2RETIREDTRAVELERS

Anyone planning to purchase points with Daily Getaways next week? There was a time when these were fantastic deals for Europe and other destinations. Unfortunately we haven't traveled internationally in over 2 years and feel out of touch with Choice point values.
I am aware choice sells points at a discount from time to time, are these deals any better? The stated discount is between 40-48% depending on amount purchased.

Jaimito Cartero

I�m not an expert on Choice, but the other Daily Getaway deals I�ve seen were either super limited (Hyatt), or just not a deal at all.

GUWonder

I use the Choice program a lot. I almost never stay at US Choice properties on regular paid stays but I redeem a lot of the points for stays outside of the US. I will be buying a lot more Choice points this year since my balance ran down a lot during the pandemic and I get great value out of the points in select markets outside of the US. In one case, I’m hoping to buy enough points from this Daily Getaways round to de facto acquire lifetime elite status in a program.

I am still wondering if I have lifetime Choice elite status from purchasing points in prior Daily Getaway rounds.

At well less than $7.50 per 1000 Choice points, I’m a buyer and buyer and buyer. But that’s because I know how to get my money’s worth out of them and do so. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be interested. Especially not if planning to only redeem these in the US.

lwildernorva

I agree. I have bought Choice through earlier Daily Getaways, and I will try to do so this year. If you go back six or seven years, it was relatively easy to purchase Choice points. In the year or two before covid, it had become more difficult to purchase because of the increased competition for purchasing. Nevertheless, it's never as difficult to buy Choice points as it has been to buy Hyatt. At the price points offered, Hyatt and Choice appear to be the best values, and Choice is still relatively easier to purchase.

pbd456

how do u get lifetime status? i have bought every year since 2011 but i might by passing this year as i have not used points at all still have over 500k

craigthemif

Daily Getaways is a good price. IIRC some blogger mentioned that Choice recently increased the price of selling points directly. (even when promo-ing a discount/bonus)

However the value of Choice points clearly has nothing to do with a nasty stay at a Rodeway Inn in the US, but by travelling to Europe or Asia, which is obviously a different proposition for the near to medium term...

GUWonder

https://insideflyer.com/2012/10/19/c...ifetime-elite/ Apparently the policy may now be based on one million points earned from hotel stays. Not sure that Choice’s IT is set up to tell the difference, but it shouldn’t be a difficult thing for them to do since they probably run batch queries and then batch updates for granting lifetime status based on point activity.

But here is an easier way for some to get lifetime status in the US Choice program: https://www.choicehotels.com/choice-...es/cp-military

I am looking at using these points toward stays to get lifetime status for Nordic Choice Club accounts.

pbd456

what is the requirements for lifetime status at Nordic choice club account? Can one get night from choice award stay? I must have missed out with my previous stay!

GUWonder

500k or 1 million Nordic Choice Club points, respectively for Gold and for Platinum there. I very often get over 600 Nordic Choice Club points per one-night award stay at Nordic Choice hotels booked using US Choice points. But just run the numbers, and this is not a thing for most ordinary FTers to do. . It’s just workable gravy for some. In my case, it means that for every seven to twelve award nights booked using the US program I manage to also get a free night (or maybe two) at some Nordic Choice hotels.

pbd456

how do u add your Nordic choice number to your reward? at check-in? pretty cool!

jebr

There's also some okay-to-good redemption options in the US, though usually not at a Rodeway! The Hotel Blake in Chicago can dip down to 20,000 points/night, which with this promotion would mean you're paying ~$104 per night, after taxes, for a room in (what appears to be) a nice hotel in downtown Chicago. We also sometimes see that level at the Comfort Suites in Duluth, MN, which has lovely rooms with waterfront balconies available on points as well. There may also be some sweet spots at the lower levels - a 12,000 point room basically comes out to a ~$63 room rate after taxes (since taxes aren't charged on reward stays.) Of course, you won't earn points on reward stays, but if there's no points earning promotion available the incidental points earned are almost always worth less than what you'd pay in taxes - so looking at the room rate before taxes is a quick (if not precise) estimate to account for that.

Sure, there are some very good values available in parts of Europe and Asia for points, but even in the US there's some respectable deals available on points if you're willing to do some sifting through the weeds.

GUWonder

Rather often at check-in or otherwise between check-in and check-out. At some properties, I can have it added before check-in; but those tend to be properties where I’ve had mucho visits. I like the properties that offer mobile keys via the Nordic Choice app.

Braswch

Has anyone tried to purchase yet? I've tried two different credit cards that are otherwise working fine and am getting an error message.

"We're sorry.
Your transaction cannot be processed using this Card. Please contact the Customer Service number on the back of your card."

Rebelyell

I've found Choice points to be very valuable in the U.S. in booking hotels during peak occupancy periods. I've stayed at a hotel on a football weekend when the cash price was more than $400 and my point cost was 25,000. With that said, I love them in Europe.

GUWonder

Are you talking about an attempt to buy Hilton points? The Choice offer on Daily Getaways is on sale next week.

That's sort of the thing that I used to see happen in previous years with these offers if the same credit card number was being used to try to buy more packages than allowed per person. But unless you have people sharing the same bank card account number who happened to buy packages already or are attempting to use some non-US bank cards, that error message seems even more inexplicable than usual. But an IT-related failure somewhere really wouldn't surprise me with these guys this year.