacation is affordable.