Update 6/5/23: Deals are now listed, I’ve added some of the better deals below.
Daily getaways deals will return for 2023. Deals will go live on June 12, 2023. Usually the main deal that is good is 20% off Marriott gift cards.
- June 16: 20% off Marriott giftcards
- June 19: Discounted choice points
Is it correct that I won’t get the loyalty points for the purchase? Then the Marriott purchase would be hardly worth it. I’m assuming purchase through this program is non-category spend so I lose out on 3x-6x points (depending on the card) and 10x Marriott points. I also won’t get the 25% or 50% (gold or plat) point boost. Am I right?
No?
For the purchase of the gift card from the USTA Daily Getaways program, you won’t earn Bonvoy points directly. For the redemption at a Marriott property, you will earn Bonvoy points as normal. Marriott treats the redemption the same as cash for calculating points awarded, including bonuses.
USTA has coded as “travel” with some cards in the past, so you may or may not get a bonus there, in whatever points your chosen card awards. I would expect the Amex/Chase Marriott cards to count as non-bonus (earning 1x-2x, depending on which Marriott card you’re using).
Example from an April stay:
Room rate… $319.20
Elite level… Silver
Used… $250 gift card + credit card for balance and taxes.
Marriott points awarded… 1,756 Points (1,596 Base + 160 Elite + 0 Extra) (Separately, additional points were earned via the credit card used).
how long do IHG points take to post?
It was not immediate. I think last year it took over 10 days, maybe 2 weeks
If I already maxed out buying 300k pts from points.com this year can I still purchase these?
Yes.
Yes.
Posted the next day.
I would say the main deal are Choice Hotel points, especially if you have planned stays in Europe. I just spent 4 days in the center of Rome for ~$270 when the cash price would have been closer to $2000.
They are also not bad for stays in Maui if you’re OK with not so luxurious accommodations.
Just note that Choice charges resort fees/occupancy taxes on top of points.
I am looking to go to Europe (primarily, England) next summer. When I check their website, they say it only allows points bookings 100 days out.
How would you assess their availability? Was it easy to find rooms in Rome, or did you have to wait until all the point bookings open up on some certain day?
I just did a similar booking in Italy, and yes I had to set a reminder 100 days before the dates to do the booking. Choice’s website will say when inventory is low – I believe if it’s anything three rooms or under left it says how many rooms are left in your search result. I was able to get a Choice Ascend suite that was going for $510/nt for 20k/nt. I transferred TY points so really it was 10k TY points/nt with the 1:2 conversion, but even paying through Daily getaways there are great deals to be had in Italy and other EU spots.
Daily gateways price was 0.52cpp so it’s like valuing TYP 1.04cpp. i think you can get better value out of them so buying Choice points might make sense for many, unless you’re sure you can’t get more value out of TYP
Well I hope my post gives MS a little insight to his question, but to the other point if it’s priced at 0.52cpp then that’s $104/nt before fees for a $500 room, seems great to me. If 10k TYP points get the same room, also seems great to me. Everybody wins; I personally prefer the free option when I can get it for a fair price. But I must say I don’t know if it’s entirely fair to compare TYP cpp against a once-a-year limited-inventory promo for purchasing points though. 10k TYP for any room in that price range is about 5cpp which I don’t think anyone would balk at most days of the year.
It was super easy to find availability for May. I booked it like 3 weeks out. If you book it at 100 days out I’m sure you’ll find availability
Great tip! I’d used Choice points for Italy and it saved a bunch, especially since they wouldnt let our family of 4 share a room. (understandably, the rooms were pretty small compared to US).
They can also be OK in the US for average hotels in high demand areas. Discounts are not as big but still valuable. E.g. stay close to a National park (RMNP in my case) in the summer for $150 (30k points) instead of $300.
which property did you stay at in Rome? You paid for points? Break out that $270 for us, it couldn’t just be 4 nights of resort fees
Comfort Hotel Bolivar. 13k per night at 0.52cpp. It was actually extra $50 in occupancy taxes for 2 so $320 total including the cost of points. This hotel can be cheaper than 13k points though.
I stayed at the Choice Principessa Isabella last year in October for cash rates of 85 Euros per night (IMO a better property than Bolivar) so I am very surprised that cash rates for your stay in Rome were 500$ plus per night.
I haven’t stayed at Principessa Isabella but it looked like it was at a worse location. Bolivar was 5 minutes to Trevi Fountain, 10 minutes to the Forum or Spanish steps or 15 minutes to the Colosseum.
Regarding the price, you’re free to check prices for this week: 600+ eur/night. Some weekdays starting next week are from 250eur, but weekends are always 350+ eur.
I’ve stayed at both, but in May found that the Clarion Principessa Isabella was going for 8k a night, even weekends. I was able to book a triple room for 8k. Rooms were going for over $500 a night. Even got another room for friends! Wonderful value and really good complimentary breakfast! Air conditioning was good, too.
I stayed at Bolivar in Rome last month. Not a great hotel and a pretty bad breakfast. However, the location was perfect. I still probably wouldn’t go back there again. I would definitely stay at Hotel Aquarius in Venice again. That hotel was amazing and great value booking with Choice points.
I wish I’d stayed at Aquarius in Venice. I stayed at the Hyatt Centric in Murano with no air conditioning in May! Rooms were hot. Fan helped a bit, but wouldn’t have booked if known no air.
I didn’t mean to imply I didn’t believe you! I am just stunned at the variability in pricing considering both May and October are shoulder season.
I was also shocked at the prices and the fact that they only charged 8k a night. We were there May 12th for 5 nights and Rome was crazy busy with people! Not a shoulder season anymore! Was for a triple room with a king bed and a single. The double room was less, but could end up with a tiny room.
Yeah, it seems more hotels and property management companies are using some kind of pricing software that makes price variability crazy.
Ditto, used at the Kohea Kai resort which is like a condo hotel. Staff was awesome and we saved like $400 by buying the points instead.