U.S. Travel Assoc Daily Getaways 2014
May 23, 2014, 6:18 am
#151
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,029
May 23, 2014, 7:15 am
#152
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
The seller's limits we hit and had to work around were the following: no more than two packages of a given package type credited to a given Choice account; and/or no more than two packages of a given type purchased under a given credit card number.
The latter was the primary inconvenience which I hit, given how Chase and Citi issue cards for say spouses/partners using the same number as the named primary account holder for both spouses/partners.
May 23, 2014, 11:20 am
#155
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: CVG, AMS, BKK
Programs: Delta Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond.
Posts: 185
I just bought one of the HHonors points packages. *I know it's one of the worst deals from the entire sale, but I needed them to complete a 5 night award stay at a category 10 property.*
Does anyone know how long it takes for the Hilton points to post? I can't imagine it takes the full 3-4 weeks that they state. Any past experiences?
Does anyone know how long it takes for the Hilton points to post? I can't imagine it takes the full 3-4 weeks that they state. Any past experiences?
May 23, 2014, 12:14 pm
#156
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AA, UA, DL, AS, LH, BA, VS, HHonors, Hyatt, Club Carlson, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 833
IMO, the IHG packages are actually worse since you can buy them at the same rate from IHG directly when they have their 100% bonus promos.
May 24, 2014, 4:50 pm
#161
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 5,015
Your strategy is sound. But, honestly, to get any value from this deal, you need to be a very frequent traveler going to some unusual places.
Like in the USA, that might be Juneau, Alaska in summer. From my recollection, Wyndham is the only chain there. Hotels are expensive, and choices few. The Super 8 seems to be going for $123, including tax. If you buy the points today with an AMEX card, that same room will cost you $86. That's a nice savings -- and probably better than what you could do anywhere else -- but not exactly "exciting." And this is a particularly "good" redemption -- 98% of them are likely to be worse.
I'm sure there are also some overseas deals (maybe on Tryp hotels?) that could be good. But they're going to be very property specific.
Bottomline, Wyndham should be selling their points for less. Which is why they're not too popular today.
Like in the USA, that might be Juneau, Alaska in summer. From my recollection, Wyndham is the only chain there. Hotels are expensive, and choices few. The Super 8 seems to be going for $123, including tax. If you buy the points today with an AMEX card, that same room will cost you $86. That's a nice savings -- and probably better than what you could do anywhere else -- but not exactly "exciting." And this is a particularly "good" redemption -- 98% of them are likely to be worse.
I'm sure there are also some overseas deals (maybe on Tryp hotels?) that could be good. But they're going to be very property specific.
Bottomline, Wyndham should be selling their points for less. Which is why they're not too popular today.
That means you can book the Tryp Hotel Times Square South in NYC for $162.00 per night (30K points per night). Try finding that price or less in NYC during summer or fall for the Tryp hotel or even other Wyndham hotels. You can't. And on many dates, you will pay twice that price or even more if you don't use points.
Another reason to buy points before you stay is to meet minimum spend or to be exempt from the Qualifying Dollars requirement for Delta and United elite status. I'm working my way to $25K spend on my Delta Amex right now because my MQDs will be less than $2K this year, which would mean that I normally drop from Diamond Medallion to non-elite status! A mere Kettle.
May 24, 2014, 5:06 pm
#162
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I don't consider New York City some "unusual" or remote destination. That's the reason I just bought the maximum number of Wyndham Rewards point packages. The normal selling price for Wyndham Rewards points is $11.00 per 1,000 points - a terrible value. But with the 10% Amex discount, I paid $5.40 per 1000 points ($324.00 for 60,000 points).
That means you can book the Tryp Hotel Times Square South in NYC for $162.00 per night (30K points per night). Try finding that price or less in NYC during summer or fall for the Tryp hotel or even other Wyndham hotels. You can't. And on many dates, you will pay twice that price or even more if you don't use points.
Another reason to buy points before you stay is to meet minimum spend or to be exempt from the Qualifying Dollars requirement for Delta and United elite status. I'm working my way to $25K spend on my Delta Amex right now because my MQDs will be less than $2K this year, which would mean that I normally drop from Diamond Medallion to non-elite status! A mere Kettle.
That means you can book the Tryp Hotel Times Square South in NYC for $162.00 per night (30K points per night). Try finding that price or less in NYC during summer or fall for the Tryp hotel or even other Wyndham hotels. You can't. And on many dates, you will pay twice that price or even more if you don't use points.
Another reason to buy points before you stay is to meet minimum spend or to be exempt from the Qualifying Dollars requirement for Delta and United elite status. I'm working my way to $25K spend on my Delta Amex right now because my MQDs will be less than $2K this year, which would mean that I normally drop from Diamond Medallion to non-elite status! A mere Kettle.
May 24, 2014, 8:13 pm
#163
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,392
Another reason to buy points before you stay is to meet minimum spend or to be exempt from the Qualifying Dollars requirement for Delta and United elite status. I'm working my way to $25K spend on my Delta Amex right now because my MQDs will be less than $2K this year, which would mean that I normally drop from Diamond Medallion to non-elite status! A mere Kettle.
May 24, 2014, 8:54 pm
#164
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,749
Pay $162 for a NYC hotel night in the summer time? That sounds like a waste of money to me. I routinely do way better via Priceline hotel bookings or otherwise and end up in comparable or substantially better hotels at higher demand times of the year than the summer time in the city when business demand is down and well-off tourists try to get out of cities.
Valid comparisons are not just with a particular hotel's rates or even the properties within a single chain. If you can get a decent hotel in Manhattan for $130/night in cash--which you can, if you're patient--then it's just not a judicious use of points.
Different story a year or so ago when many of these Wyndham properties in Manhattan were 16K. Then, the DG deal with an Amex card meant you could get a room in Manhattan for less than $100 per night. And, obviously, a different deal if you can snag a room during a high-demand period for 30K if the general rates are more like $250, but if that's the case, you're more likely to see restricted award availability anyway.
May 25, 2014, 5:41 am
#165
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 5,015
Pay $162 for a NYC hotel night in the summer time? That sounds like a waste of money to me. I routinely do way better via Priceline hotel bookings or otherwise and end up in comparable or substantially better hotels at higher demand times of the year than the summer time in the city when business demand is down and well-off tourists try to get out of cities.
